Since time immemorial, smoking has been one of the best ways to cook food. It’s a traditionally tried, tested, and proven way to preserve, add flavor and cook your meat. Smoking is a pitmaster’s best way to cook tough cuts of meat such as beef brisket, pork butt, ribs, etc. The low and slow cooking nature of the smoking process allows for the best cooking. The outcome is a savory, tender, and juicy meat that will leave you drooling for more.
However, smoked meats with a red wine brine can be the ultimate smoking meat experience. It’s one of the best ways to smoke and finish your cuts of meat, especially short ribs, and give your guests that ultimate smoked meat experience.
Also, you don’t necessarily need to be a pitmaster – you can easily smoke your favorite cuts of meat in red wine in your backyard.
Best Meats To Smoke In Red Wine
We recommend shopping for tough cuts of meat that are ideal for the low and slow smoking process. Feel free to pick cuts with a high marbling ratio or cuts with lots of connective tissue and fat. The high amounts of marbling play a critical part in retaining moisture while cooking, helping obtain a well-cooked, succulent, savory piece of meat.
We highly recommend buying ribs as it’s the best cut of meat to smoke in red wine. Beef brisket is also another good option and can be an ideal alternative to ribs. Beef brisket is widely known as the toughest cut of meat and goes well with the smoking process. A steak can also be good for smoking, but you will want to go for a thicker chunk of meat. Remember, the bigger the chunk, the better.
If you are a white meat or pork lover, pork shoulder should be the meat to go for. It is also ideal for the low and slow cooking process and will go well with red wine. You can also choose to smoke chicken or turkey, which are also a perfect choice. But it’s best to smoke the bird whole, so do not be tempted to slice it.
With your ribs, beef brisket, steak, pork shoulder, or chicken, it’s time we get to the smoking experience.
Smoking Your Beef Short Ribs
Our easy do-it-yourself recipe for smoking meats in red wine will be an easy guide to walk you through the entire food smoking process. We will share with you the best way to cook low and slow to ensure your beef short ribs come out savory, tender, and juicy.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 6 hours
Smoking Temp: 225°F – 240°F (107°C – 115°C)
Ingredients
- 2–3 lbs beef short ribs
- Sweet red wine
- Sauce
- Spiced mustard oil
- Rub (your choice)
Preparation
- Trim your beef short ribs to remove the excess fat. This is because beef short ribs come with lots of fats, and you may want to do away with the excess as this cut of meat also contains a lot of marbling. Use a sharp knife and be careful not to trim deep into the meat.
- Place your well-trimmed beef short ribs in a sealable plastic bag and add about a ¼ cup of your spiced mustard. Add also a ¼ cup of your preferred rub and roll while massaging the bag until you’re sure all the ribs are well-soaked with rub and mustard oil.
- You can choose to allow them to sit and marinate, preferably overnight, in the fridge for the flavors to soak into the ribs. You are also free to smoke them immediately if you don’t want to wait overnight. Avoid the temptation to rinse the beef short ribs after marinating.
- Transfer your marinated beef short ribs to your food smoker. We recommend placing them on a pan inside the food smoker. Ensure you set the temperature to 225°F – 240°F (107°C – 115°C) and allow it to smoke low and slow.
- After about 2 hours of continuous smoking, pour in one cup of red wine and cover the pan tightly using the foil. The wine will blend perfectly with the juices from the meat during this cooking phase, braising your meat in the sealed pan. Allow it to cook for an extra 1–2 hours until the meat is ready.
- Your beef short ribs will be ready when they hit an internal temperature of 185°F – 190°F (85°C – 88°C). Use a food thermometer to determine the internal temperature. We recommend you begin monitoring the internal temperature when you start to see the meat pulling away from the bone.
Serve your tender, succulent beef short ribs while hot. There are numerous foods that you can pair alongside your red wine smoked beef short ribs, such as creamy mashed potatoes, creamy polenta, or maple roasted brussel sprouts.
For more great ideas on how to get the most out of your Bradley Smoker, check out the awesome articles on our Bradley Smoker Food Smoking Blog for more tips & tricks.
