Grease Pit

PREP TIME: 1 hour

COOK TIME: 5-6 HOURS

PIT TEMP: 250º

There are a couple of style of ribs you can get. It is either spare ribs or baby backs (I can’t help but sing the Chili’s commercial). Today we are going to focus only on the baby backs. Baby backs are a little smaller but can sometimes come with more meat on the bones depending on where you get them. This time around I picked up mine from my local Walmart. There is nothing wrong with shopping at Walmart, Costco, and Sams. But, nothing beats supporting your local butcher. I love going to my local butcher, it reminds me of the tv show Cheers you know; where everybody knows your name. I can walk in and ask all the dumb questions that I have I don’t feel judged at all. They care and they want everyone to enjoy what they are about to cook. The cook is usually only as good as the meat that goes on.

With baby backs the first thing you want to do is take off the membrane that is on the back side of the ribs. Now, you really don’t have to but be careful it can become tough and hard to eat and will ruin your experience when eating. Once, you have the membrane off I like to put a very small small small sprinkling of salt. I do this to get the moisture started on the meat so when I throw my rub on it sticks just a little better. You can use a binding agent and the most popular one I have seen around is mustard. The mustard does two things it helps bind the rub to the meat as well as add another flavor profile to the ribs. I am unable to use mustard as my family has food allergies to how the mustard is made. Go ahead and get your favorite rub and do an even covering on both sides of the rib. Let it rest for about 10 minutes and do another round of rub, but this time to want to actual rub the rub into your ribs. I then put the ribs back into the fridge for about 30 minutes and then take out for 10 minutes to before you put on the smoker.

While you are letting your ribs rest in the fridge go ahead and get your grill or smoker up to 250º. I like to use a mixture of apple and hickory wood. I love the balance of flavor you get when you combine those two woods. I will do this mixture on chicken as well. I use just hickory when I cook beef or pizza (a post for later). Now that you got your smoker or grill to temp go ahead and throw your ribs on and we are going to let the ribs smoke for 3 hours. Now, here is a little tip to keep your ribs most. After the first hour start spritzing your ribs with a mixture of apple juice and water every half hour for the next two hours. This will also help with the color and bark of your ribs. After 3 hours you can either wrap the ribs in butcher paper or tin foil. I wrap mine in butcher paper I like the results I get with the bark on the ribs. There are a lot of people who use tinfoil and will add extra flavors. By wrapping that will help the cooking and tendering process of the meat. I only leave my meat wrapped for about an hour. I put the ribs back on and put a layer of BBQ sauce on the top of the ribs. I will do this every 20 minutes during that hour.

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 8 1/2 hours

Pit temp: 275º - 295º

To start your prep for your pork butt, you will want to layout some tinfoil or get a tinfoil pan. I find it is easier to clean up after the meat sets on it. There is a fat cap on one side, and you can choose to trim or not trim it off. One reason for trimming is so you can get as much bark on your meat and make it better for serving so you don’t leave your guest with a mouth full of fat. Once you made that choice, go ahead and get out your favorite BBQ rub and do a good pass over the whole pork butt. Let this sit for about 15-20 minutes, and let the season start to draw out some moisture and get the seasoning in the meat. Go ahead and get your pit going while the meat is sitting. I use a mixture of apple and hickory would on all of my pork products. Now you can take your rub and do another pass over your meat, and after that, go ahead and put the pork butt in the refrigerator and let it sit while you get your pit up to temp.

With your pit up to temp (I run my at 275º to start), go ahead and place your meat on the pit. I like to spritz the port butt every hour for five hours with a mixture of apple juice and water. This will help keep the meat moist as well as help with the bark. When your five hours are up, or your internal temp reaches 145º-155º, it is time to wrap your pork butt for the rest of the cook. I choose to use pink butcher for my wrap over tinfoil. I have found it does a great job of helping the cooking process and holding heat, and keeping the integrity of the bark.

After you wrap the pork butt put it back on the pit for about another 3-4 hours or until an internal temp of 203º. I have found that I can get the best texture of meat when I reach an internal temp of 203º-205º. Now you are going to want to grab a cooler and a towel that you don’t mind the possibility of juice getting on. You will let pork butt rest in the cooler for 1-2 hours the longer the better. This will give your meat a chance to soak back up some of the juice it is sitting in. Then grab your favorite pair of claws or a couple big fork and start pulling the pork butt. If you can stand the temp you can also put on some food safe gloves and pull the pork by hand. Get your favorite sides and sauce and serve it up.

Prep time: 40-50 minutes Cook time: 1.5-2.5 hours Rest time: 30 minutes-2 hours

Tri-tip is something that I stumbled upon by accident in my short journey of smoking, and it quickly became my favorite thing to cook and eat. When cooked to a temperature between 140º - 145º, the texture, and smoothness of the bite of meat you will eat I would put up there with any other Cut of beef.

When you get tri-tip, you will get a piece of meat that will weigh between 1.5-2.5lbs. I have a family of 6(2 adults and 4 kids with the oldest being 14) and there. is plenty for all of us with a few slices left over to go into a steak and cheese omelett in the morning. We love to pair this with baked potatoes and freshly cooked brocoli or califlower and the ultimate is corn on the cob when it is in season.

Like most if not all of my meat I get from Sam’s Club and tri tip is no different. Sam’s Club and Costco are great options to get good cuts of meat at really good pricing. Yes…you may get more than what you immedietly need but just wrap it and prep it for the freezer for when you want to have it again (stay tune for the frozen meat challenge). When I get tri-tip at Sam’s it usually comes in a pack of 2 and the price can range from $30-$50. While you are there go ahead and get a bag of bake potatoes too.

Prepping a tri-tip for me is farely simple. Go ahead and do a good covering of salt (I use a sea salt with a medium size grind) and let that sit for about 10-15 minutes just enough time to let moisutre to start coming out. Once you see moisture go ahead and put pepper on. When I pepper mine I like to see it over the whole but not covering it so much that you can’t see the meat. But, go ahead and more or less pepper to what you prefer. I don’t add any other seasonings and let the meat sit for about another 20-25 minutes. While your meat is sitting go ahead and get your smoker or grill to 250º.