“KNOW THE LORD FIRST. PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM.”
“Prayer is the key to heaven. Faith unlocks the door. Make sure you got a lot of faith and forget about fishing for a while,” Phillip Bass, aka Bubba, tells me as he tends to his chicken and butts over the pit.
“I came to barbecuing growing up in Columbus, Georgia, where folks eat more barbecue per capita than any other city in Georgia, maybe even the entire country. We had four barbecue joints on one block. My buddy Chuck Farrell’s family owned The Smoky Pig just across the river in Phoenix City, Alabama. I would hang out there and help out. I wasn’t on the payroll. I got paid in barbecue. I was in my early twenties and didn’t consider it a job.”
Bubba is a natural salesman. For a time, he worked as a route salesman of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. He lasted seven years. It’s a hard life on the road. (Image 42)
Image 42: Bubba’s Ribs & Q 1629 Tift Avenue • Tifton, GA 31794 • (229)386-2888
“Chuck opened up a place of his own, in Opekia, Alabama. I ended up going to work for him, and this time took it seriously. I learned that to make it in this business, great barbecue isn’t enough. You got to have great sides and everything else.”
It’s a practice Bubba has put into good use at his establishments, first in Albany for thirteen years, then in Tifton, where he has been a favorite since 1991. “Our steak sandwich we have here isn’t cheap steak. It’s thinly sliced prime rib. Our cakes are baked daily, and are fourteen layers,” Bubba proudly states.
“The best part of owning a barbecue joint is the people you come in contact with, be it your customers or employees. There is this family here in town that sponsored an exchange student for Japan. They were regulars here. For her last meal she said, ‘How do you explain “Bubba” to people back in Japan?’
“I thought about it for a minute and said, ‘Bubba is kinda like Buddha,’ as I tapped my ample midsection.”
“BUBBA” BASS’S TIP TO ENSURE GREAT BARBECUE
Use only on pork and chicken—not beef. (Image 43)
Image 43
Take an empty 2-liter plastic Coke® bottle; drill a 1/8-inch hole in the middle of the screw-on cap. Mix the salt and juice from the lemon in the Coke bottle; fill with warm water. Shake to dissolve the salt. During the slow cooking process, periodically sprinkle the meat with the lemony brine. It not only adds flavor, but regulates the temperature to ensure slow cooking.
PHILLIP “BUBBA” BASS’S TIP FOR COOKING A BEEF STEAK
Use only charcoal and get the grate as close to the charcoal as possible. Get the charcoal white hot. Put steak on grill. Turn almost immediately. Keep turning almost immediately until the steak is done to your preference. This should only take a few minutes. Using high heat and constant turning seers without burning, and locks in the meat’s natural juices. (Image 44)
Image 44