In the introduction to the epic book Peace, Love, and Barbecue, food critic Jeffrey Steingarten shares this advice, “Tips, we learn, are so much more important than recipes…”  After taking a six hour class from BBQ champion Dana “Big Papa” Hillis of Naples, Florida – I realized that is exactly what my takeaways were. Yes, there are some recipes posted down below, but actually they are more like methods and procedures – with a lot of wiggle room.  Barbecuing via smokers is a process and everyone puts their own spin on it.  So enjoy these recipes and tips that were shared with me, and please comment below on how you do it!  *Spoiler alert – Hillis’ approach is all about BBQ competitions, or in other words, winning a judge over at first bite; he uses a lot of butter and sugar!

Hillis brought some of his BBQ buddies to help out with the class. The guy in the top right is the pit master at The Wood Pile BBQ Shack in Clawson, Michigan. Below are the legendary Wolfe brothers from Orlando, Florida. Here is some of the wisdom they imparted:

“BBQ guys don’t go anywhere without their knives.”

“Learn your cooker, learn your hot-spots.”

“Each time you barbecue, write down what you do, then if you ‘hit it’ right, you’ve got it down on paper.”

“Use apple juice in spray bottle to keep meat moist while cooking.”

“If you are serious about BBQ, you need an internal probe to measure temperature –  internal temperature is the most important thing to know to tell if meat is done, especially steaks.”

Serving amounts needed:

1 meat – 6 oz. per person.

2 meats – 5 oz. per person

3 meats – 4 oz. per person

“Clean grill while it is still warm” – use scraper or wad of aluminum foil.

“Hollywood Cut  is a trick from the barbecue competition circuit, they discard every other bone so each remaining bone has double the meat and even pile loose meat in between ribs.”

 

Procedure for Smoker Ribs

Types of Ribs:

Country Style Beef Ribs

Baby backs

Spare Ribs

St. Louis Cut Ribs

Choose your preference

Pull skin off back so rub gets in – “When you take a bite you get a taste of the bottom of the rib as well as the top.”

Use piece of paper towel –  some people use pliers.

However, sometimes the skin is already off.

Use the 3 – 2 – 1 Method.

Usually, this means 3 hours of smoking,unwrapped at 225 degrees, followed by 2 hours of cooking wrapped in foil (with a little liquid, such as apple cider), followed by 1 hour of cooking unwrapped at a higher temperature, with a generous basting of barbecue sauce.

But – this is the way Hillis does it:

Indirect heat for about 3 hours –  between 230 degrees and 240 degrees.  Hillis feels like 234 degrees is the optimal temperature and usually for him, this three hour part is more like 2 1/2 hours. “When you start seeing bones pull back, they are ready to be pulled off.”  Then he slathers the meat side with butter or margarine, honey, and brown sugar. He wraps the ribs in foil, meat side down, and puts them back in the smoker. By the way, Hillis says all honey is not alike, “Clover honey is bland and o.k. for sauces, but orange blossom type honey seems to overpower the sauce flavor.” After a couple hours, take the ribs out, unwrap and let the internal temperature cool down to 140 degrees. Then wrap the ribs back up again and let them sit for an hour before serving.

 

Wings

Ingredients:

1 (10 pound) bag jumbo chicken wings

16 oz. Italian Dressing -“Vinegar opens pores – definitely better if they are marinated”

1 cup BBQ rub

Put all ingredients in a zip lock bag(s) and marinade overnight.

Cook at 350 degrees indirect heat, turning them over once after 45 minutes and cook until they get to 195 internal temperature.

Hillis’s sauce for wings is Franks hot sauce mixed with honey and brown sugar – a departure from the usual Franks & butter.

 

Clean out the Refrigerator Stuffed Pork Loin

Trim the fat off of the pork loin, leaving about 1/2″ of fat on.  Filet it by slicing it open lengthwise being careful not to cut all the way through, so it opens up butterfly fashion.

Sprinkle w/rub – a generous amount – on both sides

On one side,  layer any or all of below:

Spinach

Mushrooms

Provolone cheese

Onions

Red bell peppers

Salami

Prosciutto

Sun dried tomatoes

Salepenos

Season, close it, and tie it with butcher string using a mattress stitch – insert needle on side where just exited, then take to other side and insert again on that side, taking it to other side and repeat.  Sprinkle with more rub.

Cook fat side down in 300 degrees indirect heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Let internal temperature get to between 130 to 140 degrees. Hillis says 135 best, but don’t let it go past 145.

 

Eight Minute Grilled Rib Eye Steak

Meat is graded as prime, choice, or select.

Hillis uses choice and cuts the steaks 1″ thick.

Give the steaks a “salt bath” – salt very heavy with coarse sea salt, leave on for 15 minutes, then wash the salt off. This opens the pores of the meat and allows seasoning in.

Spray grate with Pam spray.

Heat grill up as high as it can go, cook 2 minutes, turn 90 degrees and cook 2 minutes, flip over and cook 2 minutes, turn 90 degrees and cook 2 more minutes. (Close the lid each time you turn or flip the steak.)

Each time you turn or flip steak, move to the other side of the grill, quickly “cleaning” the now empty part of the grate with balled up aluminum foil, before closing lid. This ensures those really nice cross hatch grill marks.

If you wish to grill a 1 inch pork chops, Hillis  sprinkles them with with McCormick Brown Sugar Bourbon Grill Mates Seasoning and Montreal Steak Seasoning, then uses this method to cook to internal temperature of 135 – pink in the middle.

 

Smoked Beef Brisket

When buying a brisket, look for piece of meat with lots of white streaks.

Cut fat off to ¼ inch on bottom.

Put rub on, and let sit in refrigerator for a few hours.

Rub:

3 parts ground black pepper

3 parts diamond crystal salt

1 part garlic powder

Then, place in smoker -fat side down at 230 degrees. Leave it in there until the internal temperature reaches 170. This could take up to 9 hours. There is a period, called the “stall”, where the temperature seems to hover somewhere between 145 and 160 degrees. Just be patient, keep the temperature constant, and wait.

Once it reaches 170 (a lot of websites say 165) take it out – it will look almost black on the outside – spray it with a bit of apple juice and double wrap it in butcher paper.

Place it back in the smoker at 275 (again – a lot of websites have a different take – like temperature still at 230 degrees) and allow the internal temperature to come up to 198 degrees.

Then take it out. The temperature will raise up 10 degrees after you pull it out of the smoker. Let it rest for an hour and allow the temperature comes down to 202 degrees. Then hold it until ready to serve by keeping it in the butcher paper, wrapping it in a towel and placing it in a cooler. (Restaurants usually bring the temperature down to 170 degrees and then hold it in a warming oven or hot box.)

Bottom line – the above is a suggested procedure – make it your own and keep data on your trials.

 

Sides

Stuffed Peppers

Use the sweet small “snacking” peppers and/or jalapeños.

While wearing gloves, cut in half, leaving stem on, and scoop out seeds and membranes.

Place the peppers in a foil pan, place in indirect heat, and allow them to cook until softened.

Then mix together:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese

1 pound sausage – browned and oil drained off

A bit of BBQ rub seasoning

 

Stuff each pepper with the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Return to the indirect heat and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly.

 

Tater Tot Bombs

Ingredients:

Tater tots

bacon – cut each slice into thirds

american cheese – cut each slice into thirds

 

Wrap each tot with a piece of cheese, then a piece of bacon, and secure with tooth pick.

Place each tot in foil pan.

Cover with brown sugar.

Cook 250 or above, until bacon gets crispy.

Drizzle with BBQ sauce before serving.

 

Grilled Veggies

“Vegetarian is an old Native American term for ‘Poor Hunter’ ”

In a foil pan, place slower cooking vegetables on bottom and top, faster cooking in the middle.

Use any or all of the following:

Green beans

Eggplant

Tomato

Onion

Corn

Potato

Yellow squash

Add butter through out.

 

Cook about 3 hours at 300 degrees.

 

Baked Corn

Ingredients:

1 package Jiffy Corn Bread Mix

1 (15 oz.) can creamed corn

1 (15 oz.) can regular corn, drained

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

 

Mix all ingredients together and place in foil pan.

In regular oven bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes

In smoker  – done when firm

 

Dessert

Use Dutch baker pots (can buy liners – otherwise cleanup is so hard) or use foil pans in indirect heat.

 

Cherry Dump Cake

Ingredients:

1 can cherry pie filling

1 can crushed pineapple

1 package white cake mix

1 stick melted butter

 

Dump pie filling and pineapple in pot. Sprinkle cake mix on top and drizzle melted butter on top.

Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes in oven or in dutch oven with coals on bottom, coals on top.

 

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 (29 oz.)  can peaches ( or any canned or fresh fruit)

 

Put the melted butter in the bottom of a pan.

In a bowl, mix together sugar, self-rising flour and butter milk.  Put the flour mixture on top of melted butter.

Then put canned peaches on top with a little bit of the juice.

The “crust” will rise to the top as it cooks.

Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes in oven or in dutch oven with coals on bottom, coals on top.