BBQ in a NYC Apt

[mathewr]

Do you guys think there is anyway to create that smokey and tender flavor of bbq thats been smoked for a while in a nyc apt?

thanks

[abooja]

You could try a stovetop smoker, but it won't be nearly as good. It may also precipitate a visit from the fire department, as it did one of the two times I used one in my old Astoria apartment.

[Shamanjoe]

Get a balcony.

Seriously though, the stovetop smoker is a good idea as long as you have a good vent hood, or open a lot of windows and turn on the fan.

[jk1002]

I have never tried but was always wondering what liquid smoke would do here.

[mathewr]

I have never tried but was always wondering what liquid smoke would do here.

i thought about that. i might skip the gym tonight and go to the butcher and play around.

[janeer]

Liquid smoke, a completely natural product, works quite well. There is a book, Cheater BBQ, written by some acquaintances of mine, that describes the method. It uses a slow cooker, but you can use the oven at 300 and a covered pan; it is similar to what I have done for years out of laziness--a few hours outdoors in the smoker, then too impatient to mind it, transfer to a pan in the oven, cover with foil, and cook low and slow til ready. Frankly, I can scarcely tell the difference from complete smoking outdoors. The Cheater book is all done indoors. It calls for 1/2 cup Liquid Smoke for a 5-6 lb Boston Butt but I suggest less. Use your usual rub, dump in the Liquid Smoke, cover and cook til ready to pull, 6-8 hours (10 is fine if you throw it in before bed for the next day). Voila. Don't forget the coleslaw and soft little homemade rolls.

Jane

Little Compton Mornings

[JAZ]

My mom used to use Liquid Smoke to good effect -- not in smoked meats, but in "smoked" salmon dip and the like. The key, though, is to go easy. As janeer said, 1/2 cup is probably too much; the stuff is pretty concentrated.

In any case, you can certainly get the tender part down in the kitchen. Just cook your meat low and slow, and be patient.

[weinoo]

I always find the taste of Liquid Smoke somehow artificial. Having lived in a small, NYC apartment for the last, oh, few decades, and being the proud owner of a stove-top smoker, I find that contraption works best when you want say, some house-smoked trout, a piece of hot-smoked salmon, maybe a smoked chicken breast, etc.

For larger cuts of meat (e.g. Boston butt, brisket, ribs, etc.) I just suck it up and realize that we live in a small NYC apartment, and my Boston butt, brisket, etc. aren't going to be barbecued; that is, unless I can convince a friend with a back yard and a Weber to let me use the thing for 6 - 12 hours!

[Doodad]

Have you thought about maybe paying a local chinese bbq or woodfire type place to put your shoulder to the side for you one day? Might be worth an ask all they can say is no.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Here's a video showing how to use a wok as a stovetop smoker that I've been meaning to try--

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/05/21/magazine/1194840415840/kitchen-4b-smoked-ribs-at-home.html?scp=1&sq=Smoked%20Beef%20Ribs&st=cse

[OliverB]

get a weber bullet and make it a day in the park?

[IndyRob]

In the "Scrap Iron Chef" episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown uses a high school locker and a hot plate to create a smoker for bacon. I don't see why the same thing couldn't be accomplished with a length of cylindrical duct work from a hardware store as long as you can fit a bend to route the top out of a window.

But keep an eye on it, and do buy a quality fire extinguisher.

[Shamanjoe]

I second the comments about liquid smoke. It's great in moderation, but I find real smoke (that is, smoke straight from wood to meat, and not condensed and bottled) to be better in the end. That said, I have a backyard and can smoke meat whenever I want. Since you're limited on space, I'd go with the oven approach for something like a pork shoulder and add some liquid smoke. It won't be exactly the same, but it'll still be darned tasty.

I still like the "buy a green egg and make it a day in the park approach" though

[weinoo]

get a weber bullet and make it a day in the park?

I still like the "buy a green egg and make it a day in the park approach" though

There are definitely a few parks in NYC where barbecuing is allowed. Get there early...click here.

As to the Alton Brown method in an NYC apartment, nah...

[IndyRob]

I just happened to see a commercial for this thing this morning. Could be good, or a complete sham. Seems plausible at least.

[Doodad]

Does anybody think it would be possible to use one of those smokepipes like Blais was using in Top Chef to fill the inside of an oven bag with smoke then heat seal it and into the oven?

[jk1002]

I think the smoke pipe is only good for things that take on flavor quick , it is to be used as a finishing step rather then a cooking method.

[mathewr]

I just happened to see a commercial for this thing this morning. Could be good, or a complete sham. Seems plausible at least.

it might be worth it for the 15 bucks trial

[Crying Cook]

You could try using the George Foreman electric grill. It is definitely useable indoors as I have done it many times. It may generate some smoke but that can be easily ventilated with the stove hood or open windows.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Crying Cook (log)

[crowdingthepan]

The January/February 2010 Cooks Illustrated has a piece on making barbecue pork shoulder in the oven that replicates the results you’d get in an outdoor smoker. It involves brining, liquid smoke, and periods of cooking covered and uncovered to create a good crust. You could probably adapt that technique for preparing brisket, ribs, or anything else you'd normally cook outdoors. Check it out.

[Rico]

IndyRob, on 10 April 2010 - 08:15 AM, said:

I just happened to see a commercial for this thing this morning. Could be good, or a complete sham. Seems plausible at least.

Can somebody with a spare $150 please buy this and then say why they shouldn't have spent $150 on it?

Or, can somebody with more knowledge about this sort of thing than myself say why it would or wouldn't work? Because I am fascinated. Absolutely enthralled.

[IndyRob]

After looking at it a little more, I think it's a pretty good gimmick that won't give you authentic smoked ribs, but will give you good ribs.

I speculate now, but bear with me. I have a Tony Roma's clone recipe that's very simple but produces falling of the bone goodness. Just take a sheet pan and lay down a layer of aluminum foil and then your favorite BBQ sauce over half the foil. Put your rib rack on top of that half of the aluminum foil and cover it with sauce at well. Then fold the other half of the aluminum foil over the top, but leave the ends of the bone uncovered. Then roast at about 225 for two hours. At the end, if you want, you can throw the rack under a broiler or on a grill. It's great, tender and, um, basically braised. This is not what traditional rib smoking is about. It is, however, a technique similar to what Alton Brown did on Good Eats. And it is good.

If you do this and think "Gosh, a little bit of authentic smokeyness would have made it perfect", Then I think this thing is for you. I can see how it will save time.

I've had what Bon Appetit claimed were the best ribs in America and this isn't the style. From what I've seen, traditionalists are not looking for 'falling of the bone', but rather, meat that comes cleanly off the bone when bitten. They're also looking for a 'bark' on the outside. I can't say I agree with this - seemed like nearly burnt shoe leather to me - instead I'd prefer a crispy layer of pork fat, but that's tradition I guess. But the inside had a wonderful delicate fibrosity that was quite different from any braised cousin.

I've been able to produce the texture, but not flavor, sous vide, by not brining - which tends homogenize the texture into one like bologna. Originally that's what I thought I was going for until I had the real thing. I've got some more experimentation to do on this.

But if you're looking for traditional smoked ribs, I don't think this thing will do it.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I think this rice cooker with a cup for wood chips is going to retain too much moisture to produce the dry texture of smoked ribs, but it may not be bad.

There are lots of methods of making ribs in the oven, most of which involve some kind of moist cooking and finishing under the broiler, and a small amount (like a couple of dashes in a cup of BBQ sauce) of Liquid Smoke can add some smoky flavor. I think my father experimented with a half-dozen methods like this--simmering the meat first like fresh sausages, dry rub and baked low and slow in foil, dry rub and baked low in slow in a rack that held the slabs vertically over a sheet pan with water and the whole thing covered with foil, braised, and in each case finished under the broiler or on the grill glazed with sauce so the sauce forms a dry skin. If people like saucy ribs, he served extra sauce on the side.

He played around with the sauce a fair amount, but it was usually based on Worcestershire sauce and butter with some other spices and maybe a little brown sugar. I remember being surprised when I realized that his BBQ sauce often didn't have tomato in any form, though it did occasionally.

The method I use is dry rub and then baked low and slow en papillote, then finished with sauce under the broiler.

[weinoo]

Or then there's this:

Take a run to Dinosaur or Hill Country or Blue Smoke or RUB - buy a couple racks, half a brisket, whatever. Bring it home. Heat it in a very low oven (like 200) covered lightly.

Concentrate on making some awesome sides. Great potato salad, excellent slaw, real baked beans (hey, you can even use some of the "real" BBQ you procured), collards, etc.

Your apartment will smell like a barbecue joint, and you'll enjoy better "real" barbecue than you can ever produce in a small NYC apartment.

[paulraphael]

I'd think with a powerful range hood you could get away with just about anything (though you'll be cleaning out the filters ofen if you make a habit of bbq ... ). Having no hood, I've never experimented with this. I get smoked flavors by using other smoked ingredients in sauces (bacon, smoked salt, lapsang souchong tea). It's not bbq, but it's nice. At Alinea, they make authentic smoked water and use it as an ingredient. Evidently it's better than bong water.