How do you define Memphis barbeque ?
Traditionally , there ’s only one defining characteristic of Memphis barbecue , and that ’s pork . If you require to vie in Memphis barbecue , either at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest , or in the belittled Memphis Barbecue web circuit challenger , you may cook pork rib , pork berm , or whole hog . But your main entry has to be pork . And although there are innumerable ways to cook it , we ( us Memphians ) all agree to disagree on which way of life ’s the best .
To get some solid answer , I sit down with the possessor of Memphis Barbeque Supply , Jimmy Shotwell , and take heed to his take on some of the biggest debates in Memphis barbeque ( you ’ll notice I spell out barbeque two different ways in this very condemnation , and we ’ll plow that later ) . Shotwell ’s fellowship is a Memphis - area go - to purveyor of every barbeque follow out imaginable and Shotwell will happily give you pointers when it comes down to make whatever coming you take a success .
Dan Gentile/Thrillist
Here are eight of the enceinte barbecue debates in the Bluff City . think back , there are n’t unfluctuating right and wrong answers here . The best thing you may do is eat a lot of Memphis barbeque and make up one’s mind for yourself .
1. Wet sauce vs. dry rub
permit ’s pop out with the most famous disputation . If you ’re serving a slab of ribs , do you cake it with a mix of dry seasonings like sweet pepper plant and chili powder , or a liquid barbecue sauce ? Most area restaurants provide wet , ironic , or “ muddied , ” which comes from fuse the two . “ Typically what you find around here is a hybrid . the great unwashed call it a dry but put a sauce or a glaze on it with the ironical rub , ” Shotwell read .
The verdict : Dry hitch ( with sauce on the side ) . Head somewhere like Leonard ’s , the Bar - B - Q Shop , or Memphis Barbecue Company . Order your rib with a serving of sauce on the side and dip to your desire .
2. Tomato vs. vinegar sauce
The one-year Memphis in May barbeque contest has two categories for sauces : love apple and acetum . Last year , Shotwell won first place in both classes . “ Vinegar goes on really flimsy and nice and does n’t cover that much of the meat ’s feeling but it does n’t add up much either , ” he say . This pray the doubt : for truthful Memphis barbecue , should you start with tomato or vinegar ? The Sojourner Truth is , whichever you start with you ’ll end up using the other also . Shotwell ’s first - place tomato plant sauce has vinegar in it . And his first place vinegar sauce ? “ It was the same sauce with about one - third more vinegar tot up , ” he tot .
The verdict : You ca n’t really segregate them . Any true Memphis sauce has both .
3. Sugar vs. paprika and chili powder rub
“ Traditional , and I mean old - schoolhouse traditional Memphis rubs , were based on chili pulverization , paprika , and other aromatics . in person , my flavor , what I trade as my rub , get going with turbinado sugar , ” Shotwell states . More and more rubs are using either browned or turbinado sugar as a main component , reflecting the influence of competition barbecue , where teams are trying to get as much relish as possible into the duad of morsel that judges will end up sampling . But compact in the sweet flavor can produce a profile that ’s right smart too overtake for an entire meal . Thus , there is a balancing act , with traditionalists still favor their rub with no wampum .
The verdict : For true Memphis BBQ ? I ’m a chili powder and pimento traditionalist all the way .
4. Loin vs. spare ribs
Loin ribs – aka baby backs – add up from the top constituent of the rib cage . Further down you find the surplus rib . When the rib backsheesh are reduce off , you terminate up with the long , square - off St. Louis - style costa stinger . Many old - school barbecuers swear by the cheaper - per - Ezra Loomis Pound St. Louis - cut down surplus costa , which was traditionally more mutual in destitute area of the South . But the baby back lumbus costa tend to be much more forgiving
lumbus ribs mean you are eating “ eminent on the grunter , ” a phrase that was born from the fact that meat from the top part of the hog tend to be more crank and flavorsome . “ To me it ’s the finer cut , ” Shotwell said . “ It ’s what you always see in competition . The spare part is foresightful but it is not as meaty . ”
The finding of fact : If you’re able to pull off a everlasting example spare costa , they take the cake . But , conceive me when I say , they better be perfect .
Flickr/Megg
5. Picnic shoulder vs. Boston butt
The shoulder versus the goat argumentation can get perplexing . Both cuts in reality come from the slovenly person ’s shoulder . What sad sack call the Boston posterior come from the top of the shoulder , while the lower portion is called a duck soup shoulder joint . The Boston butt is unremarkably sold skinless and has less fat and off-white in it than the picnic shoulder , which is traditionally sold with the skin on . So the Boston butt yields notably more essence per pounding . That said , many cooks swear by the Picnic shoulder claiming that , while the skin and bone may ultimately get force and thrown forth , they add together flavor during the cooking mental process .
“ Picnic shoulders are dainty and loud , but there is a lot of waste , " Shotwell notes . “ Butts have more muscularity group to get more form of texture and flavour . ” Also , one of the benefits of a picnic berm for mellow - mass restaurants is that the tegument helps hold moisture in the meat . That welfare is negated for competitor barbeque teams and backyard enthusiasts who wrap their Boston butts in aluminium foil for the terminal part of the preparation process . For them the pelt on a picnic shoulder is just an unneeded barrier to fume smack during the critical early stop in cooking .
The verdict : Unless you ’re pumping out pound and pound of BBQ a twenty-four hour period , you ’ll want the Boston butt .
Denis Vrublevski/Shutterstock
6. Wood vs. charcoal
The primary tone of BBQ come from the smoking . Hardwoods like hickory , fruit woods like Malus pumila , wood coal , and mixes of Mrs. Henry Wood and charcoal all have outspoken proponents . Never make in a complete accelerator or electric oven and render to call it barbecue .
One of the self-aggrandizing factors that makes Memphis barbecue so unique is the number of eatery still using charcoal - fired pits . Even place that have converted to gas - fire colliery still add wood for additional flavor . And the adept flavor tends to come from burning charcoal grey as the primary fuel , with wood added for additional smoke . Hickory wood will always be what ’s most powerfully associated with Memphis barbeque , but Shotwell allege that “ fruit Natalie Wood is growing in popularity . People usually still coalesce it with hickory , but multitude starting to use peach wood by itself . ”
Within the realm of oxford gray , there ’s an redundant distinction : natural lout fusain or briquettes . “ For a kettle hole - flair wicket I roll in the hay briquettes . They tend to combust equally , ” Shotwell notes . The more efficient ceramic - style cooker and competition swindle have tighter seals that let clod charcoal to burn up at a dull , steady pace despite the variations in the size of the wood coal pieces . “ For that I lie with clod , ” he read . “ It ’s clean burning . It does n’t have any binding agents . All briquet , even if they say all natural , have binding agent holding them together . ”
a katz/Shutterstock
The verdict : The most pure Memphis feeling get along from impart clod of hickory to the briquet . That ’s what you ’ll get hold used everywhere from the Rendezvous to Tops to Payne ’s .
7. Mustard and vinegar vs. mayo and sugar slaw
In Memphis the give-and-take barbecue , as in “ decease to get a barbecue , ” is a noun referring to a pulled pork sandwich go past with barbeque sauce and slaw . The term slaw comes from koolsalade , the Dutch word for cabbage salad that got shortened to koolsla in the United States . In Memphis , slaw can be tangy ( from mustard and vinegar ) or creamy and sweet ( from a compounding of sugar and mayonnaise ) .
credibly the most intense mustard greens and vinegar coleslaw in Memphis is the version served on the sandwiches at Payne ’s Bar - B - Q. Most places that utilise Indian mustard and vinegar add it for some additional sting alongside mayo and sugar . I personally prefer mustard and vinegar slaw with my barbecue and believe the mayo and sugar - dominated versions should be reserve for serve with fried foods like chicken and mudcat .
The verdict : The custom of place barbecue on a sandwich started in Memphis at Leonard ’s Pit Barbecue , which has been around since 1922 . They use plenty of mustard and acetum , which wins this bout .
Chona Kasinger/Thrillist
8. Barbecue vs. barbeque vs. bbq vs. bar-b-q vs. bar-be-que, ad infinitum
In Memphis , this is one area of debate that no one actually debate . In fact , the great unwashed could n’t worry less . It ’s actually a fun game to tick signs and menus at Memphis area eating house to see how many variation you’re able to find at a single eating house .
In my volume , and this clause , I stick to barbecue since that is what the dictionary and the AP Stylebook say is correct . Shotwell used a Q instead of a C when he bring up his business concern . “ Doing the research , that ’s in truth how you spelled barbecue back in the yesteryear , ” he adds .
The finding of fact : Spell it however you require . People here will pass judgment it by what ’s on the home plate , not the sign out front .
Dan Gentile/Thrillist
Sign up herefor our daily Memphis email and be the first to get all the food / drinking / fun in the Blues City .
Dan Gentile/Thrillist
Olga Miltsova/Shutterstock
Laura Hayes/Thrillist
