The summer is upon us, and grills and smokers all over the DMV are heating up as well. For the series 鈥淔ired Up with Jake and John,鈥� 草莓传媒鈥檚 Mike Jakaitis and John Domen talk with some of the region鈥檚 best pitmasters about their methods, with the goal of helping you level up your barbecue game.
So far, we鈥檝e talked about cuts of meat, smoking times and cooking techniques. We haven鈥檛 said a lot about spice rubs or wood, but they鈥檙e an important part of the flavor 鈥� and the smell 鈥� of great barbecue.
Fernando Gonzalez, who owns 2Fifty BBQ, in Riverdale, Maryland, calls wood his main ingredient. He has giant sheds full of oak to cook with because it鈥檚 easy to get in bulk. But for backyard cooks, Gonzalez suggests different woods for different meats.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e cooking one small batch of briskets for your family and friends in the backyard, I would say hickory and mesquite. It鈥檚 a good way to enhance the smoky flavor,鈥� Gonzalez said. When he鈥檚 cooking chicken in his own backyard, Gonzalez likes to use Applewood.
Myron Mixon, the owner of Myron Mixon鈥檚 BBQ in Old Town Alexandria who just won his fifth Memphis in May World Championship, uses a variety of wood.
“Hickory is a great wood for barbecue, and is readily available,” Mixon said. And as a Georgia native, he has access to peach wood, which he calls 鈥渁wesome.鈥�
Spice rubs are another key factor in great barbecue, but where do you start in creating a good rub?
Rob Sonderman, at the Federalist Pig, said he uses five seasonings as a base.
鈥淪alt, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and brown sugar are kind of like my five keys to a dry rub,鈥� Sonderman said.
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You can add other seasonings along the way: Sonderman said he sometimes likes to add a little cumin to his rub. At home, he experiments with more unusual flavors, and last Christmas, he smoked a Peking-style duck.
But don鈥檛 get too complicated.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to be experimenting at home, don鈥檛 try to change too many things each time,鈥� Sonderman said.聽鈥淚f you want to change your rub up, maybe add one more ingredient each time you鈥檙e cooking, so you know what you鈥檙e liking and what you don鈥檛 like 鈥� trying to change five different things, you don鈥檛 really know what worked and what didn鈥檛 work, because you can鈥檛 really isolate the different changes you made.鈥�
Gonzalez uses different rubs for beef, chicken and pork.
“Beef is 100% salt and pepper,鈥� he said. 鈥淜osher salt, ground black pepper.鈥�
As for pork, salt and pepper make for the base. From there, 鈥淲e play with Hungarian paprika, or chili powder. You need to use some garlic powder, some onion powder.鈥�
Some people add sugar to their pork rubs, but not Gonzalez: 鈥淣o sweet on the pork; sometimes we use a little bit of sugar on the chicken.鈥�
Speaking of chicken, Gonzalez likes to brine his poultry for 24 to 72 hours to keep it from drying out.
Even with all of these tips, he also cautions: Don鈥檛 overthink the process.
鈥淵ou are looking for good flavor but not as complex as [to hide] what the meat tastes like,” Gonzalez said. “At the end of the day, you want to taste that meat.鈥�
to the “Fired Up with Jake and John” podcast on Podcast One
