The Art of the Smoker

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and what better reason to have a big BBQ than on Super Bowl right?! It all started earlier in the week at Ralphs Supermarket where they were having a sale on pretty much all of their beef and I decided to capitalize. I picked up about 6 pounds of beef ribs and 8 pounds of tri-tip (my favorite). I'd never cooked ribs before but I was excited to give it a shot. On Saturday I started doing some serious research on how best to cook the ribs and it became clear that I needed to acquire a smoker for this endeavor. Not knowing a whole lot about smokers I went to Home Depot to check the selection and spent about 3 hours there trying to figure out what I wanted. Charcoal vs. Gas, Vertical vs. Barrel/Pit smoker, $ vs. $$$. I ended up going for the opened box vertical gas smoker. Here's why: It was cheap ($100), I can control the temp easier with gas (I'm still a novice), and I liked the compactness of the vertical smoker. I brought home my new smoker and went to "season" it with a small batch of beef jerky and low and behold...it didn't work. Whatever mechanically challenged idiot that put this thing together had it all wrong...no wonder they took it back. So I did what I do best and took it apart and put it back together the RIGHT way. Presto, it works! The first attempt at smoking was a moderate success, the jerky was good but a bit overcooked.

Beef Ribs and Brisket in the smoker.

Super Bowl Sunday was upon us and my roommates were getting pretty excited to taste some smoked meats out of my new smoker. My roommate Brad picked up the biggest piece of Beef Brisket I've ever seen and we started smoking it around 9:30am and they'd be done by halftime. (Smoking meat takes a long time!) Around noon I started mixing up the ingredients to my wet rib rub from the book my amazing girlfriend got me. Yellow mustard, water, apple cider vinegar, and worcester sauce (pretty simple). And the dry rub: Garlic salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and Kosher salt (again, pretty simple). I applied the wet rub first then generously sprinkled the dry rub over all the ribs. Next, I put the ribs in the smoker and let it cook about 3 hours. After 3 hours I pulled out the golden brown ribs and wrapped them in tin foil but not before added the "wrapping mixture" of brown sugar, honey, and butter. I put the wrapped ribs back in the smoker for another 45 minutes to let the wrapping mixture caramelize and deliciousness really come out! After I took it out, this is what I ended up with!...

Finished Beef Ribs on top of my Dad's Famous Tri-Tip.

By far the best ribs I've ever had. The meat just peeled right off the bone and the flavors of the smokiness and sweetness together was simply amazing. The only draw back was that I couldn't stop eating which left me with a stomach ache and a food coma. I will definitely cook these ribs again soon!