5 Popular BBQ Hacks, Rated by a Texas Pitmaster

The internet is full of barbecue "gurus" with a hack for everything. We pulled five of the most popular ones from YouTube and put them in front of BBQ2U pit master Gary Parker to see which hold up. Two got a yes, two got a hard no, and one works but will never touch his grills.

He also gave us one of his own, which is at the end.

Hack 1: Cook on a salt block

Gary's verdict: Yes, for thin cuts.

Gary has a salt block at home and likes it. "They carry a lot of very evenly distributed heat and they're really cool to play with," he says.

The catch is time on the block. Thin meat cooks fast and picks up a little savory salt flavor. A thick steak has to sit there much longer, and the outside turns into an extremely salty crust.

• Use it for fajita meat and other thin cuts.
• Skip it for a two-inch steak.
• Don't season with extra salt. As Gary puts it, "Don't get your salt shaker out."

Hack 2: Clean your grill with an onion instead of a wire brush

Gary's verdict: No.

Gary agrees with half of this one. He never uses a straight wire brush, because the bristles come loose and end up in your food. When he cleans by hand, he uses a twisted metal brush.

The onion is where he gets off. After a couple of cooks, what's baked onto a grate is hard to move, and an onion isn't going to do it. "It might make it shiny, but I would not scrub with it."

He doesn't buy the claim that it's safer, either. Even with a big onion cut in half, your fingers are right next to a hot grill, and the whole motion is set up for your hand to slide.

Hack 3: Spray the grates with dish soap

Gary's verdict: It works, but he won't do it.

The video showed grimy grates sprayed with Dawn Powerwash, left to soak, and wiped clean. Gary didn't argue with the result. "I think she's right. That soap does lift grease. It makes it let go."

His problem is what stays behind. Grates start out shiny and smooth, but cooking and scrubbing wear the finish down and leave tiny pits in the metal. Whatever you put on that surface sinks in.

Gary would rather those pits hold seasoning than soap. A pit is cured the way you'd cure a cast iron pan: oil goes on, the grates get very hot, and the oil bakes into the surface.

"I will never put a chemical on it," he says. When his grates need a deep clean, he hits them with a torch until the residue hardens, then taps it off.

Hack 4: Never wash your meat

Gary's verdict: Wrong reason. It depends on the meat.

The YouTuber claimed that rinsing meat under the tap spreads bacteria everywhere. Gary's answer: "That's not true at all."

His reasoning is about heat. Bacteria on the surface of a steak or roast don't survive the cook. Food safety rules work from holding hot food at around 140°F and reheating to 165°F, and the outside of a steak on the grill runs well past 200°F. "He's just making drama for YouTube."

Where Gary lands:

• Beef: a clean paper towel is fine. Rinse it only if it shows up as a bloody mess.
• Chicken and fish: he rinses both, to clear off whatever came with them from the processing plant.

One note from us: the USDA advises against rinsing raw poultry, because splashing can carry bacteria around the sink. If you rinse the way Gary does, clean and sanitize the sink and counters when you're done.

Hack 5: Apple cider vinegar is the secret to tender ribs

Gary's verdict: Great for flavor. It isn't what makes ribs tender.

The method: brown sugar, rub, and barbecue sauce cut half and half with apple cider vinegar, all wrapped tight in foil. Gary knows it well. It's a Southern technique, common from Alabama and Mississippi up through the Carolinas, and it makes a great-tasting rib.

But the vinegar is seasoning. "It's a flavoring technique. It's not a rendering technique."

Tenderness comes from heat. When the inside of the meat passes 200°F, the white connective tissue between the muscle melts and renders out. In the foil, those flavors move into the space it leaves behind.

Gary gets fall-off-the-bone ribs without any of it. "All I use is heat." BBQ2U cooks Texas style, so the vinegar wrap isn't on the menu, but he has no argument with anyone who likes it.

And if you think you need vinegar for tender ribs? "Tell them to call me and I will teach them how to do it."

Bonus: Gary's own hack

This one is for competition cooks and anyone running a side-fired smoker. You're running out of time, the meat isn't rendering fast enough, and you need ten more degrees right now.

Gary saves the big chunks of fat he trims off the briskets that morning. When the pit needs a boost, he throws two or three good-sized pieces on top of the fire. The fat burns hot and the pit temperature jumps almost immediately.

"That's one of my key hacks."

Want the real thing at your event?

Gary's techniques are passed down to his whole team, so you get the same BBQ2U brisket whether or not he's the one at the pit. To book catering, visit texasbbq2u.com/catering