Some thoughts on experience and BBQ myths...

[Rich Parker]

I learned to cook chicken like ribs. And yes I foiled! Yummy!

 

[Gore]

And yet that old wive's tale is still being spewed today. I usually tell folks to put a pat of butter on top of a steak and tell me where it ends up.

It ends up in my mouth.... Is this a trick question?

 

[jeffboyette]

"Sear in the juices" lmao

 

[Boshizzle]

The biggest myth I've heard is that the best BBQ comes from a fire made of wood that has been struck by lightning.

Other than that, I'd say that the 2nd biggest myth is that you have to cook BBQ at 225 degrees or lower for 12 to 14 hours or it won't be "real" BBQ.

The 3rd biggest myth is that Santa Maria style "BBQ" is real BBQ. Let's all face it, it's grilled not BBQ'd.

The 4th biggest myth is that North Carolina BBQ originated in North Carolina. Truth is, it originated in Virginia in the 18th century. So, welcome to the world of BBQ all you new comers like North Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas City.

Whatever.

 

[landarc]

Real Santa Maria style BBQ is not grilled, stop believing all of the so called experts on t.v. and in magazines.

 

[Boshizzle]

Real Santa Maria style BBQ is not grilled, stop believing all of the so called experts on t.v. and in magazines.

OK, who should I believe, brother Landarc?

 

[landarc]

Come on out to California, watch different folks cook, take a look at what the real good guys do. I learned on a 85 year old pit, from 65 year old farmers, who worked the pit, open that it was, with a fire that was multi-zoned, it took close to two hours to work the meat, which had a smoke ring, was tender and smoky, was never allowed to color up beyond a light brown, then was lowered from about 4 feet above a medium fire that was purely coast oak that was burned down to a medium fire. The grate temperature was mostly in the 250F range until they wanted to "color up" the meat.

These were old men, who worked an old pit, learned from older men, cooking over a low fire in stick burning pits, low temperature, not the new guys cooking in old pickup truck beds or over hot coals flipping the meat 12 times and burning them up in 35 minutes a piece. I haven't seen a handful of folks that cook that way around here. But, in my book, other than lacking an oven, this was real BBQ, low and slow, stickburning BBQ.

Oh, I asked about a rub, the head cook looked at me like I was daft, then came the San Francisco slam..."we ain't some fancy San Francisco cooks or movie stars, we use salt and pepper, good beef don't need no more"

 

[Boshizzle]

Come on out to California, watch different folks cook, take a look at what the real good guys do. I learned on a 85 year old pit, from 65 year old farmers, who worked the pit, open that it was, with a fire that was multi-zoned, it took close to two hours to work the meat, which had a smoke ring, was tender and smoky, was never allowed to color up beyond a light brown, then was lowered from about 4 feet above a medium fire that was purely coast oak that was burned down to a medium fire. The grate temperature was mostly in the 250F range until they wanted to "color up" the meat.

These were old men, who worked an old pit, learned from older men, cooking over a low fire in stick burning pits, low temperature, not the new guys cooking in old pickup truck beds or over hot coals flipping the meat 12 times and burning them up in 35 minutes a piece. I haven't seen a handful of folks that cook that way around here. But, in my book, other than lacking an oven, this was real BBQ, low and slow, stickburning BBQ.

Oh, I asked about a rub, the head cook looked at me like I was daft, then came the San Francisco slam..."we ain't some fancy San Francisco cooks or movie stars, we use salt and pepper, good beef don't need no more"

Now, that's BBQ! Thanks for the lesson. I'd love to hear more about those guys.

 

[landarc]

One thing that is not a myth, I asked these old men, as well as a handfull of others in other places how they cooked and they all let me see, they shared information freely and showed me what they knew. Was some of it a myth, sure, I bet, but, I learned a lot from them as well. I don't think enough is done to talk to these guys, and the stuff that is researched is by folks that are more journalists than cooks. What I never got until the last 10 years or so is that B.S. line of "if I told ya, I'd have to kill ya".

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Does boiled ribs and a brinkmann water smoker count 5 years ago?

 

[Crash]

3 things....two have been touched on already.

1) Hot and fast. It can be done and can mimic or best a slow and low cooked product.

2) Just Do It. Especially true for folks looking to get into competitions, but equally true for those wanting to really learn how to Q in the backyard. As for the competition side, don't be intimidated. All of those other teams are as full of sh!t as you are. Go, have fun, meet, learn.....repeat.

3) Water pans. IMO, adding water (or any other liquid) to a water pan does nothing except retard the efficiency of the cooking fuel. It doesn't add enough moisture (or flavor) to make a noticable difference. Injecting and wrapping make more of a difference in the moisture of your end product. Water pans = Heat diffusers. Water pans are also a nasty cleanup. I say foil the water pan and add nothing. I was taught to use water in the water pan, but over time learned it was a waste of time and fuel.

Again...IMHO.

 

[Hub]

You nailed it Chris -- I'm still learning and I'm lovin' it. When I quit learning I'll know that I'm dead, not that I know it all! One of the things I learned is that you can't avoid growing old, but that you can avoid growing into an old fogey.

Hub

 

[smokeyw]

Well, this is one I never heard before. Not saying it ain't so, I just never heard it :crazy:

The 4th biggest myth is that North Carolina BBQ originated in North Carolina. Truth is, it originated in Virginia in the 18th century. So, welcome to the world of BBQ all you new comers like North Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas City. Whatever.

 

[Boshizzle]

Well, this is one I never heard before. Not saying it ain't so, I just never heard it :crazy:

Well, now you know something new.

 

[smokeyw]

Would you care to divulge your source of information? I would like to read this one for myself and confirm it so I can speak about it without saying it is hearsay.

Well, now you know something new.

 

[CarolinaQue]

There are to many myths that I have debunked to list here. But, what I think is true is that it all depends your pit, location, and fuel source. I have personally experienced where some thing didn't work on one type of pit such as a WSM that has worked on an offset pit. Same thing as a reverse flow vs. a standard offset or WSM. I have lived and cooked all over this country and will tell you that I have found that location has s huge impact on fire control. Down south, my reverse flow pit acted very differently than it does up here in Maine. I attribute a lot of it to the lack of humidity in the air up here. Down south, there was no need for me to add a water pan to my pit. It pulled enough moisture in from the ambient air. Up here in Maine, I hardly cook with out one. To me and my cooking style it makes a difference. As some one on here always says...YMMV.

I guess that what I am saying is don't believe every thing you hear or read 100%. In my experience, there are very few absolutes. Try things your self and make the necessary corrections to attain the results you're after. And just because it works for some one else, doesn't mean it will work for you...and that goes both directions.

 

[CarolinaQue]

The 4th biggest myth is that North Carolina BBQ originated in North Carolina. Truth is, it originated in Virginia in the 18th century. So, welcome to the world of BBQ all you new comers like North Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas City.

I'd like to see some supporting info for this statement as well. This is the first I ever heard of this and I've lived in both NC and VA.

 

[JMSetzler]

I came to this forum with practically zero experience in BBQ but with lots of experience in cooking and grilling. In a few short months, I have become an 'adequate' master of my pit but I still have a long way to go. Advice has come to me in the form of good and bad.

As a noob to the world of BBQ, I have had to learn more than just how to cook a butt or ribs or whatever is going on the grate. When I ask for assistance, I have had to learn that the responses I will get come directly from the passion of the person giving them. You can see this almost every day in the forums here.

Noob arrives and posts questions:

1. Lump or Briquettes?
2. WSM or UDS?
3. Low and Slow or Hot and Fast?
4. Starter fluid or Newspaper?
5. Make your rubs or buy commercial?
6. Foil or not foil?
7. Fat cap up or down?
8. etc etc etc

Answers come quickly and they are based on the experience of the person giving them. Right or wrong is not the issue because everything seems to work. Most people are passionate about their answers to these questions and rightly so because of their experience.

One of the responses to these experience questions that I don't see often enough is a recommendation of trying all the options and see which one you like. In my noobie humble opinion, the best advice is the advice that helps me form my own opinion. If I just blindly accept one set of suggestions as 'truth' and don't experiment with other options, I'll never know why I'm doing something a certain way or how I can improve upon whatever methods I choose.

What I love about this forum is that when questions or debates are posted, usually all the possible options are brought up and discussed to some degree. THAT gives me the information I need to experiment with the answers and come up with methods that work for me.

As for TOTAL or PARTIAL crap.... well... I don't think any advice I have ever been given from the Brethren fall into that category. I'm thankful that this resource is here and available to me. The only advice that falls into the crap category is the advice that is NOT given.

 

[Boshizzle]

Would you care to divulge your source of information? I would like to read this one for myself and confirm it so I can speak about it without saying it is hearsay.

Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, by Robert F. Moss.

 

[smokeyw]

I have a wide array of barbecue history books but do not have this particular one. Would you be kind enough to quote where he says NC barbecue originated in Virginia and also list his supporting source information? Thanks

Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, by Robert F. Moss.