BBQ wars

[Dibbler]

So I posted a link to a song that Rhett and Link did about BBQ back in the RCon thread, and I'll repost it here. The first thing you need to know is that they are a pair of internet comedians and song writers. So the BBQ Song they did certainly has a bit of tongue in cheek, and isn't meant to be 100% accurate. However, it has a a lot of really good base information about the variations of styles and cuts used in BBQ across the southern US.

 

If you really want to dig deeper into BBQ, Alton Brown did a fabulous Good Eats episode called Right on Q that covers a lot of what BBQ really is. If you are serious about good 'que, I recommend watching it. There are also some mailing lists out there that have a ton of experienced pit masters that can offer up tips on all sorts of BBQ-related topics.

 

Finally, if you want to talk BBQ theory, I'll be glad to take to task some of the common misconceptions and horrible practices that some people do to their 'que (chief among them, soaking wood chips and adding anything other than water to a water pan).

 

EDIT: BBQ pics, just because.

 

~v

 

Wow, that looked so great, yummy and sounded like a great social thing :)

[Shakandara]

There are many, many ways to use smoke, fire, and particularly sugar to render perfectly good dead animal into inedible mess...

 

I think that we are actually on the same page here, Doc, just saying it differently. What you are considering to be "many many ways" to eff things up, I look at as simply. "why you gotta slather all that junk on it, bro?" Beyond that, there are only a couple of things that you can truly do to screw up BBQ (while still following the basics of low and slow with smoke). Oh, you used pine (or any other variety of conifer) as your wood to generate smoke? Uh, yeah. Throw that meat out. You cooked it until the internal temp was 250 degrees? Yeah, you can throw that out too. You cooked your pork butt over direct heat? It's not a steak, so that ain't gonna work.

 

The one that sneaks by so often (and so much so, because it's given as bad advice by "professional" chefs) is the one about soaking your wood. There is absolutely no reason to do this. Let me repeat, for those in the cheap seats:

 

NEVER SOAK YOUR WOOD.

 

Warning: Wall-of-text Incoming...

 

For most of you, this is probably contrary to everything you've ever heard about smoking BBQ. "But that's how I get my smoke!" WRONG!!! Here's a quick lesson in combustion and chemistry.

 

There's a reason we don't use pine and other conifer woods to smoke BBQ - because of the chemicals in the wood (mostly the pine tars in the sap), they don't burn cleanly. It leaves behind a nasty black tarry residue called creosote. This is not something you want on your meat; not only is it a carcinogen, but it makes your BBQ bitter, and gives you a numb feeling on the tongue. Hardwood fires generally don't have this issue, because they burn more cleanly. However, if you soak your hardwood (to keep it from combusting and burning up too quickly), two things happen. First, you artificially raise the combustion point of the wood, as the water that now permeates the wood now has to reach boiling temperature first. But it doesn't stop there; because the majority of the water is temporarily locked inside the cells of the wood, they actually go beyond normal boiling temp (because they have nowhere to go) and become super-heated steam. This super-heated steam carries off chemicals from the wood that would normally burn off cleanly; steam that moves off into the air of your smoker and around your meat. Second, because the wood is wet, it does not burn cleanly like it does when it is dry. This causes the normally clean-burning hardwood to produce creosote, just as sure as if you'd used a conifer. Billowing white smoke from a smoker is a bad sign; it indicates that the fire isn't burning cleanly, and the meat isn't going to taste good.

 

So how do we do we get good smoke, without burning up our wood too fast? Believe it or not, I use a single fist-sized chunk of hardwood to smoke up to 40# of meat in my smoker, for 12 hours. I'm able to do this because I wrap that chunk of wood in heavy-duty aluminum foil, and poke a single tooth-pick sized hole in the foil. This starves the wood for oxygen, and instead of burning, it sits there and smolders. This produces a faint, pale blue smoke. As Ms. Melons suggests, you can still smell my smoker from a block away, but you'd never know it was in my backyard, because from more than a few feet away, you can't see that it is doing anything.

 

So please, don't soak your wood, whatever you choose to use.

 

~v

[ShadowRaven]

good advice on both. I will add on the subject of fires, if it is hot enough creasote is not an issue, because it burns, it is the #1 cause of chimney fires because it is in fact, flammable, but those kinds of fires are not what you want for cooking.

[Inarah]

I brine the meat for a couple of days using spices and salt

I do a dry rub which consists of salt, brown sugar and various spices.

I smoke the meat at a low temperature for most of a day (depending on type of meat)

I finish it with a spicy BBQ sauce to glaze it at the end (usually made with vinegar, spices, brown sugar/maple syrup, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and garlic)

 

I do this with chicken, turkey, brisket and ribs.

 

Is this how it is done in your area too?

I think a couple of days in brine is a bit much. Overnight usually does it for pork shoulder or a brisket. Chicken or turkey is good after a couple hours, most of the time with chicken I just put rub on it. Brining can make poultry really rubbery if left too long.

 

I smoke for about 2.5 hours, at which point the meat has absorbed all the smoke it's going to and the outer layer is pretty much "cooked" (though it's not ready to eat) and then finish it in a low oven for controlled temperature. Now the purists will start screaming, but there's not much advantage to finishing it in the smoker unless you really like standing there tending the fire all day.

 

I'm in Kansas City and sauce here comes in sweet, regular and spicy flavors. It can be thick or thin, and is typically tomato based with brown sugar or molasses. The meat is glazed lightly, and sauce served on the side. However if your 'Q is really good people will skip the sauce. The last time I did a pork shoulder for a potluck I drained the fat, and dressed the meat with a cup of vinegar (offsets the fat and brings out the meat flavor). Nobody even opened the bottle of sauce.

[Corporea]

Doesn't meat toughen if you over-brine it?  I know for marinades you want to make sure you don't let it soak too long.  Thoughts?

[Shakandara]

Agreed on the brine. In fact, I don't brine anything except turkeys and chickens, and those only overnight. Everything else doesn't need it.

 

Which brings us to Inarah's 2nd point: smoke penetration. I think this is mostly correct; you don't generate any further smoke ring past the first several hours (that's a chemical reaction that happens only at certain temps, and you must get the meat out of that temp range or risk toxic BBQ), but there's some debate as to whether or not continued smoke adds any additional *flavor* to the exposed meat. I'm in the camp that thinks that it certainly won't make the meat taste any worse leaving it in the smoker, so I do. Also, that means it is outside, and not in the oven, heating up the house. But I am hardly what many would call a purist; I use a propane smoker, which helps me maintain a much more consistent temp in the smoker than a hardwood charcoal fire would, without all the tending. It also allows me to get away with long-duration overnight smokes, so that I can have brisket and pork butts ready for parties at noon, without having to stay up *all* night to make it happen.

 

To answer Corporea's question, brining doesn't affect meat the same way that a marinade does. Marinades can cook meat because there is usually some form of strong acid (vinegar, citrus juice, etc) in it. This is rarely the care in a brine, which is salt water, plus some seasonings. The goal of a marinade is to break down some tougher tissues while adding flavor. The goal of a brine is to add moisture while adding flavor (by using osmosis to pull the liquid across the cell barriers).

 

IMO, brining most meats is unnecessary (except chicken and turkey, and some very lean cuts of pork - because we've spent generations breeding the intramuscular fat out of them). That fat rendering during the low and slow cooking process is what makes pork butt, ribs, and brisket so nice and tender, without drying out. If you are really concerned about these cuts, rather than brining, wrap them in foil after the smoke period that Inarah mentions above. Your 'que will still have plenty of smoke, and the foil will help retain the moisture. Honestly tho, I never do this for any of my meats, and I don't have any issues with them drying out, even after 12-14 hour smokes.

 

EDIT: Also, it seems these days that more than half of the whole chickens you find in the grocery store are already in a brine solution. Normally, that sort of thing would piss me off, but for making BBQ, I actually look for those birds. Saves me a step; I can just rub them down, chuck them in the smoker, and be off and running! No brining necessary.

 

~v

Edited February 13, 2015 by Shakandara

[rgtriplec]

As a chef I have numerous bbq cookbooks, have attended seminars, attended the BBQ World Championship - Memphis in May at least five times. BBQ history is soooo cool!

 

Here are a few things I noticed that haven't been mentioned yet. Pit cooking i.e. actually cooking in a pit in the ground. Pit cooking is still popular in parts of Texas, especially in South Texas where steer heads are used to make barbacoa. It is popular in California where beef is used, in Hawaii they pit roast whole hogs. In Maryland the have Bull bakes, in which beef or whole hogs are pit cooked.

 

Although, all types of meat are barbequed all across the country. Generally, east is pork, west is beef and the middle is a mix of both.

 

Certain little pockets prefer other meats, in Texas the cowboy tradition eat lots of sheep and mutton. In Western Kentucky the meat of choice is lamb.

 

A few regional sauces you'll never get outside their region are Carolina mustard, Alabama white or mayo based, or Western KY Worcestershire based.

 

Then there is the wood type, soaked or dry...

 

I think most people realize that certain regions are famous for using certain cuts of meat, whole hog vs pork shoulder...

 

But they don't realize that sliced, pulled, chopped or chunked is just as big of an argument as the type of meat or the sauce.

 

The last thing is you can't ignore what each region serves with their bbq. Its part of the equation.

 

My favorite is whole hog pulled pork, Eastern Carolina style, followed by Western Ky lamb and South Texas babacoa.

[Dr.Bedlam]

 

There are many, many ways to use smoke, fire, and particularly sugar to render perfectly good dead animal into inedible mess...

 

I think that we are actually on the same page here, Doc, just saying it differently. What you are considering to be "many many ways" to eff things up, I look at as simply. "why you gotta slather all that junk on it, bro?" 

 

 

I must respectfully AGREE with that sentiment. Barbecue sauce is a personal statement. Barbecue sauces containing some sugar are okay. Barbecue sauce you can pour over your pancakes, not so much. 

Although soaked wood chips aren't bad if you're TRYING to steam meat. It actually works fairly well when you're quick-roasting. But some folks say that ain't barbecuing. I'm getting a vibe from you that "barbecue" is "slow cooking only." And that's okay. Some people also say it's "cooked meat as a confection with sugar sauce." And that ain't okay. Just a personal bias.

 

 

There's a reason we don't use pine and other conifer woods to smoke BBQ - because of the chemicals in the wood (mostly the pine tars in the sap), they don't burn cleanly. It leaves behind a nasty black tarry residue called creosote. This is not something you want on your meat; not only is it a carcinogen, but it makes your BBQ bitter, and gives you a numb feeling on the tongue. 

 

Oh hell, yeah. Know your wood. Either that, or stick to charcoal briquets. My ex-brother-in-law never understood why his barbecue tasted so weird. My father was the one who noted he was using branches off the pine in the backyard...

[Bionicspacejelly]

As a Kansas City Native, I have to irrationally support KC Barbecue. But what's great about KC is that its not just one type, there's AT LEAST four major franchises that all claim to do true Kansas City style BBQ and dozens of little hole in the wall places that you can get amazing stuff. While I like the big four in KC, I love finding new little bbq joints and seeing what they offer. 

[kay13]

Lol.  As someone from Australia when someone talks about BBQ'ing meat here they are saying that they will grab a steak or two, maybe some kebabs and go fire up the outside BBQ......

[Dr.Bedlam]

Well, some people make a major distinction between "grilling meat over a fire," "contained grilling of meats," "slow cooking," and "smoking." I tend to hang 'em all under the generic title of "barbecuing." This is probably bad and imprecise, because I do 'em all, although not at once. But when I do, I like this as a soundtrack in the background:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8pC_DOXC4

[ShadowRaven]

Lol.  As someone from Australia when someone talks about BBQ'ing meat here they are saying that they will grab a steak or two, maybe some kebabs and go fire up the outside BBQ......

that's they typical feeling here as well. Having had Texas BBQ when I was down there last year however, I can understand why that type of cooking get's so much love

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

Lol.  As someone from Australia when someone talks about BBQ'ing meat here they are saying that they will grab a steak or two, maybe some kebabs and go fire up the outside BBQ......

Maybe throw a couple of shrimp on the barbie?

[Shakandara]

My ex-brother-in-law never understood why his barbecue tasted so weird. My father was the one who noted he was using branches off the pine in the backyard...

 

I literally shuddered when I read this. I have had the misfortune of tasting BBQ once that was bitter, and left the tip of my tongue numb, before I knew what caused it (this was shortly after moving to TX). I'll never forget the experience, and it's become a personal crusade to make sure that others don't have to experience it.

 

I have to agree with rg too, when it comes to my absolute favorite, I love a slow-cooked whole hog. Give me some belly and cheek meat, and a bit of the crackling skin, and you can send me to heaven without a care. But past that... damn, it's a tough choice. I love burnt ends from the point end of the brisket. And that little layer of flesh on the fat cap of a pork butt? Absolutely incredible. The bison ribs I did a few years back for one of our summer parties were ridiculously good too. The list goes on and on.

 

Of course, I have my personal preferences too, like everyone else. I don't sauce anything during cooking except pork ribs, and I only do that because my daughter prefers them that way (after they are done in the smoker, about 10 minutes over low direct heat on the grill). I also don't make my own BBQ sauce; there are too many perfectly decent ones out there (Stubbs, Sweet Baby Ray's, etc) that are cheap enough that I have a hard time justifying the time in making my own. And though I serve my BBQ to my guests "dry", there's always sauce available if you want it, and I take no offense if you use it - that's your choice.

 

I do make my own rubs; I believe in seasoning, and doing so thoroughly. Store-bought rubs are expensive, and loaded with salt. I buy my basics from a local spice market (Flores) at dirt cheap prices, use 1/2 to 1/3 the salt of what most recipes call for, and craft my own rubs to suit the meat I'm cooking and the people that are eating it (some of my friends are pansies when it comes to heat, so I leave the cayenne out of the rub when making 'que for them). I dry rub everything except poultry (wet rub) and sausage (none). I rarely do anything to the meat prior to the day I start cooking it (I used to dry rub a couple days ahead, and I've not found an appreciable difference). I trim some of the fat cap off the brisket if it is really fatty, and I butterfly the point, to get more surface area for smoke (and thus, more burnt ends). For ribs, I remove the membrane off the back. Poultry gets brined for 24 hours unless it is already in a solution in the bag, and then a wet rub under the skin. That's the extent of my prep work.

 

I usually use a blend of woods when I'm smoking, and that changes depending on what I'm cooking. I often use hickory and pecan for beef, pecan and applewood for chicken and pork, and just applewood for sausage.

 

I've also had plenty of 'que that was not made this way, and I was perfectly happy to consume it. Other than what Doc mentioned about super-sweet sauces, the only other thing I really don't care for is Carolina-style. Sorry, the vinegar just doesn't work for me.

 

~v

[kay13]

 

Lol.  As someone from Australia when someone talks about BBQ'ing meat here they are saying that they will grab a steak or two, maybe some kebabs and go fire up the outside BBQ......

Maybe throw a couple of shrimp on the barbie?