Beginners Guide to BBQ (Smoking Meats)

By Alex Chung

Senior Food Writer at Pro Home Cooks

I have been absolutely obsessed with smoking meat over the last few years. But the truth is I have been struggling finding my place in the BBQ world on Youtube. But when i think about the goal of Pro Home Cooks, which is to food yourself and your loved ones, that’s the reason why I BBQ. To cook good food for those around you. It doesn’t need to be competition grade or win awards. It just needs to be great enough that you and your loved ones enjoy it!

So in today’s video I am going in depth to teach you how to make delicious smoked meat at home. With my 10 step guide we are going to go over how to pick the right smoker, picking the right cuts of meat to smoke, making the perfect smokey BBQ sauce, and going through the fundaments of how to make a tender and flavorful smoked piece of meat. Click here to watch the full video and learn my 10 basic BBQ steps!

Smoked Brisket and Dino Ribs

Ingredients:

  • 3 pound brisket
  • 3 pound Dino ribs
  • Salt and pepper
  • Spray bottle filled with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar
  • Butchers paper/tin foil

    Instructions:

    1. Pat dry your meat and then start by examining your cut of meat. If there is any fat cap on your meat you can trim it back a bit.
    2. Then sprinkle on equal parts of salt and pepper all over each side of your meat.
    3. Wrap your seasoned meat up and place in the fridge for a day to dry brine.
    4. The next day set your grill to 225 and let it smoke for 2.5 hours. Do your best to not check on your meat. You really want let it cook closed.
    5. Once the 2.5 hours is up, open your grill and check it out. Give your meat a spray of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. Close it back up and let it cook for another hour.
    6. Once that hour is up you might be experiencing some stalling so increase the temperature to 250 F and smoke for 30 – 45 minutes.
    7. Once 45 minutes have passed, take your meat out and wrap it up with butcher paper/tin foil. Then put it back in and stick in the temperature probe to keep an eye on it.
    8. Continue cooking the meats for another 5.5 hours. You will be cooking it for a total of 9 hours.
    9. After those extra 5.5 hours are done, check the temperature of the meat in different spots. You want the thickest and thinnest piece to be around 195 – 205 F.
    10. Once the meat has hit that temperature range, take it off the grill, and let it rest for 3 hours. I like to let my meat cool off in a cooler so that the meat can cool down and absorb more of its juices.
    11. Once it’s cooled down, slice into it and enjoy!!

      Smoked Baby Back Ribs

      Ingredients:

      • 1.5 pound of baby back ribs
      • Salt and pepper
      • Spray bottle filled with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar
      • 1 cup of Beefy BBQ sauce

        Instructions:

        1. Pat dry your meat and then start examing your cut of meat. If there is any fat cap on your meat you can trim it back a bit.
        2. Then sprinkle on equal parts of salt and pepper all over each side of your meat.
        3. Wrap your seasoned meat up and place in the fridge for a day to dry brine.
        4. The next day set your grill to 225 and let it smoke for 2.5 hours. Do your best to not check on your meat. You really want let it cook closed.
        5. Once the 2.5 hours is up, open your grill and check it out. Give your meat a spray of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. Close it back up and let it cook for another hours.
        6. By now the hour has passed, give your baby back ribs a check. They should be close to done. Spread on your bbq sauce and let them cook for another 15 minutes.
        7. You will know that your baby back ribs are done because they will be super moist and tender and the internal temperature will be 200 F.
        8. Take them off of the grill and let them rest before enjoying them!

          Beefy BBQ Sauce

          Ingredients:

          • 1/4 cup of beef fat
          • 1/2 onion
          • 3 cloves of garlic
          • Salt and pepper to taste
          • 1 cup of ketchup
          • 1/3 cup of brown sugar
          • 1/3 cup of molasses
          • 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
          • 1/4 of soy sauce
          • 1 spoonful of miso paste

            Instructions:

            1. In a pot add in your beef fat. Let it render out. You should have about 1/4 cup of beef fat in your pot. Strain out your beef cracklings.
            2. Then add in your onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Turn your heat to medium and let that become soft and translucent.
            3. Next, add in your ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and miso paste. Let it boil for 5 minutes on medium low.
            4. Then take an immersion blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
            5. Let it cool and pour into a jar or squeeze bottle.
            5.0/5 for 1 reviews

            Beginners Guide to BBQ (Smoking Meats)

            Ingredients:

            Smoked Brisket and Dino Ribs

            • 3 pound brisket
            • 3 pound Dino ribs
            • Salt and pepper
            • Spray bottle filled with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar
            • Butchers paper/tin foil

            Smoked Baby Back Ribs

            • 1.5 pound of baby back ribs
            • Salt and pepper
            • Spray bottle filled with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar
            • 1 cup of Beefy BBQ sauce

            Beefy BBQ Sauce

            • 1/4 cup of beef fat
            • 1/2 onion
            • 3 cloves of garlic
            • Salt and pepper to taste
            • 1 cup of ketchup
            • 1/3 cup of brown sugar
            • 1/3 cup of molasses
            • 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
            • 1/4 of soy sauce
            • 1 spoonful of miso paste

            Instructions:

            Smoked Brisket and Dino Ribs

            1. Pat dry your meat and then start by examining your cut of meat. If there is any fat cap on your meat you can trim it back a bit.
            2. Then sprinkle on equal parts of salt and pepper all over each side of your meat.
            3. Wrap your seasoned meat up and place in the fridge for a day to dry brine.
            4. The next day set your grill to 225 and let it smoke for 2.5 hours. Do your best to not check on your meat. You really want let it cook closed.
            5. Once the 2.5 hours is up, open your grill and check it out. Give your meat a spray of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. Close it back up and let it cook for another hour.
            6. Once that hour is up you might be experiencing some stalling so increase the temperature to 250 F and smoke for 30 – 45 minutes.
            7. Once 45 minutes have passed, take your meat out and wrap it up with butcher paper/tin foil. Then put it back in and stick in the temperature probe to keep an eye on it.
            8. Continue cooking the meats for another 5.5 hours. You will be cooking it for a total of 9 hours.
            9. After those extra 5.5 hours are done, check the temperature of the meat in different spots. You want the thickest and thinnest piece to be around 195 – 205 F.
            10. Once the meat has hit that temperature range, take it off the grill, and let it rest for 3 hours. I like to let my meat cool off in a cooler so that the meat can cool down and absorb more of its juices.
            11. Once it’s cooled down, slice into it and enjoy!!

            Smoked Baby Back Ribs

            1. Pat dry your meat and then start examing your cut of meat. If there is any fat cap on your meat you can trim it back a bit.
            2. Then sprinkle on equal parts of salt and pepper all over each side of your meat.
            3. Wrap your seasoned meat up and place in the fridge for a day to dry brine.
            4. The next day set your grill to 225 and let it smoke for 2.5 hours. Do your best to not check on your meat. You really want let it cook closed.
            5. Once the 2.5 hours is up, open your grill and check it out. Give your meat a spray of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. Close it back up and let it cook for another hours.
            6. By now the hour has passed, give your baby back ribs a check. They should be close to done. Spread on your bbq sauce and let them cook for another 15 minutes.
            7. You will know that your baby back ribs are done because they will be super moist and tender and the internal temperature will be 200 F.
            8. Take them off of the grill and let them rest before enjoying them!

            Beefy BBQ Sauce

            1. In a pot add in your beef fat. Let it render out. You should have about 1/4 cup of beef fat in your pot. Strain out your beef cracklings.
            2. Then add in your onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Turn your heat to medium and let that become soft and translucent.
            3. Next, add in your ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and miso paste. Let it boil for 5 minutes on medium low.
            4. Then take an immersion blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
            5. Let it cool and pour into a jar or squeeze bottle.
            By Alex Chung

            Senior Food Writer at Pro Home Cooks

            Published