Season and Smoke

Season the oxtails generously with your favorite rub, or simple salt and pepper. Place them either in a baking dish or directly on the upper grids and smoke them for about 3 hours @ 200 degrees. You will be using a baking dish later to brasie the oxtails so put it underneath the upper shelf to catch some drippings during the smoke session. As you can see I had a lot of variance in the size of the pieces, but that worked out fine for the kids to have a little taste of what they considered a pretty weird thing to be eating, without having to eat a whole big chunk... Which was a win-win- More for dad! These oxtails were so good!

(Here is what they will look like after a good smoking)

Broth and Braise

After the oxtails are smoked, transfer them to a baking dish (if they aren't already in one), add 1/2 to 1 cup beef broth, and cover with foil. Turn up the grill to 325 degrees and let the oxtails braise in their own juices and the added broth- about 2 hours or until they seem "bite off the bone" tender.

Flame and Finish 

For the last 3-5 minutes, turn the grill up to high (480° or FL-3 on a Kuma pellet grill), with the grill zone open, and let those tails get a little crispy bark. I like a little sweetness on my meat, so I brushed some honey butter on a couple of the oxtails before their flame finish (can you tell in the photo which ones? They have a little more shine). They turned out tender and full of flavor...who knew a flyswatter could taste so good?