Here are some pictures of some spare ribs I did yesterday in my new cookshack. These were very good with a nice smoky taste and aroma. Spicy and sweet!

Here's the process:

1) Remove membrane on back of ribs.

2) Rub them with your favorite rub

3) Add 4 ounces of apple wood to the cookshack (there is a nice selection of cookshacks on ebay this morning!)

4) Toss them in the cookshack at 250 for about 4 hours.

5) Take them out and glaze them if you like. I used:

 a) a 60/40 mix of honey and bullseye bbq sauce on one

 b) pinapple habanero texas pepper jelly on the other

6) put them back in the cookshack for about an hour

Done!


View Pictures

The process of smoking meats is actually pretty easy but getting consistently good results requires attention to a few details and the right equipment. Fortunately, if you have a grill with a lid you can smoke just about anything but there are a few tricks and some equipment that make this easier.


1) Any grill with a lid will do...even a gas grill. If you want to smoke larger pieces of meat or enough ribs for more than a few people you would do better with a larger, barrel type grill or better yet an offset grill or smoker. You've seen those at your local hardware store...the large barrel type grill with a smaller firebox on the side. These are great for all types of smoking and grilling and you can grab one off ebay for about $100-$200. With very little care they last for many years and are well worth the investment.

 2) A strong set of tongs and some high temperature gloves. You won't EVER want to poke or prod your meat with a fork so a good heavy duty set of tongs for small to medium size meat is important. For larger cuts like pork butts or beef brisket, a good set of gloves are perfect for handling the meat. I like insulated rubber gloves so I can just wash them off (outside only! don't get the insulation wet) and put them away for next time.

 3) A meat thermometer. You need this and I recommend you spend around $30 to get a good electronic remote thermometer off ebay.  You stick it in the meat and go about your business. When the meat hits the desired temperature the remote thermometer lets you know and you go pull the meat off the grill. Trust me...you will end up with a better product every time if you invest in a good thermometer!

 4) Charcoal and wood. For the charcoal you should find a good lump coal or charwood type - I prefer the charwood and it is usually available at a local grocer near you if you can't find a deal on ebay for that product. You don' want to use a matchlight type product for smoking because you may be adding charcoal (for longer smokes) and you don't want the fire to spark back up and burn the meat or throw your temperatures way off. The wood is for flavoring the meat. You can grab a bag of the wood chips or chunks off ebay. The type of wood you use will depend upon your personal taste and the type of meat you are smoking but for pork a fruitwood is always good (apple, cherry, peach) or a fruitwood with some hickory. If you can't find a fruitwood hickory is just fine. For beef, hickory or mesquite are good. Mix in some fruitwood to mellow out the mesquite a littel if you don't like the strong smokey flavor mesquite imparts on it's own.

5) I like a good rub for the meat and maybe some sauce to finish it off at the end. I don't think there is a meat that I don't use a dry rub on and there are so many rubs on the market these days it's just a matter of finding some that you like. I like texasbbqrub but you will need to experiment with different rubs to find one that is perfect for you. I use a little sauce on Pork (especially ribs) applied towards the end of the smoke. Again you will need to find one that you like but I typically use a better store bought sauce (not house brand or kraft ;-) and then add enough honey to make a 50/50 mix. Add less honey (or none) if you don't want a sweet/spicy meat.



There are some other items you can add to your bbq equipment...a chimney starter to start fresh coals, a fire extinguisher, a brush for saucing the meat, etc. But if you gather the list above we can cook some pretty good BBQ!


Next...lets talk about the process and getting ready to BBQ.

As a long time purveyor of the pit, I want to start by saying that when we speak of BBQ, we aren't talking about cooking foods over high heat on the grill. We are talking about a slow to medium process of cooking food in a smoky environment. Typically, a large piece of meat such as a Pork Butt or Beef Brisket...cooked for a long period of time using low heat settings.

And, while I use an offset smoker, I recently purchased a Cookshack and must say I'm already getting some very fine results from this device. I know the purists are rolling over right now but to me, it's about the finished product..not the process.

So we don't confuse BBQ'ing and grilling, let me just define grilling as direct cooking over your heat source. So you grill hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, etc. And you slow cook ribs, pork butts/picnics (shoulder), and briskets.