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Mercy Baron

Mercy Baron is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

First look at BBQ 81

Hey Ian, always enjoy your food reviews. I'm a Kansas City Certified BBQ Judge and you are partly right about the smoke. In competitions, people can add liquid smoke to their Q, and we are not allowed to "judge" the smokiness of a meat. But we all agree that BBQ can mean just grilling to a lot of folks, as they do at Phils. Personally, I like Phil's meats, but they are smoked and he even admits that. I cheat a bit when I go there and bring my friend's BBQ sauce as I don't like Phil's sauce at all! BBQ should mean low and slow cooking. We judge in 4 categories, chicken, ribs, pulled pork and brisket. We judge on appearance, taste and tenderness. Brisket is my least fave, as it is hardly ever cooked right. It's either too tough, or too mushy. We are trained to do the pull test before we sample it. I've been disappointed on my 3 visits to Brazen, as the brisket is always mushy. We are taught that if we push the meat to the roof or our mouth and it's mushy, it's overcooked. You are so right about that in a resto. I think it's quite difficult to keep meat at the right level of tenderness because of the quantity they have to cook on any given day. And Brazen competes in almost all the competitions and they win a lot. I'm guessing I've tried their meats many times outside the resto, but we do blind judging, so we never know...unless we are super familiar with someone's cooking. So far, my fave place for ribs is Cali Comfort in Spring Valley. They have a gigantic smoker and they were trained by a guy that knows his Q, as he trains judges for competitions. Cali has been known more for their UFC fight nights and breakfasts, but they are gaining attention as a serious contender for the best Q in SD. I also like the BBQ House in OB, as they smoke also. I don't think Cali Comfort has been reviewed for their Q, but you gotta try it sometime. If you do love sauces, I recommend Hog Heaven Sauces. Probably the best sauce I've ever tried. I think you can only get it online. Their Smokehouse and their Apple Chipotle sauces are great. I'm looking forward to trying BBQ 81. There are a few more in SD I'm meaning to try. But so far, SD does not have a LOT of great Q. I'm from LA and there are more choices there. If you get up to the Valley, you have GOT to try Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ....it's my favorite.
— September 11, 2013 5:45 p.m.

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