Low, Slow and Steady
Become a Perfect Pitmaster
New York City may not be regarded as one of the barbequing capitals of the world, and most of its residents are more likely to catch a Food Network special on baby back ribs than actually hold a set of tongs over an open pit. Yet, on a particularly windy afternoon last Saturday, 10 top pitmasters from across the country gathered in New York’s Madison Square Park to showcase the best in barbeque today. For the fourth annual two-day Big Apple Barbeque, pit-tending professionals cooked up over 50,000 pounds of ribs, pulled pork, brisket and sausage for the hungry, single-filed Manhattanite masses.
Because summertime and grills seem to make everyone feel like a certified chef -- and psychoPEDIA.com’s own Rock’n’Roll barbeque is coming up -- we asked the resident pitmasters for tips that any average amateur could benefit from.
“I’ve been barbequing all my life…though I was trained as a dental technician,” said Mike Mills, pitmaster for the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysborough, Illinois. While serving up baby-back ribs and sweet baked beans, Mills disclosed his short but sweet maxim: keep it low and slow. (Heat and cook time, respectively, that is.)
“You have to know how to cook everything, the different temperatures. And you need a real hot fire,” says Michael Rodriguez, a pitmaster from The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas -- a common stop on BBQ lovers’ grand American tour.
“Have a lot of patience, and keep the fire low,” says John Stage, Dinosaur BBQ’s pitmaster, who got his start 20 years ago serving barbeque to bikers at Harley-Davidson events.
“Low, slow and steady,” echoed Kenny Callaghan, owner and head chef at Manhattan’s Blue Smoke barbeque restaurant. “That’s how I treat a lot of things.”
At the Southside Market BBQ pit, three generations of Bracewells from Elgin, Texas (the self-proclaimed sausage capital of the United States) barbequed brisket and sausages (15 hours at 200-225 degrees for the former, 45 minutes at 300-325 degrees for the latter) over a post oak wood fire. They were served with one of two sauces: hot or regular. “The hot sauce? It’s pretty warm. That’s all we had for years, but then we had to flavor it down to where everyone can eat it,” says Ernest Bracewell, who uses an Elgin sausage (which old-timers still call “hot guts”) recipe dating to the late 1800s.
Whether it’s flavored Kansas City-style (a sauce sweetened with honey or molasses), Carolina-style (more mustard-based), or Midwestern and Southern (typically, vinegar- or ketchup-based sauce), the pickings, typically beef or pork, aren’t exactly slim.
“It’s real, all-American food,” says Callaghan, who, after graduating Johns Hopkins, gave up a career in fine dining for more authentic cuisine. So, as you take part this summer in the celebration of a grand American tradition, just remember: keep it low, slow and steady.
~Alisa Gould-Simon
Go There:
For more on the Big Apple BBQ :www.bigapplebbq.org
Southside Market & BBQ, the intersection of Hwy.290 and Hwy.95, Elgin, TX (512) 285-3407, www.southsidemarket.com
Blue Smoke, 116 East 27th Street, NYC, NY, (212) 447-7733, www.bluesmoke.com
17th Street Bar & Grill, 32 North 17th Street, Murphysboro, Il, (618) 684-8610, www.17thstreetbarbecue.com
The Salt Lick, 18001 FM 1826, Driftwood, TX, (512) 858-4959, www.saltlickbbq.com
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 646 West 131st Street, NYC, NY, 212.694.1777, www.dinosaurbarbque.com
Photos by Seth Wolfson
