Bbq short ribs

The most relaxing days for me are days I can stay home and smoke some meat.  I tend fire.  Read.  Toss a ball around with Bbq Jr.  But I can't go far, because I have a fire to tend.  And a day that I don't get in the car is a success all around.

Today, it's beef short ribs.  This recipe is adapted from Smoke & Spice by Cheryl and Bill Jamison.  Start with 10 lb of bone-in short ribs (will feed around 10 folks, unless they're all 17-year old boys).



Bring them up to room temperature while you light a fire on your smoker. We're cooking with indirect heat today. Fire on one side, meat on the other. Wet some mesquite chunks for smoke, and then prepare the rub. It's a mix of:

¾ cup paprika
¼ cup freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup coarse salt
¼ cup sugar
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp cayenne

Mix.



Rub that good stuff all over those short ribs, and set them on the grill, bone-side down, away from the fire.



Tend that fire to keep it smoking, and keep the temperature around 200 °F.  You're going to need to cook 'em for 5 - 6 hours.  Each hour, you're going to open up the grill and mop the meat with a mop liquid (I've got a smoking box, so I don't need to open the grill to tend the fire).  The mop liquid will consist of:

1 bottle of beer
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp rub (from above)

Open each hour.  This is the first hour, pre-mop:



Look at that, starting to sweat a bit.  Yum!  Now, 2 minutes later, post-mop:



Hour 2, pre-mop:



Hour 3, pre-mop:



Meanwhile, make the glaze:

1 ½ cups ketchup
1 cup beer
¾ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup minced cilantro
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp ground anise
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tbsp Tabasco

You'll need this for the final opening.

Hour 4 ½, pre-glaze:



Hour 4 ½, post-glaze:



Hour 5 ½.



If that doesn't look crazy-good to you, you're a vegan.  Yum!  These are a nice, bright preparation of short-ribs.  Acidic, and slightly spicy.  Meat just melts in your mouth.  Really, really tasty.

Served with: