Had wife's cousin and husband down from New Hampshire. Figured they never had a short rib plate being way up north. Got this one from Sam's Club. USDA Choice grade angus. 7 lbs. Trimmed off the four sharp corners. Scored the underside. Skimmed some fat off the top but not all of it. I'd say about a third of the meat was exposed, leaving 2/3 with a thin layer of fat. Removed the visible silver skin. Seasoned it with 16 mesh black pepper followed by Lawry's seasoned salt. Seasoned the front and back and the sides too.
The original plan was to cook it on the offset on Friday, but they arrived a day late because they had three feet of snow fall and no power before they left New Hampshire. So it was pushed to Saturday. But Saturday was colder and very windy - forecast high 49 - wind 10-20 mph, so I changed the cooker to the drum. Used the stock charcoal basket. Put eight large chunks of Post Oak on the grate spread out (Harry Soo method) and then one layer of Kingsford blue bag on the bottom followed by a large pile of Rockwood Lump. I piled on as much as the basket would hold because I didn't want to run out during the cook. Then I laid some pieces of beef fat on the top of the lump. Lit it in the middle (minion) using two tumbleweeds at about 11 AM. Placed large dry water pan on next to block radiant heat. Then grate. After about 15 mins, I put the plate on. Used a SmokeX4 - two air probes on the grate and one in the thickest part of the meat between the largest ribs.
Wind was blowing pretty good so I put a piece of plywood, about four feet high, against the drum as a wind block.
I kept the cooker at 225-250 through most of the day. I figured 7-8 hours. The smoker temp ran perfectly without me having to do anything. However, what happens most of the time is the fire won't stay centered - it will bleed to the edge. So when the heat made its way to the edge, I placed my hand on top of the drum to feel where the fire was, and then rotated the thickest corner of the plate towards that hotter side.
When the IT reached 164, it hit the stall. So after a while I cranked the temp to 300 F which pushed through the stall.
After seven and a half hours cook time, it hit 185 which was my wrap temp. So I opened the drum and tested it with my Thermoworks One. It was super soft already! It was like butter just like they say! I was scared the thing would fall apart as I lifted it off the grate. I lifted it successfully and wrapped it tight with one layer of Reynolds Wrap Pitmaster Choice foil. Carried it in and held it in the oven at 150 (lowest temp possible). By this time it was 6:45 PM.
I was going to drizzle a little tallow under it and/or on it as I wrapped but I completely forgot. Probably the beer. But it didn't matter.
Another hour and a half goes by, everybody's talking and I'm drinking double IPAs, and I removed it from the oven, unwrapped, sliced and served. It was absolutely outstanding.
Served with homegrown potato, homegrown green veggies, and cornbread from scratch. And red wine.
Blueberry and Cherry pies made from scratch for dessert.
The original plan was to cook it on the offset on Friday, but they arrived a day late because they had three feet of snow fall and no power before they left New Hampshire. So it was pushed to Saturday. But Saturday was colder and very windy - forecast high 49 - wind 10-20 mph, so I changed the cooker to the drum. Used the stock charcoal basket. Put eight large chunks of Post Oak on the grate spread out (Harry Soo method) and then one layer of Kingsford blue bag on the bottom followed by a large pile of Rockwood Lump. I piled on as much as the basket would hold because I didn't want to run out during the cook. Then I laid some pieces of beef fat on the top of the lump. Lit it in the middle (minion) using two tumbleweeds at about 11 AM. Placed large dry water pan on next to block radiant heat. Then grate. After about 15 mins, I put the plate on. Used a SmokeX4 - two air probes on the grate and one in the thickest part of the meat between the largest ribs.
Wind was blowing pretty good so I put a piece of plywood, about four feet high, against the drum as a wind block.
I kept the cooker at 225-250 through most of the day. I figured 7-8 hours. The smoker temp ran perfectly without me having to do anything. However, what happens most of the time is the fire won't stay centered - it will bleed to the edge. So when the heat made its way to the edge, I placed my hand on top of the drum to feel where the fire was, and then rotated the thickest corner of the plate towards that hotter side.
When the IT reached 164, it hit the stall. So after a while I cranked the temp to 300 F which pushed through the stall.
After seven and a half hours cook time, it hit 185 which was my wrap temp. So I opened the drum and tested it with my Thermoworks One. It was super soft already! It was like butter just like they say! I was scared the thing would fall apart as I lifted it off the grate. I lifted it successfully and wrapped it tight with one layer of Reynolds Wrap Pitmaster Choice foil. Carried it in and held it in the oven at 150 (lowest temp possible). By this time it was 6:45 PM.
I was going to drizzle a little tallow under it and/or on it as I wrapped but I completely forgot. Probably the beer. But it didn't matter.
Another hour and a half goes by, everybody's talking and I'm drinking double IPAs, and I removed it from the oven, unwrapped, sliced and served. It was absolutely outstanding.
Served with homegrown potato, homegrown green veggies, and cornbread from scratch. And red wine.
Blueberry and Cherry pies made from scratch for dessert.
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