Author: Barbecue Bros

Hubba Hubba Smokehouse – Flat Rock, NC

/ Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: Hubba Hubba Smokehouse
Location: 2724 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC 28731
Order: Indecision Plate (pulled pork, sliced brisket, pulled chicken) with vinegar slaw and tangy baked beans; half rack ribs plus burnt ends special and apple crisp (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: Hubba Hubba Smokehouse is a wood-smoking hidden gem barbecue restaurant in western NC that has been around for well over a decade. It is open from March to October and appears to do steady business from tourists coming through Flat Rock (home to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site), particularly during apple picking season after families have finished up at one of the many orchards in the Hendersonville area.

Pitmaster Spencer Purcell is a Chicago transplant who has the enormous responsible of smoking all of the meat served at Hubba Hubba on a huge brick masonry pit (not too dissimilar from something you might find in Lexington, NC) originally built by owner Star Teel about 15 years ago. Spencer has been at Hubba Hubba for a little over a year after getting a call from Teel, who took him under his wing. While he had spent some time in school working for a barbecue joint up in Chicago, it wasn’t until Hubba Hubba Smokehouse that Spencer began to take barbecue seriously as a craft. He toured barbecue restaurants in North Carolina and Chicago last off season and even spent a week training at the famed Southern Soul Barbecue in Saint Simon’s Island, GA to continue to learn and hone his craft.

At Hubba Hubba, Spencer learned from the classically trained Teel not only the smoking of the meats but also the science and art of fire control. He smokes with all native hardwoods in the form of hickory and both red and white oak. And he churns out some damn fine barbecue

The burnt ends were on special the Saturday I was there and was my favorite of all the meats I tried. I was fortunate enough to get them pretty fresh off the smoker but I liked that they weren’t overly sauced like Kansas City-style burnt ends tend to be. The meaty ribs sprinkled with a savory/sweet finishing dust were a close second. Turns out both of these are Spencer’s favorites at the restaurant, and for good reason.

The “Indecision Plate” is their sampler of pulled pork, sliced brisket, and pulled chicken. The meats aren’t pre-sauced, which I appreciate, and a sauce station more than has you covered with a variety of traditional and non-traditional barbecue sauces. The pulled pork was decently smokey and moist but still benefited from the tang of the eastern NC vinegar sauce. The brisket wouldn’t be considered a central Texas brisket but still had a nice if not overly peppery bark. The pulled chicken was a tad on the dry side and lacking discernible smoke on that day, but I am not normally a huge fan of smoked chicken anyways.

I enjoyed my sides of vinegar slaw and tangy baked beans, but I especially enjoyed the sweet cornbread that come with every plate. The warm small apple crisp dessert was a nice way to finish the meal.

If you are reading this before October 26th, 2019 and are near anywhere near Asheville or Hendersonville in NC or Greenville, SC, do yourself a favor and head to Hubba Hubba Smokehouse before they close for the season until March. This year, they are closing a little earlier than normal for owner Starr Teel to open a small plate/barbecue spot down the street called Campfire. That restaurant has apparently even built a small brick pit and will be utilizing a Santa Maria-style grill from J&R Manufacturing (the folks behind Oyler) at that establishment, which definitely sounds worthy of a visit once they open in the December time frame.

For a wood-smoked barbecue joint in a very scenic part of North Carolina, more people should know about Hubba Hubba Smokehouse, and not just as a lunch stop after apple picking at one of the many nearby apple orchards. Head there to check out the old style brick masonry pit and the cool courtyard which sometimes have chickens roaming free (thankfully not the case on this day for the sake of Mrs. Monk), but mainly to check out the impressive array of smoked meats from Spencer Purcell.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 4.5 hogs
Burnt Ends – 4 hogs
Chicken – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Hubba Hubba Smokehouse Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Friday Find: Chef Jim Noble on the Kevin’s BBQ Joints Podcast

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Jim Noble sits down with Kevin Kelly to discuss his NC upbringing, his history as a restaurateur, and the path that led the opening of Noble Smoke earlier this year. As Speedy and I noted in our chat with him earlier this year, his passion for barbecue is evident and I think that come through in this conversation. Funny aside, Kevin is originally from California but used to travel to Jim’s hometown of High Point (our hometown as well) twice a year for the Furniture Market. It wasn’t until this conversation that he realized he had previously eaten at his first restaurant, Noble’s.

Description: In this episode I chat with Chef Jim Noble from Noble Smoke: Heartfelt Southern Barbecue in Charlotte, North Carolina. We discuss his upbringing, culinary experience, his first restaurant in High Point, Roosters (which he has 3 locations, but is expanding), and finally Noble Smoke, which is a project he has wanted to take on for a long time. He is extremely passionate about barbecue, the history of barbecue in the region (which we go into deeply), and about putting out incredible [product]. We also discuss his 6 1,000 gallon offset smokers along with Lexington style brick pits that he has in his pit room. It’s a large restaurant which you will want to visit when you come to Charlotte.

See all things Noble Smoke here: http://noblesmokebarbecue.com
Noble Smoke on IG: https://www.instagram.com/noble_smoke
Noble Smoke on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noblesmokeba…

Linkdown: 10/16/19

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Speaking of Montreal smoked meat, Fox Bros BBQ in Atlanta has you covered if you have a hankering for it in the States; its been a Tuesday special for nearly 5 years now

If you want to smoke your own pastrami, which is not the same as Montreal smoked meat but is close:

The Smoke on the Water whole hog competition event is this weekend in Washington, NC

The Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown was last weekend in Rocky Mount; clearly BBQ Festival Season is in full swing

Wood’s Chapel BBQ is a new, worthy entrant into the Atlanta barbecue scene and not just be

Roegels Barbecue Co. in Houston has joined the whole hog movement in Texas

Barbecue-flavored vodka?

The menu for next week’s 90th Mallard Creek Barbecue

Schwartz’s Deli – Montreal, Quebec

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Schwartz’s Deli
Date: 9/20/19
Location: 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec
Order: 3 large smoked meat plates, slaw, fries, pou (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Monk: For this year’s edition of our annual guys trip, the guys and Speedy and I headed to Montreal to get our fill of jet boating and poutine (well, not so much Speedy on the poutine). Speedy used to spend a decent amount of time in Montreal for work and had a pretty good meal here. Seven years later, Schwartz’s was a must-stop for our group that weekend per Speedy. 

Speedy: Smoked meat is a staple of Montreal cuisine – it’s served almost everywhere. And there’s no smoked meat joint more famous than Schwartz’s. Our group was lucky enough to get seated immediately upon arriving on a Friday just before 11:30 (the line was out the door when we left), and our waiter told us stories of all the famous people he’d served (which was a pretty extensive list including several celebrities).

Monk: Montreal smoked meat is actually a brisket that is pickle juice-brined for 10 days before being smoked for 8 hours. It’s similar to pastrami except that the mix of seasonings it’s cured in contains less (or almost no) sugar and more savory seasonings like cracked peppercorns, coriander, garlic, and mustard seeds. Fun fact: Montreal steak seasoning was modeled on the spice mixture used for Schwartz’s smoked meat. The briskets are kept whole and sliced to order when large groups such as ours order such outrageous quantities of meat…

1 of 3 large platters

Speedy: Which we did. Based on the advice of our waiter, we ordered 3 large plates, and (spoiler alert) had enough leftovers for late night snacks (and add-ons to our Montreal bagels next morning).

Monk: Ah, Montreal-style bagels – man, those were good. Back to the meal…

I threw together my first sandwich with the seedless rye slices plus the mustard and slaw, and it was fantastic. More jewish deli than barbecue, but there’s a reason why Schwartz’s is a Montreal institution that was purchased by Celine Dion for $10 million so that it wouldn’t be torn down. I ended up making two more sandwiches of the delicious smoked meat.

Speedy: Agree, Monk. The meat is tender and flavorful, and really makes a great sandwich. It’s an absolute must in Montreal. And bonus – the slaw is vinegar based! The slaw was crunchy and tangy and was a perfect complement – either on the sandwich or a side. 

Monk: I was excited to try all of the poutine during our stay in Montreal that weekend. For the uninitiated, poutine is Montreal’s signature dish that is comprised of fries topped with cheese curds and a meat gravy containing bits of the smoked meat from the slicing block. Schwartz’s was the first of 4 poutine orders I had that weekend, and it was very solid.

Speedy: Overall, there’s a reason Schwartz’s Deli is a staple, and it’s a must-eat in Montreal. On this trip, this was the only smoked meat our group had, but after this meal, no other was really needed.

For more reviews, check out:
Marie, Let’s Eat! (2011)
Speedy’s review from 2012

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Smoked Meat – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato