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Baltimore pit beef barbecue
Baltimore, of all places, has its own barbecue tradition, called "pit beef." Imagine slow cooking directed toward the end of a perfect thinly-sliced roast beef sandwich. It is an artisanal version of Roy Rogers, with excellent french fries to boot. It is best served rare with [sic] horseradish. ("Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.") Chaps is one place to try; Big Al's is another. Both are first-rate for people-watching. Did I mention that the entire tradition appears to have started on a dilapidated industrial highway, set among whorehouses and sex shops? The style can be traced by to 1987, and it has spread to Camden Yards as well.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on March 1, 2006 at 01:43 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink
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Comments
Pit beef at the spring fair was the only good thing about attending Johns Hopkins.
Posted by: Mr. T at Mar 1, 2006 3:47:55 PM
Don't leave us hangin' dude! Is it cooked underground? overnight? with
wood or with gas? do they store the cooked meat in the fridge like bogus
lexington #1 or is it only served fresh? what does it taste like, compared
to Kreuz say?? Is it good good or good for baltimore good? and lastly but
most importantly, can u get it without hush puppies?
Kevin
Posted by: kevin at Mar 1, 2006 4:19:13 PM
It is now cooked with gas, the wood places have switched. Given what you get, however, this matters less than you might think. You would not want it to have a stronger smoke taste. It is served fresh, but it tastes little like Kreuzmarket, or Lexington, NC, for that matter, tasty though it might be. One can debate whether it counts as "barbecue," but it is slow cooking at low temperatures. Like I said, imagine a really good Roy Rogers roast beef sandwich.
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Mar 1, 2006 5:34:55 PM
I don't mean to be a troll, and I'm sure slow cooked beef is always good, BUT, Only here in Texas can a person get real Bar B Que pardnah!
Posted by: Kyle N at Mar 1, 2006 6:07:37 PM
Well I am happy to say I've never had a Roy Roger Roast beef sandwich T,
so I guess me quedare con la duda 8^)
Posted by: Kevin at Mar 1, 2006 7:15:07 PM
It probably dates further back than 1987. From the late '70s on, we used to swim against Padonia Park Swim Club, north of Baltimore. Just a giant community swim club drawing from all over the northern suburbs. At the annual league championship meet, they'd fire up their giant barbecue pits and roast the beef. It's tough to swim on a belly full of roast beef, but that was just incentive to swim early events. Cap it off with snowcones. Ah, summer.
Posted by: Robert Saunders at Mar 1, 2006 8:58:45 PM
What's so odd about roast beef with horseradish? That's the only way civilized people eat it.
Posted by: Sandy Smith at Mar 1, 2006 9:03:38 PM
Wait -- do you mean that there are parts of Baltimore that are not on a dilapidated industrial highway, set among whorehouses and sex shops?
Posted by: Tom T. at Mar 1, 2006 9:21:27 PM
Can you possibly discuss BBQ in Baltimore without mentioning Andy Nelson's?
Posted by: Jay at Mar 1, 2006 9:57:30 PM
Well, Sandy Smith beat me to it, but I second the idea that there is nothing remotely odd about eating beef with horseradish.
It's particularly common with boiled beef dishes, but fine with others as well.
Posted by: bernard Yomtov at Mar 1, 2006 11:51:32 PM
Beef with horseradish has a long pedigree - tafelspitz (Viennese boiled beef) is traditionally served with a mixture of horseradish and applesauce.
As for barbecue, as a product of NE Arkansas (near Memphis), I regard the whole idea of barbecuing beef as somewhat barbaric. Texans disagree, but as an Arkansan, you can guess how much I care. Pork is what you want. Pork shoulder and pork ribs, with lots of wood smoke and dry spices. Hold the gooey sauce, please. And (since I had some barbecue in Williamsburg last summer), hold the gosh-darn honey, too.
There. I feel better.
Posted by: Derek Lowe at Mar 2, 2006 10:47:42 AM
I'm sure the tradition dates back further than 1987,
too, but I can't give you a definitive date.
Be sure to watch the John Waters' film "Pecker" for
his take on pit beef.
Posted by: Patrick Meyer at Mar 2, 2006 4:02:39 PM
I'm not a native Baltimore-on, but moved there from NJ. I was introduced to pit beef via a coworker from a place called Shorty's, which was at the time located on Falls Road in Windy Vally (right where 83 and 695 intersect). Huge sandwiches, very tasty. I was a big fan of the combo - a beef and smoked turkey sandwich the size of your head for like $7.
I think they've since moved, but I'm not sure where. I passed their truck on 83 a couple weeks ago - their slogan is "you'll love the way our meat tastes in your mouth"
Posted by: Mad Anthony at Mar 4, 2006 12:04:32 PM
I live in Baltimire. I know about pit beef. What I am looking for is a
recipe for cooking it!
thankyou
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Posted by: gytuk at Sep 14, 2006 1:53:27 AM
Arkansa Pork is great. I love the mean pig in Cabot. texas Brisket I long for. I've had real Texans make this for me. Illl tell you though, tt doesn't get any better than Baltimore Pit Beef! It's definitely been around since I was a kid,(1966) and my father who was born in 1940. I'm in the military so I've had the unique experience of actually traveling to these places and sampling the local cuisine. Below is a recipe I found on-line, but I am going to attempt this today and tweak the rub to my liking.
Recipe (Courtesy of http://www.thatsmyhome.com/lunchbox/balpit.htm)
For the rub:
2 T. seasoned salt
1 T. sweet paprika
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. black pepper
For the sandwich:
1 3 pound piece top round
8 kaiser rolls or 16 slices of rye bread
Horseradish sauce
1 sweet white onion, sliced thin
2 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced (optional)
Iceburg lettuce, thinly sliced (optional)
Combine all ingredients for rub in a bowl and mix. Sprinkle 3 to 4 tablespoons of rub all over beef, patting it into meat. Place in a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. You can marinate beef for a few hours, but for maximum flavor, marinate for 3 days in refrigerator, turning once a day.
Heat grill to very hot. Grill beef 30 to 40 minutes, or until outside is crusty and dark golden brown (even black) and internal temperature is about 120 degrees (for rare; somewhat higher for medium-rare or medium). Turn beef often with tongs. Transfer to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Slice beef as thinly as possible across the grain, then finely chop with a cleaver. To serve, pile beef high on a roll or bread thickly slathered with horseradish sauce. Garnish with onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Serve immediately.
Posted by: Chuck at Jul 21, 2007 1:31:47 PM
I went to high school in Columbia MD,transplanted Tarheel,left in 1980,my sister stayed there and all she could talk about when she came to visit me in TN was "Wheres the Pit Beef?!"
So 3 weeks ago I went to visit her in Glen Burnie MD,tried Pit Beef at "Pioneer Pit Beef"
It was out of this world,I've got a 3 lb. chunk about to kiss the fire.
Not BBQ as we say in the south but damn good eats
Posted by: Don at Nov 30, 2007 9:18:20 PM
