Yes I’m Talking About BBQ

My taste for barbecue has grown over the years to the point where I pretty much have to do my own, though we do have a really super local place for BBQ ribs. I like my ribs smoked Memphis style, my pulled pork done North Carolina style, and my brisket done in the Texas traditions. I don’t try to know about all of it.

Oh, I sample new things I haven’t tried before, but after a few years you pretty much know what your favorites are. I used a smoker for years, but I found I can do as well with a gas grill if it’s handled right. Smoking is really just steaming meat very slowly with some wood chips in the fire to add the smoke flavor. The steam actually does the cooking.

I have a smoker for larger jobs such as parties, but I just use my gas grill to smoke a couple of slabs of ribs, a brisket, or a pork shoulder. It’s easy and there’s little cleanup involved.

I have a CharBroil 35000 BTU grill that is normal size. I get a disposable aluminum roaster pan that is 16×21 or so which just fits under the lid. I put a grate in the pan that holds the meat an inch or so above the water. I put wood chunks by the burner, start one burner on low. This keeps the temperature around 180 so it takes all day to cook, but when it’s done it’s tender.

As the meat cooks I replace the wood chunks when they burn up until the last couple of hours. When the meat’s cooked, I wrap it in foil and let it rest for half an hour or so. This tenderizes things even more. For most meats I like to cook at least six hours. Eight’s better.

If I use a marinade prior to cooking, I pour this in the water in the pan. Those flavors infuse into the meat even more, and the boiling of the water/marinade kills any bacteria.

Just to get an idea of what I’m working with, Here are pics of the roaster pan and the rack.

The rack needs to fit inside the pan, and the pan needs to fit inside your grill with the lid down.