Short Ribs are one of my favorite beefy flavors. I plan to smoke some using this method: I like the idea of the bean dish catching the drippings, and since short ribs are fatty, this is cool! OK, so I don't want the drippings bitter from smoke. I'll cook the ribs and beans in the CS without any smoke until they are nearly done. Then I'll take out the beans and smoke the ribs.

Any comments or suggestions on this?

Andi, been smoking beans and catching the drippings from the meat for decades. Let as much "smoky" dripping fall in the beans as you like. The final product won't taste bitter from the drippings.

Here's how we like to do it:

We put our bean recipe(s) into disposable aluminum trays or half trays. (No clean up - cuz you know my name.) Put the trays under the meat. Stir the beans about once per hour. Or, leave them alone and let a crust develop on top of the beans. Then stir and mix in that crust before serving.

One small problems with CS: To stir as much as we'd like, we've got to open our door too often.

Tip: If you can do so, keep your pit temp to the lowest side of what you like. You do not want the beans to "cook" and bubble in the pit. That would reduce them (dry up the juice). Maybe put them 2nd shelf from the top? We haven't cooked beans in the CS yet. When we do, we are going to want them as high in the pit as possible for long cooks.

Again, forget about bitterness. It's not going to happen, were you to cook them for 10 hours.

Double Lazy

Why not put an empty pan under the meats, catch the juices, put in fridge, skim excess fat, put juices and some of the fat in the beans??? Then you control the beans without opening and closing...

When I do the smoked prime rib, I use the dripping to make the au jus.... yum...

CG, the opening and closing of the door is not for the drippings, it's to stir the crust that forms on top of the beans from the cooking. We'd have to stir, with or without the drippings.

Don't know if the smoke contributes to the crust, but it's always there when we Q the beans, and not there when we bake in the oven. Maybe you can explain why that happens for us.

Double Lazy

Hey, Andi....Hope you're feeling better....I always put a pan about the size of that bottom rack in your CS to catch the drippin's....I always use the bottom rack and have not had a sticking ,or over bubbling problem....If anything, the beans refuse to thicken enough.....I put beans under almost everything except fish, and I have yet to have a bitterness problem.....Of course, being somewhat a son of the south ,we like drippin's with most anything.

CG,

I love the idea of skimming the fat and keeping the drippings. Have you ever reduced the drippings to a thicker consistency, like to say as thick as a soup base? Just a thought. Concentrated Q! Whoa!

While I know that I am never going to have cholesterol/fat/calorie free barbeque (who'd want it? Sounds like smokey oatmeal to me!) I think that we can go a long way towards eating healthy and still enjoying the real article! (unfortunately, the best way to do that is to limit the size of our portions . . . and where's the fun in that??)

Tom, when you say that the beans don't thicken, are you speaking in a CS because they always thicken in an offset. If that's the case, we can't wait to make beans in the CS...been avoiding it because of the stirring situation.

Double Lazy

COG, hate to throw cold water on the thought of Q being good for you in any way, shape or form, but that's just not the case. Doesn't matter if you boil the poop out of it before smoking...just no way that ribs, butts, or briskets are going to show up on anyone's diet.

Went to a nutritionist when diagnosed with type II diabetes and we went round and round about fat, carbs, etc. Forgot more about it than I care to remember, which was the bottom line...it's still loaded with fat.

I love Q.
I eat Q.
But, I'm not about to kid myself about how it can be made good for me.

Double Lazy

Double L,I meant strictly with my CS....Sometimes,they can even make some of the canned beans harder.....Probably not stirring,and no steam rising through them....They are still great though.

I thought we had decided on another thread that smoked drippings would be bitter? No matter, you guys have sold me. Anybody got an idea how long 3 lbs. of short ribs will take? I was gonna do them yesterday, but took a trip, and then last night fresh Ling Cod and Oysters came home with my husband. Yowza! That took precedence. Ribs tonight!

I did the best Beer Can Chicken of my life on Friday night! No, not in my CS, in Precious, The Girlie Grill. But! I used the CS Chix Rub and we thought we'd died and gone to heaven! The meat was fabulous, but the skin was stupendous! What a wonderful spice blend!

Andi, don't know that this helps, but here's my experience with beef ribs..seems to apply, regardless of size of bones, meat, etc....

Our STL spares take about 3.5 hours indirect, or CS at 225. Beef ribs have always taken us at least an hour longer.

As you know, beef ribs have tons of fat and tend to take a looong time to render. They're actually done long before they're done. That is, they are quite edible before we'd ever think of taking them off. In fact, it's pretty difficult for anyone with experience to overcook them.

Problem is that the tear test means squat with beef ribs. Likewise with sticking a fork into them. What we do is cut one bone from the rack and keep tasting it. Seems stupid, but we haven't found a better way, as yet.

Also, the membranes are a real struggle to remove. So, why do we bother cooking them? Cuz, if they're rendered, they're delicious and well worth the effort.

Double Lazy

Andi,

The bitterness we talked about before was using the dripping from "outside" the CS, I believe.

A lot of these idea include catching the drippings inside in another pan.

One reason the bean might come out a little soup is that in an offset, the humidity level is low so the moisture in the beans evaporate quickly. I've found, beans in my CS, I have to start with less liquid (especially if adding drippings).

Smokin'Okie

Smokin', we'd smoke beans about 3 out of 5 cookings. Have yet to use CS for beans. Will cook them next time out fersure.

Question: Would you skim off some juice and get the beans to the consistancy you like them before cooking? We'd most always add liquid on long cooks with an offset. So, not sure where I am with beans first time out.

Double Lazy

Hey,Doulble L....First time you do them,don't drain them.....Take them out stir well and let set uncovered on the counter....See where that leaves you.....Make your own guesstimates then....The length of the cook will play a role.....A little soupy ain't all bad, 'specially if ya got some cornbread. .....It will also depend on if you cook your vegetables down to release the liquid before adding and how much Q trimmings you throw in....Wife says I always over do it....Oh,well.

TMan, that's good advice. Easier to remove excess juice later than to put back into beans.

You know you are right about the dipping corn bread. Wonder how that would work were we to skim the juice and use it in a dipping bowl with fresh bread...hmmm.

Double Lazy