Food & Drink: In the kitchen

How does Salt Lick do its 'cue? Glad you asked

By Kitty Crider
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FOOD EDITOR
Wednesday, June 14, 2006

We've got the goods: the secrets to The Salt Lick 'cue, shared by owner Scott Roberts at a recent Central Market Cooking School. With a little history, too.

Roberts says his family moved to the Driftwood area in 1867. Nearly 30 years ago, his parents, Thurman and Hisako Roberts, looking for a livelihood that would keep them in the area, opened a rustic open-pit barbecue joint that has grown in size and fame to become a destination experience. All of The Salt Lick's recipes have family roots — from wagon trains, from the South, from Hawaii (where his 94-year-old mother is from), Scott Roberts says.

Today, The Salt Lick is growing again, having opened a barbecue restaurant in Red Rock Station, about 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, this spring. And there is talk of more in the Vegas area. (Roberts told the class that his meat and cobbler recipes did not work out there because of the climate differences. He had to change cooking times and temperatures to match the products he turns out in Driftwood.) Meanwhile, closer to home and with the same climate, The Salt Lick has plans to open a fourth local eatery — in Round Rock in 2007 — to join the Driftwood, Loop 360 and airport locations. In addition, Roberts is working with Dan Jardine, founder and former head of Jardine Foods, to take The Salt Lick's sauces and rub nationwide. This month, it is scheduled to go onto the shelves of Zabar's, one of New York's best-known gourmet groceries.

While there are as many opinions on how to cook good barbecue as there are beans in the pot, this is how Scott Roberts does it at The Salt Lick:

• His basic formula: Season all meat, sear over hot heat, then cook over indirect heat.

• Use live oak wood to smoke; he thinks mesquite is too harsh. However, pecan wood, or soaked pecan hulls, provides a good flavor. So does hickory.

• Start with a good brisket, one with the thin end as uniform as possible. For tenderness, choose a Creekside, Pure Gold or Certified Angus brisket.

• The Salt Lick's dry rub is salt, black pepper and cayenne, a ratio of 2-1-1, he says.

• Unlike many barbecuers, he cooks brisket fat side DOWN, basting and mopping the meat side that is up, about three times to form a moisture barrier. The reason: You cut the fat off anyway.

• Never baste with a sauce that has tomatoes in it; the sauce will burn.

• He does not like to wrap brisket in foil when it is done and awaiting diners. That steams it, he says. Instead, he puts the brisket meat side down on a rack on a sheet pan in a 225-275 degree oven for 2 to 3 hours.

• When slicing a brisket, leave 1/8 to 1/4-inch fat on for flavor and always cut against the grain of the meat for tenderness. A brisket is made up of several muscles, so you will need to turn it as you slice it. (Tip: Pick up a slice of brisket and pull on it like an accordion. If you can see through the meat, you know it's done.) Save pieces for chopped beef.

• Slice brisket to order so all the juices won't run out from pre-slicing.

• Their cook-and-hold technique (hard to do at home): "Before we learned that meats get better if refrigerated, we had to cook briskets 24 hours a day," says Roberts, who has drawn his share of that 3 a.m. pit-tending shift. Now the restaurant cooks brisket to 165 degrees internal temperature, removes it from the smoker, and places it on a rack on a sheet pan, fat side up. Then the brisket is put in a freezer and chilled to an internal temperature of 40 degrees. For food safety, this must be done in six hours. Then the meat can be held in barbecue sauce for a moisture barrier for 24 hours, in a plastic bag or wrapped in foil, in the refrigerator at 38 degrees to enhance the flavor. To reheat, bring the brisket to 140 degrees in a 225-degree oven (3 hours for a 12-14 pound brisket).

The Salt Lick's Smoked Pork Spareribs
1 rack natural pork spare ribs (13 ribs)
12-oz. bottle Salt Lick Dry Rub (salt, black pepper, cayenne)
12-oz. bottle Salt Lick BBQ Sauce (no tomatoes)

With a clean, dry cloth, remove the excess moisture from the surface of the ribs. Apply dry rub evenly, coating entire surface of the ribs just before cooking. (If you put the rub on early, it will pull the moisture out of the meat.) Sear over direct heat until caramelized. This is key. Remove to indirect heat. Baste. Place the ribs, bone side up, in a 250-degree smoker for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Turn and baste with sauce at least twice. Serves 3-4.

Notes: For his ribs, Roberts buys spareribs, 4.2 pounds or less, natural fall, which means with the brisket bone still attached. He removes that bone and uses it to flavor beans.

Unlike many barbecuers, he does not remove the membrane on the back of the ribs before cooking. He thinks it keeps the meat moister.

The Salt Lick's Smoked BBQ Brisket
6-8 lb. raw brisket, untrimmed
12-oz. bottle Salt Lick Dry Rub
12-oz. bottle Salt Lick BBQ Sauce

With a clean, dry cloth, remove the excess moisture from the surface of the brisket. Apply the dry rub evenly, coating the entire brisket. Sear both sides over direct heat until caramelized. Baste both sides and move brisket to a 190-degree smoker, cooking in indirect heat. Cook meat side up for about 16 hours or until the internal temperature at the thickest part is 165 degrees. (Insert meat thermometeer into center of side, but in muscle, not fat.) Baste meat side only. Slice to order. Feeds 8-10 people.

kcrider@statesman.com; 445-3656