The Lowdown on Barbeque

Barbeque, in the southern and Midwest parts of the United States, consists of slow-cooking meat over indirect heat. Chicken, beef, pork, sausage, ham, and ribs can all be barbequed – even mutton is sometimes barbequed, at least in Kentucky. With so many ways to make so many dishes, the perfect way to make barbequed meat can be a regional “bone” of contention.

In Memphis, Tennessee, barbeque is almost a religion. Barbeque ribs – most often pork, are cooked for long hours, until the meat is so tender that it is ready to fall off the bone. The city bills itself as the pork barbeque capital of the world, and has over one hundred barbeque restraints to back up that claim, many of whom participate in the annual pork cook off that is listen the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest pork barbeque contest anywhere.

The contest, part of the celebration called “Memphis in May”, draws some 90,000 cooks and spectators. Competitors come from fifty smaller cook offs sponsored by the main contest. It even runs a series of training seminars for potential barbeque judges. Good barbeque, they say, is all about being tender, without being too mushy, and being smoky, without being overpowering.

Ribs commonly come “wet,” that is, with barbeque sauce of some kind, usually mild and sweet in Memphis and basted on before and after cooking, or “dry,” with a dry rub of herbs and spices that is applied during or right after cooking. Regardless of which style is favored, the taste of the meat should come through – this is what separates good barbeque from something lathered with barbeque sauce and put in the oven for a few hours.

In Missouri, there are not one, but two predominant styles of barbeque, both of which favor beef, which is not surprising given the history of both Kansas City and St. Louis as “cattle towns.” They share a tomato-based sauce that is added after cooking, and can be replicated by mixing ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Interestingly, Missouri’s Ozarks are the source of almost half of the charcoal briquettes produced in the United States.

Kansas City, like Memphis, has a large number of barbeque restaurants and hosts several annual competitions. However, it is particularly famous for its sauces, which are thick, rich, tangy, and spicy. The sauce is based on during the last few moments of cooking, and more can be added thereafter. Dry rub, too, is common on Kansas City style barbeque.

In St. Louis style barbeque, ribs are the flagship dish. These famous spare ribs are a rack of ribs with the chine bone and brisket bone removed. They are cooked with a sauce that is less vinegary, tangier and thinner than its cross-state equivalent, closer, in fact, to that served in Memphis.

Whether sweet or spicy, dry or wet, slow cooked or grilled over an open flame, barbeque is one of the most diverse of all American foods, and one to which many cities lay claim. Each has its own unique character, so get some bread and crackers, or some Cole slaw, or even beans, (all traditional barbeque side dishes) and give them a try.

Preparing Spareribs St. Louis Style – virtualweberbullet.com

Raichlen On Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs $7.77 It’s a marriage made in BBQ heaven: America’s foremost grilling guru takes on ribs. Baby backs and spare ribs, short ribs and long ribs, pork ribs, beef ribs, lamb ribs, and more—a passionate, single-subject celebration of meaty, smoky, sweet ’n’ spicy, crowd-pleasing, fall-off-the-bone-tender ribs. A perfect rib is the culmination of the griller’s art, and nobody’s better at showing how to put it all together—the tastes, techniques, ingredients, recipes, tips—than Steven Raichlen, award-winning author of Barbecue! Bible, How to Grill, Beer-Can Chicken, and other BARBECUE! BIBLE® books with 3 million copies in print. Here are 75 mouth-watering, repertoire-expanding, rib-rocking recipes: Buccaneer Baby Backs with Rumbullion Barbecue Sauce. Lone Star Barrel Staves. Tandoori Ribs. Maui-Style Short Ribs. Jamaican Jerk Ribs. Thai Sweet Chili Ribs. The Original Dinosaur Ribs. Cousin Dave’s Chipotle Chocolate Ribs. But the book is also a rib clinic: It coversthe nine methods for cooking ribs, from direct grilling to spit-roasting. The essential techniques for handling ribs. Key ingredients in making homemade sauces, mops, andrubs. And boxes throughout to help take your rib cookery to the next level–even to the competition level, with tips on how to enter and how to win.

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Steaks, Chops, Roasts And Ribs $22.04 Meat may be America’s favorite main dish, but it still provokes plenty of questions. Are prime ribs worth the extra money? Can you make real barbecue at home? Is there a good way to keep pork chops from drying out as they cook? What’s the secret to a foolproof holiday ham? If you have ever wondered about the way to cook a particular cut of meat, then you will find Steak, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs indispensable. Packed with more than 300 recipes, this book represents the cumulative experience and knowledge of the test cooks and editors at America’s Test Kitchen. Have you ever spent 50 on prime rib only to ruin the roast at home? Have you ever made a pot roast that was tough, a steak that was charred on the outside and raw on the inside, or a beef stew that tasted no better than a can of Dinty Moore? They’ve tested (and retested) just about every technique, ingredient, and piece of equipment imaginable to produce reliable recipes that should work the first time–and every time. They have roasted 32 cuts of prime rib so you don’t have to. Detailed instructions and hundreds of step-by-step drawings will help to guarantee success. Illustrated tutorials take you through the process of making a pan sauce, stir-frying, roasting on the grill, and more. Steak, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs is also packed with the kind of no-nonsense ingredient tastings and equipment ratings that make the Best Recipe books so useful. 310 fool-proof recipes–everything from cutlets, curries, chilis, stews, ribs, stir-fries, roasts, and barbecues 16-page illustrated (and opinionated) meat buying guide to help shoppers identify 70 of the most popular cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and veal, as well as various supermarket names Illustrated tutorials on meat basics including how to set up a grill, how to cut meat for stir-fries, how to make a pan sauce, and how to tie a top-blade roast Dozens of timesaving tips and techniques

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