Charlotte

Linkdown: 8/12/15

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– Move over Austin, Is Houston the hottest barbecue market in Texas?

– The Drawn Cutlass has a review of the new Queen City Q location in Matthews

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Rib & Loin in Hixson, TN

– This “complete” list of Charlotte food trucks includes several we’ve reviewed – Smoke & Go, OooWee BBQ, Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que – but  of the writing of this post somehow omits the best of the bunch, Boone’s Bar-B-Que Kitchen

– Downtown Charleston is getting its 8th barbecue restaurant soon, Poogan’s Smokehouse

– Speaking of new barbecue joints coming to Charleston, Charleston Magazine has a quick conversation with John Lewis (via)

– Well?

– Johnny Fugitt’s top 25 barbecue restaurants (as detailed in The 100 Best Barbecue Restaurants in America) here

– TMBBQ has their list of a few more influential barbecue pitmasters that just happen to be black in response to this list of all white barbecue pitmasters and personalities

– Speaking of TMBBQ, Texas BBQ Treasure Hunt researches 40 years of lists from the publication

– Charlotte’s South End neighborhood is getting a Korean barbecue restaurant called Seoul Food Meat Market in the coming months, and the description is somewhat reminiscent of Heirloom Market BBQ in Atlanta

Esthetically, it will look like American traditional Southern barbecue ribs: It will look the same but it will taste like Korean food.” So beef ribs will be seasoned as the Korean kalbi and bulgogi, pork ribs like the Korean spicy pork, slaw will be kimchi slaw, and wings will be fried, but in rice bran oil, making them healthier, and crunchier, than most, says Chun.

 

Photos: Chelsea/PSG tailgate PLUS help the Bros pick out a new smoker

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First in the parking lot once again
Speedy rocking the Tanzania jersey
RIP Dyna-Glo
Resting butts
Speedy slicing the ribs
Chopped pork, courtesy of Monk via a lost bet

A few weeks back, an international club soccer friendly once again came to Charlotte in the form of Chelsea Football Club vs Paris-St Germain. So while we have varying levels of interest in international club soccer, Speedy (less interested) and I (way interested) took the opportunity to tailgate and smoke a couple pork butts and five racks of ribs. We think it was one of our best smokes yet, but unfortunately, we took a calculated risk to leave the smoker overnight only for Speedy to come back in the morning to find that it had been removed from the parking lot (silly bros).

So we turn to you, dear readers, to help us find our next smoker. For your reference, the model we previously had was this Dyna-Glo offset smoker.

What sub-$500 non-gas/non-electric smoker do you recommend? Feel free to leave suggestions with links and reasoning in the comments.

–Monk

Linkdown: 7/29/15

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– Part 2 of Robert Moss’ look at barbecue pits in the south

– First We Feast has their list of the most underrated barbecue in Alabama

– Dublin, Ireland gets in on the Texas barbecue trend/movement

– Well, technically a whole piglet…

– The Chicago Tribune profiles Ole Time Barbecue in Raleigh (my place of choice during college), calling it a “kitschy temple of Eastern-style pork barbecue”

– Charlotte Five: Are Bojangles’ and Starbucks’ new barbecue sandwiches any good? Spoiler alert: no.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Macon Road Bar-B-Que in Columbus, GA

– A few weeks back CLT Eats reviewed a pork sandwich from Sauceman’s ordered via Foodie Call

– Several barbecue event over the next few days in the Triangle: barbecue class, Bob Garner book signing, and Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival

– 6 top spots for BBQ in the Midlands of South Carolina

– Johnny Fugitt has a list of 9 great non-Memphis or KC barbecue joints worth the drive from St. Louis

– #Buxtoniscoming

Photos: Midwood Smokehouse’s First Annual July Fourth Rib Eating Challenge

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Kevin (father of Claire) of Claire’s Army
The contestants getting the rules
The food comes out…
Here’s what each contestant has to eat
The competition begins
Brad of Unknown Brewing
The eventual winner
Action shot of Brad
Joe Mencetti, the winner in approx 5 minutes
The aftermath of the winner’s plate
The whole aftermath

This past Fourth of July, I was invited to be a guest judge for Midwood Smokehouse’s First Annual Rib Eating Challenge benefiting Claire’s Army at their Central Avenue location. First off, Claire’s Army is a very wonderful charity that benefits families of kids with cancer. Here is their mission from the website:

Claire’s Army strives to act as God’s hands and feet by providing support for families fighting childhood cancer. Through an established network of resources we will support the families’ daily responsibilities, allowing them to put their time and focus on their child.

So yeah, definitely a worthy cause. I also learned at this event that FS Food Group (the company headed by restaurateur Frank Scibelli behind Midwood Smokehouse, Mama Ricotta’s, and Paco’s Tacos) supports Claire’s Army by donating (I believe) two meals per week for each family that Claire’s Army supports. Very cool. If you are interested in joining Claire’s Army and support that wonderful organization, that link again is here.

As for the challenge itself, each contestant had to eat a full rack of ribs, 10 ounce sides of mac and cheese, collards, and beans, and a half moon of watermelon within 30 minutes. The first to finish would win $1000 in gift cards to Midwood Smokehouse. Little did I know that the eventual winner, a man named Joe Mencetti who drove down from Connecticut specifically for this event, would finish in about 5 minutes destroying the rest of the competition. Brad from Unknown Brewing and another contestant seated beside Joe were not too far behind, but I’d say the rest of the 10 or so contestants were not even close.

Thanks again to Midwood Smokehouse for asking us to participate in a fun event for a great cause. I believe they aim to make this an annual event each July Fourth, and we hope to continue to be invited back to help out in any way we can.

–Monk