This isn’t your throw some hotdogs and patties on a grill type of backyard barbeque. This is smoke it for 16 hours, locking in that flavor and finding the perfect balance of flavor and tenderness kind of barbeque.
Meat Southern B.B.Q. has been in business for roughly four-and-a-half years, and owner Sean Johnson is always looking for a way to be better and is constantly looking for ways to “up his game.”
“When people describe barbeque, when you pull the grill out at your friends, they call that barbeque,” said Johnson. “That is not the definition… it is taking a tough piece of the meat and using a low flame to cook it properly without drying it out and over cooking it. That is the best way to say it.”
And slow cooking and smoking is what Johnson does. He explained that the different types of meat used, pork butt (shoulder) brisket (chest), they are working muscles. To make sure they are cooked perfectly and not tough or dry, is to smoke and cook them slow.
Johnson explained that cooking it slow for a long amount of time is taking the collagen and proteins that are in the muscle fibers and breaking them down.
“There is a certain temperature with a lot of meat past the well done period, which they call the stall period,” said Johnson. “That stall period is where the heat being injected into the meat during the smoking process is what is starting that chemical change, and breaking down those proteins and collagens to get that soft, pungent flavor.”
On average, the meat will cook for 16 hours, but it is all dependent on the cut of meat and different factors. Johnson explained that he can have two pork butts that are relatively the same weight, but one may take 12 hours and the other may take 18 hours.
“You are making a change in the structure of the meat, so they weigh the same going in, but there is a different amount of fat ribboned through the meat, and protein and collagen is built differently,” Johnson said.
For the brisket, it takes about 12 hours to cook, and for chicken, well, Johnson said once it hits the temperature for being done, it is done.
“It doesn’t go through the same process as a brisket, its not a fatty type of meat,” said Johnson. “You just want to get that good smoky flavor.”
To ensure that customers are getting the best barbeque experience, Meat researched and looked at ways to make it better. One way is to use the best meat.
After a trip to New York and stopping at the Red Hook, one of the most distinguished barbeque locations in the city, Johnson said, he talked with the owner about how he can make his BBQ joint better.
“That became the next obsession: We get the best product,” said Johnson. “I sacrificed the amount of money I can make versus how much product I can get and get the best quality product I can get my hands on. To keep that edge, use better and better product.”
Some of the bestsellers at Meat is the famous Mac 'n Cheese, which is a generational family recipe, the brisket and ribs. Another must try, explained Johnson, are the chicken wings.
“Those [chicken wings] became very popular,” said Johnson. “During tailgating for college game days, 100s and 100s of chicken wings go out of this place.”
Also, the menu at Meat may have some other items that venture away from conventional barbeque while keeping the down south flavor and tradition that people love.
“A lot of people use terms like artisan barbeque or craft barbeque, and those are just buzz words to me,” Johnson said. “We keep it simple and to the truth. If you go down and into a little hole-in-the-wall, rinky-dink place that has become famous for barbeque, they do things very simple and keep it easy.
“That is what we try do with our barbeque and represent that as much as possible. Then there is me being a foodie, and the chef came out. Tacos, different dishes, why not incorporate barbeque into that. I saw the need to grow in different directions, and instead of making this about barbeque, I wanted to make it about the carnivore experience.”
Meat Southern B.B.Q. located at 1224 Turner St in Lansing, MI and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Bar is open 11 a.m. to midnight) and Sunday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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