Short ribs came out dry after four hours braising, was there not enough liquid Technique

Falling apart and dry at the same time means overcooked, not underhydrated. Once the collagen has fully converted and the muscle fibres have squeezed out their water, more time only takes you further past where you wanted to be. Extra liquid does not go back into the meat — a braise is not a marinade.

Two changes. Drop the oven to 140-150C and start checking at two and a half hours: a skewer should slide in with slight resistance, not zero resistance. And let them cool in the braising liquid rather than pulling them out hot. They take up a surprising amount of moisture on the way down, which is why braises really are better the next day rather than that being something people just say.

Buy a cheap probe thermometer and take the guesswork out entirely. Short ribs are in the right window somewhere around 90-95C internal — past that they shred but go dry, exactly as you describe. Four hours at a real 160C would take most cuts well past that.

Also worth checking your oven with a separate thermometer. Plenty of domestic ovens run 15-20C hot, and at braising temperatures that is the difference between a gentle bubble and a simmer that is effectively boiling the meat. A dial that says 160 is a suggestion.

Halfway up the ribs is fine, for what it is worth. I go lower than that deliberately so the exposed tops brown while the bottoms braise.

The reason it worked once is probably the ribs themselves. Thickness and fat content vary a lot between packs, and a thin flanken-cut rib is done in half the time of a thick English cut. Cook to feel, not to the clock.