Texas
Dinosaur Bones 2
You want to ask your butcher for a 3 or 4 rack of beef plate ribs. These are the ribs the Texans call Dinosaur Bones. There are several different types of beef ribs. Back ribs, chuck ribs, short ribs & plate ribs. Plate ribs are located down near the stomach and are practically straight with very little curve to the bones.
There will be some fat on the top of the ribs along with a layer of silver skin.
Remove the thin layer of silver skin from the top of the ribs. Whatever fat remains will render during smoking. Leave the membrane on the bottom of the rack covering the bones. This will hold the meat on the bone. If it is removed, the meat during the smoking process, will shrink on the bone and fall off.
This is what your trimmed ribs should look like.
A couple of hours before smoking the ribs, I like to let them come to room temp. I add a simple rub consisting of equal parts kosher salt, coarse black pepper & granulated garlic.
Place ribs in a smoker set to 225 degrees for two hours. Then spritz with your favorite baste. I use beef broth and apple juice. Raise smoker temp to 325 degrees and continue spritzing every hour until the internal temp of the ribs reach 203 degrees.
2 hours in @ 225 degrees 
Another 2 hours in @ 325 degrees
Once the ribs reach 203 degrees, it’s time to take them out of the smoker and let them rest 15 minutes. Don’t wrap them as this will soften the bark that you worked so hard to acheive.
This is what 8 hours in the smoker looks like. Melts in your mouth!
Dinosaur Bones
My wife and I winter in a little fishing village in Southwest Texas. For the last three years we’ve been going to as many of the Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ joints that we can with our ultimate goal to visit each one. One of our favorite dishes is the Dinosaur bones. Big beefy plate ribs cooked to where they literally are clinging to the bone by just the membrane left on the underside of the rib. Our favorite haunts for these heart stopping ribs are Blacks in Lockhart, Smoliks in Mathis, and Smoking Oak in Mercedes. They’re not cheap ($30 1 1/2 lb average per bone) but so worth it. They are better than brisket and take half the time to prepare. Once you try this recipe you will make them a regular on your bbq rotation.
Start with fresh meaty plate beef ribs either in a three rib rack or separated like the ribs above. These two ribs weighed a combined 4 pounds.
Season on all sides with your favorite beef rub. I use a rub with kosher salt, coarse black pepper, garlic granules, onion granules & Tony Cacheres.
Put ribs in a smoker preheated to 225 degrees.
After 3 hours they should look like this. Double wrap ribs in pink butcher paper.
Place back in the smoker for 2 hours. Then remove and place wrapped ribs in a cooler for 1 hour.
When you’re ready they’ll look like this!
Texas Twinkies
There’s a BBQ joint in McKinney TX called Hutchin’s that originated the “Texas Twinkie”. As far as I know it’s the only place that serves them up but just two or three days a week. They are jumbo jalapeño peppers stuffed with cream cheese & smoked brisket, wrapped in bacon, smoked & slathered with a sweet sauce at the finish. So good & easy to prepare.
The first thing is to find the largest jalapeños. Cut off the stem end. Using a pairing knife hollow out the peppers removing veins and seeds. Fill 1/3 pepper with softened cream cheese. Stuff shredded brisket using your finger to pack the the pepper full. Take a 1/2 slice of bacon and cover the cut end. Then wrap the pepper with a full slice of bacon. Dust with your favorite rub. Place in a smoker @ 250 degrees for 30 minutes. Brush with sweet sauce five minutes before they’re done.
Ingredients:
6 jumbo jalapeños. 4 oz cream cheese. 6 oz brisket. 9 slices thin bacon. Rub. Sweet sauce.
Follow instructions above.
Sweet sauce: 1 cup brown sugar. 1/2 cup ketchup. 1/4 cup cider vinegar. 1/4 cup yellow mustard. Mix all ingredients together. Heat in a pan to dissolve the sugar. Let sit one hour before using.
Smoked Texas Hot Links
Ingredients:
5 pounds boston butt
6 fl oz ice cold beer
1 Cup soy protein concentrate
3 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
3 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 3/4 tsp granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole anise seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme
5 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp Instacure #1
6 ft. 1 1/4 inch natural hog casing
Raise the temperature to 125 degrees and smoke 1 hour. Raise smoker temp to 155 degrees and smoke until sausage reaches an internal temp of 155 degrees. Do not let the smoker temp exceed 155 degrees or the fat will start to separate from the meat. When 155 internal temp is reached, remove from smoker and immediately shower sausage with cold water until the internal temp drops to 100 degrees. Allow to hang on smoker racks @ room temp for 3 hours to bloom. The complete directions are below.
Directions:
Mix all the spices, cure, and garlic into the beer and place in refrigerator while you cut up the meats into grinder sized pieces. Grind the meat at a small grind. Add the spiced beer into the ground meat and mix it up good. Run spiced meat mixture through the largest grind plate when stuffing into medium hog casings. Allow to cure 12 hours. Cold smoke for 2 hours. Raise smoker temp to 125 degrees and smoke 1 hour. Raise temp to 155 degrees and smoke until sausage reaches an internal temp of 155 degrees.
ctobbqsmokehouse 