Monday, September 2, 2013

BBQ IS A NOUN, NOT A VERB

In the Southland, BBQ is the cuisine itself - it is not the apparatus you cook it on, nor is it the activity of cooking outside. - S.L.

Carolina-style BBQ - that's my personal dry rub recipe on the left & center rear, wet on right & front.

Big party here last night: Five racks of ribs slow cooked over hickory. I steam the ribs over a pan of boiling water for ten minutes in the oven, apply the rub or sauce, then it's over the coals, about 250 degrees F for about thirty minutes until they are BAKED TO PERFECTION ! ! !

Up here in the barbaric North, when the Yankees say BBQ they mean the grill itself AND/OR the activity of cooking outside. "Yo, Vinny, why doncha come ovah to my place and we'll barbecue some hamburgers and hotdogs!" Then they all hang out with their flat brimmed baseball hats and their baggy pants = 100% purebred Yankee.

Down South, BBQ - the cuisine - is cooked over a fire of green hickory wood - where there's smoke there's flavor. Up here in the savage Northland, these Yankee Philistines actually grill over GAS FLAMES. Unbelievable, I know. When the Yankees watch me grill, they are AMAZED.

Killed a bottle of Evan Williams bourbon, a bottle of Hornitos Tequila and God knows how many bottles of beer & wine. Didn't even have a hangover this morning.

Pure bacchanalia, Viking-style. Best party we ever threw.

STORMBRINGER SENDS

12 comments:

  1. Only barbarians cannot understand the true power of fire.

    Wood/charcoal = good outdoor cooking. Pour cooking oil on the fire afterwards and sit around singing (or watch the women folk get naked and dance through it, depending on the company!)

    A gas/electric grill is a pointless as a Presbyterian wake. Good call.

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    1. PS, not to criticise your technique for ribs, but some of the finest fillet roasts I have ever enjoyed were cooked in France using a fire built vertically behind the meat using a small rotisiere to rotate it slowly - leaves the dripping pure and tasty and minimises the blackening!

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    2. You see that foil under the ribs? Indirect heat = NO blackening. NONE.

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    3. Yes indeed - as I said, not criticising that technique!

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  2. Texas style BBQ= the day before your 'event',dig a pit, build a nice fire in said pit.
    when fire has died down to coals,lay a piece of corrugated tin on the half the coals.
    put both sides of a prepared goat(a pig works well too) on the tin and cover that with another piece of tin .
    cover that with the rest of the coals, and bury the whole thing with the dirt from digging the pit.
    when you uncover it the next day, serve with lots of beer, n sangria, n frijoles, n friends.
    whoop, holler and enjoy

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  3. Nothing, I say nothing better than pit goat!

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  4. I'd really like to try the ones with the dry rub. I'm actually a certified BBQ judge and so far I've judged 29 sanctioned competitions.
    Also grew up in Texas and can vouch for the Cabrito!!

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  5. But, Hank Hill (of King of The Hill) lives in Texas, and he uses propane?

    gfa

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  6. In Texas BBQ is both a noun and a verb. We BBQ briskets and ribs. We grill steaks. I use propane after using charcoal for decades for steaks. Can't tell the difference.

    I have had beef on a ranch cooked by the method Bootmaker describes. It was the BEST BBQ I have EVER had. No sauce or knife required. The brisket was moist and fall apart tender. The ribs likewise.

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  7. Sounds good, but here in Georgia, I use a homemade dry rub on baby back ribs. Then I smoke them over hickory and mesquite in a Big Green Egg (indirect)at 225°for 4 to 5 hours. Then, I put the ribs in a disposable pan with apple juice, butter and brown sugar, seal it with foil and put it back in the Egg for another hour. Virtually everyone says they are the best ribs ever. Fall-off-the-bone tender. I cook these things and take them to customers. Great for business- they keep buying my products so I'll bring more ribs!

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  8. I have just started cold-smoking. Should have done it years ago!

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  9. Any meat that "falls off the bone" is over cooked.

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