Wayne Ficklin
TVWBB Fan
Growing up in the lower-Upstate or upper-Midlands of SC meant that every 4th of July we'd trek to the local BBQ eatery to put in our order for meat and BBQ Hash. This isn't corned beef hash. This doesn't have a bunch of potatoes or corn or other* vegetables in it. Its not Brunswick stew. It's best served over a bed of plain cheap white rice but does as well on a hamburger bun eaten as a sandwich.
Years back my aunt had my Grandma write down all the recipes she could think of to give to my sister who was going to live out of the country for a couple of years. The rest of the families ended up getting copies of that cookbook for Christmas a few years after that. There's (thin, flat, burnt-on-one-side) cornbread that, to my knowledge, no ones been able to master exactly since she passed ( but my wife makes it awful close). There's 8 layer chocolate cake and it-takes-an-hour-to-stir banana pudding that thankfully has more precise instructions than the cornbread so we still have those every once in a while just like she made.
One gem that I've been daunted by was written in a different hand than all the others my Grandma had painstakingly written out. Turns out it was her daddy's BBQ Hash recipe written in his own hand. It consists of pork and beef cut into chunks, some vinegar, some water and onions. Sounds simple enough but I've heard stories of the hash parties where all the sons in the family and other men from the community/family would take turns stirring a big hash pot (cast iron and long since lost) with a repurposed boat paddle. I'm a one man barbecue party...
I decided I'd give it a try. I've got an 18.5" WSM, a 22" kettle, and a 3-out-of-4-burners-work gas grill to cook on. I also have a Cabelas dutch oven. I couldn't decide until the very last second whether I was going to use the WSM or the kettle. I opted to use the WSM and used a full bowl of charcoal topped with a smidge less than half a chimney of lit coals (minion style). As the WSM was coming to temp, I left the dutch oven in to come up to temp as well. Chopped the onions (hence the earlier *) and poured the water and vinegar in with them then came back to chop up the meat. After adding that, I seasoned it with salt and fresh-cracked black pepper. About that time I set the vents (from wide open) to hit between 250 and 275 on the thermometer ...and just let it sit there.
Everywhere I look, including my great-grandpa's handwritten recipe, says that stirring is necessary constantly lest the meat stick and burn. I was nervous about this but never ran into any issues until right toward the end when the meat started to disintegrate. When I started there wasn't any mention of how long it was going to take, but I was surprised to see that it took me almost exactly 6 hours from the meat going on to taking it off the heat.
This dish isn't everyone's cup of tea. That's not to say it's not tasty but to the uninitiated it may not look appetizing. It is delicious though ...& I was raised on it.
Years back my aunt had my Grandma write down all the recipes she could think of to give to my sister who was going to live out of the country for a couple of years. The rest of the families ended up getting copies of that cookbook for Christmas a few years after that. There's (thin, flat, burnt-on-one-side) cornbread that, to my knowledge, no ones been able to master exactly since she passed ( but my wife makes it awful close). There's 8 layer chocolate cake and it-takes-an-hour-to-stir banana pudding that thankfully has more precise instructions than the cornbread so we still have those every once in a while just like she made.
One gem that I've been daunted by was written in a different hand than all the others my Grandma had painstakingly written out. Turns out it was her daddy's BBQ Hash recipe written in his own hand. It consists of pork and beef cut into chunks, some vinegar, some water and onions. Sounds simple enough but I've heard stories of the hash parties where all the sons in the family and other men from the community/family would take turns stirring a big hash pot (cast iron and long since lost) with a repurposed boat paddle. I'm a one man barbecue party...
I decided I'd give it a try. I've got an 18.5" WSM, a 22" kettle, and a 3-out-of-4-burners-work gas grill to cook on. I also have a Cabelas dutch oven. I couldn't decide until the very last second whether I was going to use the WSM or the kettle. I opted to use the WSM and used a full bowl of charcoal topped with a smidge less than half a chimney of lit coals (minion style). As the WSM was coming to temp, I left the dutch oven in to come up to temp as well. Chopped the onions (hence the earlier *) and poured the water and vinegar in with them then came back to chop up the meat. After adding that, I seasoned it with salt and fresh-cracked black pepper. About that time I set the vents (from wide open) to hit between 250 and 275 on the thermometer ...and just let it sit there.
Everywhere I look, including my great-grandpa's handwritten recipe, says that stirring is necessary constantly lest the meat stick and burn. I was nervous about this but never ran into any issues until right toward the end when the meat started to disintegrate. When I started there wasn't any mention of how long it was going to take, but I was surprised to see that it took me almost exactly 6 hours from the meat going on to taking it off the heat.
This dish isn't everyone's cup of tea. That's not to say it's not tasty but to the uninitiated it may not look appetizing. It is delicious though ...& I was raised on it.
I gonna have to make a road trip to Wise BBQ in Columbia, SC. I've never seen this in NVa.