Meat smokers (as in BBQ)- where to get the best meat

been using Union pork store for...well anything pork    Looking to branch into brisket, tri-tip and beef ribs.   Where's good around here and not outrageously priced?

Costco

https://www.themeathouse.com/aboutus.html

I hear this place in summit is good but I have never been.

I buy non-pork meats at Union Pork Store too. Beef (prime rib) I bought for Christmas was excellent.  Lamb is top quality. The range of all sorts of meat sausages. Since the summer, we have tried well over a dozen different types of sausages from there. The different smoked salmon they do is really good too...so consider purchasing fish too somewhere for your smoker.

I'd echo Union Pork Store for non-pork too.  Also, you can try for beef: http://www.johnsmarket.com/index.html 

also check out Barth's market in new providence.  excellent meats

The beauty of using a smoker is you don't need the best quality meats.  You just need the right tools and technique.  Have a proper smoker that can maintain temperature and a digital thermometer that tells you both ambient temperature and internal temperature of the meat.  Know what coals to use and how to place them, and use some real wood like cherry, hickory, apple, etc to generate the smoke.  Know the proper terminal interior temperature for a given cut - Pork ribs (165), Pork shoulder (185), Beef brisket (205) etc.  Know about marinates and rubs and using other techniques such as sealing pork into a steamer with apple juice and aluminum foil part way through.  I know people who make amazing pork shoulder from stuff that costs less than $1/lb.  I've been using a Weber Kettle, but I think I will move to a Smoky Mountain Cooker this year for better temperature control and larger capacity. 

How does one accurately take the internal temp of pork ribs?

Rob_Sandow said:

Know the proper terminal interior temperature for a given cut - Pork ribs (165) 

I find it nearly impossible to use meat thermometer on ribs. They're done when the meat recedes from the end of the bone and the rack droops on both end when lifted from the center with a pair of tongs.

I use the "3-2-1 Method" for both pork ribs and beef ribs: Smoker at ~190-200, smoke for 3 hours, spraying or mopping every 30 minutes after the first hour. At the 3-hour mark, wrap in foil with a bit of your spray (or mop). Two hours later, remove foil and smoke for an additional hour.

Experiment with this method (3-2-1 or 2-3-1 or 3-1-2) to figure out which way gives you the ribs you prefer.

I smoke pork butt (usually bone-in picnic cut) to between 195 and 205 degrees internal temp. The connective tissues break down at about 180, and you need to get past that for tender meat. Just as an FYI, the temp will stall near the 180 mark, sometimes long enough that you will be convinced something has gone wrong. Wait it out.

And BTW, another vote for the Union Pork Store for all your meats. 

lanky said:

How does one accurately take the internal temp of pork ribs?

Rob_Sandow said:

Know the proper terminal interior temperature for a given cut - Pork ribs (165)

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/are_they_ready.html

I've never tested the temperature of ribs. I use the twist test described in the article above (the author prefers the bend test). Haven't killed anyone yet.

Yes, although I appreciate any tips offered here, amazingribs.com will forever be my meat bible.

marylago said:

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/are_they_ready.html
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lanky said:

How does one accurately take the internal temp of pork ribs?

Rob_Sandow said:

Know the proper terminal interior temperature for a given cut - Pork ribs (165) 

Have a good digital probe thermometer.  Also I usually smoke spare ribs and not baby backs.  Spare ribs have more thick meaty areas that make it easier to get an accurate temp (although less meat/bone ratio overall).  It would be tougher to get an accurate internal temp with baby backs.