Timing is Everything - In Life, and In Barbecue

Last Sunday we had a Barbecue at the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake. All of the thirty two Young Artists were invited, in addition to the staff, and a dozen or so patrons who earned the invite by contributing at the “Producers Circle” in 2009. I was hoping that it would be the first of an annual event. In the past we had held “Producers Circle” dinners at a restaurant, but it seemed that there wasn't enough time to mix and really enjoy everyone's company.  Seagle Colony social events always get the highest grades if the attendees have an opportunity to mingle with the singers. We were hoping that a barbecue would provide such a setting, staged at the “White House” on Charley Hill Road, with ample seating to sit down and eat, but with enough space around the grounds to mingle for an hour or two before we all sat down. I set up my BBQ cooker outside the White House, parked beneath a towering maple to provide some shade. It couldn't have been a nicer day to sit outside and cook (and type up a few blog posts). The menu included beef brisket, in a nod to the Texas artist's contingent including the Artistic Director, Darren Woods, who hails from Fort Worth. I did one picnic shoulder as a pulled pork, and eight racks of St Louis cut spare ribs. We added two hotel pans of potato salad, two pans of baked beans, and a pan of coleslaw. I had four dozen hot dogs left over from Saturday's Kids Fishing Derby so I brought them along for good measure. I had only two concerns – quantity, as I had never actually fed thirty opera singers before, and timing. Everything had to be ready to go at 6PM after the Sunday Vespers concert.

Since a twenty pound brisket would take approximately twelve hours to cook (at 200 degrees), I had two choices in terms of timing. I could drive over to the Colony and start the fire in the BBQ cooker at 6 AM, or I could sneak down to my kitchen at 6 AM and sneak start the meat in my oven for a few hours. Take a guess what I did. The ten pound pulled pork shoulder would need about ten hours, so that had to get started around 8 AM. “St Louis” cut ribs (standard ribs with the breast plate cartilage trimmed off) take about six hours, so my plan was to trailer the BBQ to the Colony at 11 AM, bring the pans of meat that I jump started in the oven, and get the ribs in the cooker by noon. That would give them the requisite six hours to cook. I had seasoned all of this meat the night before with dry rub, using my standard recipe.

In addition to flavor, the magic of properly prepared BBQ is timing, and finding the perfect balance of tenderness and texture. You don't want tough obviously, but you don't want mush either. People always say that they want that “fall off the bone” tenderness, but that can be overdone (pardon the pun.) Anybody can cook the ribs in a covered pan until the meat falls off the bone. That is not good barbecue. You want some texture left in each bite-full. That requires proper timing and technique, and that is why there is so much bad BBQ out there, and why people who make really good BBQ get trophies. Getting that tender rib has little or nothing to do with the type of sauce that you brush on your ribs, despite what that popular commercial advertises. That tenderness comes from hours of slow cooking at around 200 degrees. The object of the exercise is to melt the collagen in the meat, which is the protein that holds meat together. Collagen melts around 160 degrees, which is why the target temperature for barbecued meat will be 175 degrees or so. Enough science. For more on the mechanics of the process spend some time on www.amazingribs.com, which is far and away the best barbecue website out there. Getting back to Sunday's barbecue, I had three different meats in the cooker all of which had to finish together. Many BBQ Pit-masters will use a technique called the “Texas Crutch” which I think started off as a pejorative term criticizing Texas cooks who covered their brisket to tenderize it. The technique also works well with ribs and pulled pork. Just place the meat in an aluminum pan covered with foil in the middle of the cooking process. You want to begin cooking uncovered (to let the smoke penetrate the meat) and you want to finish uncovered (to let the crust or “bark” develop on the meat).   Cover the ribs for thirty minutes. Cook brisket or pork shoulder covered for about an hour. Any longer and you can end up with overcooked pot roast – mush.

This can all be done on a covered BBQ gas grill – just start the cooking off the flame. Finish your ribs over the flame for the last twenty minutes. Covered charcoal grills like Weber Kettles also work great; just cook off the coals. Put the coals on one side of the kettle, meat on the other, and finish it over the flame.

On Sunday I also prepared two sauces – a barbecue sauce using my basic recipe to use on the pulled pork, and also a maple apple glaze, to baste the ribs during the last hour. I used three cups of apple cider, one cup of cider vinegar, and one cup of maple syrup cooked down until the volume was reduced by half. It does add a wonderful flavor to the ribs – definitively "North Country" Ribs. You can see how the timing of all of this can be difficult, to bring it all together at the appointed time, usually while drinking beer. Barbecue is one part science, one part art, one part magic, and a lot of luck. But it's worth it when it comes out right. Sunday we got the timing down fine, but I missed the quantity part. I thought that forty pounds of meat, plus the sides, would be plenty of food for thirty opera singers and another thirty staff and patrons. Not even close. Next year I'll know better. These guys really love BBQ.

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