Howdy y’all! 
 

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and we are all remembering the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters to keep us free. What better way to remember the fallen than to do something truly American, like bbq?

This time, I’ve chosen to do this thread over the course of a couple of days, as I’m doing two different entree meats. two of my favorites. 

Smoked beef short ribs, and smoked chicken wings! Not much beats meat on the bone!! 
 

Ribs will be cooked today (Sunday), and I’ll smoke the wings on Monday. 
 

I did the prep work for the short ribs on Saturday. 
First, (as always) you start with good quality meat. I got 2 lovely racks of prime beef short ribs from Arnie’s Gourmet meats (https://www.arniesgourmet.com). I love the quality of their meat, they always carry USDA Prime cuts, and they supply meats to competition bbq guys. They KNOW their meat! I highly recommend them. Prices are reasonable too! 
These slabs are 4 bones each, and are about 8” long. These are the best for smoking. 
Sometimes you’ll see beef short ribs in your grocery store meat case, but usually they are 3” long, cut into individual ribs,  and not very meaty. They are from the bottom of the rib cage, and are best reserved for braising. For bbq, you want the slabs with 4 bones. They are from a higher cut on the rib, and are MUCH meatier. Don’t separate them into pairs or individual ribs. They will cook faster, and not allow the fat to render properly. In my experience, this leads to a tough rib. 

 

I trimmed the fat cap on top of my ribs back a good bit, because it won’t render, and besides, good short ribs have plenty of fat marbled into the meat. If we do these right, they’ll be tender, and juicy! 
Unlike pork ribs, you do not need to remove the thin membrane on the bone side of the ribs. Many people say that it helps keep these big, meaty ribs from falling off the bone in a big chunk, so you can eat it like a meat popsicle!  That being said, I removed the membrane, just because it’s my preference. 
 

My rub consisted of a 1:1:1 ratio of kosher salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic. Gave them a nice massage with the rub, and placed them in the refrigerator overnight to ‘dry brine’. This will help the meat to retain all its succulent moisture. 
 

This morning, I fired up the Pit Barrel Cooker, got a nice batch of coals going, and placed them on the rack of the smoker. 
Those of you familiar with the Pit Barrel Cooker know that one usually hangs the meat on hooks, but with these, I chose to rack them. Place them on the rack with the bone side down. 

The PBC cooks at a bit higher temperature than most traditional offset smokers. Usually 250°-275°F. I expect these ribs to be done in about 6 hours or so. 
Target temperature is much like brisket, you’ll want to get to 203°F before you pull the meat. 
Like brisket, short ribs will stall at about 170° or so. I do not recommend a foil wrap for these (Texas crutch), or they will turn to pot roast, and get all mushy. 
 

Now, we wait. 
 

In the mean time, I have prepped the chicken wings. I bought several pounds of whole wings from Arnie’s. I broke them down, and gave them a nice rub with Adkins BBQ seasoning. As a few of you know, this is what the much loved ‘Dillo Dust’ from LaRue Tactical REALLY is. 
I gave the wings a nice coating, covered them, and stuck them in the refrigerator. I’ll fire up the PBC again tomorrow to cook these. 

 

 

 

 

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So far beef ribs have been my nemesis. The ones I've tried however were a fraction of that size. Time to track down some larger ones. 

Really need to go to a good butcher shops for short ribs. The ones I’ve seen in the grocery store aren’t really suited for the smoker. 
 

I think they call the larger slabs (8”ish long, 4 bones per slab) the ‘English cut’. These are best for the smoker. 
Usually the grocery stores have ‘flanken-style’, which are the short, not so meaty cuts. The grocery stores further mess these up by separating them into individual rib pieces about 3” long. 
 

On a side note, the Argentinians REALLY know how to do Short ribs on the grill. It’s served more like a bone in steak, with a chimichurri sauce. They call this ‘Asado de Tira’. Absolutely amazing. 

Looks good my friend. What do you suggest as a bourbon pairing for the cook? Had really good results with beef ribs.

 

I’m going for a pork shoulder this weekend will start late tonight or early tomorrow morning 

19 minutes ago, Brisco said:

Looks good my friend. What do you suggest as a bourbon pairing for the cook? Had really good results with beef ribs.

 

I’m going for a pork shoulder this weekend will start late tonight or early tomorrow morning 

Nice!!! 
 

Took a quick peek at the ribs, this is about 2-2.5 hours into the cook. Coming along nicely. 
 

Regarding lubrication for the cook, Uncle Nearest 1856. 
I’ll be using Evan Williams for the bbq sauce though. Cant use something as nice as Uncle Nearest for a sauce! 

That all looks amazing!   When are you having your going-away BBQ?

Good tips on the rib source.  I've also had bad luck with beef ribs from the local grocer.

 

Ribs hit 203° and I pulled them off a few mins ago. A little over 6 hours on the PBC. 
Letting them rest for awhile. Uncovered. 
The probe slid into them as if it was warm butter, so we are good to go. 
Decent bark. We’ll see how they taste later! 

At the provocation of Mrs Tex, I made room on the PBC for the wings. I smoked them for about 1.5 hours. They turned out perfectly. The intention for the wings was to vacuum seal and freeze them for future meals...sans sauce. That way we can decide what flavor we want for that meal.  However, Mrs Tex was....hungry...and ‘taste tested’ several of them. I better get these vac sealed soon! 

 

15 minutes ago, 10X said:

That all looks amazing!   When are you having your going-away BBQ?

Good tips on the rib source.  I've also had bad luck with beef ribs from the local grocer.

 

Thanks!! 
 

Am I cooking for my own ‘going away’ bbq??? 
 

May have to incorporate that into a shotgun shoot....

28 minutes ago, Displaced Texan said:

May have to incorporate that into a shotgun shoot....

That could work!

Picture is a bit deceiving....the meat is SO moist! Tender. Nice bark. Very flavorful. Meat pulls off the bone without shredding so it has a nice chew. 
Not as much of a smoke ring as I would have liked, but I didn’t use much oak on the fire. 

 

6 hours ago, Displaced Texan said:

Picture is a bit deceiving....the meat is SO moist! Tender. Nice bark. Very flavorful. Meat pulls off the bone without shredding so it has a nice chew. 
Not as much of a smoke ring as I would have liked, but I didn’t use much oak on the fire. 

 

Looks Delicious   Where's the pineapple ?  

Not trying to hijack this thread but I a legitimate question as a novist. I have a very low end eletric smoker that I like to experiment with every once in a while. I was planning on smoking a turkey breast on Saturday but when I turned the smoker on it popped the breaker. Tried a few different outlets and same thing. I checked out a few YouTube videos and I'm thinking that the heating element went bad. If anyone  may know something different please guide me in the right direction. 

I don’t know anything about electric smokers, but as a EE, I’d say you’re right. 

Are you using extension cords to power the smoker?  Try plugging it in without one.