To borrow the old school eloquence of Martin Payne, that is. Dan Rodricks graciously invited me back on his radio show on 88.1 WYPR today to talk BBQ. Last time was a blast, when we somehow spent a whole hour talking about crab cakes (dl here, or listen to it below). And yet again, it was a great time, but how can one go wrong when one shows up with a cooler full of smoked ribs? Afterwards the awesome staff got to get their chow on, and my own ribs even managed to garner some positive remarks. Thanks yall! A podcast of the show should be available here at some point. I forgot to take pics again this time. I suck. Also, speaking of blowing up, a true bombshell today – there is no Wikipedia page on pit beef? Such a travesty! Don’t worry folks, I’m on it.

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Despite the myriad uses of the word in modern English and regional squabbling over the topic, the etymology seems to be pretty concrete.

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I have to admit that I have been questioning the integrity of my pork rub lately. I’ve been eating A LOT of ribs lately, and the rubs all seem far less flavorful than mine. I can only suspect this is to allow the “pork flavor” to “come through”. I use shame quotes because I generally consider such statements utter cop-outs. I happen to like my meat well-seasoned, and BBQ has always meant the presence of a high sweet/savory ratio. I am beginning to think my rub, and resulting ribs, are quite non-traditional.

In any case a few months ago, after maybe three years of pretty slapdash experimenting, I decided to document, as it were, one particularly good combination:

Writing down recipes is for chumps! Well not really, but this is more fun and less work all at the same time. The astute will be able to

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Night of the Cookers

410-383-2093

885 N. Howard St., Baltimore, MD 21201

Wednesday-Thursday: 11-30am-12pm; Friday -Saturday: 11:30am-1:30am; Sunday 11:30am – 10pm

I visitied Night of the Cookers – the carry-out annex, next door to the the dining room proper – after ending up on labyrinthine Howard St. while trying to dodge traffic. I’d heard that it had opened, but reviews/opinions were strangely non-existent. Anyway the place bills itself as modern Southern or some such variant, so I warily ordered a rack of ribs. As I did, the gregarious cook/chef excitedly recommended that I try his gumbo. Naturally I asked how long a roux he used (I go for the medium chestnut 25 min. flavor), and he replied that he cooks his for TWO HOURS:

Me: Uh, two hours? Just for the roux?”
Him: Yeah, uh, well, uh, you know how roux after you cook it for a while separates?”
Me: Um, yeah (thinking to myself, yeah that’s how you know you’ve fucked it up!)
Him: Yeah well I let that happen a few times and mix it back together.

Uh huh…. Well you never know, so I ended it there lest I spark an unnecessarily heated exchange, and went home with ribs, gumbo, mac and cheese, and greens.

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Bada Bing Bada Beef

410-282-4770

7210 Holabird Ave. Dundalk MD 21222

Open Daily, 10:30 am – 8:00 pm

Thank the lord, real Baltimore pit beef is not dead. As I’ve posted previously, it seems like fake pit beef is spreading out of control in the area. Many places now seem to use straight-up deli cuts, expose them to an open flame for a few minutes, and pass it off as the genuine article. Well we are not rubes dammit! Anyway, I knew there used to be a spot in Dundalk that was good, but I didn’t realize it was named “Bada Bing Bada Beef” Despite this uh, whimsical attribute, this place is the absolute shite.

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Tired…so tired. As acolytes are well aware, bbq is a labor of love. I started smoking my whole dry-aged ribeye last night around eight over apple and some hickory, and finally, this morning at 8:30, here is the result:

Hot, no? When I pulled the ribeye off, I put my ribs on which had been brining overnight. I got six gorgeous racks of spareribs from Whole Foods yesterday – now, before you scoff (as I surely would), they were on hardcore sale. Normally they’re $5.99/lb, buy this weekend they were $3.99, plus n extra $10 off any meat purchase of $40 or more for their “Fill the Grill” special for the holiday. Sweet!

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Chaps Charcoal Restaurant

410-483-2379

5801 Pulaski Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Open Daily at 10:30 AM

As always, shitty cellphone pics means dead or forgotten camera – sorry in advance.

Like so many other foods, real pit beef is dying off right before our eyes. I happen to live within a few miles of Chaps on Pulaski highway, which I guess recently has attained a rep as the go-to pit beef spot round these parts. It’s pretty good but not really real. Two things should jump out at pit beef enthusiasts from the get go – there’s barely any char or crust on the meat, and it is way too tender (also a characteristic of the “pit” beef at Key Pit Stop, which I sorta reviewed for the Citypaper ‘08 Eat Guide). After peeking into the kitchen from across the counter, it’s immediately apparent that this place uses pre-prepared deli meat, instead of cooking from scratch. Now this may make some sense for pit ham, or perhaps even pit turkey, but for real pit beef, I need to have that deep, dark char and slightly chewy, bloody texture you get from medium-rare bottom round. Here’s my default order, the bulldog (pit beef, sausage, cheese), genius in concept if not execution:

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