Hi and welcome. I'm also new to posting here. This thread has discussed both (i) smoker-style ribs and (ii) "falling off the bone" ribs, which are evidently more to your liking. Given the dissimilarities between the two styles, it's not surprising that you disliked Honey 1. Slamming H1 for its toothsomeness is like saying that sandals are bad on account of their open toes. I've only had H1 twice. On both occasions, I thought their ribs were chewy and delicious.

On the other hand, I have happy memories of eating with my family at Carson's (on special occasions) where, if I recall correctly, the ribs are "falling off the bone." There are places listed in this thread which prepare ribs in this style. I hope that you'll try some places that offer this style, and report back on your favorites. If you're particularly ambitious (housekeeping-wise), you could even start a new thread discussing places that offer the style of ribs that you prefer. I'm sure that many people would read with interest.

Best,

peterc wrote:On the other hand, I have happy memories of eating with my family at Carson's (on special occasions) where, if I recall correctly, the ribs are "falling off the bone."

If so, you got very different ribs from what I've always had at Carson's. Theirs have always been relatively fast-grilled, not smoked, and thus chewy.

You typically only get "meat jello" from very long, moist cooking, or a par-boiling. I don't like either method.

thalstead wrote: To blast a man who posts His Own Opinion is uncalled for. The man hated the food that night and posted this because he felt that there were too many lemmings on this site who seem to be kissing up to the previous review. State your own opinion. "Rookie" posts occur because people were moved to state their opinion on a site that is set up to receive that opinion.

I agree that JCampagna shouldn't have been jumped on, but I disagree that it's a culture of "lemmings" on here. Likes and dislikes are fairly and intelligently debated here all the time, and board favorites are regularly challenged. My first experience at Honey 1 was merely so-so, but since coming back time and time again, they've completely won me over.

I've had bad ribs at Honey 1. I've had them exactly as you've described them: overcooked and tough. It sometimes happens. It happens with all my favorite Chicago BBQ places (well, so far Uncle John's hasn't failed me, but Barbara Ann's and Lem's have in the past).

But when the ribs and tips are on, as they are 90% of the time, they're clearly among the best that Chicago BBQ has to offer. I also disagree about the sauce -- it's among my favorite in Chicago, second only to Lem's. The stuff is liquid crack, in my opinion, but judge ye not barbecue by the sauce.

It's a pity their can't be a more consistent product, but I just don't think good BBQ moves fast enough in Chicago to continually guarantee a perfectly cooked slab waiting for you when you walk in the door. You win some, you lose some, but the ones you win make the occassional bad slab worth it.

sabersix wrote:I have to say that the following line is the most pompus thing I have seen since the discussion of allowing Woman/Blacks to have the right to vote. And I think makes my point.

"Not every opinion is of equal value." or so say Antonius.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but I think I have an example that can serve as a good analog to this debate.

I am a proud dilettante when it comes to food, music, movies, and art. I am a true expert in exactly one field--driving in Chicago. I worked as a driver and dispatcher for a messenger service for well over a decade. My job required that I move from every imaginable part of the metro area to every other imaginable part at every time of day. I think that my opinion on how to get from 3611 S Laflin to 200 E Chestnut at 4:30 pm on a Friday is a lot more valuable than yours. By sabersix's logic the people have "voted" that the best route is to take the one that is the most congested. Olive Garden, Buca and such are crowded because they are easy, you know what you're getting and you're sure not to get lost. Pershing to Wallace to 26th to Canal to Harrison to Lower Wacker to Columbus to Ohio to the inner Drive to Pearson to Mies Van Der Rohe to Chestnut takes years of trial and error.

I owe so many great meals to the regulars on this board. No I don't always agree with them, but I know that when they put the full force of a recommendation behind a restaurant, they don't do it lightly. Here's to their extremely valuable opinions, and to guiding me away from the culinary equivalent of 35th to the Dan Ryan to the Stevenson to LSD to Chicago Av.

MikeG,

I can't recall if the restaurant in the airport was actually called Bryant's, but they were serving Bryant's product, heralded as such. It was the last restaurant at the end of Terminal B, I think.

G Wiv wrote: In other words, he was going to toss all that delicious pig candy, actually, more like pig crack, in the circular file.

We suggested to Robert Sr. He put it on the menu as a side...[/i]

The other option is to just chop up the "bark", and have it as an option to be thrown on the pulled pork sandwich.


After all, anyone who doesn't prefer that black, crispy goodness mixed into their pulled pork, doesn't know what "real" pulled pork is

I returned to Honey1 last night and from the last time I was there they upgraded the decor of the place a bit. They have a nice new plasma TV over the office door for patrons to glare at whilst awaiting their BBQ and they have painted the walls a interesting orange color.

The tips and links remain the gold standard at Honey1 - really nothing to add to previous posts on here regarding this offering, just pure pleasure and really the only, or at least primary, reason I make the trip down to Honey1 on a semi-regular basis. The tips are my favorite but I have to tell you the links this time were as good as I've had there - I like mine a little more done than most might. Very well-seasoned, nice crunch, good spices - just an absolute pleasure.

The sauce was really, really good last night with the right mix of hot and sweet. This from a man that thinks Honey1's sauce is just OK most nights - it was spot-on last night. WOW!

Had a rack of ribs as well because I was in the mood for them. They were pretty good, not great, as has been my experience with the ribs here every time I've had them. They had a nice smoke flavor but were a bit too chewy for me.

You just can't get better tips and links in Chicagoland but, IMHO, there are at least a number of places that fit my palate better when it comes to ribs.

Bster

Here's something I read (and I quote):

"Ask five Americans what "barbecue" means and you'll get five different answers. For that matter ask five people how they spell the word and you may get just as many. Barbeque, barbecue, BBQ, Bar-B-Que -- I've seen them all.

Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary (a ten pound tome I keep on my desk), defines "barbecue" as:

1. A social or political entertainment, usually in the open air, at which meats are roasted over an open hearth or pit.

2. A framework, as a grill or spit, on which meat or vegetables are cooked over an open fire.

3. Pieces of beef, fowl, fish, or the like roasted over an open hearth, especially when basted with barbecue sauce.

4. To cook sliced or diced meat in a highly seasoned sauce.

According to the dictionary, the word barbecue is derived from the Spanish, barbacoa, a raised frame of sticks. Another source I have says "barbecue" comes from French-speaking pirates, who called this Caribbean pork feast de barbe et queue, which translates from beard to tail. In other words, the pig roast reflected the fact that the hog was an eminently versatile animal that could be consumed from head to toe.

Everyone's definition is correct. An Easterner might say a barbecue is a backyard affair where a meal is cooked on some type of grill. A neighbor from the south who invites you to a "barbecue" is probably summoning you to come taste his slow-cooked meat. A Yankee might refer to his barbecue-sauced hamburger casserole as a barbecue dish."

Wkipedia says:
"Barbecue, (also spelled barbeque, or abbreviated BBQ) is a method of cooking food with the radiant heat and/or hot gasses of a fire, the cooking of food in a sauce that includes vinegar, the end-result of cooking by one of these methods, or a party that includes such food. Barbecue is usually cooked in a covered environment heated by an outdoor open flame of wood, charcoal, natural gas or propane.

Bear Bean says:
"The term BBQ (aka barbecue, barbeque, bar-b-que, etc) has been so mangled by amateurs as to become nearly meaningless. BBQ is commonly used as both verb and noun, and applied to everything from hot dogs with sweet ketchup to smoked hams to the actual grill. The truth, as you already suspect, is somewhat more restrictive.

Texans will disagree (I could stop the sentence here and this would be one of life's great truths), but BBQ is pork or chicken slow cooked in a covered grill over a wood fire for between 8 and 18 hours and seasoned with some combination of salt, pepper, and other spices that vary by region. Cooking times are obviously shorter for chicken, with 2 to 6 hours being the defining range.

BBQ is NOT hot dogs or sausages cooked in 20 minutes on the hibachi, ribs cooked in the oven with a ketchup based sauce, or steaks on the grill. These are all fine foods, but none qualify as BBQ.

Beef, fish, and vegetables (an exception is made for goat and wild game) cannot be BBQ. They can be grilled, roasted, smoked, baked, broiled, steamed, and prepared a thousand different ways, but they simply cannot be BBQ. I am a tremendous fan of smoked tenderloin and I love brisket, but BBQ doesn't come from a cow.

So who am I to pronounce such a definition? Thats a fair question, and one I'll answer briefly. I grew up on a farm in the Bootheel of Missouri, where BBQ is revered as a cultural icon in the same way as creole cooking is revered in New Orleans. By the time I had my 20th birthday, I had established a substantial reputation as a BBQ chef, and built a small business catering BBQ and providing BBQ to local restaurants that didn't have their own grill. After college I began to enter organized BBQ competitions (Chief cook for Bubba Q. and the Beans) and built a collection of delightfully tacky trophies and plaques from BBQ contests in TN, MO, and AR.

After a few years, I opted to judge BBQ contests rather than compete (less work, better treatment), and had the honor of judging in a number of regional BBQ contests and the MIM International BBQ Cook-off - the World Championship. During this same time I hosted a weekly food show on WEVL Memphis and annually picked the top 5 BBQ restaurants in the Mid-South. Judging and reviewing exposed me to some of the finest BBQ chefs in the country, and I gained a deeper understanding of the art."


So everyone has their own idea of what "BBQ" is. I prefer the kind made by someone else and served to me, except when I'm feeling like doing the work and serving it to others. I am not convinced that there is only one "right" way to do it. It's about food, and both the taste and preparation of food is all about personal preferences.

There is a whole lot of fighting in the world right now between people who are convinced that theirs is the only "right" way. I say, vive la difference! Live and let live!

YoYoPedro wrote:There is a whole lot of fighting in the world right now between people who are convinced that theirs is the only "right" way. I say, vive la difference! Live and let live!

Pedro: great post and great conclusion.

By the way, when you quote another source, it can help to use the forum's "quote" tags to make it clear which words are your own and which aren't. At first I thought you were the ex-chef/judge/radio host, but then I saw your quote marks and understood.

(To use quote tags, just select text in your pending post and then click the "quote" button that appears below the subject line.)

Germuska wrote:

(To use quote tags, just select text in your pending post and then click the "quote" button that appears below the subject line.)[/quote]

I hope that worked. Thanks!