BBQ
 

Your favorites, your recipes, and anything else having to do with BBQ. Let's hear it!

I have a ton of places to add, but I'll start with my favorite.

http://saltlickbbq.com/

A ways outside of Austin in the middle of nowhere. BYOB place where you can order family style combo platters that they just keep bringing you more of. Amazing sausage and ribs. But the real standout here is their brisket. So tender, so incredibly flavorful, just oh so delicious.

I highly recommend a trip to anyone who's visiting Texas, and it's a must-visit if you go to Austin.

They now have a location in Vegas, I've heard mixed reviews.

I've ordered from them online, which is great. I highly recommend ordering from them, especially the brisket.

Getting hungry now...

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Your favorites, your recipes, and anything else having to do with BBQ. Let's hear it!

I have a ton of places to add, but I'll start with my favorite.

http://saltlickbbq.com/

A ways outside of Austin in the middle of nowhere. BYOB place where you can order family style combo platters that they just keep bringing you more of. Amazing sausage and ribs. But the real standout here is their brisket. So tender, so incredibly flavorful, just oh so delicious.

I highly recommend a trip to anyone who's visiting Texas, and it's a must-visit if you go to Austin.

They now have a location in Vegas, I've heard mixed reviews.

I've ordered from them online, which is great. I highly recommend ordering from them, especially the brisket.

Getting hungry now...

[/ QUOTE ]

While you're in Austin, I highly recommend Rudy's here, the self-proclaimed "Worst BBQ in Texas." There are several locations around Austin, and pretty much everything is good. They serve everything on butcher paper, and have lots of different meat and side items you can order. There are even handwashing sinks that you can use. I highly recommend the pork ribs(especially the St. Louis pork ribs) and the chopped beef.

Also, there is a town called Lockhart about 30 miles SE of Austin that seems to be comprised entirely of good BBQ restaurants. If you're looking for the real-deal, Texan barbecue places like you imagine them to be, check this town out.

Re: BBQ
 

Im a freak BBQ'er, I grill like almost everyday, and every sunday my buddy comes over, and we try new recipes (smokers, bbq, grilling, etc). If I get the bar that Im looking at, there is a good chance Ill open up a little bbq place out of there to run during the day. I dont really have any recipes off hand that you guys havent heard of, but I will post pics of the turkey I am doing on sunday for teh bowl.

Re: BBQ
 

in los angeles i like spring st. smokehouse. the spicy suace is the best ive ever had and the babybacks are falling off the bone.

Re: BBQ
 

I highly, highly recommend getting a smoker if you like BBQ. You can make your own that will be better than anything you've ever had from any joint. Because it's typically a 6-20 hour cook depending on what you're ordering, what you get is nearly always reheated.

Weber makes an inexpensive one called the Smokey Mountain Cooker, and there is a website virtualweberbullet.com that has a ton of recipes and articles and a forum of experts/competitors who will advise you.

Re: BBQ
 

http://www.gelkamine.de/media/Smoker.jpg


Ya, Chi-troy is right, getting something like that, you have a 2 in one machine, bbq and a smoker, lowes/homedepot has a nice one, that isnt near as big, but has a sperate compartment for your wood, the chimney is also key.

Re: BBQ
 

Coffee,

Rudy's is nice but nothing compared to Salt Lick. Another good place in Texas is Soulman's, they never miss.

When I drive up to Connecticut every year I stop at Corky's in Memphis. Though I am not regularly in Nashville I have eaten at Jack's BBQ and it was really good. I also have eaten at another place in Nashville but can't think of the name which is bothering me.

Re: BBQ
 

Smoked pork loin cooks quickly, is as lean as skinless chicken breast, and tastes like it should be bad for you.

Get a whole loin at Sam's/CostCo. Cut it in half and rub it with salt, pepper, cayenne if you like heat (or any pork rub you like). Throw it on with apple or cherry wood. Cook to 147 degrees or so. Slice up and serve, throw the leftovers in the fridge for sandwiches. The fact that you have very lean, tasty leftovers is a plus.

Pork is good brined, but the stuff you get is usually injected with salt solution anyway, so it shouldn't be necessary.

Re: BBQ
 

One quick recipe for you guys:


BBQ pizza--

BBQ up a piece of salsissa, while this is cooking get some pizza dough, do your thing with the sauce, cheese, etc, whatever you like. I use homeade sauce, a combo of provolone, mozorella, and pecerino romano, some fresh basil leaves, and pepperoni. When the sausage just about done, cut up, throw on pizza, get a thick pizza stone with cornmeal on it, thrwo the uncooked pizza on the stone. this is teh key part, get a VERY VERY hot fire going, with applewood or hickory, I like using the weber becuase you get tons of smoke, in a small space, with high heat. Stick the stone on the grill, put the lid on with the vents closed, check after 8 minutes. Try not to take the lid off too much. The combo of the smoke and the dough is the hizzle.

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
in los angeles i like spring st. smokehouse. the spicy suace is the best ive ever had and the babybacks are falling off the bone.

[/ QUOTE ]

Never tried them, but will ASAP. I like Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ in Van Nuys.

Re: BBQ
 

You haven't done BBQ till you've done it in China in some dirty back alley at 4 in the morning, a very popular past time for all Chinese. The tables are bits of wood placed on over turned milk crates, the chairs are about half a foot high so you're mostly just squatting, and if you're lucky the food and hygiene police will raid you and you'll have to scamper off with your food and beer.

Re: BBQ
 

quids, what I'm describing looks like this:
http://www.3men.com/Images/bullet2.jpg

The offset firebox is nice for grilling on what you're showing, but temperature control is dicey unless you get a temperature control unit*. The bullet is extremely beginner friendly, and people even use them in comps.

*I have one of these, and they rule. A fan attaches to the bottom vent, and a thermometer in the cooker keeps track of the temperature. Too low, fan turns on and blows the coals until they come up. Too high, it turns off. Coals running out, it beeps. Nice for overnight cooks where you don't want to bother getting up to make sure your fire is OK.

They even make them now with web servers so you can manipulate temperature and check food temps (if you put a probe in the food) while at work.

Re: BBQ
 

Whats teh surface area of that? That would be my only concern? Otherwise, that looks like a mofo of a machine, if I could bbq, and control my bbq with my pda while on the road....wow....i think i just got a boner

Re: BBQ
 

Corky's BBQ in Memphis is pretty good. FedEx ships their stuff worldwide. I believe they also have a place in Nashville and one in Sam's Town in Tunica. www.corkysbbq.com

Also The Rendezvous in Memphis , http://www.hogsfly.com/ ,


Both of those places are pretty good. Anyone visiting Memphis should try those places. There's also a bbq cooking contest in May of every year that has to be the biggest in the world.

Re: BBQ
 

Chicagotroy, Im going to buy one of these right now, can you link me to the one with the webserver?

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Coffee,

Rudy's is nice but nothing compared to Salt Lick. Another good place in Texas is Soulman's, they never miss.

[/ QUOTE ]
It seems that the fewer the locations and the cheaper a BBQ joint, the better it actually is.

If anyone is reading this in North Phoenix, I strongly recommend Lovejoy's KC BBQ. The reviews on that link are mixed but I make a point of dropping in whenever I'm in the area and it's stellar. The reason I searched for a link at all is I wanted to make sure there is still only one - this may sound odd, but I'd prefer they never expand, I feel the quality suffers. I've seen that here in town with Honey Bears.

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Whats teh surface area of that? That would be my only concern? Otherwise, that looks like a mofo of a machine, if I could bbq, and control my bbq with my pda while on the road....wow....i think i just got a boner

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.rocksbarbque.com/

That has the Internet control, and can monitor multiple cookers

www.thebbqguru.com
This is the original that I have.

The surface area on the WSM is excellent because it's a double decker. I can get six rib racks in there, or four pork butts or 4-6 chickens.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/mi...sm_cutaway.jpg

More importantly, I can cook for about 22 hrs. on a single load of charcoal. That's a big deal, since some need reloading every six hours. Very stable temperatures, nice long cooks.

Re: BBQ
 

quids, if you buy one, call them on the phone and make sure they give you the proper adapter for your smoker. The fan needs to be attached and it's easy to get the wrong one.

Re: BBQ
 

I also love the Salt Lick. They have a spot in the Austin airport; it's not as good as the real place but buy a vacuum-sealed smoked brisket and you'll be mighty happy when you get back home.

If you're stuck in Austin, the Iron Works has pretty good pork ribs and brisket. I'm told some of the places in Luling and Taylor, Texas (about 40 minute drive) are great, like Kreuz Market, Smitty's and Luling City Market.

In LA, Phillips in Leimart Park has excellent beef ribs, known more for the meat than the sauce.

Re: BBQ
 

Hog Heaven is a hidden gem in Nashville. Its located on this little side street that's practically an alley, and it can't be seen from the road. No indoor seating, just a screened-in area with a couple picnic tables. Its also right next to this biker bar that, last time I went in, had pitchers of Shiner for $5.50. Great pulled pork sandwiches.

Re: BBQ
 

JD Kadd's in Park Ridge (just outside of Chicago) is the best BBQ I've had here. The guy also does pizza and catering (well), but the BBQ is really good.

Re: BBQ
 

BBQ, now there is a topic dear to my heart, er stomach.

I don't get to eat it often, but here is my take.

Saltlick at the Red Rock in Vegas is very good, but not all time great, definetly worth a trip though.

My favorite all time BBQ spot is this one

http://www.hogsfly.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=20

seriously the dry rub on these things is to die for.

if you have a big party or something coming up consider ordering them up, they retain like 95% of their tastiness even when mail ordered, just follow their directions and you could even claim them as your own. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

BBQ in Memphis in my mind rules, but I have heard arguements for other spots in the country, I wish I was enough of an expert to argue. It would certainly be fun to eat my way to a Phd. in BBQ.

The simple fact is this seems to be an overlooked and often undervalued form of American cooking that is so so tasty.

cheers. J.

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hog Heaven is a hidden gem in Nashville. Its located on this little side street that's practically an alley, and it can't be seen from the road. No indoor seating, just a screened-in area with a couple picnic tables. Its also right next to this biker bar that, last time I went in, had pitchers of Shiner for $5.50. Great pulled pork sandwiches.

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew you'd beat me to it. Hog Heaven is awesome---if you get to Nashville, don't miss it. And go for the cornbread.

Re: BBQ
 

Seattle:

Frontier Room, good BBQ (really like the brisket) turns into a bit of a meat market at night.

OK Corall: Fantastic, if not a bit beat up, but by far the best BBQ in the city.

Re: BBQ
 

i live in Austin, and saltlick and rudy's are both very good. saltlick has a better atmosphere, great for group functions, and really good pecan pie ala mode and peach and blackberry cobblers. rudy's brisket is better IMO

there's a small BBQ place in bastrop(30 miles SE of Austin) that does catering for the longhorn foundation during UT home football games, and also caters most of tarantino and rodriguez's movies, its the best bbq ive ever had, i ll make a couple of calls and find out the name

Re: BBQ
 

Dreamland the original in Tuscaloosa, Al. is the best, but they have several other locations. For many, many years all they served was ribs and white bread. In the last 10 years the have added butts, chicken, and a few sides.

Full Moon is excellent, I really like their marinated spicy slaw. They are currently expanding rapidly, but the original in on southside in Birmingham is my favorite. They have opened a location in Baltimore called Ray Lewis's Full Moon in partnership with the Raven's murderous linebacker.

As El D said, the Saltlick is great in Austin, but I prefer The Green Mesquite It is right downtown on Barton Springs and South Lamar. One of the few place in Texas I can get a good pork sandwich. They also have live bluegrass music a lot of the time which goes well with BBQ.

This reminded me of several of the slogans I've seen for BBQ places over the years.

In Tallasse, Alabama near Lake Martin there is a place called Johnny G's whose slogan is "Nobody beats my meat"

On the north side of Birmingham there is place called Sweet Daddy's that has a picture of a pig on the sign and it says , "From the Rooter to the Tooter" This is a mainly black place that serves jowls, feet and all those other good parts I don't eat.

Re: BBQ
 

OTB, are your PMs full?

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Seattle:

Frontier Room, good BBQ (really like the brisket) turns into a bit of a meat market at night.

OK Corall: Fantastic, if not a bit beat up, but by far the best BBQ in the city.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK Corall is excellent.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=3442

It's moved a bit further North than it used to be, I think. It's now around 95-100th I think, rather than 87th. But still in Greenwood area, and still excellent.

Rob

Re: BBQ
 

BBQ joints around DC:

Best: O’Brien’s in Rockville
2nd: Dixie Bones in Woodbridge

Here’s a pic of one of my rigs – a 2 x 4 Pitts & Spitts stick burner with temp control system. I’ve ordered a Stumps Gravity feed upright unit for delivery this spring.
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/BBQTP_2.jpg


Some BBQ pron
Briskets
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/brisket_on.jpg

Ribs
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/ribs-mop.jpg
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/ribs-foil.jpg
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/ribs-plate.jpg

Pork:
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/butts_done.jpg
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/butts_pull.jpg

Chicken:
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/chicken_start.jpg
http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/chicken_done.jpg

Re: BBQ
 

North Carolina style vinegar-based BBQ ftw.

If you guys haven't had this stuff, you need to get out here and try it. It is not a tomato base like most of the "pit" BBQ styles (KC, Texas, Memphis, etc). It's basically pepper and spices steeped in a good quality vinegar. And "barbecue" in NC is ALWAYS pulled roast pork, usually the whole pig done at a "pig pickin'." Out of this world good. I enjoy tomato-based BBQ sauces and all kinds of grilled meats, but they don't hold a candle to the local stuff (although Western NC-style does add some tomato to the vinegar base; however it is inferior to Eastern style IMHO).

For a good primer on BBQ in NC, try here.

There's also a South Carolina mustard-based BBQ, but that [censored] is nasty.

Re: BBQ
 

http://www.slamdunkpro.com/Resources/brisket_on.jpg

This made me feel all tingly inside.

Seriously, you BBQ experts, I think providing some more of your "how-to" knowledge would be awesome. Perhaps especially focused on equipment to get started with, etc?

Re: BBQ
 

Sweet, I'm going to Austin next week. I've never been to any of the places mentioned. Perhaps a "BBQ Comparison Trip Report" to come?

Re: BBQ
 

Dozier's in Fulshear, TX (about 30 miles west of Houston on FM 1093) is well worth the drive. As good as Salt Lick imo. Great brisket, ribs & sausage. The meat has good flavor and the sauce is very good if you like the thinner Texas-style vinegar-based sauce.

Re: BBQ
 

I am getting meat from here for the superbowl(its in mountain view, so bay area dudes like diablo might wanna check it out.) They have like 50 different kinds of sausage and pretty much every meat one could want. I just have a regular gas grille though, im jealous of all these setups.

Re: BBQ
 

So the local BBQ guy is a BBQ nazi and got me turned on to smoking a couple years ago. Having checked out the forums on Q and done some looking into competition, it made sense to learn what the judges were looking for, so I went to a judging class when one came up a few hours away.

Judging BBQ is the [censored]. You show up and eat some of the best BBQ in the world, for hours, for free, and bring stuff home for later. I'm happy to pay through the nose for great BBQ but you can't even buy stuff this good, so getting it for free rules. First a little background on the competition.

There are four major styles of BBQ. Texas, Memphis, Carolina, and Kansas City. Kansas City style encompasses the four major categories of brisket, pork shoulder, ribs, and chicken, and uses the ketchup-based sauces everybody's familiar with, so it's the most popular when it comes to competition.

A competition involves a weekend of guys running their cookers starting Saturday afternoon (or earlier), getting hammered, basting, getting hammered, and sobering up with some beer. This is weird, because the turn-in times on Sunday are really strict. You have to turn in one category on each half-hour (within five minutes) for two hours. This is hard, since something you're cooking for 16 hours like brisket or shoulder doesn't lend itself well to photo finishes. It's done when it's done. There are various tricks using foil and manipulating temperature that can speed up or slow down the cooking, and the big cuts can rest for hours without loosing much temperature if you foil them and stick them in a cooler.

So they competitors cook a ton of food and then pick out the best six samples (individual pieces or slices) of each category, dress 'em up, and submit them. Judges show up on Sunday about 10, do a briefing and starting at 11:00 or noon start tasting categories, new ones every half-hour. They check out the presentation (laughable rules, "must be served in styrofoam clamshell takeout box, only lettuce as garnish, no red lettuce), texture, and taste. Surprising to a lot of folks is "fall off the bone" ribs are considered overcooked. If you bite and get a clean, easy pull with a dry bone, that's perfect.

This could turn into a book, and I don't know what's interesting to guys. Anybody have questions about it on the competitor or judging side of things?

Re: BBQ
 

I just ordered the weber smokey mountain, Im going to hold off on the temperature control unit for a little bit, to see how well I like the unit. It should be here friday, so I should be able to use it sunday. Ill def post some pics and such.

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think providing some more of your "how-to" knowledge would be awesome. Perhaps especially focused on equipment to get started with, etc?

[/ QUOTE ]

What would you like to know? As far as getting started, The WSM is a great choice. I started on (and still have) a Brinkman kettle gas smoker. Got it end of season at Kmart for $35.

Re: BBQ
 

[ QUOTE ]
Dozier's in Fulshear, TX (about 30 miles west of Houston on FM 1093) is well worth the drive. As good as Salt Lick imo. Great brisket, ribs & sausage. The meat has good flavor and the sauce is very good if you like the thinner Texas-style vinegar-based sauce.

[/ QUOTE ]
Heard of it, but never been. I'm dropping by Houston after Austin so maybe I'll make a stop, if I'm not sick of BBQ by this point.

Re: BBQ
 

Have any of you guys made your own smokers? Alton Brown made a couple on Good Eats, and it looks straightforward. One big box for a hot smoker, 2 boxes with ductwork between them for a cold smoker.

I'd love to her a trip-report from somebody not on TV. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
-Sam

Re: BBQ
 

CT,

I think most anything you wrote on the topic would be interesting. Maybe some more on a competition itself. How much stuff you're tasting. Any things that just way stood out compared to anything else, etc.