Smoked Oxtail Mac and Cheese

No matter which method you use to smoke the oxtail, finish it in a pressure cooker or by braising in a dutch oven.

INGREDIENTS

• 4-5 lb oxtail sliced thick

Oxtail rub-traditional method

• 32 g kosher salt (2 tbsp)
• 10 g granulated onion (1 tbsp)
• 10 g granulated garlic (1 tbsp)
• 6 g MSG (1/2 tbsp) (optional)
• 16 g whole black peppercorns (2tbsp)

For pressure cooker-traditional method

• water (enough to cover oxtail in pressure cooker)

Oxtail rub-oven method

• 16 g kosher salt (1 tbsp)
• 10 g granulated onion (1 tbsp)
• 10 g granulated garlic (1 tbsp)
• 4 g MSG (1 tsp)
• 7 g hickory smoke powder (1 tbsp)
• 8 g whole black peppercorns (1 tbsp)
• liquid smoke (as binder for rub)

For pressure cooker-oven method

• water (enough to cover oxtail in pressure cooker)
• 60 mL liquid smoke (1/4 cup)

DIRECTIONS

Traditional Oxtail Rub-traditional method

1. Course grind pepper in mortar and pestle.
2. Add the kosher salt to course ground pepper and continue to grind the salt and pepper together in the mortar and pestle.
3. Once the pepper is still somewhat course but smaller than before add in the remaining ingredients and lightly grind together to evenly mix the spices.
4. Note: consider finely grinding the pepper for a rub that applies to meat more evenly. I like a slightly larger ground pepper so the peppercorn maintains its pungency.

Smoky Oxtail Rub-oven method

1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Add the salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic, MSG, hickory smoke powder, and black peppercorns to spice grinder.
3. Blend until it is a fine powder

Smoked Oxtail-traditional method

1. Season your oxtail with the Traditional Oxtail Rub. Allow the meat to rest at room temperature while you prep the charcoal.
2. Fill a charcoal chimney up to the top with charcoal briquettes. Use your preferred method of lighting. I used a reasonable amount of lighter fluid poured down the center of the briquettes.
3. Light the charcoal briquettes. Let them heat until mostly white and very hot, about 20-25 minutes.
4. Place the oxtails on grill grates opposite from where you will put your heat source and very close to a vent.
5. Place three chunks of wood (apple, cherry or hickory) in a smoker box which will be placed on top of the coals.
6. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest oxtail. Do so without penetrating all the way out of the bottom of the oxtail or touching the bone in the center of the oxtail. The oxtail you probe should be placed in the most evenly heated location on the grill grates. Avoid placing the probed oxtail in the hottest or coolest area of your grill/smoker.
7. Pour the entire charcoal chimney into the area opposite your oxtail and closest to a vent. Ensure that heated coals are very well situated to one side of the smoker/grill. Ensure that no oxtail is directly above the heated coals.
8. Place the smoker box with wood chunks directly on top of heated coals.
9. Open the vents on both sides of the smoker/grill as wide as possible. The external temperature in the grill/smoker should range from 390-400°F degrees. This mirrors the temperatures we would roast the oxtail to create browning in a traditional oven. The external temp in the oven is much less important than the internal temp of the oxtail and the browning that the high heat and smoke impart to the exterior of the oxtail.
10. Around the 25-30 minute mark, the first three wood chunks will have nearly burned out. Flip the probed oxtail on its side but leave it in its same area of the smoker/grill. Flip the remaining oxtail all the way over and then rotate the position of the oxtail closest to the heat source to an area furthest from the heat source.
11. Add the remaining three wood chunks to the smoker box directly on top of the coals and close the grill/smoker allowing the the oxtail to smoke for about 30 more minutes or until the probed oxtail reaches 190ºF internal.
12. When the oxtail are done smoking, they should appear reddish brown and slightly crispy on the outside.
13. Remove the oxtail from the smoker and place them in the cooking vessel of your pressure cooker with just enough water to completely submerge the oxtail.

Smoked Oxtail-oven method

1. Liberally coat the oxtail in liquid smoke. This is the binder for the rub.
2. Next, liberally coat the oxtail in the Smoky Oxtail Rub. Be sure to coat all sides of the oxtail with the rub.
3. Place the oxtail on a baking sheet, preferably lined with a rack, and place it in the 425°F preheated oven.
4. Roast the oxtail for 35-40 or until the oxtail is golden brown with a crispy exterior.
5. Remove the oxtail from the oven and place them in the cooking vessel of your pressure cooker.
6. Add the 60 mL of liquid smoke to the oxtail then cover them with enough water to fully submerge them.

Finishing in the pressure cooker – both methods

1. Cook the oxtail in the pressure cooker on the highest pressure setting for 2 hours.
2. When finished, allow the pressure to release naturally for about 20 minutes. Next manually vent the remaining pressure.
3. These can be added to any dish as is and if using in Smoked Oxtail Mac and Cheese pull the meat off the bone, remove excessively fatty bits and chop into bite size chunks.

NOTES

• Avoid smoking the oxtail with an offset smoker box. The type of smoking we are doing is more of a roast with smoke. The heat will be too low if using an offset smoker box which will not to cause enough maillard reaction within the 1 hour cook time we want.
• I do not monitor the internal temperature of my smoker set up. It is much less important than the visual cues of looking at the oxtails and measuring the internal temp of the oxtail.