One wise leader in the world of butchery is James Peisker from the renowned Porter Road butchers in Nashville, TN. James co-founded Porter Road and took the company online and national in 2017. He knows his meat.
His advice: Go with quality over quantity. That boost in quality could mean better cuts, dry aging, or even special breeds of animal. Here’s our conversation:
JP:
It’s not always about the quantity; it’s about the quality of what you’re doing. And it holds true to the backyard barbecue smoker. You don’t need to have six pork butts on your smoker! You know, if you’re feeding your family and your neighbor and all that, that’s a lot!
You know, like doing a brisket, I love smoking briskets. They’re big hunks of meat, 10, 12 pounds, you know, I need to line up my friends that I’m feeding. But then I take it, I cut off a piece destined for my slice throughout the week. I cut off the point that is going to go into Chili. That gets wrapped up, that goes into the freezer. I cut off my little bits. Those go back. I will smoke it for more burnt ends. Really make the most of it. Being able to utilize a chicken. Chicken shouldn’t be as cheap as it is! Chicken should be something that lives out, it scratches any worms and hangs out with its bird friends, all that good stuff. But a chicken is something that you can make five meals out of for two people.
JP:
That backyard barbecue person is doing all the legwork, but they’re often cutting themselves short by buying a cheap piece of meat. And often you go to a big box store and you compare Porter road online to big box store price. Our product is ready for the smoke, it is trimmed up and it’s cleaned up. You know, we have that nice quarter-inch, half-inch of fat left on top and it’s ready to go. But go to the store, beef tenderloin is the best example. You go to the store for the holiday, you go for beef tenderloin. That Tenderloin you will buy is probably half the price, but you will end up throwing away over half of it, cleaning it up, trimming the scraps, silver skin and all that other stuff off. And then you just wasted all that. All of that stuff will be utilized at our facility for more products, for ground sausage, for all these other things. So it’s about making sure that you’re shopping consciously because you’re doing all the hard work. You’re spending the entire afternoon or entire day out by that smoker. Why did you cut the corner when you were sourcing? Why? You can buy a fancy smoker, big old big rig, $2,000 smoker, but you can also use a barrel you repurpose for a hundred dollars.
I would rather spend my money on the meat. The product that goes into it.
BW:
Do the special breeds and cleaner animals change the flavors?
JP:
Yeah. I mean, one of my favorite stories when we first opened the butcher shop in Nashville and we’d have to do a lot of explaining because our prices are more expensive than the grocery store. Because we were paying our farmers correctly, paying the processor correctly. You know, we paid people the way they should be paid, treat people the way they should be treated. But a lady came in and wanted a chicken. It was a little lady on a fixed budget and I wasn’t trying to sell her, I was telling her, this is the farm we use. They’re out on pasture, they get moved daily, you know, they’re fed non-GMO diet. They’re raised by one specific farmer and his family of 14, you know, and it’s, it sounds like this spiel that I’m doing. But she said, okay, I’m on a fixed budget, I’ll try it. And she came back the next day, and she was crying. I was like, “Oh my gosh. What’s the matter?” And she said, “I tasted that chicken and it reminded me of my childhood. I haven’t had a chicken like that, you know, in over 70 years. And I wanted to thank you.” And she’s been a customer ever since. We don’t see her all the time because she’s on that fixed budget. But it’s that thing to where food is emotional. Food should be something that brings you together, that is something unique and special.
BW:
Is there any underrated meat out there that you would recommend to a backyarder?
JP:
Yeah, so like if we’re going to do like a hidden gem in the backyard smoker for beef, I would say it’s a Chuck Roast. Chuck roast is the beef equivalent to a pork butt and it makes this incredible chip beef. Most people think it’s only a winter Crock-Pot cut! But you rub that down with a nice, ancho chili, spicy rub to it, smoke it on there, shred it. Man, it makes a mean sandwich.
For pork, we actually had a little fun this year. I always tell my team, “We’re not adding more things to the website!” This year we actually added pork brisket and pork wings, which are two fun ones that you can’t really find. A pork brisket, you know, same muscles, pectoral muscle off a pig. Generally, that piece is cut to the side. It’s a picnic cut. But we peeled it back. It smokes in an hour and a half. It’s super easy, super delicious. Slice it up. It’s amazing! And then that pork wing is the pork shank you whittled down. And then it ends up as this little piece of meat, bone in the middle, and then it’s like a little wing. And I smoked those for like an hour, toss them in buffalo wing sauce. Wrap them and throw them back on for another hour. And they’re just phenomenal. They’re great. They’re just fun little pieces.
BW:
Is “bone-in” better?
JP:
Mmm. At times, yes. Bone-in helps protect the meat. It will flavor it ever so slightly. But it is more about protection. Like pork butt, I like bone-in because to get that bone out, you have to butterfly it open. So now you’ve let all of this place where moisture can go out. But if you leave it together, it’s better. So that one in particular, I always think pork butt, and you get the pleasure of like taking out that paddle bone at the end of it! And that’s like, I did it!
BW:
How about Wagyu? Is wagyu worth it?
JP:
Wagyu is a breed. It’s just like Angus, Berkshire, you know, like all of those things, it can be worth it if it is done correctly. It just depends.
The true Japanese Wagyu where they are in confinement and all that, it’s, it’s something different. We don’t like it because you have to confine the animal to make it marble out that well.
Beef should have fat to it. We prefer that as the American palate. But is too much of a good thing too much?
So… it can be worth it to me. But, if I’m going to spend my money, I would probably spend it elsewhere. Like, especially with something like a brisket. You’re going to have the juiciest, fattiest, brisket you’ve ever had. Then you’ll be able to eat two ounces, three ounces of it. Yeah, you’ll feel it! You know, like at a Japanese restaurant where you’re eating a two-ounce slice, I’m all game for it. But beyond that, I think it, it has its novelty purpose and that’s kind of it.
BW:
One thing y’all do that’s unique is dry aging. Tell me about that.
JP:
Dry aging is something this country used to do exclusively. And then cryovac packing was invented and everyone started doing wet aging.
So beef is a unique animal protein in that it has a natural enzyme found in it and it’s not found in pork or chicken. But this natural enzyme remains active in the muscle for six to eight days after slaughter. So that enzyme is continually breaking down and tenderizing the beef. So that’s why we always eat beef that is a little aged, whether it’s wet-aged or dry-aged. And by wet age, that means cut up, put in a bag and put on a shelf, went to a truck that went to a train that goes to your market. And then maybe a week or so later it’s sold to you and they call it “wet aging.” That’s called shipping to most people!
So, what we do at Porter Road is different. We actually take the entire carcass, hanging, into a humidity and temperature-controlled room. Dry age it, let those enzymes go crazy. But in that process too, we’re actually allowing it to evaporate out some of its water moisture, which will concentrate the flavor and make it more delicious. And then, as it’s doing that dry-aging process, you’re picking up some of those natural flavors in the air. It becomes a very unique, special flavor. Scientists have gotten really good at imitating other flavors, you know, vanilla and things like that. Nobody has ever been able to figure out or pinpoint the flavor compounds that truly make dry age beef what it uniquely is. It’s beyond “umami-y” because we can explain umami, you know, like we can explain that earthy flavor, but there is something so individually unique to dry age beef that we don’t feel that there is ever going to be a reason why we wouldn’t do it.
We know that it is economically more expensive for us. It takes more space, it takes more energy, and it obviously gives us less product on the outcome because we’re evaporating it out. But we feel like if we will do that and we will continue to be a part of a process, we will make sure it’s the best in every step that we do.
BW:
Awesome. What do you grill with at home?
JP:
I am an egg head. I purchased a large, Big Green Egg about 10 years ago and I was a fan of it. And then we started doing food festivals and we got sponsored by a big green egg. And I just, I have become very accustomed to them. I love them. I know how to work with them, but it takes some skill, you know, like it, it’s a unique shaped grill. It’s a unique grill. I grew up on Weber, you know, the little like $50 Home Depot, Lowe’s, Weber that you get. I mean, that’s what I smoked my first pork butt on. Like you can do anything in those. It just takes a lot more work and a lot more care. And you know, I love a barrel smoker. I am a charcoal guy. True and true. The most refined I like to go is to a chip. I worked with pellets a long time ago and yeah. I personally had never figured out how to make the product I prefer on a pellet smoker. I need to learn from you is what I need to do! I need some lessons from you!
BW:
I love my pellet smoker, but I appreciate all the great aspects of charcoal. I’m relatively lazy and usually in a hurry. So I like to keep it simple. But nothing is cooler than a Big Green Egg and hardwood lump charcoal.
JP:
Oh yeah.
BW:
Rapid fire questions! How do you like your steak?
JP:
Rare.
BW:
What is the best barbecue joint?
JP:
The Gambling Stick. Nashville, Tennessee.
BW:
Your favorite professional chef?
JP:
Thomas Keller.
BW:
What do you like on your hot dog?
JP:
Ketchup.
BW:
Favorite cheese?
JP:
Cabot cloth bound cheddar.
BW:
And last, do you have a specialty at home you cook?
JP:
I guess it would be my sauces. I love a Demi that takes me three days to make. Because, like I said, the more care I put into it, the longer it takes, the more satisfied I am when my friends and family get to enjoy it.