Three last-minute tips for making your Thanksgiving barbecue perfect
Happy day before Thanksgiving readers! We have a lot to be thankful for, following our recent launch of The Smoke Sheet. We want to take this chance to say thank you to everyone for your enthusiastic support. We love hearing from you and are so happy to be part of the growing barbecue community around the U.S and around the world.
With Thanksgiving happening tomorrow, we’re sure you’re getting ready and have your menu (mostly) planned. But just in case you need some tips or inspiration, here are a few last-minute Thanksgiving tips and recipes from some of our favorite barbecue masters:
Watch Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue walk through prepping and smoking a turkey step by step (part 1, part 2, and part 3).
John Lewis from Lewis Barbecue talks about incorporating new items into your Thanksgiving including Hatch Green Chile Corn Pudding.
Chris Lilly shared a few tips for smoking turkey and outlined his “unique” Thanksgiving side Charcoal Grilled Butternut Squash with Chimichurri and Goat Cheese.
These are just a few ways you can brush up on your Thanksgiving food skills, and there are countless more you can find around the web. But maybe the most important thing to do tomorrow is to have fun with your family and friends. It feels like we’re in an incredibly divisive moment right now, but Thanksgiving can be a time where we get to take a break from the noise. Enjoy the food and each other’s company. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist) and Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ)
Co-Founders, The Smoke Sheet
Here are the top recent barbecue news stories from around the country:
In last week’s issue of The Smoke Sheet, we shared a story about Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl’s passion for barbecue. This week, Consequence of Sound told the story of Grohl treating Calabasas Fire Station 68 to some well-deserved barbecue and CBS News reported that Grohl delivered barbecue to five Los Angeles area fire stations who have been battling wildfires currently raging in the state of California.
BBQ on the Brazos, a Texas Monthly Top 50 joint, recently reopened in Cresson and now offers “one of the most unique barbecue meal experiences in Texas.”
Scott Holmes, the acclaimed barbecue chef and owner of Little Miss BBQ, is opening a second location in the Sunnyslope area of Phoenix at the end of November. The restaurant will seat roughly 150 diners at full capacity and will feature three meat cutters to help shorten the wait in lines.
Kansas City’s tourism organization Visit KC is developing a barbecue app called the KC BBQ Experience, which will be released next month. Users will be able to learn about over 100 Kansas City barbecue restaurants, explore themed trails, and earn badges in the mobile app.
A new barbecue restaurant called Slab opens this week on West Third Street in Los Angeles, the first brick and mortar restaurant to be opened by pitmaster Burt Bakman, according to Eater.
The Dallas Observer shared photos from the Meat Fight event held last weekend, where twelve chefs competed in a barbecue contest while enthusiasts ate meat and drank beer and whiskey in a charity fundraiser for the National MS Society.
Here are few BBQ shows, podcasts, or books you should check out this week:
Watch: Cooked - Season 1, Episode 1: Fire
The Netflix docuseries Cooked, based on the book by Michael Pollan (shown above with pitmaster Ed Mitchell) of the same name, looks at the evolution of food throughout human history through the lens of the four natural elements of fire, water, air, and earth. In Fire, the first episode of the series, Pollan explores how fire shaped human gastronomy and weighs our duty to the animals we eat. Watch it here.
Listen: BBQ Nation Podcast - Interview with Meathead
Meathead Goldwyn, barbecue whisperer and founder of the authoritative barbecue site amazingribs.com talks turkey with BBQ Nation’s JT, covering everything from brining to carving. Listen to it here.
Read: Hardcore Carnivore: Cook Meat Like You Mean It - by Jess Pryles
Australian-born pitmaster Jess Pryles has written a fantastic in-depth cookbook for meat lovers that includes dozens of recipes for beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and game. Buy it here.
November 30 - December 1: Backyard BBQ Skills and Holiday Smoking & Grilling with Heath Riles and Malcom Reed - Tempe, Arizona
Pitmasters Heath Riles and Malcolm Reed are teaming up to offer two instructive and informative barbecue classes at BBQ Island, Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. The Backyard BBQ Skills class on November 30 will cover ribs, brisket, ribeye steak, and side dishes. In the Holiday Smoking & Grilling class on December 1, Heath and Malcolm will share their secrets to cooking turkey, ham, prime rib, and sides for the holiday season. More info here.
December 9: Houston vs Austin BBQ Throwdown - Austin, Texas
The Houston Barbecue Festival and Friends & Allies Brewing have announced the second annual HOU-ATX BBQ Throwdown featuring top barbecue restaurants from Houston and Austin. They’ll be competing to determine who reigns supreme when it comes to Texas barbecue. Austin joints include Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, and Micklethwait Craft Meats. Houston joints include Beaver’s, Daddy Duncan's BBQ, Harlem Road Texas BBQ, and Victorian's Barbecue. More info here.
December 14-15: 6th Annual Downtown Throwdown - Las Vegas, Nevada
The Nevada BBQ Association will host the 6th Annual Downtown Throwdown barbecue competition on December 14-15, 2018 at the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada. More info here.
December 28-29: Arizona National BBQ Stampede - Phoenix, Arizona
The Arizona National BBQ Stampede is a special event brought to you by the Arizona National Livestock Show in collaboration with the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS). Teams will be able to enter the competition to earn points at the first event of the KCBS competition season. More info here.
December 31-January 1: South Florida's Fired Up Kosher BBQ Battle and Festival
The Jay Feder Jewelers Fired Up Kosher BBQ Battle and Festival will be held on January 1st, 2019 at the South County Regional Park in Boca Raton, Florida from 1:00-5:00 pm. The event will include a barbecue competition, food for sale, and family activities. Proceeds will help support Hadar High School for Girls. More info here.
Double Smoked Ham with Jack Daniels Glaze
If you forgot to defrost your turkey for this week’s Thanksgiving festivities, want something less involved, or crave something different for the holidays, check out this double smoked ham recipe from The Root Boy Cooks. The ham is glazed with a sweet brown sugar whiskey sauce and smoked with mesquite wood.
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