Smoked three-bone beef ribs on a 500-gallon offset smoker

Start early. Build a lattice of wood, each piece slightly separated so the flame climbs and lights both pieces at once; light with a propane torch or used butcher paper.

Build a big fire at the start for a good coal bed from the beginning.

On the coal bed, add wood three and three in perpendicular directions so it catches immediately and makes clean smoke.

Spray cooking spray on any part of the firebox where the old coating is breaking down, and let it set and polymerize before the meat goes on.

Order the work so it lines up: light the fire, spray with oil, then prep the meat; all are ready at about the same time.

Line up the next wood on top of the firebox to dry and preheat it, so it flames on contact and makes good smoke.

Fill the water pans, to absorb heat from the firebox and add moisture to the cook chamber.

Run the pit at 275, keeping the top gauge no higher than 300 and the bottom no lower than 250; add a log before the temperature drops, since a big pit responds slowly.

Read the meat: singeing on the firebox edge means rotate it and dial down; no pullback on the bones means dial up by adding wood.

Spray the meat (not the fat) with half apple cider vinegar and half water from a pesticide sprayer.

Move pieces that are further along toward the smokestack side so everything finishes and is wrapped at the same time.

Cook until there is a dark bark, nothing burning, and the fat rendering well; add less wood if the meat starts to bubble or shows pre-burn marks.