First, I’m gonna give you my recipe for a dry rub.
To be honest, lots of folks claim they have the “best” rub. Really, it’s just combining a bunch of seasonings you like. You’ll figure out your own soon enough.
You can mix all the spices into a small bowl and add them after they’re mixed, or line your spices up and apply them one at a time. Either way works fine.
…I start mine with regular salt and pepper.
I add some dry mustard, it gives it a little tang. Then paprika. I also add a fair amount of Lawry’s season salt. Garlic powder is always good, and finally cinnamon, yep, cinnamon
If you decide to do this in a small bowl, be sure and mix it all up, so everything gets the same amount of spice. If you apply them individually, be sure and cover the whole piece of meat. Either way, after applying the spices, “rub” them into the meat (that’s where the name comes from).
Now, on to some cooking…
📌What you’ll need: at least one rack of ribs, seasoning rub, tinfoil (used to wrap the ribs for the last hour or so). For basting: Apple Cider Vinegar, brown sugar, yellow mustard, bar-b-Que sauce.
Let’s do some ribs. Lately I’ve been using Smithfield Extra Tender, Extra Meaty, that I get at Walmart, but you can use just about any pork rib and end up with something tasty. Buy what you can find, and look for sales.
Once you get your ribs home and are ready to cook, cut them into sections of about 3 or 4 ribs each. Be sure to rinse the ribs off after opening the packaging, don’t ask me why, just do it, you don’t wanna know. Next, once you get them sectioned, rub that bunch of spices you put together previously all over the ribs. I bought a small rack that allows you to stand the ribs up for even cooking. Not necessary, but also allows you to cook more per shelf or rack.
As we did for the chicken, we plug in our smoker, place our soaked wood chunks on the element (some smokers have a separate box to place the chips in) and then fill the water pan. Put your ribs on the racks in your smoker, close the door, or put the lid on, and walk away. Ribs take around 4 or 5 hours. The good news is, and what makes smoking meats so forgiving, is the fact that leaving things a little longer in the cooker, will not cause them to burn and be ruined. Lot’s of slack in this cooking method. ( a grateful concession to us non- pros.)
⏲After a couple of hours, I baste the ribs. My baste is made from about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of water, couple of tablespoons of yellow mustard, couple of tablespoons of my favorite bar-b-que sauce, and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir them up well, and grab a basting brush and head to the smoker. While the ribs are on the rack, baste them generously with the mixture you just made. Close the door, or shut the lid, and go watch a movie or a game. When we have about an hour left in the cooking time, baste them once more. Give it a couple of minutes, then bring the ribs in for the next step.
From my experience, you’ll need some tongs if you’ve used a standing rack. Those suckers tend to be be hard to extricate from those racks, and they’re hot. Once you get them on to a cookie sheet, wrap each portion of ribs, tightly with a heavy tin foil. Then replace them on the smoker, not necessary to put them back in the rack, that parts done. Give them another hour to hour and a half, and they’re done.
They will fall off the bone! Bring your favorite bar-b-que sauce to the table for dipping and you’re set.
To move on to our next cool thing to smoke, we will use almost all the things we put together for our ribs, but this time, we’re cooking a Boston Butt, a pork shoulder roast, not and actual Butt, that’s a ham. Use the rub we made for the ribs, and we’ll also use the baste.
* A small issue that some people tend to argue for and against, is bone-in or boneless. To be honest, either way is fine. One thing you will notice with a bone-in butt, is that you can clearly see that there are also two shades of meat in a Boston butt. Yep, a dark and a light. Not so noticeable in a boneless, but there are two distinct camps, go figure.
The cooking time will change. If you want to have dinner at 6, start the smoking between 10:00am and 11:00am.
⚖️ Depending on the weight, a Boston butt takes between 7 and 8 hours, so plan accordingly. Baste it every couple of hours until you get to the last 1 1/2 or 2 hours, when you’ll bring them in and wrap them as you did the ribs, in heavy tinfoil and replace them in the smoker. When your ready to eat, the pork will be tender and what most folks call “pulled pork”, you can separate with a fork. If you prefer slices of pork, shorten the cooking time, it will still be done, just a little more together. Still delicious.
*HERE’S THE PICS…
That’s all for now… be back with another installment soon.
Dads Can Cook! I BELIEVE!✨
