Barbequing in South Texas is serious business. It's been enjoyed since before the Great Northern Aggression, with claims of greatness coming from old time grillers who fly to tell you that they can turn any cut of meat into tasty barbeque. This may be true to their taste, but just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, good taste is in the palate of the epicure.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Earl Etter, pit master at Knuckleheads barbeque located at 819 Upper Broadway in Corpus Christi. Through his many years of pit work, he's learned that the quality of meat does not always translate to the best tasting barbeque. When selecting ribs, for example, Earl has found his clientele prefers pork, and the least expensive the better. "Buy the cheapest," says Earl with a sheepish grin, leading me to the kitchen. "The secret is cooking at a slow temperature for a long time." This theme would be repeated throughout the day as I was introduced to a whole new world of barbequing behind the kitchen door at Knuckleheads.
At their location, no meat ever touches the face of a grill - their flavor and aroma come by way of a slow smoking process, and when preparing brisket, they cut no fat and cook the meat fat side down. "At 225 degrees, a brisket is done in four hours," explains Earl with an almost professorial disposition. "It's the other eight hours you cook it to make it tender, and I can't say it enough: 'cook your brisket fat side down!" To all within earshot, this was a revelation. Brisket can be a tough-textured meat, and while smoking it slowly helps break down the texture, leaving the fat on during the cooking process helps retain the moisture. Most people, including myself, have prepared brisket fat-side up allowing the juices to run through the meat as a way of flavoring it. Earl says that cooking brisket with the fat side down prevents the juices from running straight out of the meat and counteracts shrinkage. During the cooking process, the average brisket cooked fat-side down shrinks about 20%, while brisket prepared fat-side up shrinks about 30%.
Try adding a little flavor to your flame with a rub or marinade. Rubs are herbs or spices that add aromatics and seasoning outside the meat, while marinades not only season the meat, they also help to soften the texture by breaking down the connective tissue that can make some meats tough. Marinades are made up of three separate ingredients with three specific flavoring roles: acid, oil, and aromatics. Acid, such as wine, vinegar, citrus juice or yogurt, acts as a softening agent, while oil adds flavor and moisture, and aromatics give the marinade its aroma and flavor. When considering the type of marinade to use, make sure that the type of marinade properly fits the type of meat. For instance, when marinating seafood you must watch the level of acid because marinades with high acid concentration will cook seafood before it even gets to the grill. Most beef marinates are too intense for pork, since pork requires lighter treatment. For substitutions, one should consider white wine in place of vinegar, or honey in place of citrus juice, which go well with chicken or poultry and help to soften the meat with their acid content. If you use citrus juice to marinate, room temperature, frozen concentrate is best. It's three times stronger than fresh squeezed and just as good. Use your better judgment when combining flavors and don't be afraid to experiment.
As I found when visiting Knuckleheads, it's easy to incorporate flavor and aromatics into food during the cooking process. Earl doesn't rub, cure or marinate chicken. Instead he achieves his complex flavor by slow smoking the bird with a combination of hickory and mesquite woods. "I use hickory for brisket, and a mixture of hickory and mesquite for chicken." It takes well-honed smoking skills to come up with a mix like this.
When selecting a grill, it is important to understand the array of barbequing apparatus available.
Many will say they prefer the smoky aromatics and more hands on approach of traditional coal and wood burning grills, while others prefer the clean burn and easy temperature control of a gas grill. When using the more common and typically less expensive charcoal/wood grill, the level of temperature control is limited. Covered grills, like the popular Weber-style grill, cook meat by direct heat and in most cases the grate height cannot be adjusted. By design, these grills compensate for this by diffusing the heat with dome shaped lids and adjustable airflow vents located on the top of the lid or the bottom of the grill. With this type of grill, charcoal briquettes offer a consistent and reliable heating source when properly lit, but excessive use of lighter fluid can change the flavor of the meat. When using wood, it is important to know the type of wood one is using and the rate at which it burns.
When smoking meat, low heat and extended cooking times are the keys to success. "Throw it on the pit with a big fire and sear it on all sides," advises Earl, "then put it to the side and let it sit for six or eight or ten hours. If you sear it first, you keep all the juices." Hard woods, such as cherry and oak, have a tendency to burn hotter and faster than softer woods like mesquite or hickory, and certainly carry a different taste. The use of wood or briquettes containing wood will add aromatics to your food as well as atmosphere to your barbeque, however be sure that if briquettes contain wood, the wood is a flavor that you like.
Gas grills are cleaner burning and offer the added bonus of adjustable temperature controls. The vast majority of gas grills are powered by propane, which can be purchased at nearly any convenience or grocery store. The most important part of a gas grill is the burner, and cast iron grates, either porcelain or enamel coated, is the preferred material because it is a better conductor of heat, sears more effectively, and is easier to clean. And, when using a gas grill, ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS.
No grilling event would be complete without side dishes, and with the new diet circuit and low-carbohydrate foods available today, it is entirely possible to add side items fit for everyone. With side dishes, Knuckleheads is Atkins-friendly. Earl uses no sugar or carrots in his coleslaw, relying solely on the sweetness of the cabbage and his secret recipe sauce blanc. The beans at Knuckleheads, easily mistaken for chili and by many called the best in town, are also Atkins friendly. "For every 5 lbs. of beans," Earl says after working the lunchtime crowd, " I use 3 lbs. of meat." Boy, talk about a thick consistency! When preparing sides for outdoor cooking, I typically rely on fresh vegetables, either raw or lightly grilled, and small portions of carbohydrate or starch- based food as garlic mashed potatoes or potato salad.
There are many times throughout the year that a gathering of friends or family can be spiced up with a little barbeque. Whether it's the warm weather, the blue skies, the ocean and the activities that come with being so close to it, or perhaps as some claim, it's in our genes. Whatever the case may be, make a date, find a spot, gather the food and ready the pit, it's summer time, and the grillin's easy.
When we were first told how the barbeque at Knuckleheads was head and shoulders above anyone else's, we were skeptical. Most barbeque restaurants in this area run the gamut from uninspiring to generic, and this is about what we expected from Knuckleheads. Alas, we can report with glee that the dearth of bad barbeque is over, and for those not disposed toward mastery of the pit, but simply the consuming of good barbeque, we submit to you Knuckleheads located at 819 N. Upper Broadway in Corpus Christi, unanimously voted Best BBQ by The Enthusiast.
-- Christophe W. Mays, Enthusiast Food Editor