How to have the ultimate BBQ: Ireland's pitmasters share expert barbecue advice and recipes

Planning a barbecue this bank holiday weekend? Ciara McDonnell asks ‘pit masters’ Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien for their top tips and recipes

Pat Conway and Jim O'Brien of Smokin' Soul. Photograph: Patrick Browne

Cooking over an open flame is having a moment. 

From Michelin-starred restaurants like Baltimore’s Dede to food trucks like Glengarriff’s Fire and Feast, foodies can’t get enough of grub that has been treated with a lick of a flame and low and slow smoke. 

Festivals like The Big Grill, taking place in Dublin at the end of August, hammer home how much us Irish love a good barbecue.

And yet, if you’re of a certain vintage, you might wonder why. My memories of barbecues growing up are of my mother forlornly tossing around some still-raw sausages as the sun dimmed and the rain started to pelt. 

This story is one that Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien are determined to change.

Ireland’s most revered pitmasters, the duo construct their own barbecues and smokers and offer courses in nose-to-tail barbecuing and smoking from their base in Cloonagh, Co Wexford. 

Their business began in 2016 and since then, they have become the go-to experts for restaurants who are wishing to expand into open-fire cooking — both here in Ireland and across Europe.

Growing up in the same townland on family farms, serendipity brought the duo back together after a 20-year gap in 2013. 

Having spent a number of years travelling the world, the men discovered a mutual passion for cooking over flame and decided to start a food trading business, selling locally sourced food cooked over an open flame. 

The business grew and grew, with brand partnerships with businesses like Tesco, and eventually blossomed into courses and bespoke barbecues and smokers.

Today, they work as much consulting restaurants like Hang Dai in Dublin, traders like Nua Asador in Cork, and Tango Food in Killarney, as they do in the domestic market.

The journey has not been without bumps, of course. 

GRILLS AND SMOKERS

Covid-19 put a stop to their trade and caused them to flip their offering towards the manufacturing arm of their business which has grown exponentially since. 

Today, they offer a range of six grills and smokers to the domestic market, each coming with a lifetime manufacturing guarantee. 

Jim’s carpentry background comes into play when it comes to the creation of these barbecues. 

“If something’s not right, we do it again, it’s as simple as that,” he says. “We like to say that you buy these barbecues to give them to your children when they’re adults. If you get one of our products, you’ll have it for your whole life, and that’s our commitment to our customers.”

And so to the cooking itself. The guys run weekend courses where would-be pitmasters will cook over open fires, Santa Maria grills, and barbecues. 

Guests get to watch and taste an entire lamb al asador, cooked all day over a low-flame fire. 

From sausages to burgers and breaking down a full chicken to make the most of its meat, Pat and Jim are determined to leave their students with a knowledge that reaches beyond the traditional barbecue.

Conway says that far and away the biggest mistake we make when barbecuing is where we cook it on the grill. 

“Nearly all meats can be cooked offset. This means we are cooking away from the direct heat. Why do we want to do this? By cooking offset we can ensure that we don’t burn the meat, and stop our protein from drying out.”

Smokin' Soul BBQ at Cloonagh, Gusserane, Co. Wexford. Pictured are owners Pat Conway and Jim O'Brien. Photograph: Patrick Browne

THE RIGHT KIT

Having the right kit goes beyond your grill, say the men. 

You need the right barbecue for sure, but a few extra tools will make outdoor cooking go as seamlessly as possible. 

They recommend two sets of barbecue tongs, of 12 inches in length. 

“This keeps you safe from the direct heat of the fire and should not cost more than €16,” says Pat. “It also helps to have pokers, steel buckets, and shovels. All of which you may already have at home.” 

A meat probe is essential, say the pitmasters. “It reads the core temp instantly and is brilliant for all your cooking inside and outside to achieve the best from your product each and every time. Remember, all poultry and pork needs to reach a 75ºC core temperature.”

The question of timber or charcoal is interchangeable when it comes to cooking over flame, and both result in flavourful results, they say. 

When it comes to wood, we should look for air-dried timber, which Conway says is far superior to kiln-dried. 

Air-dried timber results in a fire that delivers more equal temperature over a long period of time, and will add more flavour to the end dish, he says. 

When it comes to charcoal, it is essential to look for the best quality available. “Use hardwood charcoal that comes from warmer climes. The likes of she-oak is brilliant. The lighter hardwoods like alder and birch can burn very hot and very fast which can lead to a very poor
economy over a long burn.”

Above all, the men behind Smokin’ Soul want us to understand that like everything, choosing quality products and produce will result in the best barbecue.

“Choose locally reared meat and vegetables, and reap the benefits on your table. Invest in a barbecue that you will have your entire lifetime, rather than one you will throw away in two years’ time.”

In many ways, Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien are encouraging a movement back to our cooking roots, harnessing the flames which have fed us for generations, and cooking the food that is grown and reared on Irish soil. 

They are showing us that we don’t need to look to the smokemasters of America to learn about barbecuing, the knowledge is right here, nestled in Ireland’s sunny southeast.

Smokin' Soul's Not-the-Normal Chicken Wings

This recipe is a complete break from mainstream hot/spicy BBQ wings.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 14 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 59 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 American

Ingredients

• 250g Parmesan

• 2 tsp chilli flake

• 1 cup flat-leaf Parsley

• 75g butter

• ½ cup honey

• 1kg chicken wings

Method

1. Take your chicken wings and cook offset on your barbecue at 180ºC until the core temperature reaches 85ºC, at this point the meat is getting ready to come away from the bone. This could take 45 mins. The wings are not seasoned or marinated in any fashion at this point. You can take the wings and sear over the flames should you wish.

2. Having reached the desired temperature, begin to put the wings into a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients except the butter and honey. As the wings are added to the mix, keep stirring the contents of the bowl. Make sure that each new batch of wings that are added gets coated evenly. Keep repeating the processes until all the wings are in the bowl and there is no ingredient left at the bottom of the bowl.

3. Add the butter and honey and make sure all the wings are equally covered, serve immediately.

Smokin' Soul's Porkchop and Pineapple Salsa

Pork chops are one of the real joys of this world if you manage to get them from the right source. They easily rival any steak when the quality is good.

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 American

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops

• Salt

• Pineapple salsa

• 1 pineapple (4 ½-inch thick pineapple slices)

• ¾ cup red onion

• ½ cup coriander

• ½ cup jalapeno

• ½ cup shallot

• ¼ cup lime juice

• 2 tsp green chilli sauce

• (Chop ingredients to your liking and mix well, ideally leave to rest and let flavours marinate for 12 hours, this will hold very well in a fridge for 48 hours.)

Method

1. Have your grill ready with a nice bed of charcoal embers and add the timber. The timber must be flaming nicely and beginning to create embers of its own before you begin.

2. Salt the pork chops and put them on the grill, turn the chops as often as you see fit. Bring to a core temperature of 60˚C, but only do so if you know the origin and the freshness of the meat.

3. At this core temperature, it will not be pink or bloody and you will get the best from the meat.

Smokin' Soul's BBQ Sauce

One of the most divisive recipes in Smokin’ Soul history. Jim and I spent years playing with different versions and variants of BBQ sauce - this is our everyday sauce, but try make this weeks in advance, it is so much better once matured.

Course

 Side

Cuisine

 American

Ingredients

• 5kg ketchup (average quality will do, don’t use very vinegar-heavy ketchup)

• 4 cups brown sugar

• 1 cup Worcester sauce

• 1/3 cup of American mustard

• 2 cups apple juice

• 1/3 cup garlic powder

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 tbsp of cayenne

• 1 tbsp of salt

• 2 tbsp cracked black pepper

• 1 tbsp paprika

• ½ tbsp cumin

• ½ tbsp coriander

Method

1. In a large pot mix all ingredients together. Bring to a simmer very slowly (the slower the better). Keep the contents of the pot stirred regularly as the sugar will try to sink to the bottom and will burn to the base of the pot and ruin the sauce.

2. Cool and decant to containers of your choice, and refrigerate. Due to the preservatives in the ketchup, the sauce will keep indefinitely once refrigerated. Do allow the sauce time to come together, hence making a big match means the sauce gets a chance to mature and becomes better over time.