Hill House Farm’s Pastrami beef short ribs

Hill House Farm’s smoked beef short ribs coated in The Salt Box’s Pastrami Seasoning are a joy to barbecue - full to the brim with toasted coriander and the warming spices of peppercorns and mustard. They are ideal to serve with piles of potato wedges and some fermented or pickled veg.

Ingredients

• 1 rack Hill House Farm Beef Short Ribs
• 1-2 tbsp French Mustard
• 2-3 tbsp The Salt Box Pastrami Seasoning
• . . A couple of shots of spiced rum, poured into a clean spray bottle
• 1 . fist sized chunk of oak wood

Preparation

1. To start we need to get our BBQ ready, preheat your smoker or kettle BBQ and have it holding at 105-110℃. If you have a water bath then add it into the smoker and fill it with hot water. If you don't have a water bath, place a deep foil tray of hot water under the short ribs, this will help to even out the temperature of your cook and keep the heat consistent.
2. Remove the fatty cap from the top of the ribs and rub all over with a few tablespoons of French’s mustard. Scatter over an even covering of The Salt Box Pastrami Seasoning.
3. Place the seasoned short ribs into your smoker and shut the lid to lock in the heat.
4. Place a lump of oak in with the lit charcoal and shut the door, the oak will quickly begin to smoke and start to perfume the meat. Allow the short ribs to smoke for three hours without opening the lid. Keep an eye on the temperature of your smoker, making sure it holds fairly constant at 105-110℃. If you need to top up your smoker, now is the time to do it. Light another chimney half full of charcoal and let it burn for 10-15 minutes before adding to your coal basket.
5. After the three hours are up we can take the spray bottle of rum and give the short ribs a good spritz. Spritz the beef every half hour or so, making sure to shut the lid as quickly as possible after to lock in the heat. Continue to smoke and spritz your beef, we are looking for two key indicators to check for doneness. One is a core temperature of 90 ℃ and two, most importantly is that when the probe goes into the short ribs it feels like a spoon going into softened butter.
6. The temperature of the short ribs may stall mid cook and no matter how much heat you put under it, will not rise one bit. Trust in the process and try not to fiddle with your set up, the temperature will start to rise again.
7. Once the short ribs are tender, remove them from the smoker and wrap in grease proof paper and foil. Rest the beef for half an hour or so before cutting into single bone ribs for serving. We love to serve our short ribs with piles of potato wedges and some fermented or pickled veg or why not cook up a batch of The Salt Box cowboy BBQ beans and some toasted corn bread on the side for a true feast.