Hi everyone! I have made beef ribs for years using a fantastic braising recipe in a crock pot. It works every time (ha, that’s funny). Until recently.

The last 3 times I’ve made them, spread out over the last year and a half, they’ve turned out tough and chewy instead of perfectly tender like I’m used to. I haven’t changed a thing about what I do so I’m super confused.

Here’s the recipe:

6-8 beef short ribs (depending on size of container) Dry rub mix of onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper. Coat all sides. Leave in fridge (covered) overnight. Put ribs in crock pot next morning, cover completely in one part beef broth one part water. Add half cup of sliced white or yellow onion, and any leftover dry rub seasoning. Cook low and slow, setting crock pot to lowest setting for 8 hours (mine just has 3 settings, keep warm, low, and high. I do it on keep warm for 7 hours then switch to low the last hour.)

What am I doing wrong and why is my amazing recipe that usually made them TO DEYE FOR suddenly failing me?

P.S. now that I think about it… does location have anything to do with it? I started using the recipe in Lincoln Nebraska, then moved to Casper Wyoming. But the last 3 times that have been bad are in Minnesota, land of 10,00 lakes.

Help me 🥲