Everyone knows that “BBQ”, i.e. the concept of cooking food at a low temperature for an extended period of time over wood, is a trend that is on the rise in NYC. All over the five boroughs, restaurants old and new are competing for cult status and trying to claim the top prize of best BBQ, awarded when the agreement is unanimous amongst New Yorkers. We’re talking here about Harlem’s Dinosaur BBQ, Williamsburg’s Fette Sau, Chelsea’s Hill Country, Midtown’s Daisy Mae’s just to name a few, and the list goes on with the fancy small scale joints striving for authenticity vs. the Times Square tourist traps and the chains.
The truth is, that some of these places really are awesome and replicate what goes on in the South. The problem, as usual, is that it costs an arm and a leg. Shitty puns aside, the cooking brigade over here at BS is going to bring that lovin’ to you.
Chicken, ribs, bacon, and shoulder… about an hour in…
The Process: BBQ is a simple concept. You get cheap cuts of meat, such as spare ribs, pork shoulder (commonly called “butt”, don’t ask why) or beef brisket, or pork belly (when smoked, its called bacon) and you build a fire using hardwood charcoal and specialty woods such a hickory, mesquite, apple or cherry. The objective is to let the meat slowly cook for hours and hours at a steady temperature of circa 200 degrees F. Here’s the thing, the wood fire can’t be directly under the meat; its got to be away from it, but in a place where the heat and the smoke can get to it. In the setup I have, the meat sits in the main grilling chamber while the fire smolders away in a firebox that is connected to the side of it. In this way, the meat gets the smoke and heat but no flame, and can cook slowly and become tender while retaining its juices over a period of 5-8 hours.
Ribs in the foreground with the shoulder behind and the bacon positioned right above…
“5-8 hours!” you exclaim? Yes. Good BBQ is like many of the good things in life. It takes a damn long time, and a damn lot of patience. But, what’s a better way to spend your Sunday than drinking beer, catching up with friends, enjoying the weather and throwing a huge feast the night before the work week claims your soul ?
If you dont have a backyard, do it in Prospect Park. They have tons of space for you to cook. Don’t have a BBQ? You can buy some for super cheap at the Lowe’s near Smith/9th. You can even rig up a device of your own creation using anything from aluminum roasting pans to digging a hole in the ground . It’s a world of fun.
Ribs…finished and slathered in BBQ sauce…
And probably the best thing about BBQ, aside from the look of satisfaction on peoples’ faces, is the fact that your skill improves with every session.
Can you send me some pork shoulder in the mail?
Well, it was all gone by 10pm Sunday night…But yeah, Ill Fedex you a nice care package next weekend
Our house still smells like meat.
Delicious meat.
Dear ChezJJP,
Do you have any recommendations for how to rig up a smoky barbecue situation if we don’t have a fancy grill like yours?
Thanks,
Hungry in Prospect Heights
i second mooseknuckle. if you hosted a tutorial on building our own smoky bbq, i’d pay you. in hugs.
Sure, you can do the following:
Make your own apartment stovetop smoker:
Get a pot or a square shaped pan with deep sides. Get a rack that fits inside this, and make it elevated (placing tuna cans under it or something). The idea is to put some wood chips at the bottom of the pan with the rack sitting above it, and have the food on top of the rack. (The lid would be on the pot.) In this way, your stove would gently warm the wood until smoking and this would in turn smoke your meat( or veggies).
Alternatively, if you had a roof or small balcony (or in the park) you could put some wood chips in a foil pouch and place the pouch over coals in a mini grill with lid. We actually got an awesome mini grill for ten bucks down the street.
and you want to put the chips in a foil pouch so they don’t catch fire - is that right? do you vent the top at all or does ALL the smoke stay in with the meat?
I thought you folks were all tofu pup belching vegans.
No, the belching meat eaters outnumber the vegetarian.
Some of these kids just get excited in the pants for organic/local foods and veggies.
Pizappas, yes you are right on the first point…since they are just chips you want them to just smoke as much as possible before getting used up..and i would vent the top just a little bit or not at all as to maximize the smoke inside the chamber….
Lucy, I don’t know what pup belching is, but I think I’m guilty.
All these comments about smoking meat make me a little jumpy.
I miss blog.