“Live-Fire” vs. “Gasser” BBQ in the Big Cities

Jim Shahin at The Washington Post has the story on the rise of wood smoked BBQ on the East Coast, particularly, New York City.

“Cooking with wood is difficult and expensive, which is one reason why wood-enhanced ovens are so popular. Even in tradition-bound Texas, “gassers,” as they’re called, have gained a foothold. About a fifth of the establishments in Texas Monthly’s latest ranking of the state’s Top 50 barbecue restaurants use gas. (A new list comes out in the magazine’s June issue.) But Austin’sFranklin Barbecue and Dallas’s Pecan Lodge are just two of several new wood-only restaurants aiming to reclaim the Lone Star State’s smoking heritage.

The East Coast, however, is where the wood-only trend is most striking. That’s because, for years, they said it couldn’t be done. The laws were too strict. The fumes would bother residents in urban environs. The fire department wouldn’t approve.”

Meanwhile, Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu at The Jewish Press writes about the rise of smoked, Kosher BBQ on the East Coast:

“Most Orthodox New Yorkers tend to marinate their steak in some store bought sauce and call it ‘barbeque’,” said the Texas-born White. “But for something to really be barbequed, it needs to be wood-smoked, and there’s no way to fake that genuine, barbequed taste.”

 

Living in the barbecue-centric  Memphis, Tennessee, we here at Go Carnivore tend to have strong opinions on the matter of BBQ, especially when it comes to the debate of wood versus gas. As Jim Shahin is quick to point out about TX BBQ, gas barbecuing has also taken root in Memphis, especially in the more tourist-laden district of town. For detailed  information and comparative analysis on Memphis BBQ, visit the Memphis Que blog.

 

A Go Carnivore favorite, Helen’s BBQ in Brownsville, TN. A stack of wood and billowing smoke is the first indication of quality BBQ.