Thrillist: 33 Best BBQ Joints in America


 
Joe Davidson , aka the Oklahoma Joe .... has been the champion of smoked bologna. When he was competing in late 80's and early 90's , he promoted smoked bologna to barbecue joints, primarily in the Tulsa area. Its now on the menu of about every joint in the state. I'm ordering from Clark's Crew today and saw it on the to-go menu.

I saw the other day, that smoked bologna is on the menu at Cattleack's in Dallas, the #3 joint on Texas Monthly's top 50.

And this was an interesting article , especially since its coming from New Orleans . Author interviews Joe Davidson , lots of quotes

Barbecue bologna: Why my Okie craving deserves respect, not raised eyebrows​


Still, in Oklahoma, bologna is "a quintessential item at barbecue restaurants. You cannot open a barbecue joint without having it here," said Joe Davidson, who owns four Oklahoma Joe's Bar-B-Cue restaurants in Tulsa and, with a partner, several franchise units.


"It's been around literally since statehood," he said. "I'm 55 and I was raised up on it. My grandfather and my great-grandfather were ranchers, and we cooked a lot of beef, but we had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"If you're really a barbecue fan and you give it a chance, you'll embrace it. I don't know why it's so regional," Davidson said. "Most places have never even heard of it. I traveled all over the United States in competition barbecue and everywhere, they just look at you like you've lost your mind until they taste it. Then they say, 'Oh my gosh, I get it now.'"


Davidson thinks the Sooner State embraced barbecued bologna because it was an inexpensive meat. And it absorbs smoke well. His restaurant uses 10-pound chubs about 18 inches long, cuts them into quarters and scores them, corkscrew-fashion.

The meat is smoked over pecan wood at 275 degrees for about an hour, until a deeply golden bark forms on the outside and it "begins to really sweat." They serve it in half-inch slices.

"I eat it at least twice a week," said Davidson, who pairs it with his own mild tomato-based barbecue sauce made with spicy golden brown mustard.
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I think Cattleack's is actually making their own bologna and smoking it. I live right on the border with Oklahoma and smoked bologna is not unheard of around here. There is a bbq place in town ( I won't name names) that serves it that opened in 1974. I haven't ordered it. The place is not that great but it's kind of ones of those places that's very locally celebrated. It just hasn't even remotely kept up with the times. Meat is almost colorless, sits in steam trays for hours, etc. It's worth checking out for the atmosphere but I wouldn't go again.
 
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