Johnny, there are many ways to smoke meats in your KBQ and have them come out excellent, above and beyond what most other smokers and pit watchers can do.
My big beef ribs usually run anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to get tender and have that "better than beef jerky" bark.
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I just asked my smoking buddy for our Beef Short Rib procedure.
He is a great guy, a "non-drinker" who monitors the smokes and the intervals for us as to when to do "this" and when to do "that".
-
And now for... "The Beef Short Rib Procedure that Produces my Best Results!"
-
I go with a heavy rub of Kosher salt and fresh black coarse ground peppercorn. (50/50 by weight)
(Swirl well each time before sprinkling)
This way the beef flavor shines through.
-
My spritz is:
30% Bottled Water
60% Apple Cider Vinegar
5% Wooster sauce
5% Soy sauce
-
For Beef Short Ribs, I tried to follow Aaron Franklin's advice, but with this being a convection type, they ran too hot and started "Sizzling" on me.
-
So, I lowered the temperature over and over and for ME, they finally stopped sizzling at a 235°F average temperature.
During my 1st trials with these monster ribs, I "fought" sizzling, and spritzed them like crazy to try to keep them from drying out.
Franklin said to run them at 275°F but said to drop the temperature if they sizzle.
So to me, sizzling is bad, as I discovered that the meat under that sizzle becomes dry and a bit darker, like a darker "chocolate" brown colored area. (NOT so good)
-
On another note...
My family, friends and I all really like the KBQ's lighter but yet wonderfully full bodied smoke flavor, so I run all of my smokes with the Lid ON.
With the Firebox being covered, it forces much more smoke to go down through the hot coals and be purified into "blue" smoke
So when I run, the bottom poppet is locked open for maximum blue smoke... always.
To get this top quality smoke, I also make sure the coal tray holes are covered with red hot coals.
-
For these beef short ribs, the top poppet ("dirty smoke") is set at 1/8" open.
-
I start the smoke with white Oak for the first 3 hours Johnny.
After that, I go to Mesquite and run it all the way to the finish.
In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to "fear" Mesquite with the KBQ.
-
-
Okay...
So before they go into the KBQ, I cut them into individual ribs, and then sear on my Weber first to add more flavor.
Then I Spritz the ribs well just before the rub, and after a 30 minute rest, into the smoke.
After they are smoking, I go in and spritz them again in 45 minutes.
This every 45 minute spritz goes on until they reach an average temperature of about 150°F internal.
At that point, I then spritz every 30 minutes until they reach an average of about 175°F internal.
Finally, following Aaron's advice to spritz beef short ribs often near the end of the smoke, I spritz thoroughly every 10 to 15 minutes from 175°F on until they probe tender at around 200°F to 208°F.
-
Some areas will simply not probe tender and I do not know why this is, but when the probe breaks through the silver-skin on the bone side easily, I call that rib done and pull it to rest.
-
The following is more of what I do when smoking these "fatty-brisket-on-a-stick" beef ribs...
Keep the bones down, meat up.
Keep them away from the back side of the racks next to the manifold, and closer to the door side of the cook chamber.
If you don't you may have the meat located in a hot and heavy smoke spot, which tends to darken and dry the meat.
Add a water pan in the very bottom on the floor of the cook chamber.
Add a full sized stainless steel steam table pan that is one inch deep as a drip pan.
It catches most all of the dripping oil and dripping spritz.
Slide it into the 2nd slot from the bottom, and empty it as soon as it gets about half full of oil.
(After about two or three hours, I dump the oil in mine into a plastic 5-gallon bucket)
After it is empty, add water to almost half full.
This helps to keep the smoking chamber very moist.
-
After I pull them, I rest the meat at about 100°F to 110°F for about a half hour and then we enjoy!
Smoke On!
My big beef ribs usually run anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to get tender and have that "better than beef jerky" bark.
-
I just asked my smoking buddy for our Beef Short Rib procedure.
He is a great guy, a "non-drinker" who monitors the smokes and the intervals for us as to when to do "this" and when to do "that".
-
And now for... "The Beef Short Rib Procedure that Produces my Best Results!"
-
I go with a heavy rub of Kosher salt and fresh black coarse ground peppercorn. (50/50 by weight)
(Swirl well each time before sprinkling)
This way the beef flavor shines through.
-
My spritz is:
30% Bottled Water
60% Apple Cider Vinegar
5% Wooster sauce
5% Soy sauce
-
For Beef Short Ribs, I tried to follow Aaron Franklin's advice, but with this being a convection type, they ran too hot and started "Sizzling" on me.
-
So, I lowered the temperature over and over and for ME, they finally stopped sizzling at a 235°F average temperature.
During my 1st trials with these monster ribs, I "fought" sizzling, and spritzed them like crazy to try to keep them from drying out.
Franklin said to run them at 275°F but said to drop the temperature if they sizzle.
So to me, sizzling is bad, as I discovered that the meat under that sizzle becomes dry and a bit darker, like a darker "chocolate" brown colored area. (NOT so good)
-
On another note...
My family, friends and I all really like the KBQ's lighter but yet wonderfully full bodied smoke flavor, so I run all of my smokes with the Lid ON.
With the Firebox being covered, it forces much more smoke to go down through the hot coals and be purified into "blue" smoke
So when I run, the bottom poppet is locked open for maximum blue smoke... always.
To get this top quality smoke, I also make sure the coal tray holes are covered with red hot coals.
-
For these beef short ribs, the top poppet ("dirty smoke") is set at 1/8" open.
-
I start the smoke with white Oak for the first 3 hours Johnny.
After that, I go to Mesquite and run it all the way to the finish.
In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to "fear" Mesquite with the KBQ.
-
-
Okay...
So before they go into the KBQ, I cut them into individual ribs, and then sear on my Weber first to add more flavor.
Then I Spritz the ribs well just before the rub, and after a 30 minute rest, into the smoke.
After they are smoking, I go in and spritz them again in 45 minutes.
This every 45 minute spritz goes on until they reach an average temperature of about 150°F internal.
At that point, I then spritz every 30 minutes until they reach an average of about 175°F internal.
Finally, following Aaron's advice to spritz beef short ribs often near the end of the smoke, I spritz thoroughly every 10 to 15 minutes from 175°F on until they probe tender at around 200°F to 208°F.
-
Some areas will simply not probe tender and I do not know why this is, but when the probe breaks through the silver-skin on the bone side easily, I call that rib done and pull it to rest.
-
The following is more of what I do when smoking these "fatty-brisket-on-a-stick" beef ribs...
Keep the bones down, meat up.
Keep them away from the back side of the racks next to the manifold, and closer to the door side of the cook chamber.
If you don't you may have the meat located in a hot and heavy smoke spot, which tends to darken and dry the meat.
Add a water pan in the very bottom on the floor of the cook chamber.
Add a full sized stainless steel steam table pan that is one inch deep as a drip pan.
It catches most all of the dripping oil and dripping spritz.
Slide it into the 2nd slot from the bottom, and empty it as soon as it gets about half full of oil.
(After about two or three hours, I dump the oil in mine into a plastic 5-gallon bucket)
After it is empty, add water to almost half full.
This helps to keep the smoking chamber very moist.
-
After I pull them, I rest the meat at about 100°F to 110°F for about a half hour and then we enjoy!
Smoke On!
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