Restaurants March 20, 2018 TripAdvisor users rank best BBQ joints across the US From sweet and saucy, to simple and smoky, we're counting down the top barbecue in the country.
Restaurants March 20, 2018 Best barbecue chains in America There are multiple locations of each of these, and for that we should be happy.
bbq March 20, 2018 Top barbecue season and saucing tips The 4th of July is right around the corner. So, what better way to celebrate America’s birthday than with barbecue? But getting your meat just right can sometimes be as tricky as playing with high-power pyrotechnics. We caught up with barbecue expert and co-owner of Memphis BBQ Company Melissa Cookston for some tips on how to make the best of your Independence Day barbecue. A three-time world champion, Cookston is the only woman ever to win the Memphis in May World Barbecue Championship, and is now the new permanent judge on “BBQ Pitmasters,” a popular series on the television channel Destination America. She says the biggest mistake she sees people make when barbecuing is picking the wrong wood. “You need to stick with more mellow woods like apple, peach, and cherry,” she says. “Hickory comes to mind at any barbeque but you can definitely overpower a lot of products with hickory; pork especially, and chicken. So you really want to stick with those fruit woods.” If you go for charcoal, she says pick an even burning charcoal. Don’t go for the cheap stuff. Cookston prefers Kingsford, which she says has a great flavor. But beyond cooking the meat, she says seasoning and saucing is fraught with trouble. Cookston says it’s a two-step process: first you start with the rub, then slab on the sauce. For a fast and easy rub, she recommends mixing together ingredients such as salt, pepper, Turbinado sugar, cumin, chili powder, paprika, onion, and garlic. “Mix all of that together and you are going to get that great flavor profile,” Cookston says. Here are some of her tips to provide the greatest quality barbecue on the July 4.
CUISINES March 20, 2018 The ultimate BBQ road trip for 2013 What’s almost as difficult as creating an itinerary for the South’s essential barbecue stops is knowing how to spell the name of the dish itself. Depending on your location, you might come across crucial orthographic nuances like barbecue, barbacue, barbeque, BBQ, B-B-Q, Bar-B-Q, and even Bar-B-Que. To be clear, though, we can understand the staple as the slow cooking, and (very often) smoking, of meat. Styles, like spelling, are distinct depending on the regional preference. "Barbecue" the verb means the process of roasting with indirect heat. The technique can often be used in the preparation of lamb, turkey, and chicken, but cuts of beef and pork generally make up the dominant styles. Different styles also incorporate different garnishes, with some being as simple as a salt and pepper dry rub, while others are a complex mix of tradition and a particular pitmaster’s choosing. After the meat is sliced, chopped, or shredded, sauces (which can also play a role in the cooking process) can be applied and range in viscosity and ingredients. Whether it should be vinegar-based, tomato-based, mustard-based, or even mayonnaise-based is a perpetual argument that’s most likely to sway depending on where one is. Barbecue (apologies to regional spelling purists) is more popular than ever on a national scale, which makes finding an abiding restaurant, cart, or food truck in most corners of the country not uncommon. For our purposes, though, we chose to focus on the South, since, quite simply, it’s where our country’s barbecue tradition takes root. Here more than anywhere else, it is a form of identity instead of a timely interest. Our comprehensive road trip begins in Virginia and the Carolinas where whole-hog pulled pork reigns. As you count down the miles from start to finish, expect the meat (for the most part, except for several creative variations developed by some of the newcomers) to be dressed in either a vinegar-, tomato-, or mustard-based sauce. If not served on a simple white bun, then it's probably on a platter with baked beans, mayonnaise-based coleslaw, the occasional hushpuppy, and a tall cold glass of iced tea. Part two stretches from the deep South up into the Midwest to take us through what is traditionally beef brisket, sausage, and rib territory. Whether they're serving out of a repurposed market, off a back porch, or even out of a trailer, the majority of these legendary joints forgo the frills to offer simply delicious smoked and/or grilled meat garnished in a range of rubs and sauces. Along with simple and common sides of crackers, beans, white bread, and pickles, meats vary along this route, with barbecued poultry and lamb sometimes finding a spot on the menu. Our last leg covers the heart of the southeast. Across seven states, expect to find some of the country's best brisket, pulled pork, sausages, ribs, and even gator. Pits along this 2,253-mile route range from family-owned franchises to modest dining rooms with concrete floors and wooden tables. You're likely to find a variety of traditional rubs and sauces, including Alabama's white sauce, a mayonnaise-based condiment that's most often used to dress barbecue chicken. To honor the diversity of barbecue culture, the stops on our road trip are unranked. Instead, our map is meant to highlight local landmarks that both honor the culinary tradition as well as think creatively about the future of this Southern staple. You say BBQ, I say barbecue — it’s simply a matter of personal taste. This year’s road trip takes us to even more essential barbecue joints than last year, while also branching out to include an entire additional leg. Along with stops from last year’s lineup, we collected reader, staff, and regional expert recommendations to cover 5,120 miles (that’s almost twice the length of I-40) over 16 states. Building again on last year, the 60 restaurants listed were in part provided by the recommendations of informed chefs, pitmasters, and barbecue experts (there is a culture), as well as the broad knowledge of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a University of Mississippi-based nonprofit that seeks to study and document Southern foodways.
CUISINES March 20, 2018 America’s 5 best BBQ hot spots It’s that time of year when a man’s mind starts to turn to thoughts of hot, steaming piles of meat, served atop fluffy white bread, drowned in tangy, rich sauce, and accompanied by buckets of slaw, mac and cheese, potato salad, and about 17 buckets of ice cold beer. Now that we think about it, there isn’t actually a time of year when we’re not dreaming of barbecue, but with summer coming up, it seems as good a time as any to plan a road trip to the following meat masters.
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Food Prep November 27, 2016 How to grill amazing chicken wings every time Buffalo wings won't compare to these bad boys.
