The Wine Tip To Remember For More Flavorful Beef Short Ribs

Short ribs rise above the usual beefy plate pleasures, with some folks even preferring them over steaks. Cooking with short ribs comes at a lower price point than steaks while remaining true to the "three T's" of sumptuous cooked meats: tender, tempting, and tasty. That said, there's definitely an art to creating delectable beef short ribs. Technique matters, and there's one tip you'll want to remember. It involves red wine and some braising magic. 

Rather than dousing the short ribs with wine, or even marinating them over time, the key lies in using wine to deglaze the pan. The crucial part of getting this right is letting the wine reduce over a span of about 10 minutes, give or take. This allows the alcohol to evaporate, infusing your short ribs with deliciously concentrated flavor. Several approaches to this process exist, including variations on when to merge the ribs and wine. But the ultimate goal is to braise the short ribs after reducing the wine, typically in a Dutch oven or foil-wrapped oven pan.

Creating a gorgeous pan of red wine-braised short ribs in the oven sounds way more complicated than it actually is, so ditch the stress and follow a few simple steps. You'll end up with intensely flavorful beef short ribs as well as an open bottle of red wine to enjoy with the meal.

For making more flavorful beef short ribs, it helps to understand how deglazing with wine works. Deglazing is the essential part of this wine-based cooking tip, but it's nothing more than using a liquid (in this case, wine) to loosen up bits of crispy food clinging to a pan after you've cooked in it. When making braised short ribs, you'll start by searing the ribs in oil on the stovetop, locking in the luscious juices.  

Some recipes suggest then removing the short ribs and adding them back in later for the final braising process, while other chefs keep the ribs in place and layer other ingredients into the pan along with the ribs. Regardless of which approach you choose, you'll be bringing the wine to a boil, and scraping the pan's bottom to loosen remnants from the seared ribs and other ingredients, such as caramelized onions, celery, veggies, herbs, and tomato paste. 

Then turn down the heat, letting the wine reduce by about 50%, thereby creating an intensely rich, concentrated liquid. The whole party — short ribs, wine, and all — then moves into the oven for a slow braise over several hours. One of the best parts is that you don't need an expensive red wine to make this happen. Just choose one you generally like, especially if you'll be pouring the rest of the bottle into dinner-time glasses. Serve with mashed potatoes and a juicy braised meat gravy.