How To Make Great Barbecue

• 5–6 pounds beef brisket
• ½ cup gochujang (preferably Sunchang-style)
• ½ cup fresh-ground black pepper
• ½ cup kosher salt

Trim excess fat off brisket, leaving an even layer of fat on top. Rub liberally with gochujang. Marinate 2 hours.

Heat smoker to 225˚F.

Rub black pepper and salt into brisket. Smoke on low heat until tender, approximately 8–10 hours.

Remove meat from smoker. Let rest at least 15 minutes. Slice brisket against grain. Serves 10–12.

June Rodil, beverage director for McGuire Moorman Hospitality in Austin, which includes Lamberts Barbecue, provides wine recommendations. Daisy Ryan, the assistant beverage director, provides beer and cocktail pairing ideas.

Wine “Texas BBQ is like the butter of the BBQ world,” says Rodil. “It’s glistening and succulent, and is likely a reason for a long afternoon nap.” To counter that, she recommends Cru Beaujolais as the ideal pick-me-up. “The austere and surprisingly powerful tannins of a Cru Beaujolais combats the fat with agility and leaves behind a punch of bright red fruit like pomegranates, Bing cherries and ripe raspberries.”

Rodil’s pick Lapierre Morgon

Beer “German classic styles really shine with Texas BBQ, perhaps because there were a lot of early German settlers in Texas,” says Ryan. Dark, smoky Rauchbier is a particularly harmonious combination with smoked meat, he says.

Ryan’s pick Anything made at Schlenkerla, a “smoked beer” brewery in Bamberg, Germany.

Cocktail Ryan’s spirit pick is a smoky mezcal, especially if mixed into a Mezcal Margarita (mezcal and Tequila, lime, agave).

Texas native Jason Dady isn’t known exclusively for barbecue. Dady’s known for a diverse group of San Antonio restaurants that include Tuscan-inspired flagship Tre Trattoria and a Spanish tapas bar, The Bin.

But when he opened Two Bros. BBQ Market in 2008, along with his brother, Jake Dady, he had a vision for a family-friendly BBQ restaurant complete with a playground and sandbox for kids. It’s a bit pricier than the typical ’cue joint, but you can’t be mad at a place that also serves deep-fried strawberry pies.

“Being in San Antonio, we felt that the barbecue options at that time didn’t live up to the picture of what we though barbeque should be,” says Dady. “We found a really good location, and we had decided that we were just going to jump into it.”

• 5 pounds bone-in pork butt
• 2 cups Rib Rub (recipe below)
• 1 cup Hog Sauce, for finishing (recipe below)

Rinse and pat dry pork butt. Place in large bowl, and generously apply Rib Rub. Refrigerate, uncovered, 8 hours.

Heat smoker and oven to 225˚F. Remove pork butt from refrigerator, and smoke for 30 minutes in roasting pan.

Remove pork butt from smoker. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Place on wire rack on sheet pan, and cook 5 hours in oven.

Remove pork butt from oven, and remove foil. Place back on rack, and cook 5 more hours, or until internal temperature is 180˚F–205˚F and outside has nice bark.

Let rest for 20 minutes. Chop meat or shred with forks or your fingers. Toss with Hog Sauce and serve more at table. Serves 4–8.

• 4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1½ cups kosher salt
• ½ cup ground red pepper
• ¼ cup ground cumin
• ¼ cup ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon ground fennel
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place ingredients in medium mixing bowl or food processor. Stir or pulse until combined.

Store mixture in resealable plastic bag or an airtight container for up to 1 month. Makes 7 cups.

• ½ gallon cider vinegar
• ½ gallon distilled white vinegar
• ½ cup fine-ground red pepper
• 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
• ¼ cup fine-ground black pepper
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 lemons, halved, wrapped in cheesecloth

Combine ingredients in large pot. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Remove lemons, and let mixture cool.
Sauce can be stored inside vinegar jugs, or any containers with tight-fitting lids. Refrigerated, sauce will keep up to 1 year. Makes 1 gallon.

June Rodil, beverage director for McGuire Moorman Hospitality in Austin, which includes Lamberts Barbecue, provides wine recommendations. Daisy Ryan, the assistant beverage director, provides beer and cocktail pairing ideas.

Wine Think vibrant-hued, juicy rosés to pair with pulled pork. “The deeper color means deep, drying tannins that are exactly what your palate will be craving to clean the fattiness that lingers,” says Rodil.

Rodil’s pick Love You Bunches, from Stolpman Vineyards in Los Olivos, California. “It’s somewhere between a rosé and a red wine, and all I could think about was eating a pulled pork sandwich.”

Beer Try a farmhouse-style ale, which should have enough fruity sweetness to contrast with vinegar and spice, plus offers palate-cleansing carbonation.

Ryan’s pick Seizoen Bretta, from Logsdon Farmhouse Ales in Oregon.

Cocktail Think American rye whiskey, like a Manhattan on the rocks, says Ryan. (You might also try pitmaster Ed Mitchell’s favorite: a mix of moonshine and Wild Turkey American Honey, a Bourbon-based liqueur.)

Hip brewpubs and a crackling live music scene add flavor to Asheville, North Carolina, as does Buxton Hall Barbecue, where partner/pitmaster Elliott Moss blurs boundaries.

“My dad had a welding shop, and he would build smokers for cooking hogs,” he says. “We cooked whole hogs for the holidays.”

In 2007, the South Carolina native moved to Asheville to help open The Admiral restaurant, where he scored a James Beard nomination. He decided to chase his BBQ dreams and is back to cooking pasture-raised whole hogs with Eastern Carolina-style vinegar-pepper sauce.

“There’s nothing cheffy about the barbecue,” says Moss—it’s still an up-all-night venture, but now comes with trendy vegetable sides.

“I would encourage people to try to cook whole hogs,” says Moss. “Don’t be scared of over- or undercooking it. Take breaks. Have someone cooking with you. It can take 12 to 20 hours. It’s a long process. After it’s done, it takes another hour to pull the meat.”

Regarding barbecue sauce: “It should be whatever people prefer. People like what they grew up on. ”

• 2 racks of pork spare ribs
• Jack Stack KC All Purpose Rub or Rib Rub (recipe below)
• Kansas City BBQ Sauce (recipe below)

Heat oven to 250˚F.

Place ribs on aluminum foil. Apply generous coating of Rib Rub to all sides. With ribs meat-side down, fold foil to create tight seal. Transfer to sheet pan. Bake in oven until tender and cooked through, about 2 hours.

Remove from oven. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Increase oven temperature to 350˚F. Open foil, and brush sauce on both sides of ribs. Place ribs meat-side up and return to oven, leaving foil open. Bake 10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Brush on another layer of barbecue sauce, and serve. Serves 4.

• 5 tablespoons butter
• ½ medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 cups tomato sauce or ketchup
• ½ cup apple juice
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon chipotle powder (optional)
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Salt, to taste

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat 2–3 minutes. Add onion, and sauté until it begins to brown. Add garlic. Sauté 2 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients, except cayenne and salt, and stir well to combine. Simmer gently for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours.

Add cayenne and salt, to taste, just before serving. Sauce can be refrigerated in sealed container for up to 1 month. Makes 2½ cups (enough for 4 racks of ribs, or 10–20 chicken legs).

June Rodil, beverage director for McGuire Moorman Hospitality in Austin, which includes Lamberts Barbecue, provides wine recommendations. Daisy Ryan, the assistant beverage director, provides beer and cocktail pairing ideas.

Wine “I want something sweet and savory,” says Rodil. She favors rounded, full-bodied Portuguese reds, which offer plenty of sun-ripened fruit that can stand up to the richness of ribs and sauce without overpowering. “The kiss of sweetness in the fruit is balanced by their savory earthiness that alludes to hot volcanoes, not unlike the [barbecue] fire pits.”

Rodil’s pick Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande from the Douro.

Beer For relatively sweet, tomato-based sauces, skip overly malty beers and look for something light, crisp, hoppy or citrusy. IPAs, sour beers or German Kölsch are all good options.

Ryan’s pick Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

Cocktails Like beer pairings, think bubbly and citrusy to help cut the richness of barbecue. Ryan suggests a classic Paloma (Tequila, grapefruit juice, soda water) or a French 75 (gin, lemon, sparkling wine).

While Tim Keegan grew up in a small family business, he’s now pitmaster to one of the best ’cue enterprises in the Midwest, if not the country.

Started by Russ Fiorella in Kansas City in 1957, Jack Stack began as a storefront that offered five or six items. Today, under a third generation of the Fiorella family, Jack Stack is a juggernaut of five Kanas City restaurants, a catering company and a nationwide shipping operation.

“My mom and dad had a barbecue restaurant, starting when I was nine years old,” says Keegan. “I remember our Christmases, the kids would take turns sweeping out, my dad would stay up all night and cook for the restaurant.”

He ran his own spot, Keegan’s BBQ, for several years, before he joined Jack Stack in 1997.

“You have to start with a top-notch quality product to get quality results,” says Keegan. After that, “make sure you don’t overseason the product. And make sure you’ve got plenty of time on your hands.

“To be a pitmaster, you need to not have a lot of hobbies,” he deadpans. “When you stand in front of the pit, it takes a lot of your day.”

• Wood chips, 2 handfuls (Moss recommends a mix of hickory and apple woods)
• Water, cider vinegar or beer
• 6-inch-deep, full-size aluminum hotel pan (Note: hotel pans can be purchased online or at a restaurant supply store)
• 2 ½-inch-deep, full-size aluminum perforated hotel pan
• Heavy-duty aluminum foil
• Gas burner (like a turkey fryer burner or a side burner on a gas grill)
• Oven, range, or gas grill along with a resting rack or wire rack and cookie sheet to finish cooking

Soak the wood chips for 20 minutes in water, cider vinegar or beer.

After the chips are soaked, drain the excess liquid and place the chips in a small pile inside the 6-inch hotel pan. Then place the perforated hotel pan inside the 6-inch pan.

Place seasoned meat on top of the perforated pan; make sure to leave plenty of the holes uncovered by the food, so the smoke can escape.

Wrap the top and sides of the pan tightly with heavy-duty foil. You don’t want any spaces uncovered where smoke can come out the side (this might take 2-3 sheets of foil). Once the pan is covered up, cut a quarter-size hold in the top. This will be the vent for the smoke.

Place the pan on a gas burner, doing your best to line up the burner to where the wood chips are inside the pan. Turn the burner to high. Once you see smoke – it won’t take long—turn the burner to low. You want to see a light stream of smoke coming out of the vent. (Note: if the smoke turns a yellowish color, the wood chips are spent. Use gloves to remove the old wood chips and add fresh ones.)