Melvin's Place of BBQ

Quest Log No 65 – Melvin’s Place of BBQ
Huntsville, Madison County

No sign. No name. No indication that this place in a fairly run down inner-city subdivision of Huntsville next to a cemetery, is a BBQ restaurant, than the smoke that is coming from a mobile barrel smoker at the corner of the premises. You park either in one of the two parking spots on a gravel patch beside the house, or on the street. In the courtyard of the L-shaped building are some camping-canopies with well worn out leather chairs. A few orange traffic cones adorn the pavement. The entrance to the dining room is a simple red door. The dining room is surprisingly big, and not surprisingly dark. There is one camping table with six camping chairs, half a dozen of those well worn leather chairs along a three foot high wall, and a counter with an old office chair behind it that has an old shirt lumped over it that says “Melvin’s Place of BBQ”. Next to the counter stand an old TV, and some buffet gear. On the other side of the room, beyond the three foot high wall that separates this area from the dining area, and where it is really dark, there is a small stage with some musicians gear on it, several other camping tables, more buffet gear and other things. On the walls, there is one picture of a 1960s era soul band, and a framed article of the Huntsville Times about this place.

Some would call it a dive. Some would even call it a dump. Others would call it authentic. I would call it all of the above.

To be very clear – it is not a dirty place, not at all. It is just well worn, odd, eccentric, cobbled together. The owner, Melvin, is a very nice old man, with a serious passion for BBQ. When I asked him about his secret how to cook such a marvelous BBQ, I got a fifteen minute lecture. No, actually it was more like a sermon, with fire and brimstone, and preaching and praying.

Melvin does not believe in wood. He uses whatever is on hand – hickory, pecan, cherry, it doesn’t matter. The secret to get the flavor in the meat, he told me, is the rub, not the wood. He does his own rub and his own BBQ sauce – actually, he has nine different sauces, and each of them makes the chicken taste differently in combination with the rub. Melvin also does not believe in smoking the meat for hours. He has better things to do than fire up the smoker in the middle of the night, he said. Forty-five minutes is sufficient for a chicken - that is his believe. He also does not turn the meat halfway through the process, nor does he poke it with a thermometer, lest the juices would drip out. With all that, he is the most unorthodox pitmaster I ever met. But his chicken proves him right – it is divine. DIVINE!

I had heard so many good things about Melvin’s chicken that I broke with my rule to have pulled pork at each new BBQ place. The plate, rather the Styrofoam box, came loaded with two slices of regular toast (untoasted), baked beans, potato salad, and a two drumsticks and a chicken breast. The chicken was sitting in a puddle of his BBQ sauce (which of the nine different varieties, I have no idea), that apparently oozed out from the skin. The skin was a bit leathery and not crisp at all, but the meat under it was the most tender, juicy, flavorful and, yes, divine chicken I ever had. It had a very nice smoke aroma, too – something you do not necessarily expect with a smoking time of only forty-five minutes. The potato salad was top notch as well, being a mayonnaise based, fairly sour, concoction. The baked beans were okay, but nothing to write home about. They swam in a thin liquid and had some vegetables and meat in it, but the taste was really nothing special.

With a can of soda, I paid eleven bucks (the lecture was priceless, yet at no cost), which is more than can be usually expected in such a location. But it is well worth it, and I can only suggest that you let the, well, ramshackle environment and the very interesting interior design of the restaurant not deter you from what would become a defining moment in your live – when you take the first bite out of Melvin’s chicken. It is just divine!

John's Bar-B-Que

Quest Log No 57 – John’s Bar-B-Que
Moulton, Lawrence County

I like it when small businesses are successful and expand, opening satellite stations. That usually means that the public approves of the product they sell, which is a fairly good indicator of quality and price. And as long as the expansion does not compromise those attributes that have made the product a success in the first place, the future might even bring further success and expansion.

There are two locations where you can find John’s Bar-B-Que in Moulton. One is a log cabin that I already visited half a year ago, and one is in a typical boring small strip mall on Highway 157.

Since I could not remember what I had the last time, I made the mistake to order the exact same thing again, although one of my rules is to order something different at each satellite location of a chain. Mea culpa.

So, let’s just concentrate on the differences between those two places – which should be minimal.

As before, I got the two meat plate with pulled pork and chicken, with potato salad and Jailhouse Slaw. But contrary to the Log Cabin, this time there were no hushpuppies served before the meal. Bummer!

The pork was very tender and lean, with a nice smoke aroma, and that was also the case at the Log Cabin location.

Same goes for the chicken, which was again a bit dry and with a lesser smoke aroma, but with a nice pepper infused crust that I did not register the first time.

As fort the sauces, there was no difference. Their white sauce is sour and peppery as it should be, and very fresh tasting. Top notch, and still one of the best I ever had.

The other sauces, a boring mild sauce and a mildly spicy red vinegar and pepper sauce, were acceptable for the pork if mixed together.

The Jailhouse Slaw is one of the most interesting and tastiest side dishes I ever encountered at a BBQ place. It comes drenched in a mustard based sauce with enough spiciness to give you a recognizable kick in the pants. It can double as BBQ sauce, and they should really sell it in bottles (I’d take a case or two …).

The potato salad had a hint of cinnamon in it, but not as pronounced as the first time.

The meal, including sweet tea, was not the cheapest I ever had in a BBQ place, with about fourteen and a half bucks. But the quality of the food, and the very nice atmosphere do actually justify that price. The dining area has the usual red faux-leather benches and chairs, and some tables. The decoration is a whimsical mixture of BBQ related paraphernalia, like posters, pigs, and neon signs, and also some fishing related things like fishing poles and a stuffed fish. There is also the model of a three-mast bark, which is kind of odd at such a place, but speaks to my maritime past very much. The walls are wooden panels, and the counter is made out of brick. This all contributes to a cozy atmosphere, and the place is very clean, too. The Log Cabin is just a bit more authentic and quirky, and they serve fantastic hushpuppies, so all in all I would prefer that to the location on Highway 157. But if you just want excellent BBQ, and don’t care about the surroundings, either location will fit the bill.

 

John's Log Cabin Bar-B-Que

Quest Log No47 – John's Log Cabin Bar-B-Que (Court Street)
Moulton, Lawrence County

I love those episodes from Star Trek and its spin-offs, where the crew is somehow trapped in a parallel universe, usually on the wrong side of a revolution or as members of an enslaved society. Sometimes, the notorious Q has his fingers in the pie, playing dirty tricks with Picard and the others. I sometimes ask myself the question, do parallel universes really exist, and if so, how would they look like? And would there be any good BBQ? And would I even like BBQ?

Well, I like it in this universe, and that is the reason why I drive around and visit so many different BBQ restaurants – not only to find the best there is, but also to enjoy the food and the atmosphere.

And when I read the words “John's Log Cabin Bar-B-Que, with two convenient locations in Moulton, Alabama is the best Bar B Que in the entire universe” on the website of a BBQ place, I definitely have to check this out.

So, I drove to Moulton today, found the place and had some Q.

In a very lovely atmosphere, I must say. The building is actually a log cabin, with separate small rooms, ancient patriotic decoration on the walls, the ubiquitous flat screen TV in the corner, and the usual functional wooden furniture. The place is spot clean and the staff is extremely nice and caring.

I ordered the two meat plate with pulled pork and chicken, with potato salad and a somewhat weird concoction that is called “Jailhouse Slaw”.

But the first food that arrived at my table was five hushpuppies. Yeah! I love hushpuppies, and these were just excellent. Not too sweet, crunchy on the outside, a bit flaky on the inside and just to die for in combination with the white sauce.

Oh, yes, the white sauce. Another quote from their website says “If you haven't ever tried John's world famous Alabama White Sauce, then you are in for a culinary treat. John's world famous Alabama White Sauce makes chicken simply taste beyond irresistible !”

They are certainly not shy with superlatives there, but I can vouch for the special culinary quality of the white sauce. It is sour and peppery as it should be, and very fresh tasting. Top notch, one of the best I ever had.

The other sauces, a boring mild sauce and a mildly spicy red vinegar and pepper sauce, are nothing to write home about. Together with some ketchup, the hot sauce was acceptable for the pork.

But they clearly missed an opportunity here for something special – just bottle the sauce the Jailhouse Slaw swims in and let the people use it for the pork. This slaw comes drenched in a mustard based sauce with enough spiciness to give you a recognizable kick in the pants. I actually used it on the pork and it was just sublime. This was clearly the most unusual slaw I ever had, but also one of the best. And it can double as BBQ sauce.

The pork itself was very tender and lean, with a nice smoke aroma, and although I would clearly rank it near the top, it is also clearly not the best I ever had.

Same goes for the chicken, which was a bit dry and with a lesser smoke aroma, which is not that big of a deal because it was just great together with the white sauce, that’s for sure.

The potato salad tasted a little weird, with a hint of cinnamon in it. First time I had that in a potato salad, and quite frankly I could live without it.

So, on the plus side we now have the slaw and the white sauce, on the minus side the pork sauces and the potato salad, and somewhere in between the pork and the chicken.

In summary, that still makes exceptional BBQ, but the best in the universe?

Well, logic dictates that if one claim is wrong, the opposite must be true. So if this is not the best BBQ in the universe, does Moulton then not have to be in a different universe?

Since I did not spot any Borg, Klingons or Ferengies, maybe I actually did not leave this world and the good people at John’s Bar-B-Que just exaggerated a little bit.

That’s a relief, actually, because for my next visit there I can leave my phaser at home then. May you live long and prosper!

Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q (Danville Rd)

Quest Log No46 – Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q (Danville Rd)
Decatur, Morgan County

After I visited Big Bob Gibson’s main restaurant on Hwy 31 in Decatur in June 2011, I was very disappointed by the quality and taste of the food, and somewhat taken back by the in-your face display of their national notoriety, and of all the fabulous medals and prizes they have won for their sauces, which have an ingredients list that is as long as the Old Testament.

My conclusion was that we had better places for BBQ here in Northern Alabama. Lots of them.

Well, it took me one and a half years to make it to the other place Big Bob has in Decatur, on Danville Road. And I am glad to report that this visit ended in the partial redemption of this franchise.

First of all, the building does not scream “tourist attraction” from a mile away. It is a rather unassuming barn-style house, with rough wooden walls and a rather sober atmosphere inside. A few framed articles about Big Bob Gibson’s coverage in the media over the years is the only decoration, there are a couple flat screen TVs in the corners, and the rather spacious eating area has some booths and some wooden tables. Nothing fancy here, all very functional, no frills.

You order at a counter and wait there for your food to be prepared. I chose the pork and white chicken meat combo plate, with potato salad and baked beans. No slaw this time, because I still remembered vividly the train wreck that was the slaw at the other place.

My wife took the rib plate, with baked beans and slaw – a decision she regretted as soon as she spotted the alien-green heap of mushy cabbage on her plate.

We both took a small bite of the slaw and almost spit it out – disgusting. The texture was that of mushy grits and the taste was that of raw cabbage with some artificial sweetener in it.

The baked beans on the other hand were quite edible, although we both almost got into an argument out of what can they had come. The potato salad on the other hand was very creamy and had a refreshingly neutral taste. I can live with neutrality in potato salad, as long as it is not totally bland, which it wasn’t. It was creamy.

But now to the most important aspect, which led to a partial redemption of the devastating judgment from 2011.

The pulled pork was very tender and lean, and a bit on the dry side, which I don’t mind. That way, it soaks up the sauce better. And here, they had not only the famous supermarket-tested, award winning, endless ingredients list sporting red and white sauces on the table, but also a somewhat beaten plastic bottle with a simple spicy vinegar and pepper sauce. That stuff had a good kick to it, and was the perfect companion to the real nice smoky taste of the pork. And, it did not contain any of the chemical compounds of the other stuff.

The chicken, all white meat, was also a bit dry, but nevertheless very tender and receptive to the pepper-vinegar sauce. And the skin was just sublime – a heavy smoke taste with some crunch to it.

Also, the ribs my wife had tasted extremely well, with just the right amount of smoke aroma. They were not of the fall-off-the-bone variety, but firm and yet tender and succulent. My wife ranks them within the Top 5 of ribs she had in the last two years.

So, except for the just so-so or even disgusting side items, everything peachy in Big Bob’s Land?

Not quite. Please do yourself a favor and do not chose either the sweet or the unsweet tea for a drink – stick with the stuff that comes out of the soda machine. The tea has a very nasty aftertaste, especially the sweet variety. It kind of tastes as if they brewed it with water from the kitchen sink. Just nasty.

So, while this experience was clearly better than that we had in 2011 at the restaurant on Hwy 31, I still consider many other BBQ places a better choice. If they would fix the side items, and the nasty tea, this judgment might have to be revised. But until then, I think a little redemption is better than nothing.

Lawler's Barbecue Express #3

 Quest Log No 42 – Lawler’s Barbecue Express #3 (Highway 72)
Athens, Limestone County

Although Lawler’s is a small chain with currently five locations in Northern Alabama (a sixth place is already in the making, near the new Madison Hospital), those restaurants are not the same. Some are quite sober, functional eateries, while others are outfitted in a special way, with attention to detail and a whimsical touch. Like the one in Athens on Highway 72, were they have an actual rowing boat on the ceiling, and some nice display cases with fishing paraphernalia on the walls. The restaurant has about half a dozen booths on the side walls, and some tables in the center. You order at a window in the back and while you wait for it to be prepared, you may seat yourself on one of the two park banks there.

Adding to that homey and welcoming atmosphere is the staff, which is very friendly and responsive.

This is the fourth Lawler’s I’ve been in, and so far it was the one with the best atmosphere. There is not much difference in the food between the locations, which is understandable because the meat is usually prepared at a central place up in Tennessee and then driven the few miles to the satellite stations in North Alabama each morning. Although, this place in Athens has a smoking facility outside of the restaurant, so I wonder if maybe they shifted the whole meat preparing operation a bit south now.

Anyway, as usual when visiting another location of a chain, I tried something else then the pulled pork plate with slaw and potato salad. This time I opted for the half chicken plate with baked beans and potato salad.

Well, the chicken was very tender and succulent, but I could not detect a very prominent smoke aroma. But with the white sauce on it – Bang! Absolutely great! I dare to say that with a distinctive smoky flavor on the chicken, it would have not harmonized as well with the sauce.

The baked beans were superb, too, not too sweet and without any cinnamon. The potato salad I already had before and I still like it very much. It is predominately on the sour side, and rich and creamy.

So, if I had to choose from one of the many Lawler’s locations here in the Tennessee Valley, the one on Highway 72 in Athens would be my favorite. It looks and feels like a good old BBQ place (only without the dead flies on the window sills …), the food is always very good, and the prices (under ten Dollars for the plate and a drink) are certainly acceptable. So what if they don’t smoke the meat exactly were they sell it – as long as it is not frozen and then put in the microwave, I don’t have any problem with it.

Little Paul's Gibson Barbecue

Quest Log No 34 – Little Paul’s Gibson Barbecue
Huntsville, Madison County

There are some strange places where you can set up shop for a BBQ restaurant. A former jail might qualify as mildly funny, some old barn on a country road in the middle of nowhere would probably not raise even one eyebrow, and an airport concourse could even be seen as innovative.

But across the street from a hospital emergency bay? That has to be the most morbid place ever. Imagine, sitting there, munching on your pork sandwich while a steady stream of ambulances, with lights flashing and all, disappear into the big grey building on the other side. And then, imagine the BBQ place crowded with hospital people in their green uniforms, some even still with those paper hair caps and masks on. Scrubs meets pulled pork.

Of course, on the other hand it is a very clever move to have a BBQ place at such a place - who needs soul food more than nurses, doctors, surgeons, and relatives of the patients? My guess is that Little Paul’s Gibson Barbecue in Huntsville, across the street from Huntsville Hospital’s emergency bay, is a gold mine.

And the equally clever move to incorporate “Gibson” into the name of the restaurant will not hurt business either. After all, everybody knows about the Gibsons here in the Tennessee Valley – they are for BBQ what the Kardashians are for the reality show industry.

Well, if I wanted to be cynical, it would be easy to say that this place combines a live reality show with a unique dining experience – like a TV diner, but only real and with better food.

But since I am not cynical, only sarcastic at times, this is not how I would describe the place. Actually, the interior is quite nice; it has a certain 1950s charm with tables covered with black-and-white checkered cloths, shelves full of quirky BBQ and food related stuff, fans on the ceiling and a tiny cross above the counter.

At this counter, you order from the quite extensive menu, pay and receive a sign with a number on it. Not that the place is actually so big that the servers would be lost without this numbering system for the orders. It has seating for about thirty customers, but I guess when it is really hectic during the lunch break of the emergency room people, it can help.

The food is then brought to your table – in our case, we only had to wait a couple of minutes, but we were there after the typical lunch time.

As usual, I had a (large) pork plate with potato salad and (vinegar) slaw. My wife had a two meat plate with brisket and chicken and baked beans and creamy slaw as sides. The plates come with a cornbread muffin and a tiny cup of sauce. At the table, there is a different sauce in a big bottle, and of course ketchup and some kind of hot sauce.

The pulled pork had a good smoky taste, and it was very tender. I found a few strands of fat in it, but not to an extend that it bothered me much. On the other hand, the pork was a bit on the dry side, so I was grateful that my wife relinquished her cup of sauce to me.

The sauce that came with the plate was a very simple mixture of vinegar, water and (cayenne) pepper. Not very spicy, but with some delightful kick nonetheless. And sour. But I actually like it that way, and it went very well with the smoky aroma of the pork.

The potato salad there is listed as “mustard potato salad”, which describes the flavor you get quite well. Also on the sour side, smothered in a mustard infused mayonnaise, I enjoyed it very much. The vinegar slaw, however, was a bit watery and of the sweet-and-sour variety. Not bad, but also not top notch. On the other hand, a third component that was “just sour” would have been probably too much, and so it was a welcomed diversification.

I am not a big fan of cornbread, but my wife is, and she assured me that the cornbread muffin that I traded for her sauce was excellent. And so was the chicken – tender and very flavorful, clearly the best meat of the three we had on our plates. Because the brisket, while also tasting very good, was a bit dry and without the layers of fat inside would not have been easy to chow. Of course, she could have poured the tiny cup of white sauce that came with the chicken over it – but that would have been pure barbarism. Plus, the white sauce was not so special, but merely okay. It needs the very flavorful chicken to shine, not the other way around.

The baked beans were a bit sticky and very thick – a clear sign that they had been sitting in the pot for more than just a couple of hours. But the taste was great, not very sweet but savory, without cinnamon but with some strands of meat in it.

The creamy slaw was crunchy and had a very good flavor.

Together with sweet tea for both of us, this meal for two cost us a bit over twenty-six Dollars. Not exactly cheap, but the food was very good, although not really outstanding. We did see some hospital personnel in the restaurant during our time there, but there was no ambulance that disturbed our meal with its sirens. And quite frankly, I do not believe the emergency room is something I ever want to connect with BBQ in my mind – let alone in reality.

Corner Pit BBQ

Non-Quest BBQ No 19 – Corner Pit BBQ
Dellrose (Bryson), Tennessee

During my occasional travels, I try to sample BBQ at those near and far away places outside the Quest area. I just really, really like that stuff ... 

I fought a hard fight with myself, and then I decided to not incorporate Lincoln County, Tennessee into the Quest Area. One reason against this would be that it is, well, in Tennessee and not in Alabama. On the other hand, it borders on Limestone County and they have a BBQ place there which would be ranked in the Top 5 – if it was in the Quest area (which is the counties of Limestone, Morgan, and Madison in North Alabama).

And so, Corner Pit BBQ in Dellrose, Tennessee hereby receives the honorary title of “Best Alabama BBQ outside of Bama”. And that by a wide margin, too.

The place is located on a small rural highway, which leads you through rolling hills with farms here and there, lots of green trees, grass and bushes, and a population density not much different from the Moon.

Then the highway bends, and in the corner there it is. To the left is a big red shack were the smoker resides, and to the right the very spacious restaurant.

The inside is a mixture of typical country eatery, with the metal and red faux leather chairs, the round laminated wood tables and the fans on the ceiling. There is even a big flat screen TV at the end of the dining room.

But there is also old farm equipment hanging on the walls, old advertising signs and car number plates. An old rusty gasoline pump stands in one corner and another corner is occupied by a rack with T-Shirts, which have the logo of this place on it: a Pig that says “Our pigs are dying for you to eat!”

Of course, I bought one of those.

The whole atmosphere in that spotless clean place is very homey and comfortable. They have eight tables there, but the place would also be spacious enough to hold double that number. But given the somewhat remote location, there is probably no reason to prepare for such a rush anytime soon.

This is also fine by me, because I like the place as it is right now - not only for the atmosphere, but first and foremost for their most excellent food, of course.

As usual, I had the pork plate with potato salad and slaw, which cost me six bucks and was a lot of food.

The pulled pork, although it was maybe a tad more dry then it had to be, was very tender and lean, and it had a very nice smoky flavor. Lots of bark in it, too.

They have three sauces to go with it, but the mild one is really nothing special. It’s a semi-thick reddish concoction with a fruity-sour taste.

But the other two are THE KILLER. The Original Pit Sauce and the Hot Original Pit Sauce are also of the same thick reddish consistency, also resolutely vinegar based and also kind of fruity, but spiced up with pepper. The hot variety is a bit more aggressive then the original one, but both give the pork a kick in the butt that generates a BBQ aroma which is nearly perfect. I even put the hot sauce over my potato salad, so good is it.

Not that the salad would have needed that kind of support – it can very well stand on its own merits. Silky-creamy texture, with white potatoes and mayonnaise, onions and a hint of vinegar – this is how you do it. I just could not decide if it the slaw was even better – I think it is just fair to declare it a tie. I just love it when the cabbage comes in big pieces, and not in those minced to oblivion varieties. It was extremely fresh and crunchy, with just a bit of salt and pepper and vinegar, so that you actually have a chance to taste the veggies in there. Amazing.

My wife opted for the chicken, which was also very tender and although not blessed with a very distinctive smoke aroma, also very tasty.

The predominantly sour and mild white sauce that they have goes perfectly with it, though, and together it makes a very fine dining experience indeed.

Adding to that were what looked like ordinary green beans, but turned out to be green beans with a very robust meat-broth flavor that complemented the chicken and the white sauce perfectly. Her baked beans, on the other hand, although not bad at all, could not muster up to that level of sheer bliss.

With sweet tea (the ice for it came out of a cooler next to the cash register) for both of us, the whole meal was about fifteen bucks. For that kind of quality food, quality atmosphere and quality people (we had a very nice chat with Kristen, the owner), I felt a bit like a thief. They could have charged double and I still would deem it a fair deal. Well, for a little bit of compensation I spent some more money, buying a T-Shirt. Too bad that it says “Tennessee” on the back – this amazing little BBQ place would fit right into Alabama’s BBQ belt.

Moe's Original Bar B Que - Providence Village

Quest Log No 33 – Moe’s Original Bar B Que
Huntsville (Village of Providence), Madison County

All Moe’s are created equal. We now have two of those in Huntsville, but if you know one, you already know the other, too.

The one in Providence Village is brand new, just opened two weeks ago or so, and has the same general layout as the other one – a sports bar where you can eat BBQ. Flat screen TVs in every corner, bar stools along the windows, loud music from the 1960s to the 1980s, metal frame tables and chairs, unpainted wood columns for decoration – you get the picture. Only at this here in the swank new Village, they don’t go overboard with the Tide paraphernalia.

Since we already had their pulled pork and ribs the last time we visited a Moe’s, and since all Moe’s should pretty much adhere to the same quality standard, my wife and I decided to go poultry this time.

So, we had the chicken and the turkey, with baked beans each, potato salad for me and Brunswick stew for her as second sides.

Wait a minute – Brunswick what??! Yes, stew. Hmm, although it was very tasty, with lots of meat and potatoes in it and some very laid back spiciness, I couldn’t help but wonder if my lovely spouse would not be stricken down by a bolt of lightning at any moment. Brunswick stew after April 1^st … that is almost as sacrilegious as putting white sauce on ribs.

Well, the BBQ gods exacted their revenge swift and promptly, by letting us choose the turkey. Which came sliced, drenched in sauce, with a very prominent layer of fat on the outside and virtually no taste at all. Cardboard. Okay, tender cardboard. Still, no taste. Even the sauce did not help much here, although by itself this condiment is one tasty conglomerate.

They just shouldn’t pour it over my meat without asking me first.

And of course, the chicken came drenched in it, too.

It was half a bird, squeezed into one of their little cardboard trays, which made it a pure mess to eat.

However, it was very succulent and tender, with a very nice smoky flavor. We just shared it and left the turkey untouched after the first initial bites.

Good thing that we did not have to share the beans, too, because those were also very tasty. Lots of meat in it, with a very well rounded sweet aroma, and no discernable cinnamon in it.

The mayonnaise based potato salad was as neutral tasting as the last time, with lots of fresh, raw veggies like onions and celery in it.

With each plate, you also get a slice of rather dense cornbread, which tasted okay to me, but my wife did not like the sour aftertaste. That sourness did not appear in my piece, so I am guessing that the cornbread-making process lacks some homogeneity.

Just for kicks, we also had fried pickles as starters – which arrived after the lunch plates were already at our table. Although the taste was fine, we only could eat just the top layer, which was crunchy and firm, whereas the bottom layers got more soggy and spongy the deeper we dug.

For all that and two drinks, we paid almost twenty seven bucks, which is not cheap and also not a good deal if you take the quality of the food into account. I guess it serves us right – having Brunswick stew on April 27^th just has to provoke some negative cosmic effect.

Harvest Time BBQ

Quest Log No28 – Harvest Time BBQ
Harvest, Madison County

Best pulled pork ever. Best smoked chicken ever. Best baked beans and potato salad. Ever. But no ribs – yet. The folks at Harvest Time BBQ in Harvest were testing their first batch when we went there for lunch today. Apparently, they want to get it right before it finds its way on the menu.

This philosophy, that quality comes before all, and it is only worth doing it, if it’s done right, is evident in every little detail at that place.

Most other BBQ pit masters use hickory or mesquite wood for their fires.

The “Pork Dork” – it says so on his T-Shirt – uses pecan wood. It started when he used the wood of two pecan trees in his own backyard at family barbecues, and he still uses it at his new restaurant.

I’ve never had pecan wood smoked pork before, at least not knowingly, but that’s what I want to have exclusively from now on (… not gonna happen, I know …). It provides a very smooth, well rounded aroma, which is still distinctively smoky, but without the somewhat sharp bite of its hickory and mesquite cousins.

The pork is smoked – with just a little salt added - at very low temperature for up to twenty hours, which makes it supremely tender and juicy. And flavorful - it actually tastes like smoked pork, and not like smoke with pork.

So , of course I had my customary pork plate, with potato salad and slaw. Well, actually my wife’s chicken came with those sides, whereas my plate came with her baked beans. A little mix-up that worked to my advantage – eventually, I got to eat all three sides.

The potato salad was creamy and a little tart, with just the right amount of herbs and spices – I’d say this came near to perfection. The same is true for the baked beans, which did not even have a hint of sweetness, but came with big chunks of meat and a very hearty taste. The slaw was very crunchy and creamy, and tasted very fresh, but although it had a noticeable vinegary aroma, it was a bit too sweet for my taste. Not bad, not bad at all, but in comparison with the potato salad and the baked beans a clear bronze medal in this contest.

Usually, my wife would have had the ribs, but as I mentioned above, it is not on the menu yet. So she settled for the half chicken – and was blown away. She had a cup of white sauce at the side, but she did not use it at all. Instead, she soaked the meat in the juices that accumulated on the bottom of the plate. Did I ever mention that she is the real meat lover, in our family? Well, this chicken satisfied all her carnivorous cravings. The meat was succulent and the skin was crisp, and the flavor was smoky but not overwhelmingly so. Too bad that the bird was so big that by the time she was finished with it, all the sides were gone, except for the bag of chips.

I almost forgot, but the pulled pork came also with a sauce on the side (This is important: on the side. The Pork Dork’s comment on this is that “putting sauce on BBQ before serving is usually done to cover up something, such as it being too dry.” Amen, man!). You have the choice between a vinegar based thin and hot variety, and a thick and sweet one. I choose the vinegar sauce, which has a medium kick through some ground peppers – nothing fancy, just the right amount of hotness to make the flavor of the pork pop.

A piece of Texas toast completes the meals, and for just under nineteen bucks, including two sweet teas, that is a very fair deal in regards of the amount of food you get, and a downright steal in regards of the quality they give you for it.

The place itself – which is spotless, by the way - has only very limited space to sit down inside– about a dozen or so chairs around a counter and one tiny table. If all chairs are occupied, that should make for a very cozy and intimate atmosphere. But most people seem to use it as a drive-in kind of place, which is really a shame since they don’t have the opportunity to experience the extremely friendly and welcoming treatment you get from the staff. Southern hospitality at it’s best.

And there is something else, which may not be on top of the list for most customers at most BBQ places, but it also shows this attention to detail, this overall thought through philosophy that goes this one step beyond general expectations.

They filter their water through a reverse osmosis system, to remove toxins such as fluoride and chlorine. Really, everybody should do that before the water is used for even brushing one’s teeth, let alone for drinking or cooking. And they use 2 oz sauce containers – double the size which is usually found in restaurants - which they only fill half, so that they don’t spill when opened. Also, they don’t use MSG in any of their products. If there is such a thing as an “Organic” BBQ, this little place in Harvest, Alabama, certainly qualifies. I always knew that BBQ, if done right, was really the health food of the South.

Jack Danies Pulled Chicken

Non-Quest BBQ No 8 – Jack Daniel’s Seasoned and Cooked White Meat Pulled Chicken

What to do, if there is no time to go out and fetch some BBQ at one of the numerous places around here, but the cravings must still be satisfied?

Well, just reach into the freezer and put the two pound tray of frozen Jack Daniel’s Seasoned and Cooked White Meat Pulled Chicken with Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce into the microwave.

Put some buns on the table while it is heated, and throw some cabbage and carrots into the blender. Et voila, a homemade BBQ meal is fixed in minutes.

Well, we did that tonight for the first time, just to try if this would be a viable alternative to getting into the car and driving to the next BBQ place, which is about two minutes away, if I am really hungry.

Suffice to say, the cole slaw my wife made from scratch was the best part of our dinner. With fresh cabbage and carrots, shreddered finely and dressed with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, it was a delight. I would have been content with only that on the bun, to be honest.

But we also had heated the Jack Daniel’s pulled chicken now, so that had to go on the bun, too. There is a lot of Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce on the chicken, which is surprisingly tender and of very good quality. The sauce is supposedly made with real Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, but the influence on the taste is rather minimal. I would have preferred to have the sauce in a separate pouch, instead of the meat being drowned in it.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, also like their mustards very much – but the BBQ sauce is merely okay. Too much on the sweet side, and also the ingredients list has “Silicon Dioxide” on it. Normally, they make glass windows out this stuff, but it is also used as flow agent in foods. Thanks, but no thanks, you can keep your weird chemicals to yourself.

So, I guess next time when the cravings come, I will throw over some clean pants, saddle my Nissan, and fetch something dioxide-free from the next best BBQ place here. I admit, I just like that whole health food thing.