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  • - Andrew, wanna get some ribs?

  • - Yes.

  • - Hey, that was easy.

  • Alright, let's get some ribs.

  • Oh wait, tomorrow, I'm busy today, sorry.

  • - Ah (beep).

  • - American barbecue, arguably the best barbecue.

  • Brisket, pork shoulder.

  • - There's lots of cuts of meat.

  • We're focusing on ribs.

  • Today on Worth It,

  • we're going to be trying 3 barbecue rib spots.

  • At three drastically different price points

  • to find out which one is the most worth it, at its price.

  • - Worth it.

  • - We must be caveat at this with the fact

  • that we are doing this in Los Angeles.

  • - Los Angeles has some very good barbecue.

  • - It does, it's not the South.

  • Turns out, there's a lot of great barbecue, in Long Beach?

  • - And if you don't know where Long Beach is,

  • look on a map (chuckles).

  • (jazz music)

  • - [Neil] Hey guys, my name is Neil Strawder,

  • also known as BigMista,

  • of BigMista's Barbecue and Sammich Shop.

  • Barbecue is originally about taking a bad piece of meat

  • and making something wonderful out of it.

  • We're doing better quality meat

  • and creating something amazing.

  • - How would you define your particular brand of barbecue.

  • - People assume that because I'm from Texas,

  • I cook Texas style barbecue.

  • There is some Texas influence but I've learned

  • from people all over the country.

  • It's BigMista style.

  • I take whole spare ribs, trim them, add our rub on it,

  • which is called BigMista's Perfect Pork Rub.

  • - [Steven] Is that a secret rub?

  • - Yes, you wanna know what the secret is?

  • Salt.

  • - (all laughing) Salt.

  • - And it goes in the smoker for

  • about three and a half, four hours.

  • - [Andrew] And what kinda smoke

  • are you putting in those ribs?

  • - What we cook on it's called a pellet smoker,

  • it holds 240 pounds of meat.

  • We're using pecan and cherry, smoke is an ingredient,

  • you know, it's like paprika or salt.

  • It should blend with the other ingredients.

  • It's temperature goes down,

  • it'll shoot some of these pellets down into

  • what's called a little fire pod.

  • And there's a convection fan that blows the smoke

  • and the heat down across the meat.

  • - More traditional barbecuers,

  • do they shy away from this technology?

  • - It used to be considered cooking on the dark side.

  • You know, you have to cut logs

  • and burn them down into coals.

  • I don't know about y'all,

  • but I don't wanna do all that work, I just wanna eat.

  • We have regular sauce, then we have the spicy sauce.

  • It'll make your lips tingle but it won't blow your head off.

  • That cool with you?

  • - Yeah, I can do spicy 'cause later.

  • - The spicy does you.

  • - Yeah.

  • (Andrew laughs loudly)

  • - See this off on the side?

  • Dip it, pour it on top.

  • What do you think I should do here?

  • - It's barbecue, just eat it.

  • - Okay, got it.

  • - [Andrew] My old friend, Shasta.

  • - Cheers.

  • That's not bad.

  • - I like cream soda.

  • That was always my favorite as a kid.

  • This rib looks slightly bigger so I'm gonna take it.

  • Cheers. (Steven clicks his tongue)

  • (jazz music)

  • - Wow, clean off the bone but still holding together.

  • I love the rub, it has a very satisfying crust

  • and it's a little bit spicy.

  • - When I think barbecue, I think ribs, drooling with sauce.

  • When you have great smoke, this is perfect as it is.

  • - I've always thought it was kinda like nonsense the way

  • that dogs chew on bones.

  • Like what are they doing?

  • Like why is that fun for you?

  • But for the first time in my life I'm like.

  • I kinda know what you mean guys.

  • (Steven laughs)

  • - Rib break here for the beans.

  • Oh my god, this is mine.

  • - Get off of me.

  • - This is all mine.

  • There's a lot of sugar in here.

  • - There's also a lot of pork in here.

  • This is like a stew.

  • You wanna just break that in half, break bread.

  • (gentle rock music)

  • Barbecue is the best food, yes.

  • - I knew you were gonna say that, jinx, double jinx.

  • You can't talk anymore, I get to eat everything.

  • I'm going spicy sauce.

  • You see that? Oh.

  • Cheers.

  • (jazz music)

  • You're gonna need to give me a moment.

  • I'm gonna, I gotta eat this this way.

  • - Just censor Steven's face.

  • - Woo!

  • (Steven coughs)

  • - Yes die, leave the food for me.

  • Oh!

  • That was the winner.

  • Stop watching the episode now.

  • - BigMista threw us a bone.

  • - In the middle of shooting he revealed

  • that he had planned a BBQ fact for us.

  • This is what he said.

  • - Now I've seen you guys do your thing before.

  • I want to jump in with this.

  • Rib Fact!

  • (all laughing)

  • - Alright.

  • - They're generally four types of ribs

  • that you see in-store.

  • You're regular spare ribs, the St. Louis cut rib,

  • your baby backs, and your country-style ribs.

  • First thing, country-style ribs are not ribs.

  • They actually come from the pork butt.

  • Bonus rib fact!

  • The pork butt is actually not the pork butt.

  • It is not from the pig's butt,

  • it's actually from the shoulder.

  • - I didn't not know that did you know that?

  • - The pig is a confusing animal.

  • It's magical but confusing.

  • - Let's just react to that fact now.

  • Wow, so those are the (laughs)

  • (both laughing)

  • (smooth music)

  • - My name is Rory Herrmann I'm the executive chef,

  • here at Barrel and Ashes.

  • I think the most important thing about barbecue

  • and you have to remember this is it's slow and low.

  • We start our fire at about three in the morning.

  • And we'll let that burn 'til about 4:00 or 4:30

  • before the ribs will even go in there.

  • - I'm jealous of your neighbors,

  • they must be asleep at night somewhere around four

  • in the morning they start smelling barbecue smoke.

  • - Today we're using a Duroc rib,

  • it's a little bit darker of a meat.

  • Has a little bit more blood in it.

  • That way if we cook it slow and low,

  • it contains a lot of moisture.

  • And we season it very simply with just Kosher salt

  • and Tellicherry black pepper which we hand grind.

  • We really want it to taste like the great meat that it is

  • and the smoke that it is.

  • We use Red Oak specifically

  • because it's a little bit denser of a wood.

  • And we'll cook our ribs for about five hours

  • at two hundred and twenty degrees.

  • After that cooking process,

  • we use a process called crutching it.

  • We'll wrap and allow them to rest for about an hour.

  • What that does is allow the moisture

  • to come back into the rib,

  • the juices and flavor within it.

  • And then we have a mop sauce.

  • It's what we actually brush the ribs

  • with right before we touch them on the grill.

  • Which consists of Arkansas city barbecue sauce,

  • molasses, some chili flakes,

  • a little bit of mustard and red wine vinegar.

  • Just to touch on that grill and get a little bit

  • of tackiness and a little bite to it.

  • - So how much is the full rack of ribs here?

  • - 36 dollars, half rack is 19.

  • Almost everybody that orders the half rack

  • turns around and goes we're gonna need another half.

  • (all laughing)

  • Might as well just order the whole rack to begin with.

  • - [Steven] Tell me about your drink.

  • - It's a barrel aged bourbon drink.

  • You really effed up by always being the driver.

  • - Somebody's gotta DD. (glass clanging)

  • Cheers.

  • - That was so very aggressive.

  • Shall I carve you a rib?

  • - Please.

  • - This is the first time we've had ribs

  • that are dressed up with a little sauce.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Mm.

  • - That's my winner.

  • - Oh, this is a much more a really seasoned rib.

  • And I like that a lot.

  • - So the slow cooking here,

  • it's a lot longer than BigMista's.

  • It definitely pays off, the meat is really loose.

  • - It's more aggressive smoke flavor.

  • Personally I kind of like that.

  • - One of our most famous sides is the Hoe Cake.

  • It's our version of corn bread made to order.

  • Take a hot cast iron pan and we pour that batter into it.

  • Into the wood oven and we hit it with maple honey butter,

  • malt and salt, and green onions,

  • a little cracked black pepper.

  • Comes sizzling at the table and let me tell ya,

  • you can't miss that with barbecue.

  • - [Andrew] That's the one, yeah.

  • - This kinda looks like flan.

  • - Yeah, it has like a really nice soft texture.

  • (cello music)

  • - Oh.

  • - This is really good.

  • It's really like a creme brulee cornbread.

  • - Holy crap and the scallions on top.

  • In China's Cuisine, there's a scallion pancake.

  • - Yes.

  • - This is like that but..

  • - Cornbread, yeah.

  • - Dessert version of it.

  • I think Adam should try this right now while it's hot.

  • (Andrew and Steven laugh)

  • - [Andrew] Rib tips.

  • - Ooh!

  • Oh!

  • (Steven groans)

  • That's like a delicacy.

  • - Oh god.

  • I'm having a full body experience with this pork.

  • - This is making me uncomfortable.

  • Okay.

  • - The next location of barbecue is gonna have

  • to wait until another day. (belches)

  • Nice.

  • - Not nice.

  • (Andrew groans)

  • - Again, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable

  • with you making noise, closing your eyes.

  • I can't be here now, anymore.

  • That's how you know it's good.

  • - What do you think human ribs taste like?

  • - Depends on the human.

  • What do you think human anything taste like?

  • - BBQ Fact!

  • - What do you think the longest barbecue

  • in terms of time wise for a single person barbecuing.

  • - 96 hours.

  • - The answer is 80 hours.

  • - Oh, I was close.

  • - You were close.

  • He cooked 1,000 hot dogs, 200 pieces of corn,

  • a hundred and four pieces of chicken,

  • 500 burgers and 526 sausages.

  • - How many ribs do humans have?

  • - In a rack of pork ribs, you get about 14 I believe.

  • (soft scratching)

  • Do all mammals have the same number of ribs?

  • - I counted 11.

  • (ding)

  • - You know how a giraffe has the same number

  • of vertebrae as a human, in their neck.

  • - No.

  • - That's a fact.

  • - How's that possible?

  • - They're just really big.

  • (piano music)

  • - Hey, I'm Daniel Weinstock.

  • That's my partner, Mike Garrett.

  • We're the owners of Maple Block Meat Co.

  • Today we have a full rack of wood smoked spare ribs.

  • - We've always had a passion and love for barbecue.

  • We had been influenced and introduced to some stuff

  • in Texas and we're just blown away by their process

  • and their attention to detail.

  • We believed if could bring anything close to that,

  • here to Los Angeles, we'd be great success.

  • - [Daniel] We get them in, we inspect them first.

  • We got an eye for the general shape and size and marbling.

  • Trim those, our rubs are simple,

  • a few ingredients with the right ratios.

  • They'll smoke for about four hours with peach wood.

  • Every barbecue culture uses a wood

  • that's indigenous to their areas.

  • Burns nice and clean, gets nice and sweet.

  • - [Mike] And it's unique to us, I don't think anybody else

  • use peach wood as their primary wood.

  • So it's all a commitment to the flavor.

  • - [Daniel] Come out beautiful,

  • given the right amount of time to rest.

  • - So your Harvey station is here?

  • - We've always wanted this to be kind of the meat alter.

  • As you walk in the door, it's the first thing you see.

  • It's got almost the sushi bar effect.

  • - Is it hard running a barbecue restaurant?

  • The temptation everyday, just.

  • - We do the quality check, you know,

  • costs a lot but we're dedicated meat heads for sure.

  • - We'd help you out by the way.

  • Give us a call if you need some help.

  • - [Mike] Designated eaters, yeah.

  • - This a hand made strawberry soda and a classic beer

  • for all barbecue with Shiner Bock.

  • - Thank you very much.

  • - To barbe-me into barbecue.

  • I love pickles because they are the perfect little snack.

  • It's a food and a drink.

  • I like that the rib tip is still attached.

  • That fatty, chewy, morsal, dangling off the end.

  • - Let's cross swords.

  • (metallic cling)

  • (piano music)

  • Holy crap.

  • - That is one of the nicest smoke tastes.

  • It's so light, you're at summer camp

  • and you're heading to the nightly camp fire

  • but it's still pretty far away.

  • But you catch the first whiffs of it.

  • - Yeah, hit me with some sauces.

  • - Here you go, you want some more?

  • - Yes please.

  • Ribs, we've learned, not a clean snack.

  • (piano music)

  • ("Mm" in unison)

  • - Gently sweet, it's got like this molasses sweetness to it.

  • - Everything is tender and gentle and feels like...

  • - Subtle.

  • - Being wooed.

  • You wanna try some sides?

  • - Are you gonna wait for me?

  • - Yeah.

  • (soft piano)

  • This food gets me, it knows what I wanna eat.

  • - Yeah because it's good food.

  • This food gets me too.

  • - I get you.

  • - No you don't.

  • Let's try a biscuit.

  • Do you wanna share half of one?

  • (Steven grumbles)

  • I wanna save a little biscuit for Adam.

  • (exhales) it's all about that biscuit smell.

  • - Alright, let's cheers it. Ready?

  • - I'm not done buttering my biscuit.

  • (soft piano)

  • Holy shi- (beep).

  • - (laughs) I was just about to say, oh my god.

  • You have to try this right now, Adam.

  • This is insane.

  • - Yeah?

  • - That's the best biscuit I've ever had.

  • What? No!

  • Not yet!

  • - How is that?

  • Steven stop doing that.

  • - It's a bird.

  • - There's a bird above us and it might take a sh- (beep).

  • - Oh.

  • - Okay, it's gone.

  • - We're gonna go with just the ribs.

  • So based on the ribs alone,

  • which barbecue spot was the most worth it at its price.

  • - Barrel and Ashes probably had

  • the biggest flavor of the day.

  • And they were kinda the perfect TV ad of a barbecue rib.

  • - This was the worst idea.

  • - What?

  • - Eating popsicles while doing a wrap up

  • 'cause your literally at the mercy of the melting.

  • This is his idea by the way.

  • - But my favorite and my worth it winner was

  • Neil's from BigMista's Sammich Shop.

  • They were perfectly balanced

  • and it was a really powerful rub.

  • They were just perfect to me.

  • - The smokey flavor of Maple Block was probably my favorite

  • but my worth it winner goes to Barrel and Ashes.

  • It's reasonably priced, perfect for a date,

  • perfect for a family outing, perfect to not break your bank.

  • And those rib tips.

  • - Adam what is your winner?

  • Nothing compliments delicious meat on a bone

  • than delicious frozen desert on a stick.

  • And that's why we're eating popsicles.

  • - Mine kinda looks like a turd now.

  • - Way to...

  • Bring it all back down.

  • - I'mma finish mine, here we go.

  • (slurps) Oh.

  • - [Andrew] Brain freeze?

  • I know your weakness Steven.

  • It's the brain freeze.

  • - It's not a weakness, it's just so cold.

  • Worth it.

  • - [Andrew] Oh yes!

- Andrew, wanna get some ribs?

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