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Smoked BBQ Spare Ribs
Smoked BBQ Spare Ribs
Ribs are definitely my specialty. This is the first time I get to smoke a rack of spare ribs in my smoker. I purchased a whole 5lbs spare rib rack with the riblet still attached. I like to remove the riblet and save for soups. In this case, I chopped them into smaller riblets and threw them in the brine with the rack. Then I dry rubbed them with my Jamaican jerk seasoning, smoked them, and tossed in Jamaican jerk bbq sauce. But that’s for another recipe. If your rack of ribs is too wide for your smoker, I suggest cutting them in half. It’s a little easier to handle. There are a couple of approaches you can choose to do with your ribs. You can apply a dry rub to the ribs and let them marinate overnight in the refrigerator before smoking. Another way is to brine the ribs for 4 hours, then apply a dry rub. I like the amount of moisture and flavor that brining adds to meat, so I went that route. Once brined, pat dry with paper towels and apply the dry dry rub on both sides. Let the rack sit at room temperature for an hour before smoking.Hickory is a great wood to use for smoking ribs. I added some peach wood in addition to add some sweetness to the smoke. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Throw in your rack. Maintain a smoking temp between 225-250 degrees for 4 hours. At the 4 hour point, brush on your favorite bbq sauce and smoke for another hour. Let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 4-5 lb spare ribs
- bbq sauce
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 white onion sliced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 bay leaves
Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- peach wood chips
Instructions
- Mix the brining ingredients together.
- Brine the ribs for at least 4 hours. Pat the ribs dry with paper towels.
- Mix the dry rub ingredients together.
- Rub both sides of the ribs heavily with the dry rub. Let rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Throw in the ribs. Maintain the smoking temp between 225-250 degrees for 4 hours.
- Brush a layer of your favorite bbq sauce on the ribs. Smoke for at least 1 more hour.
- Let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Thai-Style Smoked Pork Sirloin
Thai-Style Smoked Pork Sirloin
I happened to stumble across whole bone-in pork sirloins at the grocery store that I assume were mispriced for $.99/lb. So I hopped on that and bought a couple. $4 a piece; who can beat that?! I wanted to stuff it, roll it, and smoke it. So when I smoked that joint, I thought, hey. Let’s bone out the sirloin and stuff it, roll it, and smoke it. I wanted to do something different with it. I first hammered down the sirloin so it was equal thickness to stuff and roll. I decided to give the sirloin a Thai inspired flavor. The brine contained ingredients that you’d find in a lot of Thai cuisine: palm sugar, lemongrass, garlic, birds eye chilies, lime, shallots, Thai basil. The sirloin was only 3lbs, so it needed no more than 4 hours to brine. I put a layer of shallots and lemon and lime basil from my garden across what will be the inside of the sirloin. I then rolled it up and tied it with butchers twine. I pat it dry and let it rest at room temp for an hour.When it dame time to smoking the sirloin, I preheated my smoked 250 degrees. At the 2 hour mark, I took the temp with a thermometer. For pork sirloin, you want the internal temp to read between 145-150 degrees. It was done at that point. Let the pork rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing. It turned out really juicy and flavorful. It really absorbed a lot of the Thai brining ingredients, giving the sirloin that sweet, salty, savory, spicy, sour essence.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Meat Mallet
- Butchers Twine
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork sirloin
- 2 shallots sliced
- 1/4 cup Thai basil
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup palm sugar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 birds eye chilies chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass chopped
- 2 shallots sliced
- 1 lime juiced
- 3 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- cherrywood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together.
- Brine the pork sirloin for 4 hours.
- I layed out the pork sirloin and hammered it to an equal thickness to roll and tie it. Spread a layer of sliced shallots and Thai basil across the sirloin.
- Roll it up and tie with butchers twine. Pat the outside dry with paper towel and let rest at room temp for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the sirloin for 2 hours. Using a probe thermometer, pull the pork once it reaches an internal temperature of 145-150 degrees.
- Let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
- Slice into 1/4” thick slices.
Smoked Whole Chicken
Smoked Whole Chicken
My favorite way to prepare chicken is to leave it whole. Brining and smoking it adds a ton of flavor and gives it a nice golden brown color. A 4lb. chicken will take 4 hours to brine and about 3 hours to smoke. Chicken is something that takes on whatever flavor you introduce to it, so I used a combination of hickory and oak wood chips for smoking. You can really use whatever type of wood chips that you like. You will want to take the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh, not the breast; despite how many recipes out there that tell you the opposite. The reason why is that the breast will get done first before the thigh. The thigh needs to temp at 180 degrees, unlike the breast at 165. The thigh at 165 degrees is still too tough. It needs that extra 15 degrees to tenderize and render out the fat. When finished, let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 4 lbs whole chicken
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- oak wood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients.
- Brine the chicken for 4 hours in a gallon sized storage bag.
- Place the chicken on a rack. Pat dry with paper towels. Allow to rest at room temp for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the chicken until the internal temperature reads 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh; about 3 hours.
- Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.
