Whether you’re an amateur at the grill or a seasoned smoker, backyard barbecues are a creative endeavor shaped by your own taste and will to experiment. Jason Ganahl, owner of G-Que Barbeque in Timnath, and Mike Dee, general manager of Brothers BBQ in Fort Collins, offer their best advice to help you get the cookout started.
Grill or smoker?
The choice to grill or smoke comes down to a few factors: the cut of meat, the desired flavor profile and the lead time.
For a charbroiled burger flavor, you’re going to want to light up the grill. Plus, grilling provides a faster turnaround than smoking, making it ideal for burgers, steaks and sausages.
“As the juices drop down, they vaporize, and that’s how they get that grill flavor into the meat,” Ganahl says.
If you’re cooking meat more than an inch thick, that’s when a smoker can come into play, Ganahl says. He recommends starting with a pork shoulder or Boston butt.
“It’s marbled with all kinds of fat,” he says. “It’s really, really hard to dry something like that out.”
Compared to smoking meat in more humid climates, Dee advises that Colorado’s conditions will require some adjustments.
“We’re not getting the same type of smoking experience at the elevation we’re at and with the drier air flow up here,” he says.
That will mean an extra couple of hours with the smoker. For Brothers BBQ brisket, Dee cooks the meat for 11 hours at 255 degrees and holds it for three hours at 160 degrees. The hold time rounds out the flavor.
“We put in some more wood near the end of that smoke, so when it holds, you get that real hickory wood thick smoke that really sticks to that brisket,” he says.
For beginners, Ganahl recommends starting with hickory or oak wood chips to create a classic smoke flavor. For poultry and seafood, he suggests reaching for lighter fruit woods, like apple or cherry.
Mesquite offers a bolder choice, but Ganahl cautions that it can easily overpower the meat.
Both G-Que Barbeque and Brothers BBQ use hickory.
G-Que Barbeque
Rubs, sauces and seasoning
From the choice of wood to the seasoning, Ganahl’s guiding philosophy is the same: balance.
“I’m a big believer that whatever you’re cooking should be the first thing you taste when you bite into it,” he says. “You don’t want to over-season it. You don’t want to over-smoke it. You don’t want to over-sauce it.”
When using spice rubs, Ganahl wants the flavors to work together instead of fighting for dominance. He starts with salt as the base, then works with a mixture of sugar, garlic, paprika and something to add spice, like jalapeno or cayenne.
“I shouldn’t taste one particular flavor more than any of the others—much like if I was listening to a symphony, and there’s 10 different instruments in there. They all come together to create this harmonic melody,” he says.
The same restraint applies to sauce.
“I see people eat barbecue, and the meat is just the vessel for the sauce,” Ganahl says. “But for me, personally, I don’t use a whole lot of sauce.”
He recommends a mustard sauce for poultry, a sweet sauce for pork and a bit of spice for brisket.
Dee keeps it classic: “If you ordered a slab of ribs from me, I would throw on that Kansas City-style, original barbecue sauce.”
For pulled pork, he recommends a tangy vinegar sauce.
At the end of the day, the point of any cookout is to enjoy it, so Ganahl advises fellow pitmasters to relax and have a good time.
“Don’t take it so seriously where, if you’re unhappy with what you made, it ruins your afternoon,” he says. “What’s more important is the connection with the people you invited over.”
Brothers BBQ
What to serve on the side
Barbecue beans: Brothers BBQ combines pinto and ranch beans with pulled pork and a spicy house sauce.
Mac and cheese: This is Dee’s undisputed barbecue pairing. “Beans and mac and cheese are king,” he says.
Vinegar-based slaw: For rich meats, Ganahl’s go-to is coleslaw. “If I’m cooking a decadent piece of meat, like a tomahawk steak, I love vinegar-based sides, like a good vinegar-based slaw,” he says.
Grilled fruit: Ganahl recommends pineapple, watermelon or bananas. “It caramelizes and brings out the natural sugars,” he says.
To drink: Dee’s default barbecue pairing is an amber ale. Irish red ales and IPAs are also popular choices at Brothers. For wine, Dee swears by a petite sirah with brisket, or a full-bodied cabernet sauvignon.
Make It at Home
Perfect, Medium-rare Ribeye
Recipe courtesy of Jason Ganahl, owner of G-Que Barbeque
Steps
1. Select a thickly cut steak, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Season to taste.
2. Set up the grill for two-zone cooking with coals on one side and none on the other. Place the meat and chimney on the coal-free side, allowing the airflow to pass over the meat and out the top.
3. Cook the steak on the indirect heat side until internal temperature reaches 120° F.
4. Move to the direct heat side and sear, getting those last degrees (about 5 per side) to build a crust. Remove at 130° F.
The Brothers Sandwich
Recipe courtesy of Mike Dee, general manager of Brothers BBQ
Ingredients
2 buns, toasted with butter
4 pork sausage hot links
½ pound pulled pork
1/3 cup creamy coleslaw
1/3 cup fried onions
1 jalapeño, sliced
2 tablespoons tangy vinegar barbecue sauce
Steps
1. Toast the buns until golden brown, butter while hot.
2. Layer the hot links: Place pork sausage hot links on the bottom bun as the base layer.
3. Pile on the pulled pork: Heap pulled pork generously on top of the hot links.
4. Add the toppings: Top with creamy coleslaw, fried onions and jalapeño.
5. Sauce and serve: Drizzle tangy vinegar barbecue sauce over everything, cap with the top bun and serve immediately.
