Linkdown: 3/10/21

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This week marks the one year anniversary of the lockdown due to COVID-19. However, with the light at the end of the tunnel seemingly in sight (don’t let up now, though!), it’s fun to start thinking about all the things we used to take for granted that we will once again soon be able to do. Things like concerts, having a beer at the bar, lazily perusing the used section at a record store, and perhaps most pertinent, having huge parties centered around smoking and/or grilling.

In this article from Munchies, the author fantasizes about days to come and gives recommendations for smoking and grilling accessories to stock up in advance. He gets a quote from Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly (whom he mistakenly refers to as David) about how he plans to smoke a whole hog on cinderblocks in his backyard once its safe to do so and I couldn’t be more in. I have been itching to do it again after my first successful attempt Father’s Day 2019 and I’m now officially in planning mode for that to-be-determined day.

So let it be known: whole hog party at the Monk residence this Fall. Mark it down.

Native News

More coverage of The Preserve’s delivery service which began last Friday

Though it looks like they have a few kinks to work out; as I wrote last week, let’s hope they do

Dank Burrito owner Chef Clarke Merrell has opened Social Q Smokehouse in Morehead City, a restaurant “years in the making”

Sweet Lew’s Barbeque and Midwood Smokehouse make the Eater list for Charlotte

Non-Native News

*Raises hand*

More coverage of Rodney Scott’s and Adrian Miller’s upcoming books

The BBQ Review visits Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston

And now, for dessert

Did someone say “drive thru banana pudding?”

Friday Find: “What Makes a Better Glaze for Ribs: Fireball Whiskey or Dr. Pepper”

Eater’s Prime Time is back for the first time in awhile with a taste test of various rib glazes. For more from Prime Time, click here.

Description: The Meat Hook butchers Ben Turley and Brent Young try to up their rib glaze game by experimenting with ingredients like Fireball Whiskey, Dr Pepper, agave, honey, maple syrup, and more.

Friday Find: Texas Barbecue in Canada

Darien List of Beach Hill Smokehouse uses a J&R Oyler Smoker to bring Texas barbecue to the frigid winters of Toronto. From Eater’s Smoke Point, which you can watch videos from here.

Description: At Beach Hill Smokehouse, pitmaster Darien List prides himself on bringing meat with the flavors, spices, and fall-off-the-bone textures of central Texas barbecue to Toronto. In a 7,000 pound indoor smoker, he and his team are able to cook 1,800 pounds of meat at one time, which, in a place that gets as cold as Toronto, comes in handy.

Friday Find: “Pastrami Beef Ribs are Interstellar’s Spin on Classic Texas Barbecue”

Monk: Eater’s Smoke Point series takes a look at the “cheffed-up” barbecue at Austin’s Interstellar BBQ, including the pastrami beef rib.

Description:
At Austin’s Interstellar BBQ, pitmaster John Bates and his right-hand man, Warren McDonald, a.k.a “War Dog,” put a spin on classic Texas fare. Using all of the kitchen skills and attention to detail he learned as a chef in high end restaurants, Bates plays up traditional ribs by rubbing them with a mole seasoning, serving them with a riff on mole sauce and cotija cheese, and makes other distinct offerings like pastrami beef ribs and jalapeño popper-stuffed sausages.