Barbecue: Is it a Man's World Only?

[Varmint]

Without reviving Al_Dente's quasi-misogynistic thread about women and grilling (all done tongue in cheek, of course), I did pose a question there about the lack of women pitmasters in barbecue restaurants. The only time I've seen a woman cooking barbecue was at the tiny Hendrix Barbecue in Fork, NC. They cooked shoulders there.

Why are there so few woman pitmasters? And where can you find them?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Some of the answer to your question may lie right here in an excellent article on this topic.

Perhaps this sums it up most succinctly??

"The difference is that most women barbecue cooks will light the fire, put the meat on to smoke and check it as needed, take it off the grill, and serve it. Men, however, talk about it for three days before, stand by the fire and knock back brewskies for 10 or 12 hours while the meat smokes, build several more fires, put out the resulting grass fires, poke, peek, and pester the meat, and bring it into the house for women to serve. Then they ask for compliments and tell you how they worked to make it."

After all, wasn't it Eve that came up with the whole idea of the "spare rib?"  

[Varmint]

That may explain the casual barbecuers, but not the professional ones. If the logic of that article held true, then women pitmasters would rule the world, because of their efficiency!

[wcmckinney]

Admitedly, this may border on the pedantic, but I believe both the big BBQ spots in Albermarle, NC have female pit masters. Debbie Bridges of Bridges in Shelby also more or less runs the show there, even if she is not directly flipping thems shoulders.

Secondly, my friend Elizabeth Karmel runs a great website "Girls at the Grill" which is all about getting women involved in grilling/BBq-ing. Elizabeth herself is a Greensboro native living in exile in Chicago, though she still cooks/BBQ-s up there

www.girlsatthegrill.com

[Suzanne F]

Smoki O's Barbecue from St. Louis, MO had some women working the BABBP in NYC in June. Were they staff, or did they ever control the pit? (The pitmaster is listed as Otis Walker).

[FL Heat]

(I love Girls At the Grill! The newsletter is wonderful!)

The following is based solely on my observations.

Barbecues, in our family, were big events. While the men were outside tending to the fire, the women were often inside, doing the prep work on the slaw, the cornbread, the guacamole, the desserts. And for my grandparents, a big gathering that included barbecue was usually a celebration for a completed barn, a finished harvest--something that often included a lot of hard work for the menfolk (the women worked just as hard, I know, this isn't a commentary on the social structure, just how things are/were). Standing around, putting back some whiskey or beer was a reward of sorts, while the women worked hard at making the rest of the celebration full of food.

My dad never had a problem showing me how to grill, and my boyfriend is pretty proud of the fact that I can run the smoker better than anyone else he knows, but he still likes to have "guy time" out by the grill when friends come over & I'm finishing the rest of the food in the kitchen.

Diana

[pogophiles]

Here is an interview with one such female: SFA Interview