The pitmaster in Memphis who corrected my rub technique in 10 seconds

I was at a competition in Memphis last fall and this old guy came over while I was seasoning my ribs. He watched me for a minute, then said "you're patting it on like makeup, son. You gotta press it in with your thumbs." I laughed it off but tried his way on my next rack and the bark came out way better. Also he told me to lay off the brown sugar, said it burns before the meat's done. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a cookoff totally change how they do something basic?

2 comments

2 Comments

white.keith1d agoMost Upvoted

and that's exactly how it goes with barbecue, you think you've got it dialed in and then some stranger shows you a trick that makes you feel like you've been doing it wrong for years. I had a similar thing happen with trimming brisket at a cookoff in Texas, an old timer watched me fight with the fat cap and just said "let the meat tell you where to cut." Sounded like nonsense at the time, but he was right, I was overthinking it and fighting the grain. The thumb thing makes total sense too, you're not just putting seasoning on top, you're working it into the surface so it actually sticks and forms that crust. And yeah, brown sugar is a trap, it gives you that nice dark color early but it's just burn, not bark. Good on you for actually trying his way instead of just nodding and going back to your own routine, most folks won't do that.

max_schmidt771d ago

Wait, brown sugar is actually a trap? I've been using it in my rubs for years thinking that dark crust was the goal. So I've basically been making burnt sugar bark this whole time and didn't even know it. @white.keith that old timer's "let the meat tell you where to cut" line is the kind of advice that sounds stupid until you're standing there with a knife and it suddenly clicks. Guess I'm going back to basics on my next cook, plain salt and pepper with the thumb press method and no sugar anywhere near the smoker.