So you want to know a little more about barbeque?  Well Jimmy B won’t give away his secret recipes but he can tell you a bit about what he’s cookin’ and what he’s cookin’ on…

LET’S FIRE IT UP!
The Southern Yankee Oven (model 250 R-FS), which measures 47"w x 51" d x 81"h and weighs 2,000 pounds, is a wood-fired barbecue pit from Mesquite, Texas. This oven is equipped with a high-velocity convection air system that assures even cooking throughout the pit.  It allows for long, slow cooking times. We use high quality oak wood in the firebox along with soaked chips which produces our signature smoked flavor.  The Southern Yankee can cook up to 600 pounds of meat at one time on its 7 pull-out shelves.  

Slow cooking at lower temperatures was our main attraction to the Southern Yankee. Our brisket, for example, is cooked at 205 degrees for 12-14 hours. It's so simple: we stoke the fire; load the meat, set the temperature and then sleep on a cot next to the pit for the night. In the morning...it's done!

For the catered outings where we cook on-site, the Cougar Canyon team uses a commercial grade hand made special open pit BBQ’s. The steel constructed cooker is welded onto its own trailer for easy traveling to your event. Our smoker uses an indirect fire box and water jacket to provide the slow, low, moist heat needed to produce the perfect barbecue. The rotisserie inside the cooking chamber uses an electric powered motor to turn the carousel of six (6) racks and ensures even temperature and eliminates any cold spots.

WHATTA YA’ GOT COOKIN’?
How come Cougar Canyon BBQ is so darn good? Over the years, we have developed different rubs and marinades for each type of meat or fish that we smoke. We do this because the “one size fits all” approach to barbecue doesn’t bring out the very best flavors. Different types of meat are enhanced by different herbs and spices.  

Brisket is smoked at a very low temperature for a minimum of 14 hours. We know of no other company in Central Oregon that smokes their brisket for this long. You can read on some company's web sites and menus that their brisket is smoked for a mere 8 hours. We charge a little more for our brisket because the long cooking time causes it to shrink more and yield less then other meats, costing us more per pound. Our clients are thankful for the extra time we take to do it right and tell us that it tastes better and is more tender then any brisket they have had in Central Oregon.
Pulled pork is smoked with the bone in for a minimum of 12 hours at 225 degrees. This makes it lean, flavorful, tender and smoked all the way through. Then we “pull” or shred it with a fork and chop it. Our favorite way to serve it is North Carolina style with a hot and sweet vinegar sauce.
Chicken is cut into 8 pieces, marinated and then finished with our signature dry rub that is made especially for chicken. The dark and light meat is separated and smoked for different amounts of time to ensure the breast meat is not overcooked and dried out.

Ribs are trimmed, heavily dusted with our signature pork dry rub and slow smoked in our pit until tender and juicy.
 

JUST THE FACTS JIMMY!
If anyone ever tells you that their meat on their ribs is “falling off the bones” you can bet they were boiled, steamed or baked and not barbecued. “Fall off the bone tender” is just one iconic example where people use an incorrect benchmark to measure good barbecue, because barbecue isn’t made anywhere other then in a barbecue pit. Ask for some of that “fall off the bone” barbecue with out sauce and you will see that there is no caramelized crust on the outside or flavor inside. Right here in Central Oregon there are plenty of caterers and well known “barbecue” restaurants that don’t own a barbecue pit or cheat to speed up the cooking process by par-boiling their ribs and brisket.

So what is authentic barbecue, anyway?

The California Barbecue Association says, “Barbecue cannot be cooked in a pot, in the oven, by boiling or steaming, or with heat from gas or electricity. Restaurant chains (like Tony Romas) do not cook barbecue, instead, they bake or steam their meat. Yes, their ribs are moist and tender, but they do not have the taste of wood-smoked barbecue. Much of the flavor of the meat has been blanched out. To give the meat some flavor, it is covered with a thick, sweet red sauce (misnamed "barbecue sauce") and then seared on a gas grill to crisp the outside. It is then served to an unknowing public. Tony Romas ribs are what most people think is authentic barbecue. This is really sad.”

What's the difference between barbequing and grilling?

Here in Central Oregon the term grilling and barbecue are used interchangeably. This is grossly inaccurate and nutsmaking to barbecue aficionados. The confusion is compounded because often the same piece of equipment is used at home for grilling and barbecue. The two cooking methods are radically different.
Grilling is a relatively fast, direct heat method of cooking. Food is cooked on a grill; just a few inches above live coals or gas flames, often at temperatures exceeding 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Examples of meat that’s good for grilling would be steak, hamburgers and hot dogs. The high heat caramelizes (converts the natural sugars in the meat to a sweet brown crust) the surface of the food and seals in the juices. In the U.S., grilled meat is often served anywhere from blood rare to medium. Grilling is a popular way to cook, just about everywhere in the world and is prepared using every conceivable combination of marinades and spices.

Barbecue is really the opposite of grilling. It is a slow, indirect, low-heat method of cooking that uses smoldering wood to simultaneously smoke and cook the food at temperatures between 180 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Examples of cuts of meat that are good for barbecue would be the tougher, larger and less expensive cuts, such as brisket, pork shoulder, ribs and even the whole damn pig. That’s right - from snout to tail. Smoldering wood generates smoke that gives barbecue its wonderful sweet and smoky flavor. The heat source should be separated from the cooking chamber to provide indirect heat. In order to circulate a uniform amount of heat and smoke to all the food throughout the chamber a fan or rotating rack is necessary.

The four best known styles of barbecue:

Texas: Where beef is king and brisket is the crown prince. Beef ribs aren’t bad either. Texans like their barbecue “naked” or with sauces that tend to be a blend of tomato thinned with vinegar and Worcestershire. They are the least sweet of the tomato-based sauces.

Carolina: The state that’s gone whole hog over barbecue. More signs with dancing pink pigs are found here then anywhere else. Pig pickin's and pulled pork are mixed with thin vinegar based sauces to make an incredibly flavorful and juicy barbecue! (You can tell its one of my favorites.) Sauce variations are heavily laced with secret spice blends of salt, pepper, red pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic, nutmeg, molasses, whiskey, and brown sugar. We favor the Eastern variety of North Carolina sauce. The Western North Carolina sauce has a wee little bit of tomato in it, and for me, its not as distinctive as Eastern. You can learn about North Carolina barbecue at www.northcarolina.com South Carolina style barbecue sauce contains mustard, which was first added by the large contingent of Germans colonists that were among the first Europeans to settle there.  
Memphis: Memphis style barbecue is known for wet marinated pork ribs that are also basted while smoking. Another style of ribs is to apply dry rub during or right after they've been cooked. Pork shoulders, and butts are done the same way. Mild, sweet and spicy rubs , as well as mopping sauces, are basted on periodically during cooking.  

Kansas City: This is where southern barbecue influences are artfully combined with Western Beef and Pork. The meat is liberally seasoned with savory spices, sweet rubs and sauces then smoked in a hickory stoked pit for hours. Thick and sticky sweet sauces are slathered onto pork ribs and tangy briskets.  
You can find out more about these and the other regional styles of barbeque at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_variations_of_barbecue
 

GLOSSARY

Baby Back Ribs (or Loin Back Ribs) - A small cut of ribs from the pork loin that includes the blade and center section of the loin. Weight should be 2 pounds or less, or as we say in the trade, 2 down.

Barbecue - To slow cook meats over indirect heat of hardwood at a temperature of 180 to 250 degrees.
Barbecue Sauce - A liquid mixture, usually tomato-based, sweet and sour, with spices. It can be applied to meats during the final minutes of cooking. It is usually served on the side but is not necessary with properly cooked barbecue.
Bark - The outside crust of the butt or shoulder or brisket. Bark is enhanced by putting rub and sauce on the meat frequently.

Basting Sauces - Thin, flavorful liquids are brushed onto the meat while cooking to help keep them moist.
Burnt Ends - The blackened, somewhat charred pieces of brisket ends that cannot be sliced.
Finishing Sauce or Glaze - A sweet finishing sauce applied to meats during the final minutes of barbecuing.
Rub - A bbq seasoning with lots of spices that is usually rubbed onto the meat dry, but sometimes liquid is added to make a thick paste that’s slathered onto the meat. Paprika is often the predominant spice, which is why most rubs have a red color. Rubs can be tailored to the type of meat, fish or foul you are barbecuing.

Marinades - A blend of liquids, spices and herbs that meat is soaked in for flavoring and sometimes tenderizing prior to cooking.

Mop - A cotton mop used to baste meats while cooking.

Pit - The cooking unit used to barbecue. May be a closed container, cement or brick structure, or even a hole dug in the ground.

Baby Back or Back Ribs - The meat between the ribs is called "finger meat". There are usually 8 -14 ribs.

Rib Tips - The breast bone at the top of a slab of spare ribs.

Short End Spare Ribs - The last seven or eight ribs in a slab of spare ribs.

Spare Rib - Usually 11 ribs from the belly section of the pig.