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Hill Country Pitmaster Smokes Up Astoria
Written by Jesse Hirsch; Photographed by Reni Papananias
ASTORIA – When famed New York Times critic Frank Bruni says your BBQ joint is one of his five favorite restaurants in the world, people start to take you more seriously. They stop calling you Trainwreck; you get a respectable haircut; and this BBQ thing you’ve been tinkering with for awhile- it becomes a full-time obsession.
His name is Josh Bowen, but you may know him by his stage name, Trainwreck Washington. In the past, you could find him performing twang-laden, deep-throated blues at a variety of New York bars. Bowen doesn’t sing as many blues songs these days, now that he's the assistant pitmaster at much-vaunted Hill Country Market (the place Bruni recently thanked heaven for). Before his current gig, Bowen was a one-man BBQ show at Queens’ LIC Bar, where he gained a rapid cult following for his meaty marvels. And before that, he spent significant time in Kansas City and Texas, picking up lessons from both sides of the dry v. wet BBQ debate.
Though he has nothing but respect for the simpler central Texas salt-and-pepper gospel preached at Hill Country, Bowen likes a little more flavor in his ribs when he’s home-grilling in Astoria. And according to him, ribs are the benchmark by which all BBQ can be measured. “Ribs are one of the best tests in the BBQ world, due to the balance of rub to meat and the depth of penetration of the smoke,” says Bowen. “Pulled pork and brisket require far more time and patience, but the pork ribs take a short time and a more delicate touch.”
To gain maximum flavor for your ribs, Bowen is a vocal advocate for buying a home smoker. He says a basic Brinkman model won’t run you more than $65, but the flavor payoff makes it more than worth it. If you insist on smoking your meat on a standard grill, there are tricks (like wetting some wood chips and wrapping them in foil), but Bowen doesn’t recommend it. “Folks in Queens are the lucky ones who can get a 60-dollar smoker at Home Depot and actually have a backyard to put it in,” he says.
Before you start prepping your meat, Bowen cautions you to choose your wood carefully.* He says “innocuous” oak is best for beginners, but once you get some practice, you should graduate to flavorful woods that require a more delicate touch. For instance, Bowen has been smoking a lot of maple lately, with a bit of hickory thrown on top for contrast. Finding the more unusual woods may require some searching, but he says it’s well worth the hunt.
After choosing your wood and picking out a nice rack or two of pork spare ribs (Bowen suggests using Heritage Meats), rub the meat down generously with this sweet and spicy Kansas City-style rub:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup salt
½ cup black pepper
¼ cup chili powder
1/8 cup each: onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper
Bowen says this is a good base for branching out and finding flavors you like. In the past, he has tried honey powder, curry powder, wasabi, powdered sugar and Italian herbs, but he suggests you follow your own taste buds first and foremost. “Down at the Hill Country Market we use a salt and pepper rub and it’ll cure what ails you too,” says Bowen. “There is no right or wrong in the rub making, just a matter of balancing it to your own tastes.”
Once the meat is prepped, start your smoker with charcoal till it gets nice and low at about 225 degrees, later adding the wood chips. “Some people will swear by doing it even lower and some like doing it at 350,” he says, “but it’s pretty much the Holy Grail to keep that smoker humming along at 225.”
It should take roughly 3-4 hours to cook your ribs at that temp. “When you get your tongs around them and they got a good bend to them, you got you some juicy ribs,” Bowen says. “You want some bite to them, and you don’t want them to fall off the bone, but you want them somewhere close.” Sauce lovers may want to goop up their ribs a half hour before removing them from the heat, but again Bowen says this is a matter of taste. “Welcome to the world of BBQ.”
WHERE TO BUY WOOD CHIPS
-Big Apple BBQ (where Hill Country parks their trailer), 149-13 14th Ave., Whitestone, 718-746-1212
-Big Apple BBQ, 18-31 42nd St., Long Island City, 718-204-1166
-Garden World, 46 Ave. & Francis Lewis Blvd., Flushing, 718-224-6789
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