Turnpike Smoke Beef Ribs

Turnpike Smoke

Medium, 3.5 oz, $9

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What you need

• 1 rack beef plate short ribs, 3 bones, about 5 to 6 lb
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard, as a binder
• 1/3 cup Turnpike Smoke
• 1 tsp coarse black pepper (optional, for more bark)
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 cup water, in a spray bottle
• Pickles, white bread and sliced onion, to serve

How it goes

1. Trim the fat cap on top down to about a quarter inch and take off any loose silverskin on the meat side. Leave the membrane on the bone side.
2. Smear a thin coat of mustard over the top and the edges, just enough for the seasoning to stick. You will not taste it.
3. Coat the ribs heavily with Turnpike Smoke on the top and sides, plus the pepper if you want a harder bark, and let them sit while the smoker comes up to temperature.
4. Bring the smoker to 275F and hold it there. Lay the ribs bone side down, close the lid and leave them alone for the first 3 hours.
5. After 3 hours, spritz the edges every 45 minutes or so, wherever the surface looks dry.
6. When the meat reads 170 to 175F and the bark is dark and set (it no longer smears when you touch it), you can wrap the rack tightly in butcher paper to push through the stall, or leave it unwrapped for a crunchier bark. Both are right.
7. Keep cooking until the thickest part between the bones reads 203 to 205F and a probe slides in like it is going into soft butter, usually 7 to 8 hours in all.
8. Rest the ribs wrapped in paper inside a dry cooler for at least an hour. Slice between the bones and serve with pickles, white bread and onion.

Worth knowing

• Probe tender beats any number. If it reads 203F and still fights the probe, give it another 30 minutes and check again.
• Chuck short ribs work the same way and usually finish about an hour sooner.
• Leftovers make the best tacos you will eat all week: chop, warm in a skillet and finish with a squeeze of lime.

Pit note. The rack is done when the probe says so. The clock is only there to tell you when to start the sides.