Pete Genovese on NJ.com: "NJ's Best BBQ Joints"

May I help you !

May I help you !

May I help you !

Yes they do, but that doesnā€™t mean I would order it.

A pecan wood smoked Texas hot link is a different story.

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No good hot links that I know of up here. If you know any intel, help me out!

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The advantage of Gateā€™s was that they stayed open til 3:00am and they are scattered around so oneā€™s always fairly close. When my friends would play bars, theyā€™d usually stop around 1:30 or 2 so we always had time to eat before they closed. :slight_smile:
Iā€™d also add, Iā€™ve come to the conclusion that KC is the furthest West and furthest North Southern City. It really isnā€™t Midwest in the Indianapolis Milwaukee sense, because the commerce and population followed trade routes SW and SE. At least thatā€™s how Iā€™ve
gathered the fruit of my heritage now that Iā€™ve been gone as long as I lived there.
Back to NJ BBQ! :slight_smile:

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Heard some great things about Henriā€™s from some AC regulars, at $15.75 for the buffet I will be making the trip in a few weeks, will report back.

http://www.henrishottsbarbeque.com/

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@corvette_johnny you can get the originals direct from Texas by mail order here:

https://shop.pittsburghotlink.com/product.sc?productId=7

$20 for five lbs is not unreasonable, but you have to add shipping. Still, for the original, Iā€™m tempted.

Hereā€™s a recipe to make your own:

Spicy Cure Paste
1 bottle of beer
2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp Hungarian paprika
3 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1/4 cup garlic, minced
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp Prague powder #1 (6.25% sodium nitrate)
1 tsp bay leaf, ground
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp whole anise seed
1 tsp msg (I use Accent)
1/2 cup non-fat dried milk (optional, see notes)
Ingredients
6 lb Boston butt (fat somewhat trimmed)
1 lb fatty bacon
natural hog casings

Marinate, refrigerate, grind, stuff, smoke.

Itā€™s missing beef which to my way of thinking is necessary for a true hot link. Also I would use dried Anchos and Arbols instead of paprika and cayenne, and leave out the salt peter, but thatā€™s just me.

What say @jcostiones? Any thoughts on hot links or the recipe?

Otherwise I am thinking five lbs of Jaunitos homemade Oaxqueno Chorizo on the smoker could take care of my craving.

Yes. Please ! Thank you

Interestingā€¦ is that 20.00 cooler the shipping rate, or do you have to pay shipping on top of that. If shipping is included, 8 bucks a pound isnā€™t that bad.

Ever have szabatos breakfast links? If not, give those a try. Really good stuff

Dunno. Tried to click through but it wasnā€™t very clear. Maybe a phone call before ordering?

Also Iā€™m thinking the premium which are supposed to be leaner would be better in the smoker.

Iā€™d would def go with the fatty ones. They wonā€™t dry out and will be better left over. The more fat in smoking the betterā€¦in my eyes. Maybe Iā€™ll call them Tuesday. In the meantime, go get some of those breakfast links. Iā€™m not letting you down on this one lolā€¦seriously.

What about flare ups? Nothing worse than flamed meat.

No flare ups in a vertical water smoker :wink:

Thatā€™s what I use, and trust me, itā€™s possible.

Iā€™m aware lol. I had one really bad experience. Always keep your smoker away from your house :confused:

If you stack them up in the middle of the trays and let them render into the water, you should be good. Just keep an eye on things and donā€™t pass out on the couch like me lol

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Yeah and you gotta watch the water level too. Itā€™s always a challenge that needs to be constantly monitored with a cold bevy in hand. You donā€™t want to get distracted with other projects.

At least thatā€™s what I tell the wife. :wink:

So got busy with the smoker today.

Running a mix of wild cherry and birch.

Checking half way through.

Time to pull it. Pork back ribs, italian sausage, beef top round.

Kept warm while making the sides. Tossed salad, 4 cheese Mac n cheese, and Texas pintos with sage, bacon & onion.

Ribs were perfect, juicy, nice smoke. Sausages also good, had to pull 15 minutes early so they didnā€™t dry out.

Top round was tender, juicy, and had a nice smoke ring.

Iā€™m finding top round (London broil) is a lot easier to do than brisket. Takes about a hour and a quarter, vs eleven hours for a brisket. It turns out great without the wait. Easier to thinly slice too.

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Looking good. I just canā€™t get into london broil but that would probably be the best around.

I think you need to try some of those hot links and let me know :smile:

Try some of those szbatos breakfast links. Iā€™m sure you will like them.

How is birch? Iā€™ve never used that. My uncle likes local cherry and we cook up bluefin belly with it. Some people will say we are nuts but you can only eat so much raw belly before it gets tiring.

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Itā€™s good. They use it in Sweden a lot to smoke fish, especially salmon.

The flavor is similar to alder if youā€™ve had that, for example in Washington State.

Since the thread exists, Iā€™m putting this here. And now I want BBQ. SIGHā€¦

Meat prices are hitting these guys already. Iā€™ve seen a couple posts from the likes of Local Smoke, JSBBQ and TST (2 of the 3, I forget who exactly) referring to temporary price increases and perhaps a shrinking of the menu.

That said, if the weather is nice TST has been setting up distanced picnic tables in their parking lot. A lovely view of Rt 36 in Leonardo to boot :smiley:

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