photo by Laura Johnson

Barbecue treat: Lake Martin residents Emily and John Lawson enjoy a meal at Sho ‘Nuff BBQ.

Barbecue reigns supreme in city, state

By Laura Johnson | Alex City Outlook

Published Saturday, June 27, 2009

By some accounts, there are as many kinds of barbecue sauce in the United States as there are months in the year.

Each hail from its own particular region of the country, where the people there not only have their own opinion of which sauce to use but also have an opinion about which part of the hog to use and just how to cook it.

But of all the regions and all the states in the county, it may be true that none are more opinionated about their barbecue than those in the state of Alabama. In Alexander City, two establishments reign supreme when it comes to tasty barbecue.

To give the run down on which sauce, part of the hog and which way to cook barbecue in Alabama, people at both Big B and Sho ‘Nuff barbecue divulged a few tips.

“There is so much that goes into it,” Gerald Atchison, owner of Sho ‘Nuff BBQ said.

Atchison’s restaurant actually began as a bait shop on Alabama 22 inside the Alexander City limits. He began cooking barbecue outside the shop in a small kitchen trailer and the barbecue business took off.

Eventually it became so popular that Atchison closed up the bait shop and moved the restaurant to the Alexander City Shopping Center and has been there ever since.

“Most of the (barbecue) places started out small and they still are small,” Atchison said. “And, basically, the smaller it is the better.”

Atchison said when it comes to barbecue; you can judge the product by the cooking process. When looking for a barbecue restaurant to dine at he said patrons should always look for one thing – smoke.

“If you’re not smoking, you’re not cooking,” Atchison said.

He said when there is no smoke rising from a barbecue restaurant, that restaurant is probably not cooking their own meat. And, that if they are not cooking their own meat, the food won’t have the smoky flavor barbecue is known for.

Atchison’s counterpart, Steve Gibson, began Big B Bar-B-Que in 1978. In the beginning, he worked 100-hour weeks trying to get the business off the ground and running.

Apparently it paid off. Gibson has owned and operated that business ever since.

“It took several years before he made any money but he loved it, so he stuck with it,” Alicia Gibson, his daughter-in-law said. “He said he did everything but sleep here when he first opened it,”

The pork served up at Big B and Sho ‘Nuff is smoked in industrial-sized smokers for more than 12 hours. The trick to making high quality backyard barbecue, they said, is not that different from the key to making good barbecue in a restaurant.

“Put it in there and leave it alone,” Atchison said of the cooking process.

He said the number one mistake people make when smoking barbecue meat, is checking it too often. Once the lid is opened the smoke and the flavors evaporate into the air.

In addition to that, Atchison said it’s important to pick a bone-in cut of meat. But on that point there are as many opinions as there are flavors of barbecue sauce. The Gibson’s at Big B say their most popular meals are made from boneless butt.

The second most common mistake people make, Atchison said, is not getting the meat hot enough. Barbecue cookbooks recommend the meat be cooked to 170 degrees but to get it just right, Atchison said it should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches 225 degrees.

“To get it tender you have to get it (hot enough) where the meat will come off the bone,” Atchison said.

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