Big-Time Barbecue
Ray Lampe knows grilling. Ray (a.k.a. Dr. BBQ), among the winningest champions on the barbecue-competition circuit, gave up his truck-driving career years ago to focus on his craft. Today, he travels around the country competing and teaching, and he shares his expertise in his book, Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook.
Before we get to Dr. BBQ’s advanced lessons, a little review is in order. Barbecuing is different than direct grilling, or quickly cooking tender cuts of meat at high temperatures (400ºF or higher), with a heat source right under the food. Barbecuing, or “cool smoking,” is a method of cooking tougher cuts of meat very, very slowly at relatively low temperatures (215ºF to 250ºF), with the heat source away from the food. While the meat leisurely cooks, three things occur: The meat’s fat renders out; the meat becomes so tender that it practically falls off the bone; and the exterior caramelizes, producing a flavorful crust, or bark, as it’s known in barbecue circles. The final product is tender and juicy, pink in color and smoky in flavor. Sound good? Follow the doctor’s advice laid out for you in the accompanying pages.
Photographs by Formula z/s
WHAT YOU NEED
Learn more about where to start.WHAT TO DO
Learn more about where to start.
What you need
The Cooker
A charcoal kettle or gas grill can be easily adapted for indirect cooking. But if you want to get serious, we’ve got some alternatives.
The Big Green Egg
With an 18 1/4-inch grill, it’s one of the doc’s favorites. It grills, too —even pizza, with the ceramic deflector. It’s got the three things Doc says you need in a cooker: good insulation, good air circulation, and good fuel (it uses charcoal, not gas). ($869)
The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker
Looks like an elongated version of the company’s traditional kettle. The extra vertical space keeps the food away from the fire, allowing it to be cooked by ambient, not direct, heat. ($249)
Cookshack FEC100
Maintains a set temperature by automatically feeding wood-pellet fuel into its fire. Ideal for the lazy backyard barbecuer. ($2,895)
Tools
A few accessories make it easier to do the work.
Smoke Holder
Aluminum foil works just fine for holding the smoking wood, or you can invest a little money in a cast-iron smoke box. ($10)
Thermometers
For the best results, take the temperature of both the grill and the food. Ray uses a grill thermometer with a long lead wire for a constant readout without having to open the cooker. His food thermometer is the instant-read Thermapen from Thermoworks. “You can stab the thing in five places in 10 seconds,” he says. ($84.95)
Heat-Resistant Gloves
Ray uses big, thick silicone mitts. “You could probably stir the coals with these things. They’re just indestructible.” ($29.95)
Fuel
Use natural lump charcoal if you can find it. Charcoal briquettes are OK, but nothing self-lighting. And no lighter fluid!
Smoke
Smoldering bits of wood give barbecue its flavor and color, but more is not necessarily better. “People think they’ve made a great accomplishment with food that tastes like a log, but nobody wants to eat it,” says the doc. Use chips or pellets; start with milder woods like apple, cherry, or pecan. Ray favors two parts cherry to one part hickory, but hickory (and oak and mesquite) can easily cause oversmoking. As a general rule, add wood during the first half of the cooking time.
Meat
Use tougher, cheaper cuts that benefit from long, slow cooking, like ribs (spare, baby back, and St. Louis style), pork shoulder, pork butt, and beef brisket.
What to do
...with a kettle
Put all your charcoal and wood chips or pellets to one side and a drip pan on the other. Place the meat over the drip pan, and when you cover the grill, make sure the vent is above the food so that the smoke will be drawn over it. This will allow you to cook the meat at 250°F.
Tools…with gas
Turn on only one of the grill’s burners, and put some wood—either in an aluminum foil packet or a cast-iron smoke box—above the flame. (Many higher-end gas grills have a built-in smoke box for wood.) Then place the meat on the other side of the grill.
Marinade? No.
“Cooking will do the tenderizing if you keep the temperature down.”
Baste? No.
“It doesn’t accomplish anything. Most cooks, I believe, do it as an excuse to peek.”
Barbecue sauce? Rarely.
Ray thinks its high sugar content causes it to burn and give food a charred flavor. “To me, barbecue sauce is a condiment to be served on the side.”
Spice rub? Yes!
If Dr. BBQ’s got a secret, it’s this: a spice rub of three parts sugar (turbinado sugar won’t burn as easily as others) and two parts salt, with a little granulated onion and garlic powder, chili powder, and a subtle mix of other dried herbs. He’ll help the mixture stick to the meat by adding a bit of apple juice (the barbecue cook’s equivalent of chicken stock) and creating a “schmear.”
Inject? Sure.
To get flavor all the way into the cut, he’ll use a food-grade syringe. “If you inject it, the flavor’s along for the ride, as opposed to marinating, where the flavor mostly just stays in the dish.”