BBQ / Smoking

[Hype]

Curious what ANR folks do for BBQ.

I've been using a Weber kettle grill with chunk charcoal regularly for about a year and finally think I'm getting used to it. I got adventurous enough to try smoking some baby back ribs today. Since I've never done this before it's a little disconcerting... the recipe says keep the temp between 250F-300F for 3-4 hrs. But I've also heard that 225F for 6-8 hrs is best. I'm avoiding the "3-2-1" method because I've heard that's too similar to doing them in the oven (with pre-boiling).

So basically, I set it up for indirect grilling with some very large chunks of charcoal, drip pan in the middle... and I've been using hickory chunks for smoke.

They've been on the grill for 2 hours or so at the moment and they look pretty good but I'm still wary. I've been trying to keep the heat around 250, so I figure the total process will probably be around 4 hrs including basting with some homemade tequila sauce at the end.

Anyone got any surefire techniques/tips/favourite things to BBQ?

I've gotten pretty good at porterhouses and bone-in chicken breasts, and did some pretty good trout...

[Artemis]

Curious what ANR folks do for BBQ.

I go to the Stockyards.

http://www.thestockyards.ca/


My building does not permit barbecues or smokers on the balconies, so I don't do BBQ at all.

[Smokestack]

I've been competing in BBQ completions for a few years now so I might be able to help here. My ribs finished in the top 10 out of 80 teams last month, so I think I'm pretty awesome!

Ribs
I only do baby backs. Screw spare ribs. First thing, in case you're not doing it already, make sure to tear the thin layer of skin off the back of the ribs before cooking. Rub the ribs with a thin coat of oil then cover them with your favorite rub. Cook at 250 F for 2 hours. I usually use Apple for pork, but the best universal wood is Hickory. After two hours, lay out some foil. coat the foil in brown sugar. Put just enough down to cover the foil. Then get some squeeze butter and squeeze it over the brown sugar. It doesn't have to be a lot. Lay the ribs, curved side down, onto the foil and wrap. Smoke them, curved side down, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap them, sprinkle a little more rub on them, and put them back on the smoker for another 30 minutes to an hour uncovered.

Pork Shoulder
Very simple. Cook at 225-250. Cover with oil and rub. Once you get to an internal temp of 160 F, put the shoulder in an aluminum pan and cover in foil. Cook to an internal temp of 200-205 F. Shred and serve. Pour some juice from the pan over the pork before serving. Also, once you start cooking it in the pan, it will cook FAST. It might take 6 hours to get to 160 F, but only 2 more hours to get it to 200 F.

Brisket
You can make your own rub with a 50/50 mix of salt and pepper. I usually add a little paprika to it. Smoke at 225 F to 200 F internal temp. When the thermometer slides in with almost no resistance, it's done. Wrap it up and let it rest for an hour before slicing. Make sure to slice against the grain or it will be stringy and tough.

That's the best I've got after five years of trial and error.

[Hype]

I've been competing in BBQ completions for a few years now so I might be able to help here. My ribs finished in the top 10 out of 80 teams last month, so I think I'm pretty awesome!

Ribs
I only do baby backs. Screw spare ribs. First thing, in case you're not doing it already, make sure to tear the thin layer of skin off the back of the ribs before cooking. Rub the ribs with a thin coat of oil then cover them with your favorite rub. Cook at 250 F for 2 hours. I usually use Apple for pork, but the best universal wood is Hickory. After two hours, lay out some foil. coat the foil in brown sugar. Put just enough down to cover the foil. Then get some squeeze butter and squeeze it over the brown sugar. It doesn't have to be a lot. Lay the ribs, curved side down, onto the foil and wrap. Smoke them, curved side down, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap them, sprinkle a little more rub on them, and put them back on the smoker for another 30 minutes to an hour uncovered.

Pork Shoulder
Very simple. Cook at 225-250. Cover with oil and rub. Once you get to an internal temp of 160 F, put the shoulder in an aluminum pan and cover in foil. Cook to an internal temp of 200-205 F. Shred and serve. Pour some juice from the pan over the pork before serving. Also, once you start cooking it in the pan, it will cook FAST. It might take 6 hours to get to 160 F, but only 2 more hours to get it to 200 F.

Brisket
You can make your own rub with a 50/50 mix of salt and pepper. I usually add a little paprika to it. Smoke at 225 F to 200 F internal temp. When the thermometer slides in with almost no resistance, it's done. Wrap it up and let it rest for an hour before slicing. Make sure to slice against the grain or it will be stringy and tough.

That's the best I've got after five years of trial and error.

The ribs sound amazing done that way. The ones I made yesterday turned out great, but I was told that they weren't as fall-off-the-bone tender as when you boil them first. But I suspect that's just the style of BBQing that this is. Every time I've had Memphis BBQ it's been this way.

I'm excited to do brisket, since I did a brisket in the slow cooker over the winter and it turned out amazing, so I bet the flavours are intense as hell smoking it.

[Hype]

Slightly different: how the hell do you clean a barbecue? I just spent two hours trying to scrub the orange shit off the inside of the kettle... There's gotta be a faster way (but I'm worried I'll destroy the ceramic).

[sinep]

fall-off-the-bone tender

bbq should not "fall off the bone." you're describing shitty super-market quality ribs.

[Hype]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

[sinep]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

come to california. you can teach me about philosophy and i'll buy you a plate of my favorite ribs.

[Bandit72]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

come to california. you can teach me about philosophy and i'll buy you a plate of my favorite ribs.

The only problem is that the ribs (corn and fries) would have gone cold and developed a fine mould like covering on them by the time you've finished your discussion. But knowledge is power so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[Hype]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

come to california. you can teach me about philosophy and i'll buy you a plate of my favorite ribs.

The only problem is that the ribs (corn and fries) would have gone cold and developed a fine mould like covering on them by the time you've finished your discussion. But knowledge is power so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

You underestimate the degree to which philosophers can multitask.

I've got friends in California, and the APA Pacific meeting is often held there, so if I get accepted to that, you can buy me ribs. In exchange, you can attend my conference talk.

[mockbee]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

come to california. you can teach me about philosophy and i'll buy you a plate of my favorite ribs.

The only problem is that the ribs (corn and fries) would have gone cold and developed a fine mould like covering on them by the time you've finished your discussion. But knowledge is power so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

You underestimate the degree to which philosophers can multitask.

I've got friends in California, and the APA Pacific meeting is often held there, so if I get accepted to that, you can buy me ribs. In exchange, you can attend my conference talk.

2016 APA Pacific Division Meeting

3/30/2016 to 4/3/2016


Where: Map this event »
The Westin St. Francis
335 Powell Street
San Francisco, California 94102
United States

Too bad SF does not have good ribs. Anything Southern here es no bueno, have to go to Oakland/East Bay. Or there is a place in Pacifica called Gorilla BBQ that is supposed to be very good. I haven't tried it but maybe mxxplxxxlx? http://www.gorillabbq.com/

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

[Artemis]

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

The Mattresses of San Francisco tour.

On my last trip to SF, I went to the Ferry Building a few times. Some good eats there for sure!

I met up with creep there too. We went to a little place near there for some drinks, then ate at the restaurant where you can watch them make the sourdough bread(can't remember the name now).

[creep]

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

The Mattresses of San Francisco tour.

On my last trip to SF, I went to the Ferry Building a few times. Some good eats there for sure!

I met up with creep there too. We went to a little place near there for some drinks, then ate at the restaurant where you can watch them make the sourdough bread(can't remember the name now).

many drinks

mockbee probably won't approve of the place we ate at because it's a chain and it was in a touristy location. it was boudin.

[Artemis]

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

The Mattresses of San Francisco tour.

On my last trip to SF, I went to the Ferry Building a few times. Some good eats there for sure!

I met up with creep there too. We went to a little place near there for some drinks, then ate at the restaurant where you can watch them make the sourdough bread(can't remember the name now).

many drinks

mockbee probably won't approve of the place we ate at because it's a chain and it was in a touristy location. it was boudin.

Yes, Boudin! I liked it. The food was good and location is good too...if you're a tourist, which I was.

https://www.boudinbakery.com/at-the-wharf

[mockbee]

Boudin is fine! I ate lunch there every once in a while when I worked downtown.

Ferry Building is approved as well!

Don't ask me about food now though, most of the restaurants I frequented have shut down, priced out because their leases came up.

[mockbee]

The Mattresses of San Francisco tour.

oh man...I hope that wouldn't be a highlight. That would be one quick and boring tour.

The problem with BBQ in SF is that it is just a bunch of hip [privileged white folks] with a brilliant idea to put a spin on southern bbq and it turns out terrible (and expensive!)

I am sure there were good places in the western addition/fillmore and bayview areas at some point, just they were priced out looong ago.

[Juana]

Depends on what you wanna cook but we BBQ pretty much anything here in ATX and the hill country

[Hype]

Well, submissions are in August, so I'll submit something then and if successful, see if I can make a longer trip out of it. I'm not sure I could pass up the opportunity to see LA.

[MYXYLPLYX]

Too bad SF does not have good ribs. Anything Southern here es no bueno, have to go to Oakland/East Bay. Or there is a place in Pacifica called Gorilla BBQ that is supposed to be very good. I haven't tried it but maybe mxxplxxxlx? http://www.gorillabbq.com/

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

Yeah, Gorilla BBQ was featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" - and there's been a line out the door ever since. I went a couple times when they first opened and before all the hoopla and found it pretty mediocre, and over-priced at that.

Now, with the lines, I can't be bothered to ever go back.


Best I've found in the East Bay - http://www.eandjbbq.com/

My current favorite near my work - http://www.piginapicklebbq.com/

In S.F., this place is worth a visit, though it probably falls under the over-priced hipster category - http://4505meats.com/4505-burgers-bbq/

also, I've enjoyed this place in the Haight - http://www.memphisminnies.com/


Random notes: That hotel, the Westin St. Francis, I've been to on several occasions to pick up bands, but probably most memorably was a multi day run of the Queens of the Stone Age at The Warfield (2006?)

Also, it is a prominent part of the "track" in SF for the higher end prostitutes...

[mockbee]

Too bad SF does not have good ribs. Anything Southern here es no bueno, have to go to Oakland/East Bay. Or there is a place in Pacifica called Gorilla BBQ that is supposed to be very good. I haven't tried it but maybe mxxplxxxlx? http://www.gorillabbq.com/

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

Yeah, Gorilla BBQ was featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" - and there's been a line out the door ever since. I went a couple times when they first opened and before all the hoopla and found it pretty mediocre, and over-priced at that.

Now, with the lines, I can't be bothered to ever go back.


Best I've found in the East Bay - http://www.eandjbbq.com/

My current favorite near my work - http://www.piginapicklebbq.com/

In S.F., this place is worth a visit, though it probably falls under the over-priced hipster category - http://4505meats.com/4505-burgers-bbq/

also, I've enjoyed this place in the Haight - http://www.memphisminnies.com/


Random notes: That hotel, the Westin St. Francis, I've been to on several occasions to pick up bands, but probably most memorably was a multi day run of the Queens of the Stone Age at The Warfield (2006?)

Also, it is a prominent part of the "track" in SF for the higher end prostitutes...

That all looks delicious!

Memphis minnies is fun, I have to try that 4505 meats place, looks promising if they are from KC, and the place in oakland.

I could totally see that being the case with gorilla, maybe I will stop by on the way back from down south if the line isn't to long, but those other places look great!

[Hype]

The thing that's amazing to me is that Canadians probably backyard barbecue as much as Americans do, but we just don't have the same level of barbecue culture. I think out in the prairies there's more of it, but maybe it's like skateboarding: Canada doesn't have a "South" where it doesn't snow (the closest thing to that is Vancouver), so we don't get the benefit of easy year-round development.

[MYXYLPLYX]

Canada also has guns and enjoys hunting... and yet doesn't have the gun culture of the U.S.

[Hype]

Canada also has guns and enjoys hunting... and yet doesn't have the gun culture of the U.S.

True. But at least with food, music, art in general... it does reinforce the old stereotype of Canada as "America's goody-two-shoes younger brother", a bland country of boring people who don't cause trouble but also don't add much of anything. We're a younger country by 100 years (1867, or, even 200 years since we didn't get our own constitution until 1982...). We also have 1/10th of the population, and even though there's east-west regional distinctions, there's almost no north-south, because almost everybody lives within 100km of the US border. Barbecue is definitely more of a southern thing (keeps you from turning on the oven inside the house in the middle of heatwaves), so in Canada, it's mostly a summer thing, though I know there are some people who barbecue in their garages in the winter (really bad idea if you like brain cells...).

Anyway, food culture has been slowly improving since Toronto hipsters started catching on, about half a decade to a decade later than Brooklyn. Outside of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver (and to a lesser extent, Calgary), this really doesn't have any effect.

There's also a lot more freedom in the US to do things differently, and to expand very quickly. Canada can't even do microbrewing right because alcohol is too regulated.

[sinep]

I know. It's just what people I know are used to... Canada doesn't have a strong rib culture the way Americans have created it. We have to learn these things by chance.

come to california. you can teach me about philosophy and i'll buy you a plate of my favorite ribs.

The only problem is that the ribs (corn and fries) would have gone cold and developed a fine mould like covering on them by the time you've finished your discussion. But knowledge is power so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

You underestimate the degree to which philosophers can multitask.

I've got friends in California, and the APA Pacific meeting is often held there, so if I get accepted to that, you can buy me ribs. In exchange, you can attend my conference talk.

2016 APA Pacific Division Meeting

3/30/2016 to 4/3/2016


Where: Map this event »
The Westin St. Francis
335 Powell Street
San Francisco, California 94102
United States

Too bad SF does not have good ribs. Anything Southern here es no bueno, have to go to Oakland/East Bay. Or there is a place in Pacifica called Gorilla BBQ that is supposed to be very good. I haven't tried it but maybe mxxplxxxlx? http://www.gorillabbq.com/

Also, most unfortunate, if you make it out to this.....mockbee will have just departed this lovely city and won't be able to share a beer and be a local guide.

phat matt's in oakland is pretty great.

[mockbee]

phat matt's in oakland is pretty great.

That looks good, will have to try.


I actually went to The Whole Beast on Sat http://thewholebeast.com/index.html at The Yard (by ATT Park) and it was surprisingly excellent,

(if quite expensive - $50 for 2 plates meat and a side of potato salad and corn w/o tip and no beer!), but that was okay the brisket was really good and Anchor Steam was next door with at least a dozen of their own micros on tap....)


Well, I guess this has turned into the Bay Area BBQ thread.......spend a week and take a bbq tour.