# BBQ



## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

jcusey mentioned BBQ on the steak poll, and it got me thinking.

What is your favorite style of barbecue? KC? Southern? Texas? others? 

I do mine St. Louis style. First I slowly grill the pork steaks over charcoal and then place them in an aluminum foil pan. I cover the steaks with a mixture of Maull's BBQ sauce (sweet/spicy tomato and vinegar based sauce) and Budweiser and let 'em simmer on the grill until tender. I cook ribs the same way, but we usually buy pork steaks.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

I am more a Texas style LAX. Dry rub with lots of spices, cumin, brown sugar, and some salt. Sit in the fridge over night. Then about 18 hours of slow heat with mesquite smoke.


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## Kingsfield (Nov 15, 2006)

Laxplayer said:


> jcusey mentioned BBQ on the steak poll, and it got me thinking.
> 
> What is your favorite style of barbecue? KC? Southern? Texas? others?
> 
> I do mine St. Louis style. First I slowly grill the pork steaks over charcoal and then place them in an aluminum foil pan. I cover the steaks with a mixture of Maull's BBQ sauce (sweet/spicy tomato and vinegar based sauce) and Budweiser and let 'em simmer on the grill until tender. I cook ribs the same way, but we usually buy pork steaks.


Roughly what ratio of BBQ sauce to beer do you use?


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Kingsfield said:


> Roughly what ratio of BBQ sauce to beer do you use?


For me or the sauce? :icon_smile_big:

It depends on how much I am making, but usually around a cup of beer works well. I use just enough to thin the sauce out a bit. Some people around here use vinegar instead of beer, but I don't like a lot of vinegar in mine.


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## radix023 (May 3, 2007)

I do southern style. My specialty so far is pork ribs (st louis cut, not baby back).

I "cheat" and two-step:
First in the oven at 175F for about 6 hrs
Second on the BBQ at 250F for about 2-3 hrs until internal temp is 185F. Meat not served is left on the BBQ at 200F+ until wanted. After about 8hrs on the BBQ, no more, as the smoke will make the meat bitter.

I have a real side-fire-box BBQ with air control vents from Klose BBQ of Texas. I burn hickory and oak.

I've done Boston Butts/Picnic roasts and pulled pork, I've done beef brisket, but ribs are the thing in BBQ for me. Haven't done beef ribs yet...


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## jcusey (Apr 19, 2003)

People tend to associate Texas barbecue with smoked brisket, but that's not all there is to it. There's also smoked sausage, probably owing to the influence of German and Czech immigrants in central Texas. It's completely unlike that store-bought Hillshire Farms stuff, and it's very good. That's what I typically order when I have barbecue. I don't like sweet, thick sauce --the best sauce I ever had was based on Hunt's ketchup and Italian salad dressing, believe it or not.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

JCusey,

Just a sidebar - Czech is the third most spoken language in Texas, though it is likely to be surpassed by Vietnamese in the next few years.

Karl


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

*Southern Syle?*

I think there is more than one Southern stlye of BBQ. I grew up in the South, along th Gulf Coast. That was the BBQ I was used to. I was shocked when I ordered my first BBQ sandwich in Tennessee. I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but no, apparently people up there really do pollute their BQ by placing cole slaw on top.


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

agnash said:


> I think there is more than one Southern stlye of BBQ.


Yes, very certainly. My favorite style is Memphis barbecue. In Birmingham it's certainly different than Memphis. South Carolina barbecue is mustard based. (Western) Kentucky barbecue is usually mutton. It's all different. I like some more than others, but I rarely meet barbecue that I don't like (given that care was taken in the preparation).


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## radix023 (May 3, 2007)

agnash said:


> I think there is more than one Southern stlye of BBQ. I grew up in the South, along th Gulf Coast. That was the BBQ I was used to. I was shocked when I ordered my first BBQ sandwich in Tennessee. I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but no, apparently people up there really do pollute their BQ by placing cole slaw on top.


There are four basic school of BBQ sauce:
Sweet tomato (commonly known as Kansas City)
Vinegary tomato
mustard BBQ
vinegar bbq (no tomato)

North Carolina boasts all four, most places will have some or all of those.

By meat, its generally pork or beef. When regional it usually depends on what the local slaughterhouses handle. St Louis is a pork place, whereas Texas is all about beef. The South generally is pork.

The BBQ woods are again regional. Hickory is a favorite in the South, Mesquite more out west.

Chopped or pulled pork sandwiches are not my favorite BBQ, so I'm not going to get into all the different ways that that is done.

A great book on this is 'Smokestack Lightning' about two fellows who basically roadtripped to a series of BBQ meccas exploring the regional/cultural differences. It's what moved my appreciation of BBQ from 'this is *right*' to understanding why different places do their BBQ the way they do.

*Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces
*
*Paperback:* 272 pages
*Publisher:* Harvard Common Press (December 1997)
*Language:* English
*ISBN-10:* 155832125X
*ISBN-13:* 978-1558321250
Has been my best resource for BBQ recipes. You may want to get another saucepan for these. I have a stainless with an aluminum plate sandwiched in the bottom. If you use your cast iron, the vinegar will eat off the black patina.

I got my mustard bbq sauce recipe from this book. (which has been the most requested sauce at my bbqs)


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## Naval Gent (May 12, 2007)

AlanC said:


> In Birmingham it's certainly different than Memphis. quote]
> 
> Sure is. I tried the celebrated Dreamland joint (the one in B'ham, not Tuscaloosa), and I didn't think it was any count a'tall.
> 
> ...


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

Naval Gent said:


> Sure is. I tried the celebrated Dreamland joint (the one in B'ham, not Tuscaloosa), and I didn't think it was any count a'tall.


My wife and I went there a few weeks ago, and she's not stopped harassing me about going back since. She loved it, and interestingly, is from Memphis.



Naval Gent said:


> The best dry ribs come from the Rendezous in Memphis


Agreed!


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## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

Alan, just think where I live in Memphis (Cordova) we have a Birmingham joint called Jim and Nicks. I've not been there yet.

Yes, best dry ribs is Rendezvous. They have good vinegar style slaw but the sides are so small.

I went to the Memphis in May BBQ contest last week and got some great ribs. The guy had a BBQ sauce that was sweet but not honey sweet. It has apricot and lemons in it. Some days, I like a hot sauce, and others, a sweet one.

The difference in regions is not as marked as it once was. NC is vinegar based, a thinner sauce if you will. KC is tomatoe, and Texas is known for beef. Memphis is an amalgam, as we have mustard and tomatoe and even some vinegar. We do use slaw as a topping on sandwiches more. But in the end, IT"S ALL GOOD. Locals will get the affiliation with the used car salesman, LOL.

I have traded guys BBQ sauce. Corkys is really prevalant. Anyone ever had BBQ spaghetti? Awesome, and get it at Interstate BBQ, Jim Neely's joint. He has a nephew with a shop in Downtown Nashville that Ill eat at before a Titan's game.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Gents,

Might we hijack this thread a bit and name our favorite BBQ joints?

I would have to nominate a place called Bubba's in Ennis, Texas about 30 miles outside of Dallas. Great brisket, excellent jalapeno sausage and the place looks exactly how a BBQ joint named Bubba's should.

Karl


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I know so little about this, except to say "Yum" to all of it (although I have to be careful about how often I participate because of my weight.)

Alas, the world is not perfect.


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## jcusey (Apr 19, 2003)

Karl89 said:


> Might we hijack this thread a bit and name our favorite BBQ joints?


Hill Country snobs may turn up their noses, but I like Goode Company in Houston. I really like the Czech sausage, the pecan pie is wonderful, and I'd rather have the jalapeno cheese bread than slices of Wonder bread any day of the week.


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## Isaac Mickle (Nov 28, 2006)

radix023, thank you for the book recommendation.


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

JCusey,

Goode Co. is very good indeed. The summer I spent working at the Republican Convention saw me having lunch at the Kirby location 2-3 times a week.

Virgil's BBQ near Times Sqaure in NYC isn't too bad and offers a sampling of BBQ styles from throughout the US.

Karl


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

Memphis/southern style- The original and the best, whatever Texans might say.


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## jcusey (Apr 19, 2003)

anglophile23 said:


> Memphis/southern style- The original and the best, whatever Texans might say.


Original? Nah, unlikely. Smoked meat resembling what we call barbecue has been around for a long, long time. In any event, I have grown to appreciate all genres of barbecue. A pulled pork sandwich, for example, may not be my first choice, but I can appreciate its excellence.


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## The Continental Fop (Jan 12, 2007)

jcusey said:


> Original? Nah, unlikely. Smoked meat resembling what we call barbecue has been around for a long, long time. In any event, I have grown to appreciate all genres of barbecue. A pulled pork sandwich, for example, may not be my first choice, but I can appreciate its excellence.


Finally, a meaningful thread on this board..

I agree on all counts. Grilled and smoked meat has been around just a wee bit longer than this country was founded. And to turn BBQ into a sectarian war is silly when pulled pork from SC, brisket and cabrito from TX, ribs from KC, and hell, the McRib from sea to shining sea all combine to make BBQ the one subject we can agree on: smoke + meat = happy.

I'll be smoking pork ribs, chicken thighs, and sweet sausage on my Big Green Egg today. I hope everyone here has a meaty Memorial Day too.

Peter


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

Gentlemen,

I have enjoyed all of them. I like this place in Cincinatti, McCormicks or something like that.
Famous place, some president orders from there, and has it jetted to himself.

Very nice,nice BBQ

But NC style is the way to go, and I have enjoed the best BBC, in NC.
Any one of these BBQ pits along any highway is very good,and cheap.
I like the pork, better than beef.

Nice day


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## jcusey (Apr 19, 2003)

DukeGrad said:


> Any one of these BBQ pits along any highway is very good,and cheap.
> I like the pork, better than beef.


Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas, once famously said that the best barbecue came from places that looked like they should be condemned. Whatever one thinks of her politics or her term as governor, she was always good for a quote.


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## The Continental Fop (Jan 12, 2007)

DukeGrad said:


> Gentlemen,
> 
> I have enjoyed all of them. I like this place in Cincinatti, McCormicks or something like that.
> Famous place, some president orders from there, and has it jetted to himself.


In a former life, I would've jumped at the chance to make fun of the Leader of the Free World, a guy who was raised (if not born) in Texas, having BBQ jetted to him from Cincinnati.

But the me who is in the now knows that BBQ knows not of terroir; all one needs is meat, heat, wood smoke, and time. World class BBQ may be found anywhere, whether the Confederate flag is flown nearby or not.

I am currently smoking pork ribs outside in a Big Green Egg with hardwood charcoal and waterlogged mesquite wood chunks. Nothing you people say can harsh my buzz. Not even ascot chatter, or guys who sound like Deputy Dawg taking offense at comments about button-down shirts. The smell of pork and wood smoke keeps everything in perspective.

Peter


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

Good morning gentllemen,

jcusey, Continental; You are right about BBQ in that senso of the word!
Long story short,
It was at Ft Bragg in the Fayeteville region where some of the best BBQ can be found. One of these places, was a dive!!
The man that owned one of these places was a place I stumbled on one time many years ago. He used to give his BBQ to the soldiers free. I found this place by acident. I frequented this place, somewhat knew the owner.
Going 5-7 years forward, I saw this patient at the VA hospital in Durham one time, he was a vet. He was in the hallway and I recognized him. We chatted. He was there to have his heart surgery!!
Too much BBQ and beef and what have you. He had bags of the stuff he gave away free, and yes I took some.Continental, I am in agreement. The best BBQ is anywhere, I feel I do a good BBQ myself.
You enjoy that big green egg!!!!
I do my the same way, it takes me about a 12 pack of beer to do my BBQ.
Or a bottle of scotch, whichever. You have to calculate that out in time. LOL.

Nice day my friends.


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## BeauJest (May 19, 2007)

The Continental Fop said:


> I'll be smoking pork ribs, chicken thighs, and sweet sausage on my Big Green Egg today. I hope everyone here has a meaty Memorial Day too.
> 
> Peter


You stole my menu...or I stole yours.

I make ribs about twice a week, nine months of the year and they never come out the same way twice...because I'm always monkeying with the receipe, the wood, the cuts, the rubs, etc.

Barbecue: not just a job, but an adventure.

_Bon appetite,_ gentlemen.


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## The Continental Fop (Jan 12, 2007)

I think after awhile if you've been eating good BBQ at the better shacks, you naturally gravitate to pork ribs, chicken thighs, and sausage. I'd include beef brisket too, but I rarely smoke that anymore because it takes 12 hours to really do it right and on the whole I'd rather be eating swine anyway.

If a guy grills beef ribs and breasts at home, he probably hasn't ventured much beyond Tony Roma's or Chili's. Which is fine -- I like grilled beef ribs and chicken breasts. Tasty caveman chow in less than an hour. It's just not BBQ. 

Peter


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## fishertw (Jan 27, 2006)

*BEEF???*



DukeGrad said:


> Gentlemen,
> 
> I have enjoyed all of them. I like this place in Cincinatti, McCormicks or something like that.
> Famous place, some president orders from there, and has it jetted to himself.
> ...


Do you mean to say that there are people who believe that BBQ comes from some animal that did not "oink" when alive?
Tom


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## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

The Travel Channel has a show called BBQ Wars (showing today) in which the regional differences (KC, Memphis, NC and Texas) are explained. In the end, Memphis won the taste test


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## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

memphislawyer said:


> The Travel Channel has a show called BBQ Wars (showing today) in which the regional differences (KC, Memphis, NC and Texas) are explained. In the end, Memphis won the taste test


:aportnoy: :aportnoy: :aportnoy: :aportnoy:


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## SoutherWinds (May 24, 2007)

memphislawyer said:


> The Travel Channel has a show called BBQ Wars (showing today) in which the regional differences (KC, Memphis, NC and Texas) are explained. In the end, Memphis won the taste test


That show makes me sooo hungry. The food they make looks amazing!


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## JRR (Feb 11, 2006)

The Continental Fop said:


> In a former life, I would've jumped at the chance to make fun of the Leader of the Free World, a guy who was raised (if not born) in Texas, having BBQ jetted to him from Cincinnati.
> 
> Peter


Peter,

I think Jimmy/DukeGrad was referring to Montgomery Inn.

"World-famous clientele has done wonders spreading the word about Ted & Matula's wonderful ribs and sauce. Among distinguished guests who have savored the great taste of Montgomery Inn are Presidents Ford, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Selleck, Elton John, Pete Rose, Sparky Anderson, Johnny Bench, Andre Agassi, Arnold Palmer, Mark McGwire, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Bill Cosby, Britney Spears, and of course, our most famous booster of all, Bob Hope"


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

jcusey said:


> Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas, once famously said that the best barbecue came from places that looked like they should be condemned. Whatever one thinks of her politics or her term as governor, she was always good for a quote.


It's true. You can't get good barbecue in big cities...too many health inspectors.

I'm from an area with the second highest per capita BBQ resturants in the country (more than 1 per 1000 people).

Pork shoulders or butts, chopped, with red slaw, and dip (a thin vinegar/sugar/ketchup/spices sauce). Most places don't offer white slaw at all.


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## A Questionable Gentleman (Jun 16, 2006)

For what the opinion of a Yankee is worth, I pefer NC style. A pulled pork sandwich liberally drizzled with thin sauce is the the thing for me.


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

As far was pork vs. beef for what is "real BBQ", is that not just a function of the meat available? Texas is a cattle state and they tend to BBQ beef, the South is full of pig farms and they tend to BBQ pork. That is pretty much the reason for the difference, is it not?


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

Wayfarer said:


> As far was pork vs. beef for what is "real BBQ", is that not just a function of the meat available? Texas is a cattle state and they tend to BBQ beef, the South is full of pig farms and they tend to BBQ pork. That is pretty much the reason for the difference, is it not?


Correct.

It is goat in some parts of the world.

Barbecue is a verb, a noun, an adjective, a dish, an event, a threat, etc.


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## BHM Fashion (Jun 1, 2005)

Just a shout out for non-American BBQ, including Korean Short Ribs - they can be braised, but the most famous preparation is Kalbi. These are beef short ribs marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and scallions and then grilled. No smoking involved

Traditional BBQ? No. Unbelievably tasty parallel? You bet!


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## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

BHM Fashion said:


> Just a shout out for non-American BBQ, including Korean Short Ribs - they can be braised, but the most famous preparation is Kalbi. These are beef short ribs marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and scallions and then grilled. No smoking involved
> 
> Traditional BBQ? No. Unbelievably tasty parallel? You bet!


Good point!


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## Alalawyer (Jul 15, 2005)

*Jim 'N Nicks*



memphislawyer said:


> Alan, just think where I live in Memphis (Cordova) we have a Birmingham joint called Jim and Nicks. I've not been there yet.


Memphislawyer, although I most enjoy eating ribs I've personally smoked (especially the ones from Memorial Day), I have to admit that Jim 'N Nick's aren't bad. I hail from B'ham, although I currently practice in Montgomery, and went through college living on J&N's. I'm a heavy-on-the-sauce guy, though, and J&N always gives you too little sauce & you have to ask for extra. But a great restaurant, and it might even survive in a BBQ town like Memphis . . .


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

crazyquik said:


> It is goat in some parts of the world.


Traditional barbecue in western Kentucky is mutton. Try Moonlight Barbecue in Owensboro; they have good burgoo, too.


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## SoutherWinds (May 24, 2007)

AlanC said:


> Traditional barbecue in western Kentucky is mutton. Try Moonlight Barbecue in Owensboro; they have good burgoo, too.


Anything is better than what we have here in DC.


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## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

Living in WI doesn't give me many options for good BBQ, so I take whatever I can get when I'm "down south". I like TX style w/ Memphis/Southern Style a close 2nd.

Brian


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## memphislawyer (Mar 2, 2007)

Went to Jim and Nicks. A little too much on the sauce and it is a thinner one, ALA North Carolina. Loved it on the sourdough bread. THe cornbread before the meal, nice and sweet. A little pricey but you can easily split a sandwich and fries with the wife and eat enough. Mac and cheese was great and so were the onion rings. Gonna do ribs next time, but it will work here. Good place.


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