6 minute read
A LESSON IN: BARBECUE
Three Park City barbecue specialists share their tricks on how to create delicious, slow-cooked meats. by Jené Shaw Photos by Travis Engvall and provided by Wild Ember
It can take a lot of patience to become good at cooking barbecue. Not only can you spend upwards of 12 hours to smoke some meats, but it also takes a lot of practice to nail the right temperature, wood choice and seasoning.
“My days start at five in the morning,” says Richie Lush, owner of Lush’s BBQ, who smokes his brisket and pulled pork for a minimum of 16 hours. “I don’t stop the whole day, bouncing around to make sure everything is prepped and all my sauces and spices are made.”
Growing up in south-central Tennessee, Lush has been around barbecue his entire life. Although he had worked in the restaurant industry as a teenager, he spent most of his career in cable optics construction before he found his way back to the grill. While working for the grill company Traeger, he started to play around with food and won a cook-off for his brisket chili, then started catering for a few people. “It really took off from there,” he says. His business started as a food truck before he opened storefronts in Kamas and Park City. Lush’s serves the classics — pulled pork, brisket, ribs — alongside some surprises like a BBQ portobello Reuben and his signature gnocchi potato salad.
“It makes me above and beyond happy when I see people walking away from my restaurant, and [they] say that it was absolutely the best barbecue that they’ve had anywhere,” he says. “That’s what’s driving me to make Lush’s. It makes my heart feel good.”
BBQ BASICS
You could taste barbecue all over the country and encounter a different style everywhere you go. Within North and South Carolina, the sauces alone differ from east to west. Texas has at least four distinct cooking and seasoning styles. Park City chefs have taken various influences to make choices in meat cuts, woods, rubs, sauces and more.
Steve Stanley of Goochy Goo BBQ says his style essentially stemmed from years of tasting. “There are certain things I liked about one barbecue place and some things from another, and I tried to mesh them together to come up with my own style,” he says.
Although Lush’s BBQ leans toward the style of Tennessee, Lush says he also blends ideas together. “If you go to Memphis, you’ll get a thick, tomatoey-based sauce,” he says. “If you go to the Carolinas, you’ll get a mustard-based sauce a lot of places. I took them all and came up with mine, which is somewhere in the middle.”
Growing up in Atlanta, Matthew Harris of Wild Ember was centrally located among the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee and was exposed to various flavors as well. For coming up with his sauces in particular, “I wanted to take a little representation from each region,” he says. His focus at Wild Ember is to source sustainable and local ingredients, use fine-dining techniques to cook them and add some unique touches from his Southern roots.
Don’t rely on sauce to cover up your cooking mistakes.
LET THE MEAT SPEAK FOR ITSELF
“People ask, ‘What sauce is best for the ribs?’ and I tell them to try it without sauce first,” Stanley says. “I’d say 90% of the people don’t put sauce on it. Because of the process and the seasonings we put on, it has enough flavor that you don’t need to put any sauce on. If I’m doing my job, you shouldn’t need sauce.”
“It’s very easy to mask those kinds of errors, so nail that first, then layer in some flavor,” Harris says. “We find that that’s a better process.”
LEAVE IT ALONE!
“Keep the lid closed, and let it do what it’s supposed to,” Lush says. “Every time you open it up, you lose heat, then the temperature has to rise again and it can overcook it. The less you open the pit, the better.” Choosing sides is a very personal decision, but these Park City chefs have their favorite combos.
“Our rib plate with funeral potatoes and baked beans — my grandma’s recipe.” — Stanley
“I like my barbecue to taste like barbecue — like the natural flavor of the meat. Then I like to layer a bit of spicy or hot sauce on it. Then I might add some creaminess with mac and cheese or savory with baked beans and my favorite collard greens. With a good old-fashioned or a cold beer.” — Harris
“I’m partial to pulled pork and ribs, and I like my beans and slaw put together.” — Lush
Lush recommends buying and using a digital thermometer.
GOOCHY GOO BBQ
HOME BBQ TIPS
» START SIMPLE WITH SEASONING.
» DON’T OVER-SUGAR YOUR SPICES.
» MAKE IT YOUR OWN.
Start with a plain salt and pepper rub,
Stanley says, then cook it and try it.
Add things to it to give it your individual uniqueness, whether that’s a barbecue-based sauce or just a simple dry rub with garlic, black pepper and paprika.
» FIND YOUR IDEAL TEMPERATURE.
“Just because mine cooks at 205 [Fahrenheit] doesn’t mean yours is going to do well at 205,” Lush says. Although it can get expensive to waste $70 on a brisket, it’s important to test different heats.
» PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
“It can take us several tries to nail a recipe,”
Harris says. “It’s a lot more than rubbing a bunch of pork butts in the smoker and hoping you get it right. You need to do the research and take the steps to make a product come out well. You want to be able to nail it 10 out of 10 times.”
» BEWARE THE STALL PERIOD.
LUSH’S GNOCCHI POTATO SALAD
WILD EMBER’S GEORGIA HOT MUSTARD AND VINEGAR SAUCE
• 1 cup mayo • 2 cups buttermilk • 1/4 cup sugar • 1/8 cup black pepper • 1/8 cup salt • 1/2 cup Veg-All seasoning • 1/4 cup yellow mustard • 1 pound cooked gnocchi
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Add enough dressing to the warm gnocchi to generously coat. Serve warm or chilled.
Lush came up with this creative potato salad recipe because “I don’t like peeling potatoes,” he says.
• 1 cup yellow mustard • 1 cup Dijon mustard • 1 cup apple cider vinegar • 1 teaspoon chile flakes • 1 tablespoon tomato paste • 1 cup brown sugar • 1 cup water • 1 tablespoon salt • 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
Mix in saucepan over low heat and stir until incorporated.
WHERE TO FIND BBQ
» Lush’s Barbecue has a location in
Kamas and in Park City’s Silver
Creek neighborhood.
» Wild Ember is a pop-up by chef
Matt Harris.
» Goochy Goo BBQ is on Main Street
in Midway.
SAVOR A TASTE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY
