How to safely eat BBQ takeout
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to cause so much trouble for barbecue restaurants, one of the best things you can continue to do is order takeout from your local joints. Ordering takeout directly (and not using a third-party app) keeps at least some money flowing to the many business owners who have yet to receive federal aid.
Now, given that we’re fighting a virus, there may be some concerns about getting takeout from barbecue joints. That’s a fair concern, but if you minimize your risk by doing things such as wearing a mask, wearing gloves, and getting your food curbside, then you are at least doing your part.
As of this writing, there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted through food. However, the virus can live on takeout packaging or be picked up from someone near you when you are out getting food, so it’s good to be vigilant.
Here are three tips for safely picking up and eating BBQ takeout.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que has dedicated curbside pickup that helps with social distancing.
Keep Your Distance When You Pickup
With our new “normal” of social distancing, you should keep about six feet apart from other people who are picking up orders and from food workers. Many joints such as Stiles Switch BBQ in Austin; Joe’s of Kansas City; Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, North Carolina; and Holy Trinity Barbecue in Portland; have made distancing easy with simple curbside pickup.
Curbside is ideal, but if your favorite joint doesn’t do this, then at least keep six feet apart from both patrons and workers. When you go to pick up food, you can also bring a disinfectant wipe and use that to open doors, wipe your credit card, or anything else touched by people besides yourself.
There's a lot of great takeout BBQ you can still get, including these beauties from Rusty Buckle BBQ in the Houston area, but be sure to get rid of that packaging quickly. (Photo by Scott Sandlin)
Discard Takeout Packaging Immediately
COVID-19 can live on surfaces such as cardboard for up to 24 hours and on plastic for up to three days. As such, you should be careful with handling takeout packaging. Takeout packaging should be discarded quickly after you bring it home.
You can carefully transfer food from your packages to your own home plates and then get rid of to-go containers. If some of your food is not meant to be eaten immediately, then you can wipe down containers with disinfectant before putting them in the fridge.
After the packaging is thrown out, you will then want to disinfect whatever surfaces the packaging touched as well. Getting rid of packaging quickly also applies to all that delicious mail-order barbecue you can get from joints around the country, but again, if anything needs to sit in the fridge or freezer, then at least wipe it down.
This Texas-themed PSA about washing your hands is always good to keep in mind.
Wash Your Hands
I’m sure washing your hands has been drilled into your head a million times at this point, but it’s still vital and your best defense against COVID-19. After you discard your packaging and food has been put on your own plates, then you should wash your hands for about 20 seconds. Then you can chow down on brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and any other BBQ that will bring you comfort in trying times.
If you are eating some delicious spare ribs or some other item that might require you to use your hands, then be sure to not touch anything else while you are eating, including common items like your phone or the TV remote. If you do, then get up and wash your hands again for 20 seconds.
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All of these precautions might seem like a lot. In some communities who haven’t experienced daily tragedies (like my community in Brooklyn), it certainly may feel like it’s a little overboard. But we should be safe rather than sorry during these crazy times. I hope you all can continue to order some delicious barbecue from your favorite joints and remain safe while doing it.
Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ)
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet
Here are the top recent barbecue news stories from around the country:
Snow’s BBQ pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz recently spoke to Daniel Vaughn about what she has been up to during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photograph by Wynn Myers)
Legendary pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz from Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Texas recently talked to Texas Monthly’s Daniel Vaughn ahead of her 85th birthday. Though Snow’s has been closed for the past month, Miss Tootsie is still cooking barbecue for shipping, though she misses her barbecue family.
Speaking of shipping barbecue, Daniel Vaughn compiled a list of Texas barbecue joints that ship barbecue as well as places that deliver raw meat for you to cook yourself.
Meanwhile, Robert Moss compiled a list of 8 top spots that ship Southern barbecue overnight to your door, including favorites such as Big Bob Gibson BBQ, Peg Leg Porker, 17th Street Barbecue, and more.
Marcy de Luna of the Houston Chronicle compiled a list of barbecue joints in Houston that offer takeout and delivery, including Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland, Blood Bros. BBQ in Bellaire, Corkscrew BBQ in Spring, and Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue in Tomball.
In our feature last week, we reported on the Restaurant Relief Program partnership between Operation BBQ Relief and Plowboys Barbeque. Owner Todd Johns announced on Facebook that Plowboys’ participation in the program has come to an end after serving over 33,000 free meals to those in need in Kansas City. Operation BBQ Relief is working with volunteer chefs to continue to provide meals in Kansas City.
We recently shared a story about a Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota that had closed indefinitely due to a coronavirus outbreak. Now, several beef-packing companies have announced plant closures, including two of the largest in the United States. A shortage of beef may be expected to follow.
The Athletic caught up with Kansas City’s Mitch Benjamin of the Meat Mitch Competition BBQ Team and Char Bar restaurant about his passion for sports and barbecue and how he spends his time now that the pandemic has slowed business down.
The Barbecue Wife blog recently highlighted Lisa “Momma” Miller of Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton, Texas. Miller said the story of her restaurant is “one made of family, hard work, and determination.”
In his NYC BBQ blog, The Smoke Sheet’s Sean Ludwig wrote about what barbecue joints in New York will look like once they re-open in a post-pandemic world.
Washington D.C. barbecue joint Federalist Pig opened a new sandwich shop pop-up inside Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle, according to Eater.
Matt’s BBQ, a popular Texas-style barbecue cart in Portland, Oregon is re-opening this week with food available for pre-order through its website.
While most barbecue joints are limiting operations during the pandemic, Jack’s BBQ in Seattle is planning on expanding.
In spite of the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted business, Chattanooga restaurant Charlie’s BBQ and Bakery generously donated sales and collected donations in support of the employees of Bones’ Smokehouse, which was recently destroyed after being hit by an EF-3 tornado.
Larry Olmsted wrote about all the gear you need to get started with backyard grilling and barbecue for Forbes.
Here are BBQ shows, podcasts, or books you should check out this week:
Full Circle tells the story of Rodney Scott and Roscoe Hall and the future of Southern barbecue.
Watch: Full Circle: The Ballad of Rodney and Roscoe — Southern Foodways Alliance
Full Circle tells the story of Rodney Scott of Charleston, S.C., founder of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ and Roscoe Hall of Birmingham, Alabama, grandson of the founder of Dreamland Bar-B-Que in nearby Tuscaloosa. Hall now manages the Birmingham location of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ. Both men grew up in the barbecue business. And both men now carry forward a legacy of African American knowledge and labor. This is a story about generational transfer, black entrepreneurship, and the future of barbecue in the Deep South. Watch here.
Listen: Meathead Goldwyn from AmazingRibs.com — The BBQ Central Show
Host of The BBQ Central Show Greg Rempe is joined by recurring guest Meathead from AmazingRibs.com. The two freshen up on a few topics, namely how resting your meat affects its moisture retention or loss. They also take a look into the difference between resting your brisket and how that differs from resting steaks as they finish. Listen here.
Read: Serial Griller: Grillmaster Secrets for Flame-Cooked Perfection — by Matt Moore
In Serial Griller, author Matt Moore shares his indiscriminate appetite for smoky perfection with a broad collection of recipes varied in method, technique, and cuisine. After a review of the basics — the Maillard reaction, which grill is best for you, and more — he takes the reader on a tour across America to round up authentic stories, coveted recipes, and indispensable tips from grill masters of the South and beyond, including stops at unexpected but distinguished chefs' spots like Michael Solomonov's Zahav and Ashley Christensen's Death & Taxes. Moore offers his own tried-and-true grilling recipes for every part of the meal, from starters and salads to handhelds (Tacos al Pastor, Pork Gyros) and big plates (Country-Style Ribs with Peach Salsa) to desserts (Grilled-Doughnut Ice Cream Sandwiches). Serial Griller is a serious and delicious exploration of how grilling is done all around America. Buy it here.
The Dawgfatha’s BBQ gives a simple, tasty recipe for making burgers on the smoker.
How to Make Hamburgers on the Smoker — The Dawgfatha's BBQ
For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose this video for making burgers on the smoker from The Dawgfatha’s BBQ. In this simple recipe, smokehouse burgers are made on a Yoder YS640 using post oak pellets. The burgers are seasoned with Adams Burgers, Fries, & More Multi-Seasoning. This is a fast and simple cook that anyone can do easily with maximum flavor in return. View the recipe here.
In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we will be leaving this section blank for a little bit. Many events you know and love have been postponed. We’ll be updating the events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.
See the full Smoke Sheet events calendar online here.
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