Volume One
After Dark BBQ, Volume One: Twenty Long Nights. Henry, Lena and Mara in a gravel yard behind a shuttered workshop.
Every chapter and letter on After Dark BBQ that turns on this, newest first.
All the chapters · Technique · Calculators
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Skin Off, Fat Down, All Night — Smoked Pork Belly
He bought it for nobody on the first warm night of the year. Three hours fat side down, one flip, and the first time in ten chapters that somebody stayed until four. Read it
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She Brought It Cured and I Smoked It Slow — Corned Beef
She comes through the gate alone for once and asks what he would do with it. Twenty hours of soaking, a half inch of pepper, and three more hours sealed in a pan before it gives. Read it
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Been Smoked Before, Still Went Twice — Double-Smoked Ham
Already cured, already smoked, already cooked by somebody else. He puts it on anyway, and the glaze goes on at 128 and not one degree sooner. Read it
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Took All Evening to Give In — Smoked Chuck Roast
She buys a nine dollar roast and tells him to keep his hands in his pockets. Six hours, one stall, and a probe that finally goes in to the handle at two minutes past nine. Read it
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Pull Out Early, It Keeps Rising — Smoked Prime Rib
Nine pounds of beef that belongs to somebody else, and one pull he cannot take back. He takes it off at 122 with everybody watching and lets it finish on the board without him. Read it
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Spread It Flat and Keep It Low — Smoked Whole Turkey
Eleven years the man has done them whole. He stands across the table and watches Henry open all six, one at a time, and does not say a word. Read it
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Big, Bare, and Nine Hours on the Bone — Smoked Beef Ribs
The biggest thing he has ever put on that grate, and he has never done one. Nine hours bare on the bone, an hour and a half of it holding out at 172, and a second chair in the yard. Read it
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Fat Side Up and Nobody Sleeps — Overnight Pork Butt
She promised the roadhouse forty pounds before she told him. Fat side up, a stall that parks at 158 and will not move for anybody, and two women in the yard with opinions about it. Read it
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Ease It In and Let It Rest — Overnight Smoked Brisket
She let herself in with a twelve-pack and two rubs and did not wait to be asked. Twelve hours, one long stall at 163, and she is gone before he gets it open. Read it
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Don’t Touch It for Three Hours — Midnight Ribs at 228
Two racks, nobody coming for them, and a lid he is not allowed to open for three hours. A stranger comes up the alley to watch him manage it. Read it