Home Team BBQ

Linkdown: 1/13/16

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– Now open as of this past Monday:

– Some jerk stole Ashley Christensen’s smoker (a  gift from  Nick Pihakis) and here’s how to spot it if you happen to come across one similar

This one has bright red, heavy steel latches on the front that my uncle Marty fabricated and installed after the cooker arrived and we discovered that the existing latches were a little light duty for the hard-core nature of the cooker.

It has a large handle on one side that allows a single person to flip a 200-pound pig (which comes in handy in the middle of the night when all of your whiskey-drinking “assisting” pals have passed out in lawn chairs by the fire barrel). It also has a wood compartment on the trailer, sick-shiny chrome rims, and three chimneys.

– Marie, Let’s Eat! visits Peak Brothers Bar-B-Q in Waverly, KY and has his favorite meal of his Kentucky trip

– In praise of barbecue chicken, the so-called “second fiddle of the barbecue world”, by Robert Moss

– The Panthers are selling a 15-1 burger topped with 15 oz of pulled pork for $15.01 at this weekend’s game (h/t)

– You can earn $1000 and help Home Team BBQ of Charleston by finding and turning in a missing notebook with key information on their upcoming location

Home Team BBQ – Sullivan’s Island, SC

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Name: Home Team BBQ
Date: 4/18/14
Address: 2209 Middle Street, Sullivan’s Island, SC
Order: 2 meat combo (brisket and ribs), brunswick stew, fries (link to menu)
Price: $15

Speedy: Previously, I had checked out Home Team BBQ on a trip to Charleston but I left feeling a little disappointed. I stated that I probably wouldn’t be going back, opting to try other joints instead. Well, I lied. The proximity of the Sullivan’s Island location led me and a group of college friends there for lunch after a late Friday night. So here I ended up.

The atmosphere is fairly similar to the West Ashley location – a bit dark, with more of a bar feel than restaurant. They have a nicely stocked bar and an excellent beer selection. Unlike West Ashley, the Sullivan’s Island location has a wait staff, and we quickly ordered our meals. From my last visit, the ribs were my favorite part of the meal, so that was a no brainer for the order. I had recently sworn off eating brisket in NC, but since I was in the lesser Carolina, I figured I’d give that a go as well.

Monk: Apologies to our South Carolina readers…

Speedy: The ribs were as I remembered – nicely smoked and flavorful, but not quite as tender as I like. I did add a little spicy sauce, which was good as well, but I prefer them dry overall. I stand by the ribs being the best meat at the restaurant.

Unfortunately, I’m probably done with SC brisket now as well. The slices I presented were, by far, the thickest brisket slices I’ve ever had. It was from the point of the brisket and was just way, way too fatty. There was some decent bark, which was nice, but it just was not an enjoyable piece of meat to eat. A mixture of fatty and lean (I wasn’t asked) might’ve solved this, but overall, I was disappointed.

Monk: So would thinner slices have been better? Or was it just not a good cut of meat?

Speedy: Hard to say. I think thinner slices would’ve helped because there wouldn’t have been such large chunks of fat. But it very well could’ve just been an extra fatty brisket.

The brunswick stew was good, and something I don’t recall seeing on my previous trip, so that was pretty big time in terms of side choices. I enjoyed all my sides last time, so I’m assuming the ones I didn’t repeat are still equally good.

Overall, my impression of Home Team BBQ did not change. It’s an enjoyable experience, but the ‘cue is not the main reason to go.

For what it’s worth, my college friends who were there (from Chicago, Philly, DC, and Denver) all loved it, so I might be a harsh critic but such is life as a Barbecue Bro.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Brisket – 2 hogs
Sides – 4.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs
Home Team BBQ on Urbanspoon

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Linkdown: 2/4/15

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– This NY Times article on the sisterhood of women chefs in NC is great, though I don’t really get the following line on “barbecue kids” – is this a euphemism for “hipsters”?

Ms. [Nathalie] Dupree, who lives in Charleston, put it a little more bluntly. “North Carolina has always been a place where food was very important, but the men were always more interested in the macho-boy stuff that attracts the barbecue kids these days,” she said. “So the women were free to make all the rest of the food.”

– Tyson Ho checks in with his latest blog entry for Serious Eats on how he picks and scavenges for equipment and other goods when another restaurant closes

– This post on how to help your local bbq joints was written with Texas joints in mind due to beef’s historically high prices, but can apply to local joints wherever you happen to be

– “Barbecue sandwich” is one of 16 sandwiches in Our State Magazine’s Southern Sandwich Tournament; here is their travel guide to each sandwich

– Destination BBQ’s blog has a map that helps make finding SC BBQ easier

– Home Team BBQ is opening a downtown Charleston location by Labor Day 2015

– From last summer, 5 questions with Bethanie Schemel of KC Barbecue Tours in Taste Trekkers (our list is here btw)

– Queen City Q is celebrating 3 years of being open next week with the special release of Susie Q Smoked IPA from Birdsong Brewing, named after the owner of the restaurant

– Speaking of beer and barbecue, NoDa Brewing and Midwood Smokehouse are coming together for a Texas-themed “Crossroads Cue Supper” with James Beard-winning author Robb Walsh; Speedy and I attended a similar event a little over 1.5 years ago with Sam Jones of Skylight Inn

– This week, Marie, Let’s Eat! checks out Porkie’s Original BBQ, a north Alabama joint in central Florida

– Last weekend, a barbecue was held to help benefit a local Charlotte firefighter battling cancer

– Two competitions have been posted on the NC BBQ Association website, one of them being the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival in Charlotte in May (our photos from last year)

– Scott’s Bar-B-Que is one of Thrillist’s best 13 restaurants in the south

Scott’s Bar-B-Que

Hemingway, SC
If you’ve never driven to the middle of the countryside or just a teensy town whose closest large city is the #1 destination for 19-year-old Spring Breakers along the Carolina coasts, just for a lunch of smokey pulled pork, you’re lazy, but also it’s time to take a trip to Scott’s. The Variety Store and ‘cue spot has been operating since’72, and it’s truly a family affair with son Rodney as the pitmaster that brought them to national fame. Order a 1/2lb of pork, slow-smoked and well-seasoned overnight, get your sauce spicy — you finally took this pilgrimage, so make the best of it — ask for crispy, fresh-fried pork rinds like you’re a regular in the know, and, then, whatever you do, remember to get at least 2lbs of pork and a gallon of sauce to go. Because, sadly, you aren’t a regular, but you’ll want to eat like you are as long as possible.

– Via TMBBQ, Live Oak Barbecue in Austin has closed; Rudy tried it about a little over a year ago and was not a fan

– Finally, if you feel so inclined we’d be honored if you would vote us for Best Local Blog under “Media – Best Local” in Charlotte Magazine’s annual Best of the Best Awards

Linkdown: 11/26/14

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– The Pit beats out NC State University in The Triangle Business Journal’s Battle of the Brands for Reader’s Choice

– Downtown Charleston is getting yet another barbecue joint, this time with Irish pub Egan & Sons coming back as a barbecue restaurant (under a new name) complete with a new smokehouse to be built out back

– I missed this back in the summer, but Home Team BBQ (currently with Sullivan’s Island and West Ashley locations) is also expanding to downtown Charleston

– Billy Durney, pitmaster of Hometown Barbecue in New York, to consult on a Los Angeles barbecue restaurant for Mendocino Farms

– Boone’s Bar-B-Que sauces are now available at Savory Spice Shop in Charlotte

– Ohio-based barbecue chain City Barbeque plans to open another triangle location; in addition to their Cary location they are opening a location at Southpoint Mall in Durham

– Jim ‘N Nicks and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que are forming a partnership for the purest of barbecue ideals – “to leverage their buying power, consolidate labor costs and grow both companies”

– A flattering review of the Flat Rock Wood Room, just outside of Asheville

As for what comes out of that 250-degree wood-fired pit, well, I can only gush. Ordering a half rack of their St. Louis style ribs, I carefully narrowed my sides down to wood-smoked mac and cheese and collard greens. While the mac and cheese was plenty cheesy, it proved to be fairly standard with minimal wood smoke. The collards, on the other hand, had plenty of flavor and a slight sweetness.

– Barbecue Rankings recounts his “barbecue odyssey” in Feast Magazine

I began my barbecue odyssey on October 22, 2013, at Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis.  I was nervous as I met owner Mike Emerson and tried to act as if I knew something about barbecue.  I have always considered myself a casual barbecue fan, but the truth is that I knew very little about regional nuances, barbecue history, smoking practices and the way restaurants work before setting out on this project.  I didn’t prepare much before setting off on my journey – I wanted to learn from the people working the pits day in and day out, not the so-called experts.

– Christmas is right around the corner