Rewind the clock 30 years to growing up as a young man in the Yukon Canada, it’s spring time after a long, cold and dark winter. My dad is taking my brother and I fishing for grayling, we always had a fire going to cook hot dogs, smokies, and marsh mellows. That was it, the moment in time I became addicted to cooking with fire.

The beauty of the Yukon is the skills learned in every day life. Hunting and butchering your own animals, fishing and smoking strips in an old school smokehouse, trapping and learning to skin all types of animals, cutting wood and learning to understand fire for heat and cooking. All things taken for granted as a kid but valuable later in life for a farm to table lifestyle.

As it happens to most life gets in the way; school, hockey, university, work. Never in one place long enough to experiment with the proper cooking equipment but always rushing to the local bbq restaurant when ever traveling to a new city. I would order the full bbq platter to try as many of the smoked meats and sides as possible. It was always way to much food for one person and the leftovers filled the little hotel fridge. I loved looking at the huge offset smokers and barbecue pits, seeing the stacks of wood and smelling the smoke coming from the pit.

I did a trip to Nashville and Franklin Tennessee for a work conference. One evening after work I googled “barbecue restaurants”. (Pro tip*) I always check out where Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives has been and read the reviews when picking places to eat! Shout out to Guy, that’s a great resource. That night I ate some amazing barbecue. On the way back to the hotel I passed a local spice shop, hundreds of dollars later I had to buy an extra carry on suitcase to fit all the bbq rubs, seasonings and spice blends I bought. That was it, the moment in time I became addicted to creating my own rubs and flavour combinations.

Work landed me in Alberta Canada where I built a house and put a little smoker on the deck. It was hard to control the heat, always to hot or to cold but there was always smoke rolling out of that little pit. Have you heard the adage? “you have to ruin 100 briskets to cook a good one”. I learned that was true! Briskets, ribs, sausages, pork butts so dry and tasting like charcoal briquettes. Luckily meat was a lot cheaper back then! But every once in a while a cut of meat would come out so tender and juicy with good smoke flavour that it fueled the passion to keep going. Eventually the house in the city became unrealistic for a Yukon boy with out door interests so the house was sold, bought the farm and moved out to the country. Deer, moose, and elk roam the fields with the farm animals; chickens, turkeys and pigs. Cattle ranchers in the immediate area provide opportunity to purchase and cook premium Alberta beef resulting in amazing barbecue, fresh, smoked, and dried sausages, homemade bacon, farm raised turkeys, chickens, garden market produce and more.

Now the real experimenting could begin, cinder block pits for whole hog and all sorts of contraptions resembling a smoker. Bang! the world stops with a global pandemic and we are all locked down. After the initial shock and being pissed off, the reality was a window of time I’d never had before because of work and busy travel schedule. It was time to build the dream offset smoker, I dusted off two large propane tanks that were salvaged at a scrap steel recycler for a hundred bucks. I carefully laid out dimensions for doors, fire box to cook chamber opening and smoke collector opening. My time in the evenings was spent welding until the pit began taking shape. A 1970’s Chevy 4x4 frame was the answer for making the pit mobile. Cutting off the rusted box, coating and painting the frame resulted in the perfect look and feel for the cooker! Just like that it was done. That was it, the moment in time I became addicted to fabricating and shaping steel into something that looks like art and cooks with fire.

Now I would like to share my addiction and the things I’ve learned over the years about barbecue, cooking, whole animal butchery and even recommending the odd adult beverage to pair with a meal. Coming soon to BBQ Beautiful will be a line of rubs, spice blends, custom merch and more.

Classic Sparerib Recipe

The first rule to always follow “start with high quality meat” yells BBQ Beautiful’s pit master!

If possible source the meat at your local butcher shop or buy direct from a farmer for best results.

This is a simple recipe that produces a phenomenal product every time. If your used to prepping ribs with binders and heavy rubs give this recipe a try. I think the simplicity of the pork and smoke flavour will surprise you.

Prep time 15 min

Dry Brine Time 4-24 hrs

Cook time 6-8 hrs

Ingredients

Ribs

• Pork spare ribs (as many as you need)

• Rib rub - recommend BBQ beautiful base layer and or honey heat rub. Any of your favorite seasonings/rubs will work.

Spritz

• Apple juice

• Vinegar

• Water

• Maple syrup

• Worcestershire sauce

• Hot sauce

Directions

Step 1. Now that you have some beautiful racks of ribs in front of you pat dry with paper towels. Using a razor sharp knife remove any excess fat from the top and bottom of ribs.

Step 2. Using some paper towel remove the membrane from the bottom of the ribs.

Step 3. Lightly season the top and bottom of the ribs with BBQ Beautiful base layer seasoning. That’s it the ribs are prepped. Tip* If you like sweet heat add a layer of BBQ Beautiful honey heat rub over top of the base layer.

Step 4. Place ribs in fridge uncovered for 4-24 hours to dry brine.

Step 5. Set up your smoker to 250 - 275, fill your water pan. If your smoker does not have a water pan use an aluminum foil pan.

Step 6. Place the ribs in the smoker meat side up and let cook for 3-4 hours until the color your looking for is achieved. Do not open the cooker lid for the first 3 hours of the cook, let the smoke do its thing. After 3 hours check the ribs every 15 minutes until desired color is achieved. When you check on the ribs give them a good spritz to stay moist. (Spritz recipe below).

Step 7. Once the ribs are the color you like flip the ribs over meat side down. Cook for 2 more hours spritzing every 1/2 hour.

Step 8. Time to wrap, aim for temp of 165-170 internal. Prepare two heavy duty sheets of aluminum foil for each rack and spritz the foil. Brush a light coating of your favorite BBQ sauce on both sides of the ribs and wrap tightly.

Step 9. Place the wrapped ribs back on the pit meat side down in the foil to braise and tenderize in the juices. Cook until probe tender (no resistance when sticking the probe into the meat, like probing butter) meat is typically tender at internal temp of 195 or greater. Tip* ensure you are placing the probe into the meat between the bones. Contacting a bone with the probe will affect the temperature reading.

Step 10. Open the aluminum foil, rest the ribs for 20 minutes, eat and enjoy!

Rib Spritz Recipe

• 2 cups apple juice

• 1 cup of your favorite vinegar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

• 5 dashes of favorite hot sauce

Place all the ingredients in your spritzing bottle and shake well before using.

Drink Pairing

The Cigar

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