Tonight: smoked dino ribs.
Source: had to call them in at Sam's Club. Ours has a great meat department, their beef always tastes amazing. They seem to supply a lot of area restaurants. They usually put these out pre-cut for braising. They held out 2 cryo-packs for me, uncut. About 50 pounds. Pre-cook weight, approx. 2 lbs per bone. Post-cook weight, 1.25 lbs. Minus the bone, 14 oz. of pure heaven. Un-cut price was $5.26/lb, about $10.50 per rib. I'll be experimenting with these all winter!
Prep: slice ribs and age overnight (if I had more time, I'd have put the slab in the fridge, dry and uncut, on a metal mesh grate, and let them age a week or more. This is how I do my brisket). Bring out of fridge well before putting them on cooker, to let them come to room temperature (ok, 58 degF today). Remove silver skin and excess fat, leaving 1/8-1/4" fat cap when possible. Rub with vegetable oil and rub mix (1/3 cup kosher salt, 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, tablespoon each fresh ground coffee, chili powder, roasted cumin, yellow mustard). Sub cayenne for chili if you want results with more heat.
Cook: Wet smoke over mesquite and hickory. I was a little pressed for time, so I went about 3.5 hours @ 300-325 degF (I usually try to cook at around 225-250 degF). I pulled them off at 195 degF internal temp - next time I'm going to 205 degF.
Result: most all connective tissue melted, as evidenced by the way the meat pulls back from the bone. Soft, marbled, buttery texture inside, nice barky crisp outside. Delicious and tender, great beef flavor under smokiness under caramelized rub. Served with sauteed spinach and baked potatoes.
Sorry for the poor pic.
