Pop up favourite Hang Fire Smokehouse has created something of a buzz in recent years, offering up beautifully barbecued meat for the people of South Wales. Luke Owain Boult speaks with the girls behind the grill, Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn, about the art of American BBQ.
How did Hang Fire Smokehouse get started?
It’s the brainchild of two women addicted to smoking…meat that is! We quit our jobs in 2012 to travel around the Deep South of America and immediately fell in love with this ancient slow and low cooking style. We even got our name from the process the meat goes through – hang it, fire it, smoke it.
So, what exactly is American BBQ?
British BBQ is what the Americans would call grilling. American BBQ is the art and science of hot smoking great hunks of meat. The term ‘slow and low’ refers to the length of time you need to smoke the meat and the low temperatures used. The main flavour profile, aside from the dry rub, is the flavour the wood imparts during the smoking process, which means different types of wood for different types of meat.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when barbecuing?
Most of our friends tend to own grills and not smokers, although that is changing. The most common mistake people make when grilling is starting a raging fire. A lot of people just chuck on loads of charcoal and wood and create a massive fire which is super-hot. The skill of the grill is to create a steady fire, banking your coals so there are hotter and cooler parts of the cooker. That’s how to avoid the classic British BBQ experience of burnt on the outside, raw in the middle.
You’ve opened Hang Fire Southern Kitchen recently. What can diners expect?
A taste of the deep south in Barry! We decided to name the restaurant the Hang Fire Southern Kitchen to reflect the different types of food we want to specialise in. Expect our award winning BBQ, handmade burgers and flat iron steaks cooked on our Argentinean wood fired parrilla grill along with dishes we picked up on our travels around Louisiana.
Hang Fire Southern Kitchen, Barry. Info: www.hangfiresmokehouse.com
