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There's been plenty written, much discussed, and more than a little controversy about barbecue. But there is one thing that all BBQ-ers worth their sauce will agree on, and that is, simply, theirs is the best.
To define our terms, BBQ is basically the same as hot-smoking, which means cooking food at a temperature of around 175 to 250 degrees for a long time. The smoke and heat are either from a separate firebox or from a very low hardwood fire right under the food.
We used to only serve BBQ on Thursday and Friday nights in the summer eat-in or take out. This was when we were in the old building that used to house River Run. When we moved to the new building, we and our customers, decided BBQ must be served for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There are many styles of BBQ: Carolina, Texas, Kansas City, Memphis style among them. At River Run our BBQ style would best be described as Memphis style, which uses a dry rub during the long slow cooking time and a sweet, sometimes spicy tomato-based sauce mopped on after cooking, mixed in with, or just served alongside the meat.
Our old smoker was a jimmy-rigged outfit that combined an electric caterer's oven and a small woodstove. The woodstove was outside; the oven hung half in and half out of the kitchen window. We would fire up the woodstove and the smoke would travel up a pipe to the oven. Because the smoke alone would bring the temperature in the oven to about 220 degrees (perfect for slow, hot smoking) we never had to plug the oven in. It was a funny-looking rig and it became much too small much too fast, but it worked great. The point is that it doesn't take much to make a smoker. However, if you don't want to go to the trouble of building your own rig, almost all stores that sell gas or charcoal grills sell smokers or smoker/grills that can be fitted with separate fireboxes.
Our smoker today is not much different, only a lot larger and a whole lot heavier. It used to be a reach in refrigerator in one of the oldest running general stores in Vermont. We used this rig for several years at the old building and we even built and extra heavy-duty deck just for the smoker. This smoker works even better than the first one and has about six times more room. We eventually moved the "beast" to the new location, and because of the unbelievable weight of the smoker (they used real metal in the old days) it took quite a beating. It's working for now and we have plans to build yet another smoker this spring out of a nice, semi-new, stainless steel refrigerator that I found in Hardwick Vermont. It sort of works still, but its purpose may be better served as the "new River Run Smoker."
Another alternative is to forget the smoking and just use your oven. Purists will disagree, but you can make BBQ to be proud of - ribs, chicken, pulled pork, or what have you - right in your own kitchen. You won't have as much smoky flavor, but the results are still going to be delicious. Use the dry rub while the meat slow-cooks, then finish the meat off on the grill or under the broiler, if need be, and serve it with homemade sauce.
One of the great things about BBQ is that it's almost impossible to go wrong. Nearly everyone likes the taste of slow-cooked meat and a tasty sauce. Another great thing about BBQ is developing your own style and method. Don't be afraid to experiment. Of course, it will be hard to equal the results here at River Run. We know for sure, that our BBQ is the best!
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