BBQ by an Engineer

Jan

11th

2008

I enjoy BBQ. Or, better yet, I enjoy cooking BBQ.

I am the so-called “Head Cook” of the Swine-O-Mite BBQ team based out of Memphis, TN. We compete in contests around the Memphis area, including the World Championship Memphis in May BBQ Contest….the granddaddy of all contests. I’ve been on the team for going on 13-14 years…it started as an excuse to drink beer, eat great food, and watch women. It’s still an excuse to drink beer and eat great food. (There’s only one woman in my life now.)

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot about cooking good BBQ over the years. I’ve also learned how to cook bad BBQ. Either way, cooking good BBQ is a science. It takes knowledge, practice, and determination (very similar to engineering in a sense). To be successful in it (either in competition or cooking in the back yard), I believe you have to do the following:

Know your product - Whether you’re cooking ribs, shoulders, or just chicken breasts on the gas grill out back, it helps to know what you’re cooking. Was it frozen first, how will the thickness affect the cooking time, how fatty was the pig, are the pieces consistent (for competition), who’s going to be eating it and how do they like it cooked?
Know your hardware - There are a ton of smokers out there ranging from a simple Weber grill to a big trailer rig with rotisserie smokers mounted next to the sink and on-board refrigerators. A good cook (much better than me) could produce a championship-grade product on any smoker AS LONG AS HE/SHE IS FAMILIAR WITH IT. Temperatures can change drastically, fires can die, etc, but as long as you know how the smoker is going to react, you can react first. If you’re interested, I’m a big fan of The Backwoods Smokers.
Know flavor - If your rub, marinade, and/or sauce isn’t good, your meat won’t be good. Personally, I stick to working the smoker, and another teammate handles the rub and sauce. It’s amazing what spices good judges can pick up in a finger-full of dry rub or spoonful of sauce. But most of all, you have to be able to create a taste that YOU like.
Practice - Perfect practice makes perfect! Goes for anything.
Drink cold beer (optional) - It makes everything go by a little easier and taste a little better.

Enough of that talk. I’m cooking some ribs tomorrow, so I’ll detail some of my methods here shortly.