pork

Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ (food truck)

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Name: Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ (food truck)
Date: 8/10/15
Order: Pork platter with beans and cole slaw, soda (link to menu)
Price: $12

Monk: Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ is an accomplished competition team from Belmont that has two top 10 finishes at Memphis in May, two top 15 Memphis Barbecue Network (MBN) finishes, and two grand championships at the Charlotte barbecue festival (per their website). They have been catering in the Charlotte area for a while but started a barbecue food truck in the past year or so. Speedy and I had previously tried it out, albeit under different circumstances as a vendor with a limited menu at last year’s Charlotte BBQ Championship, and hadn’t been blown away. I figured I’d give it another shot during a normal lunch service at an office park in west Charlotte.

As was the case then, the pork was pulled in coarse chunks and was a bit bland. It appears that Ranucci’s forgoes a strong rub or smoke flavor on the pork and relies instead upon the three or so sauces available on the side to flavor the meat. Ranucci’s does use a Myron Mixon smoker and there were wood piles in the back of the trailer but for some reason there just wasn’t much smoke in the pork. The one positive this time, however, was that the pork was more moist whereas last fall it was a bit dry. But overall, the pork was still not all that memorable this time around.

Unfortunately, the sides were even more disappointing. The mayonnaise-based slaw was fine but average but the beans tasted as if they were poured straight from the can without any accoutrements or added flavors.

Speedy: I think this is part of the problem with competition barbecue. For competition, you’re trying to come up with one great bite. Obviously that strategy doesn’t work when you’re cooking in bulk. The flavor profile needs to be different (generally less sweet), and you can’t pick and choose just the best meat. This is why competition barbecue champions are hard to trust (unless it’s Tuffy Stone).

Monk: With such an accomplished resume, I would have hoped for more from Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ but likely this second time I tried them will be my last.

Ratings:
Pork – 2 hogs
Sides – 1 hog
Overall – 2 hogs

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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

The Dixie Pig – Rock Hill, SC

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Name: The Dixie Pig
Location: 2007 Celanese Rd, Rock Hill, SC 29732
Date: 7/20/15
Order: Pork platter with hash and red slaw, half rack of ribs
Price: Monk: $27

We’ve long ago established that we don’t trust Yelp reviews when it comes to to barbecue. However, when I come across a new joint I do admit that I sometimes use the site as a reference. After my experience at The Dixie Pig in Rock Hill, SC (4.7 stars on the site), I think I have written off Yelp even more so in terms of barbecue credibility.

On a Monday shortly after 12 noon, I walked into a small restaurant with a full lunch crowd. If the locals are packing a place in, well that’s usually a good sign. I took a spot at the bar and before long all tables and spots at the bar were filled. It turned out to be downhill from there, but I will say that the service at the bar was good at least.

I asked for the pork with the sauce on the side in the event that it came out drenched in the stuff as other plates seemed to be. The meat appeared to have been held under a heat lamp for a while prior to serving. Plus there was no bark or smoke. I peeked into the kitchen from the bar and saw a Southern Pride gas smoker in the back. You can usually coax some smoke out of a Southern Pride with some wood chunks during the process, but it was as if they hadn’t even tried that. I simply couldn’t finish my serving.

I added a half rack of ribs to my order since there was no combo platters available. The meat fell off the bone when I picked up a rib which could be indicative of boiling of ribs before cooking them. Either way, they were way overcooked and were just about on par with the pork, which is to say not so good.

Sides were a mixed bag. The red slaw lacked tang and had a weird sweetness to them (likely due to excess ketchup but that alone may not have accounted for the taste). I’m no hash and rice expert, but at least this version seemed to be ok. That and the two hush puppies that came with the platter were by far the best part of the meal.

I can only imagine why this place was so packed and had a line of folks waiting to be seated by the time I left. Smokeless, dry pork and ribs with the consistency of boiled ribs: that’s what you are in for if you stop into The Dixie Pig in Rock Hill. What a disappointing meal.

–Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 1.5 hogs
Ribs – 1.5 hogs
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs
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Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que – Matthews, NC (RE-REVIEW)

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Name: Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que
Location: 111 Matthews Station St, Matthews, NC 28105
Date: 6/28/15
Order: Monk: pork platter with two ribs, collards, and jalapeno cheese grits; Speedy: smoked wings, ribs platter with collards and Brunswick stew (link to menu)
Price: Monk: $17; Speedy: $20

Monk: As we’ve hit most of the Charlotte-area joints, you may start to notice that from time to time there will be some re-reviewing of joints that only one of us hit up the first time around. I went to Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que just over two years ago by myself, so I figured The Barbecue Bros should give this Alabama-style chain from Colorado another shot with Speedy in tow. Though Speedy assured me before hand that there would be no chicken and white sauce ordered by him.

It also gave us an opportunity to finally meet up with Big Wayner before he moved from the Charlotte area. Three-plus years ago as we were starting Barbecue Bros, I remember coming across Big Wayner BBQ and using it as a reference point for our blog. Wayne’s a super nice guy who is very knowledgeable about barbecue, and I wish it hadn’t taken so long for us to finally meet up with him.

Speedy: First off, let me say this. Big Wayner is the man. If I’ve met a nicer dude before, I couldn’t tell you when. If Wayner were a barbecue joint, I’d give him 5 hogs. But since he’s not, let’s talk about the real joint. I was skeptical of going to Moe’s based on previous reviews and other heresay. Honestly, it just sounded mediocre at best. However, while I was at a barbecue joint, I figured I’d order enough to understand the real deal, so I made sure to get ribs, pork, and smoked wings. Let’s start with the good: the smoked wings. These guys had great flavor, hinting at a great rub, and were cooked to the perfect level of tenderness. They weren’t too hot and overall, were very enjoyable. Moving on to the pork, however…

Monk: The pork was the saddest of the three meats we tried. It was dry and lacking in smoke and any bark or discernible flavor, even with the red sauce drizzled over it. I remember being pretty much the same way last time around and if I ever make it back I’ll go with wings or *gasp* chicken instead.

Speedy: Not so fast, Monk… the ribs were actually pretty decent. They had a nice bite, indicating they weren’t overcooked, and had a nice smoky flavor. And they were topped off with just the right amount of glaze – not over-sauced  by any means, but adding a bit of flavor. These ribs weren’t the best I’ve had by any means, but I did enjoy them.

Monk: The sides were another low point of the meal. The jalapeno cheese grits were better than average but the collards lacked taste and Speedy couldn’t bring himself to finish his Brunswick stew. The platters come with cornbread and that was merely ok.

Speedy: Overall, this was a very mediocre barbecue experience. It took Big Wayner to get me out that far into the Charlotte suburbs (editor’s note: Speedy considers everything outside of a 2 mile radius from downtown a “suburb”), and I don’t regret going, but I won’t be making any trips out that way just to visit Moe’s Original Bar-B-Que anytime soon.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 2.5 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Ribs – 3.5 hogs
Wings – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs
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