The Costco Connection

Competition Ribs

4 racks of St. Louis-cut spareribs
Rib rub (homemade or your favorite
premade version)

16 ounces honey

2 cups brown sugar

8 tablespoons butter

2 cups barbecue sauce (homemade or your favorite premade version)

Heavy-duty aluminum foil

Set up your smoker for low and slow cooking (250 to 275 F) and use about 4 good-size chunks of apple and maple wood (or woodchips or charcoal, depending on your smoker).

Lay out the ribs with the meat side facing down, apply the rub to the back side of the ribs and let it set up for about 10 minutes. Flip the ribs over and apply rub to the meat side, let the rub set on the ribs for about 15 minutes and then apply another coating of rub. Let the ribs sit for another 30 minutes.

Put 2 racks on the bottom grate and 2 on the top grate. After about 90 minutes, switch the ribs on

DIFFERENT WOOD TYPES will impart different flavors to your meals, and can either enhance or overpower your dish.

Try these pairings of woods and proteins.

Alder: Seafood, poultry, pork and light-meat game

Apple: Pork, chicken

Cherry: Pork and poultry

Hickory: Pork, ham and beef

The Costco Connection:

Costco offers smokers, woodchips, rubs, spices, prime cuts of meat and fresh produce, cooking and party supplies, and more in the warehouse and on Costco.com.

Smoked Hot Potato Salad with Bacon, Green Apple and Smoky Molten Brie

3 pounds fingerling or new potatoes, washed 1 large sweet onion, quartered

1 tablespoon olive oil ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (4-inch) round Brie cheese (about 5 ounces) 4 slices double-smoked bacon,

sliced into ¼-inch strips

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced (skin left on)

2 green onions, thinly sliced on the bias
½ cup mixed chopped herbs, such as parsley,
chives and oregano or thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare smoker as per manufacturer’s instructions and heat to 250 F, using hickory wood. Cut fingerling potatoes in half if larger than average. Place potatoes and sweet onion into a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until fork tender. Drain and transfer to a large bowl; remove onion and set aside.

Toss potatoes with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Transfer potatoes to the smoker rack. Use a grill basket or line the smoker rack with foil that has been poked with holes. Add cooked onion. Smoke for 1½ hours or until vegetables are a smoky golden brown color.

Place the Brie cheese on a thin, untreated wooden plank or foil-lined baking sheet. Add the Brie to the smoker with the potatoes during the last hour. Smoke until golden brown and gooey. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet set over medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Drain bacon on a paper-towel-lined plate. Coarsely chop and toss the bacon with the apple and green onions.

Remove the potatoes from the smoker and transfer to a clean work surface. Using the bottom of a clean skillet, lightly squish the potatoes, just enough to crack the skin and expose the flesh slightly; chop the sweet onion. Toss the potatoes with the onions and apple mixture until well combined. Remove Brie from the smoker.

Arrange Brie over potato mixture and pierce to allow hot cheese to flow over potatoes. Gently break rind into pieces. Add mixed herbs and season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Gently toss until well coated. Makes 8 servings. Courtesy of Ted Reader. Adapted from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Smoking Foods (Alpha Books, 2012; not available at Costco).

the top grate to the bottom and vice versa.

Continue cooking for another 90 minutes.

Lay out 4 sheets of foil; apply 2 ounces of honey, ¼ cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter. Lay one rack of ribs on the foil meat side down; apply 2 ounces of honey, ¼ cup of brown sugar and ½ cup of barbecue sauce and wrap tightly.

Repeat for the other three racks.

Return the ribs to the smoker and cook for about

1 more hour. If the ribs are done, remove from the smoker and open the foil to let them vent for about 10 minutes. This will stop them from cooking any further.

Take about ½ cup of juices from the foil and ½ cup of barbecue sauce, mix them and use this as your glaze. Cut ribs and serve. Makes 4 racks, about 12 servings.

Courtesy of Bill Gillespie. Adapted from Secrets to Smoking on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and Other Smokers (Page Street Publishing,

2015; not available at Costco).

Mesquite: Beef

Peach: Poultry, fish and pork

Pecan: Good for anything

Sugar maple: Poultry, pork and cheese

Walnut (best mixed with other fruitwood; can be bitter on its own): Beef Source: Secrets to Smoking on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and Other Smokers, by Bill Gillespie (Page Street Publishing, 2015; not available at Costco.)