The BBQ thread

[Mike]

Don't even think of coming in here, acting like the secret is boiling chicken and throwing it on the grill to burn the Kraft BBQ sauce. We're talking real BBQ.  You don't have to be a practitioner, spectators and enthusiasts are welcome too. We can talk meats, rubs, sauces, cooking vessels, hardwoods, favorite eateries, etc., just keep it real.

What is real? We're talking low and slow. For starters, at present, this is no real BBQ served in the City of Santa Clarita.  For a little while there were two places, BBQ Club at Soledad/Valencia/Bouquet and Rayfields Ribs, etc. at Sierra/Soledad, but no more. 

I like to cook pork shoulder, pork ribs, chicken, tri-tip and I'm trying to learn brisket. In my experience, the best metro area for BBQ is Austin, TX.

Let's eat!

[RAmenPirate]

Oops!  I guess I posted another thread minutes after yours . . . what do we do now?

[Sky King]

BBQ was also the method for our Southern poor,(slaves) to cook the worst cuts of meat. In that spirit and with a crummy economy I find that Beef Ribs are affordable but very tough. Food 4 Less.

I add spices and precook them in a pressure cooker to tenderize and render some of the fat off. This takes a number of cookings due to the size of the ribs.
Then a slow BBQ with a few smoke chips and then a sauce mop with a high heat sear.
Served with a side cup of warm dipping sauce and bacon baked beans and potato salad.......

Damn. Now I'm hungry!

I liked Houston BBQ over Austin. Austin cut a tri tip and served it with a cup of BBQ sauce. Memphis was much better and also St Louis.

[Phil Ellis]

Tri-tip is a cut that meets your description of being (at least at one time) a poor cut of meat that has become much more than just eatable by slow cooking.  I know people who prefer a well prepared tri-tip over a good steak

[Jeff]

I just watched a 2003 episode of Good Eats in which Alton Brown educated me on the finer points of BBQ.

In particular, I had no idea it was such an inexact and disputed science.

Brown threw caution to the wind in that episode and slow cooked a pig shoulder for 8 hours in -get this- a ceramic tree pot with a hot plate and some kind of wood in the bottom.

To me that was pretty cool. Brown also said you could cheat if you like; you can initially cook the meat over the flame, but if you want to speed it up, you could put it in the oven for three hours.

I have nothing more to add.

[Mike]

Tri-tip's properties are closest to sirloin, but its shape, size and paucity (only two tri-tips per cow) make it less likely to be cut and sold as steak, though it can and sometimes is.  It responds well to a long cook, much like prime rib, but it isn't necessary.  Even on the long end, you wouldn't cook a tri-tip for longer than an hour or so.  Brisket, for example, is a 12-24 hour affair.

[Mike]

Brown was being needlessly obtuse, if clever.  I know someone who copied that method tit-for-tat and it came out OK.  His is the best food science show on TV, but his final recipes almost always disappoint.

[Mike]

To carry over from RPs topic, I never grew up cooking and grew up eating the bland, if sometimes gloriously greasy food of Philadelphia.  Cooking always had my interest, but I never did much of it until college.  It's been a hobby since then, and it wasn't long until I was drawn to the grill.  One night, speaking with a friend at the church we were attending back in the day. the subject of grilling came up and I was ready to boast until this guy started talking about hardwoods and secret sauces carried through three generations.  This had my interest immediately and I became a student. First I did my best to make it work on my existing propane rig, but you can only go so far.

My current setup includes 4 grills: A Weber kettle, a Weber bullet smoker, and offset horizontal smoker (the kind with a separate chamber attached to an oil-drum type thing with a smokestack) and a Weber propane grill for things like hot dogs, steaks, etc.

For a rub, I work from the proportions 1-1 sugar to salt with 1/4th as much pepper.  The types of sugars, salts and peppers depend on the mood and of course there are a few extra spices thrown in as well. Sauces are always homemade and I waver between 4 or 5 methods.  Pork shoulder gets a different treatment entirely. I like apple and hickory for pork and chicken and oak for beef.  Mesquite does fine with grilling, but isn't quite suited for a long cook (but you could do much worse).

I agree completely about the texture of the ribs.  Falling off the bone is both undesirable and a tell-tale sign of cheating.  Take two bones and gently pull them in opposite directions.  The meat should tear with just a little resistance. I'm not always so lucky to achieve this perfect texture.

[Sky King]

I am using a natural gas fueled 3 burner BBQ Galore Turbo. I know it isn't charcoal but I have great control and speed.

My weekend tri tip was marinated in the house and I got the smoker box filled with soaked mesquite chips. I set those on the coals on the right and only lit that side. Once it was smoking I put the meat an the left to acheive a warm smoke. MMmmm! Once that burnt out I put left and right on low and moved the meat to center. At medium on the thermometer I hit it with the sauce and fired the middle to sear the sauce in. Corn on the left and right and mamas potato salad and Fathers Day dinner was great. I love summer BBQ's!

[Phil Ellis]

OK - I think it is time for a cook-off.  I am sure that there are plenty of other posters here who like me would be willing to be judges.

[RAmenPirate]

I began my BBQ career with a Bar-B-Chef Charcoal Smoker after several (pre-crazy BBQ guy days) Home Depot $99 propane specials.  Nothing against those by the way, in the right hands they do just fine and you can't beat them for price and convenience.

Once I christened myself the offical BBQ snob of the block, had to go back for the Bar-B-Chef Charcoal Grill.  For convenience I have a gas grill in the middle of my Wolf range that does a pretty decent job although clean-up can be a chore (hey, you have to suffer for good BBQ sometimes).

Although I've been much more adventurous with the grill, I've tried little other than the baby-backs on the smoker (excuse me, barbeque).  Having two and 1/2 vegetarians in the household, it's mostly for large gatherings that I fire up the smoker and put in the time and effort.  I try to create a "rep" for those gatherings and never seem to have enough time to perfect anything else . . . yet.  Mike, it seems like you have a much wider repertoire in that department . . . I'm not worthy! 

You've inspired me though and this summer I'll just have to convince my son and his buddies to stop by more often and serve as guinea pork . . uh, pigs.

(PS to Phil who posted whilst I was penning this, I think we could use a little more trash talk before a cook-off is in order . . . so . . . Mike, I think your ribs probably suck . . . OK, that ought to do it)

[Brother Karamazov]

I beg that you let me be a judge.

I have been practicing for this day all my life.

I would be the Buddha of BBQ judges. I am at one with the BBQ, yet I have no personal BBQ methods which would make me bias or partial.

Feed me.

[Jeff]

This thread demands pictures....

or perhaps an official SCVTalkers taste test

[Sky King]

A BBQ without vittles is not a BBQ. Let's keep this open for giving a heads up on good meat sales. I stumbled on Farmer John pork ribs at Smart & Final a few weeks ago at a buck a pound.

Face it. We love to eat and it ain't getting cheaper, so if we find a great deal, let's give a shout out. I'm not talking hamburger either!

[Petz2]

Petz aka "The BBQ King" has an autographed copy of Bobby Seale's Barbeque'N with Bobby, starting bid $80.00 on Amazon.

Bobby was a founder of the Black Panther Party.  Petz BBQS everything on a water  smoker or over mesquite charcoal.  Usually brine all roasts or poultry first for maximum moisture retention.  Gas grill for kids hamburgs hot dogs and occasional sausage.

Here is a link to Bobby.

http://bobbyqueseale.com/declare.html