Dope Labs Archives: The Cookout – Lab 012 - podcast episode cover

Dope Labs Archives: The Cookout – Lab 012

Jul 07, 202242 minSeason 2Ep. 12
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Episode description

Dope Labs will be back next week. In the meantime, here's one of our favorite Labs from the archives: The Cookout – Lab 012. There is nothing Zakiya loves more than having a cookout and Titi… loves to eat. Especially Z’s spiral cut hotdogs. So grab a drink, put on your cookout best, and get comfortable. We are taking you through taste, flavor, and the science behind the perfect bbq method. You can find more Dope Labs, show notes, and cheat sheets at dopelabspodcast.com.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

So we just wrapped up Pride Month and Black Music Month and we were able to give you some very special episodes that we loved. But this week we're taking a break, but we're not gonna leave you empty eared. We are bringing back one of our favorite labs from semester one. This one is called the Cookout. Now, you know, me and TT love to eat, so we're bringing you right along.

Speaker 2

For augustatory experience with us.

Speaker 3

And when we come back next week, we're talking all about nails. You know something you said, you said, whenever there's a reason to celebrate, you celebrate by eating food.

Speaker 2

Absolutely, Yeah, I absolutely celebrate by eating food.

Speaker 1

I feel like it's not a celebration if I'm not chewing on something. Yep.

Speaker 2

And so we're inviting all of you to the Kids Cookout.

Speaker 3

Yeah, I'm sure you've heard TT saying it over and over. The way we always celebrate is by starting up the grill.

Speaker 2

Yes, that's the only way to do it. If I don't smell charcoal, it ain't a party. Did we even win? You know, now you're losing. We gotta get that grill going. We got it going.

Speaker 3

You gotta get the grill going. So welcome to our virtual cookout. So that means right now, you should already just magically have on a white linen suit.

Speaker 1

I feel like that's what all the old black people wear to a cookout, right it is? And a fedora.

Speaker 3

Yes, put on your best put on your best linen, wear your penty toe shoes.

Speaker 1

Go grab a drink too, Like, if you don't drink alcohol, go get you some juice, some water, some sparkling water.

Speaker 2

If you're trying to be fun sie.

Speaker 3

So welcome to the cookout. Let's give you a tour. I'm TT and I'm Zakiah and from Spotify Studios.

Speaker 2

This is Dope Laps.

Speaker 1

So today we're talking about barbecue. Wait, what did you say barbecue? I said, grilling.

Speaker 3

Okay, we gotta get on the same page.

Speaker 2

This is a common problem, I said, grilling.

Speaker 3

Well, it depends on what we're talking about though, Yeah you no chicken, chicken?

Speaker 2

Yes, that's grilling. What you're putting it on the same thing, all right.

Speaker 3

So it's clear to me that we need to do a dephine into uh God of some some basic some some keywords. I think one of the best questions that you can hear in the summertime is what do you.

Speaker 2

Bring into the What are you bring into the cookout? Like that's a favorite, what's your go to?

Speaker 3

I have to make? It depends on who's there, right, It depends on who's there.

Speaker 2

Some of y'all only getting hot dogs.

Speaker 3

Some of y'all only y'all only getting hot dogs, Okay, And I'm just throw them on the grill.

Speaker 2

You're not evenna spiral cut them.

Speaker 3

I spiral cut the hot dogs. If I know you're coming, t T I spiral cut the hot dogs for you.

Speaker 2

Hot dog.

Speaker 3

Listen, y'all, if you just eat, If you're just throwing that hot dog right out of the package onto there, you're not doing it right. You take the hot dog, you put your knife at a forty five degree angle and you just turn the hot dog around. The knife is just cutting into the hot dog a little bit, a little bit the whole way down.

Speaker 2

And not slicing through the hot dog.

Speaker 3

Yeah, don't slice through it. You're just kind of gently scoring it. When you put that hot dog on the grill. Honey, those edges that get those those that surface area the hot dog expands, okay, and then you get those crispy spots, right, there, but then you get some of that inside. It gets a little bit of crispiness. And so you just expanded the surface area of that hot dog.

Speaker 2

Right.

Speaker 1

And so for me, before learning about the spiral cut hot dog, I'd always tell people I like my hot dog burnt, so burn my hot dog on the grill. But now I'm like, if it's spiral cut, it don't need to be burnt for me to get all that crispiness that I want. The flavor is just collecting those little pockets. Oh honey, it is perfect.

Speaker 2

I'm hungry. We should take a break. We're gonna take a quick break and come back.

Speaker 3

I think a lot of my friends now don't like. If I'm up here and I'm grilling, then I'm gonna put like a whole fish on the grill, you know, stuff like that I'm gonna put. I'll properly do a whole chicken, or I'll cut it up.

Speaker 2

Let me tell you something.

Speaker 1

Zequila puts whole burbles on the birds, birds on the grill. One time for Thanksgiving, she put a whole turkey on the grill. I don't eat turkey, but I ate that entire turkey. It felt like by myself, low and slow. It was so good. It was smoked, it was crispy, it.

Speaker 2

Was so good. I've never had a better turkey in my life, hands down.

Speaker 3

And then we made pot pie with it after it, and then she made that She.

Speaker 1

Keeps saying we, because I'm standing there when she's doing these things. She really the key is a good friend because she always says we. She's like, remember that time we made that whole fish. I ain't make nothing but kiya. She made a pop peye with the with the leftover turkey that she had put on the grill, and it was he are good. I don't even I don't even know if this I can get through this episode.

Speaker 3

I think one of the most interesting things for me when I first moved up here. I was living in Pennsylvania at the time. I was just moving up there, and they were like, welcome to Pennsylvania. I'm gonna have a barbecue.

Speaker 2

You should come.

Speaker 3

I said, oh, yes, they're having a barbecue. I said, what can I bring? They said, bring whatever you want. So I brought macaroni and cheese. I was like, I'm gonna show out and that's right, okay. I brought macaroni and cheese. And then I brought my dish in and I was like, wait a minute, I don't see a pork shoulder. I don't see it. I don't see a Boston but I don't see.

Speaker 2

Anything of Boston.

Speaker 1

Fun.

Speaker 3

Hey, I gotta get where's the where's the pork? I don't see anything.

Speaker 2

I was like, what was Henna? Right?

Speaker 1

Because the kids from North Carolina for those of you who don't know, and you know, North Carolina is one of the meccas of barbecue. So there are some things that she's got to see when she pulls up to the cookout. Yeah, from Maryland, and so anytime somebody's cooking out, you better have a bushel of crabs. I'm expecting it, and that I feel like that's part for the course for most folks from Maryland. If it's going to be a really good cookout, there's definitely gonna be crabs.

Speaker 3

Yes, that is something that I have started to do.

Speaker 2

Now.

Speaker 3

I don't put any crabs on the grill, but I have been boiling the crabs. And y'all spray old bray like for breeze.

Speaker 1

It's just I dab old baby behind my ears.

Speaker 2

Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3

We gotta get down to the terms right, Because there's a cookout, there's a grill and a barbecue.

Speaker 2

Yeah, then you got a kickback where Oh.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but I think wherever you go it's a buffet.

Speaker 2

Yes it is. Please more food.

Speaker 1

My friend never met a piece of meat she didn't like.

Speaker 2

That's right.

Speaker 1

I think it all tastes delicious and it's prepared correctly, and the kid is always doing it just right. Okay, I don't need any side that's the kids. No, I don't need any size. I don't that's how good her food is.

Speaker 2

I don't need I don't need coal, slaugh, I don't need none of that.

Speaker 1

I'm like, just put the chicken wings in, the hot dogs and the ribs and everything just straight onto my plate.

Speaker 2

That's all I want.

Speaker 3

Yeah, be careful t jump into flames.

Speaker 2

If she could, can I grill myself? Shoot?

Speaker 1

But the other thing that I really like that I think that you should well maybe it's a secret recipe. I think maybe you should let people know about Wattley water. Oh yes, so at the cookout, not only are we talking about food, you gotta have the right drink. And when I say drink, y'all know what I mean mm hmm. Hydrating beverages with a little kick. That is what puts the kick and kickback.

Speaker 3

So for a while when we were in grad school, every year we would make a different Wattlely water. So it would be the twenty twelve Wattlely water or the Fall twenty thirteen Wattlely water. I think one that was a big hit was like water. It was a watermelon based one.

Speaker 2

Yep, that was.

Speaker 1

What I was introduced to as wattle water. That was my first, very first Wattly water was the watermelon one.

Speaker 3

And so okay, we're gonna share the recipe. It's gonna be on the on the show notes. So that's at Dope lausepodcast dot com slash Lab zero one two.

Speaker 1

All right, let's get into the recitation, and first we need to get to the bottom of all these words. What's the difference between grilling a barbecue and a cookout.

Speaker 3

So we've been talking about a cookout t T to you, what's the cookout?

Speaker 2

Cookout is.

Speaker 1

Ribs, chicken burgers, hot dogs.

Speaker 2

Corner on the cop.

Speaker 3

To me, the cookout is the event.

Speaker 1

Oh right, So it's not like, yeah, all the.

Speaker 3

Food to me is the event. So the cookout is like standing at the grill. It's people inside talking. It's like the whole thing is the cookout, it's like the party. I agree, I'm just more concerned about the food. I guess I'm not worried about you people there. I'm like, hey, where is the food?

Speaker 2

What time will the chicken be done? Exactly?

Speaker 1

Don't tell me to get there at three point thirty when the chicken ain't going to be done till six, because I'm leaving and I will come back at six when the chicken is done.

Speaker 3

And don't volunteer to bring something essential to the cookout. If you know you're gonna be late.

Speaker 1

Don't say you bring in plates and then you show up at nine o'clock and so we're all eating out of our palms.

Speaker 3

You remember when our friend didn't bring those hamburger buns.

Speaker 2

Do you know how angry we were so angry, like, hey, you had one job.

Speaker 3

She showed up at like nine o'clock. The party started at three.

Speaker 2

I was like, what are you thinking? We couldn't eat our hamburg.

Speaker 3

Okay, So to me, grilling is when you are cooking over high heat. So that's when you are using your charcoal or gas grill. And that's when you are like, you put the meat down, it's like the flame, like the coals are right there, the heat is on high, and you get those nice uh grill mark grill marks. Right, that's grilling to me. Whenever I say barbecue, I'm talking about a brisket. I'm talking about the coals are all stacked up on one side. I have soaked my wood chips.

My wood chips are just putting all that smoke and aroma into the drum of my grill, and the meat is just cooking over off to the side indirect heat, you know, and it's just just taking on all the flavor just hours and hours. So I need to stop saying grilling for everything. If I'm really gonna be a cookout connoisseur, I need to be like, no, that's a grill.

Speaker 2

This is barbecue. Yeah.

Speaker 3

I mean it's tricky because you're doing it all on a grill. Usually, yeah, unless you're in a smoker, which is a different thing.

Speaker 2

But you're doing it, my friends, fun, you're doing it.

Speaker 3

You're doing all of it on the grill, right, And so I think that's what happens, and that's how I got tricked that time because they were like, we're barbecuing and I was like, yes, they lived on a farm house.

Speaker 1

They probably gonn put a whole pig on it. It's gonna be delicious. And I was like, hamburgers, hot dog, cauliflower, no, make, no qulifier steak at the cookout, I'm not eating nothing.

Speaker 3

So whether you're talking about grilling or barbecuing, what we're talking about today is adding heat to meat and enjoying a treat bars. But yeah, we're talking about basically when you're cooking on the grill, why is it so good?

Speaker 2

Yes?

Speaker 1

And the science behind all of that, because there's a lot of science behind.

Speaker 3

There is Listen, if you're a pitmaster, you are molecular gastronomers.

Speaker 2

In my book, Okay, if you.

Speaker 3

Can manage those coals and keep that meat just.

Speaker 2

Right, you deserve a Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Speaker 1

They need to nominate you, Honestly, they deserve it.

Speaker 3

So we're talking about all the things that make barbecue taste good. We're we're gonna tell you a little bit about the cooking process, what's happening there, and we're gonna be talking about like what is actually flavor like how your brain processes flavor and how it develops over time. Yeah, and why some people have differences in what they think tastes good. I'm a vinegar based barbecue person.

Speaker 1

Okay, so listen, my friend, I like a vinegar based marinate.

Speaker 2

M M. But I do like a tangy, spicy barbecue sauce on top after like ketchup based? You think, I don't know if it's ketchup based barbecue based? Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3

You see we're gonna teach teach some words. I'm like, what are you trying to say? I like barbecue, Okay, okay, So you like traditional like crafts barbecue sauce or a sweet baby rais.

Speaker 2

I like sweet baby rais.

Speaker 3

Okay, we can get into that. So now we're gonna start talking about what you like in there. So is it you know? Is it the salt?

Speaker 2

Is it sweet?

Speaker 3

Is it the oumami flavor?

Speaker 1

We're gonna talk about all of my mommy gonna be there. I've got a lot to learn, but it's okay. I'm excited about this episode because it's all my favorite topic.

Speaker 3

Fit's going to be fun. Stay tuned.

Speaker 1

In this labra'y taking y'all through everything from what is taste to the science of a good barbecue. We already know everyone loves a good cookout, so let's just dive into the dissection.

Speaker 2

All right.

Speaker 3

So the first thing we want to do is help you understand tastes. So we gotta start with tastes because we often are saying, oh, I like this, I like that, my taste preference, my taste buzz are like this, my palette is this.

Speaker 2

But do y'all even know what taste is?

Speaker 1

So folks have between five thousand and ten thousand taste buds, and each taste bud that's on your tongue has about fifty to one hundred specialized sensory cells.

Speaker 3

Yeah, and if you think about it, right, that is a big range. You're talking about somebody having two hundred and fifty thousand sensory cells.

Speaker 2

Or a million a million.

Speaker 3

Somebody is out here having a flavor explosion in their mouth and you over here like it's all right, that's wild to me. So there's five major tastes. There's sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and oomammy. What's your favorite taste?

Speaker 2

Salty?

Speaker 1

Definitely, I will take a potato chip over a slice of cake most days, But would you take a potato chip over a piece of bacon?

Speaker 2

No? No, So you like you like umammy? Probably I do, like my mommy.

Speaker 3

No is the savory taste. So it's sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory, which is called Japanese word for so.

Speaker 2

Yes, I prefer umami then.

Speaker 3

And you know what was hard for me to understand what I didn't know before this episode TT was the difference between sour and bitter. So sour is a measure of acidity. So lemons and limes, those are acidic, and so they're sour, but they're not necessarily bitter. You know what I think is bitter the pith of like that white stuff when you're eating like a citrus fruit.

Speaker 2

To me, that's bitter.

Speaker 3

But the sour is probably like the lemon juice itself, because it's a cidic. We generally aren't seeking bitter tasting or the bitter taste. But that's useful because a lot of toxins taste bitter. Right, So this is like your body is maneuvering over time. It's just like I'm not even gonna mess with anything that might toxic.

Speaker 2

Is it true?

Speaker 1

That different parts of your tongue taste like bitter, sour, and sweet. I think it was I saw something that said that the back of your tongue tastes bitter stuff, the sides of your tongue taste sour stuff, the tip of your tongue tastes like salty and sweet stuff.

Speaker 3

And I always wondered about that chart. So if I eat something sweet, but I toss it to the back of my mouth, do I not taste the sweetness?

Speaker 1

Like?

Speaker 3

How does it work?

Speaker 1

I guess it's because taste and stuff is way more complex than just your tongue.

Speaker 2

That's true.

Speaker 3

So what is taste when we're tasting something overall?

Speaker 2

So taste and flavor.

Speaker 1

People use those two words interchangeably, but it's not the same thing actually. So, taste is determined by the gustatory system, okay, and all of those parts of that system are located inside of your mouth.

Speaker 2

But flavor is what happens after that.

Speaker 1

So, after you taste something and the signals are sent up to your brain and you're also smelling it and seeing it, flavor is the result of all of those things interacting together. Yeah, So taste is like a sense the flavor is a vibe. Yes, it's like are there linen napkins here?

Speaker 2

Like it's the ambiance just right?

Speaker 1

Are all the colors of the rainbow represented on my plate? I don't know how you eat those plates of meat?

Speaker 2

No green? Is that hot dog? Crispy?

Speaker 3

I think my flavor profile is heavy on seeing the Oh I need some different.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I don't care how good it is.

Speaker 3

If it's brown and on the edges and Wilton, your girl don't want.

Speaker 2

It, then it automatically has a bad flavor for you.

Speaker 1

It doesn't automatically have a bad flavor, but it's going to start out at negative five.

Speaker 2

On the scale one t. You gotta bounce back. You better really have a good smell. Then.

Speaker 1

I think the other thing that's really interesting is the texture, Like how does something feel in your mouth? I know some people that say, like, oh, I would like to eat this, but I don't like the way it feels. I'm exactly like that. Anything that's too soft, like no way, Like I can't do like what is it called trayce lea chase where it's like milk, I'm like, oh, I can't do that. I can't really do oysters, even though they taste. I think they taste good, but I can't

get past the texture of it, okay. Or even like if somebody makes chicken and the skin is not crispy, Oh yeah, I can't eat it.

Speaker 2

No, my friend wants that skin crisp. Yeah.

Speaker 1

That's why even when I order wings, I say, can you make sure that it's well done, please, because if that skin is even a little bit like gelatinous, I'm like, hmmm, I have to peel all the skin off.

Speaker 2

Yeah, no thanks.

Speaker 3

I think for me, there are things that the sensations I don't like or like hot stuff I don't like. Oh, I don't like halloenos.

Speaker 2

Feel I don't like the way that we were eating.

Speaker 3

We were having swim were we and I was like this is.

Speaker 2

Spicy, and I was like, it's black pepper.

Speaker 3

I can't hate too much spicy, y'all. I also don't like every now and sometimes it bothers me. Sometimes it doesn't stuff that has like a fur on it, like some peaches with the fuzz. Sometimes I take sometimes I can't take it.

Speaker 1

Sometimes it's okay, but sometimes I'm like, hey, you should have narrated this peech.

Speaker 2

Okay, you should have narried it, she's a wax.

Speaker 3

We've only really talked about what's happening in your mouth. We haven't said what's happening in your brain for you to be like, ding, this was good, I'll have another. So, neurogastronomy is the field that studies how your brain creates the perception of flavor. And it's wild, y'all. There's a lot that goes into it. One of the sensory methods that contributes to how you perceive flavor, and I think it's one of the ones that contributes the most is

all faction and that's smell. Okay, So you have two kind of ways that you detect an odor. So there's orthonasal smell, which is odor that originates from outside the body, right, So that's detecting odors from outside your body. And then there's retro nasal smell, and that's the detection of older molecules that happen while you're chewing. So as you're masticating, yeah, that's chewing.

Speaker 1

Older molecules are coming out of that food and going to the back of your mouth, and there are sensors back there.

Speaker 2

Yes, you know.

Speaker 1

One of the biggest culprits of like letting off retro nasal odor.

Speaker 2

To me is big red here. What you that chewing gum the cinnamon one.

Speaker 1

Yes, once you chew into it, it's like your saliva must be activating something in red and it's like somebody shove a cinnamon stick in your throat, like with sab with sabi is one of them too. Yeah, because you can't really smell.

Speaker 3

You cannot smell, will not have a smell outside of your mouth. But when you put in your mouth, that thing light lights your whole life up.

Speaker 2

Yes, it'll blow hole through your skull.

Speaker 3

It's crazy. So we hit orthon nasal smell outside the mouth, retro nasal smell in the mouth. But then your odor molecules are traveling from the back of your mouth up to your nasal pharynx, right, So this is where they reach receptors on the skin in the back top part of the nose and throat. It'll be on the cheat sheet for you guys. So these receptors are able to detect the multi dimensional nature of odors. So it's not flat like cinnamon. It's probably like ceylon cinnamon, spicy cinnamon.

Speaker 1

I feel like that's where I feel like those are the bougie receptors. They're like, it's not just pepper, this is white pepper, this is smoked Hungarian paprika. This is not just that relation sea salt, right.

Speaker 3

Right, And so interestingly, it's almost like your brain is like refining that, right. So once you get that signal, it's like it's fine tuning and you get like a it starts your your body is basically zeroing in increasing the signal to noise racial. So it's like get rid of all that background flavor. Let me give you this intense You remember iceberg gum when it first came out and they had those commercials like like like.

Speaker 2

That's what I feel like it is.

Speaker 1

So then after all of that, after all that happens inside of your mouth, and those receptors are and those receptors are interacting with those older molecules, it starts to send these signals to your brain. And in your brain, your hypothalamus and your hippocampus. They determine what type of emotion that you have, what emotional reaction that you have to the food. I feel like the hypothalamus and the hippocampus are involved in everything. They showed up in LAP

three in lot of me. They showed up in the memory episode.

Speaker 3

They gotta minding business, right, they like the Russians, And so then this type of old faction stimuli. So stuff you were just by chewing a little older release and going to the back of the naso pharynx into the brain. Then it's like, this is affecting decision making, this is affecting emotion, all kinds of stuff.

Speaker 2

We're just a slave to the food.

Speaker 1

I know, I am. Guess what, I'm the first one to get angry. I need that food and I need it now. Did y'all hear what our producer Jenny put at the end of the last episode. It was me hollering, where's the food? Yeah, y'all have to listen to the little carrots that she puts at the end of the episode.

Speaker 2

Yeah, after they're crassing.

Speaker 3

But that is true, you know. I mean, Snickers made a whole campaign around it. Yeah, you're not yourself when you're hungry, and it's so true. Now we know why, right, so our.

Speaker 2

Old friend the brains.

Speaker 3

Yeah, so we've talked about quite a few things. We've talked about how you chew your food and it releases these older molecules and they travel up the naso pharynx and you have the stimulations of the old factory cortex where all those cells are, and it's affecting your emotion and your mind, and you have this whole flavor experience. But why is it that two people can't eat the same thing and have totally different experiences.

Speaker 2

Yeah, like that Maya green tea.

Speaker 1

You made me know that it was a macho latte, macho lte, and I was like, I'm not getting it, and you were like, this is delicious. Yes, it was like every kid drinking it.

Speaker 2

But you know I had the best case of that.

Speaker 3

I was so excited to share. I had got some fresh figs at the farmer's market. It is a good example, and I was like, teacher, I can't wait for you to have some of these figs. These are it's like that plums in the ice box poem. But I was like, these figs are delicious. You're gonna love them.

Speaker 2

M hm.

Speaker 1

I was like, yeah, I'm gonna eat a fig. I never had a fig before, But you had had a fag Newton I had. I've eaten a lot of fake newtons in my life, so I was like I love fig Newtons. Bring those figs on. I'm gonna eat the whole thing. They're gonna be delicious. M And my friend cuts one open. I'm like, this don't look like I thought it would, but I trust it because I love fake Newton's.

Speaker 2

I've been into that thing.

Speaker 1

I was like, this is not fag Newton. This is not what is in fake Newtons.

Speaker 2

It can't be. These don't taste the same, but fake newton is delicious. This is gross if some.

Speaker 3

Of it is probably texture, but I think some of it is also like expectation, I really should have It's my fault. I should have set you up differently, because basically I was like, you you're like a fig because you like fake Newtons.

Speaker 2

You were like, yeah, I do like fake newtons. But what I basically said.

Speaker 3

Was like, you'll like a strawberry because you eat strawberry pop tarts, and that's not the same. It's like, you'll like raw what is that cocow nibs or cocoa. What are those things called cow cocaw. That's like, you're like raw cocal nibs.

Speaker 2

Because like hershey bars.

Speaker 3

Yeah, yeah, I didn't really think that through.

Speaker 2

It's a lot of sugar they're adding.

Speaker 3

So let's talk about these flavor preferences and how that can play out at the cookout. Because something that's really interesting to me is some of my friends.

Speaker 1

She says some of her friends then looked up, which makes me feel like she's talking about me. Some of my friends only eat certain things. Some of my friends it's like, don't put no onions on that.

Speaker 2

Oh okay, here we go.

Speaker 1

And some of my friends that's not just you, that's you.

Speaker 3

Just a coincidence, coincidence. I believe in coincidences. Sometimes some of my friends are you know, don't cook it too long, it's too crispy. You know, It's just everybody has these preferences, and I think it's really interesting how all this stuff plays out. One of my favorite places to see this playing out is on black Twitter.

Speaker 1

Yes, because they're like, okay, who made the potato salad?

Speaker 2

Yes?

Speaker 3

They have thinking about and they're saying, what do you put in your potato salad?

Speaker 2

Right?

Speaker 3

You gotta be careful about both what's in it, and you know me, I'm a stickler for food safety.

Speaker 2

I'm like, hey, is mayonnaise in that?

Speaker 1

Is that refrigerat and that's been sitting out since this afternoon and it is now dark. I don't want to see the oil separate from the egg and your potato salad.

Speaker 3

I don't want to say it.

Speaker 2

And then they're also saying, your elbows gotta look a certain way.

Speaker 3

Yeah, let me tell you, when I grill, I look like my worst self. That's how the food tastes the best.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Speaker 3

I don't even put any lotion on my heels when I grill. You can't, or the food won't taste right.

Speaker 2

Food won't taste right.

Speaker 1

That's why when they say, man, you really put your foot in this, they mean the ashy.

Speaker 3

Foot, the crusty part of the food.

Speaker 2

I don't want to know. No foot with a pedicure making my food.

Speaker 3

No pedicure foot ever made a good brack of ribs.

Speaker 2

Never. Okay.

Speaker 1

So now that we've dissected taste versus flavor and how we process flavor in our brains, let's apply all that to the cookout. We're gonna take you from start to finish, and the first step is usually marinating or brining.

Speaker 3

So we have to think of meat as all these proteins that are packed together. And if you don't put anything on your meat, and you just throw it on the grill. The first thing you'll see is that meat shriveling up.

Speaker 1

So what happens with the marinad is that when that salt it begins to dissolve in all the water that you have in your meat, because meat is seventy five percent water. So then the salt begins to dissolve and all those salt molecules start to travel through the meat. Because when you have something that's high concentration salt, so that's your marinade, it naturally wants to go from high concentration to low concentration, so that salt just starts to

force itself down into the meat. And that's the reason why with a marinade, your entire meat gets flavored.

Speaker 3

I am a fan of brining. I used to be a marinading kind of girl, but now I am a dry brine.

Speaker 2

What is the difference between marinating and burning?

Speaker 1

So marinating is when you have a like, you usually create some kind of sauce almost like it's usually some citrus and some savory and salt, and then you put the meat. You like are putting the meat into like a liquid flavor bath is what I I would call it. And the key here is a salt based marinad because sometimes people make the mistake of making kind of acidic marinaise because they're like, ooh, I mean U some limon juice.

It's going to really tenderize this stuff. But acidic marinades and things like with vinegar, lemon and wine, the acid can only go so far down into the meat. So if you have a really thick cut of meat, your acidic marinate is not going to be able to get down in there. It's not gonna be able to just get down to the core like you like you can with the salt. Yeah, So salt is a major key, yes.

Speaker 3

And so another thing that the salt does while it's diffusing through your meat is that it also helps to break down some of the protein that's in it, and that creates a more tender and juicy product. And so when I think about that salt, that's why one of my favorite things to do is a dry brine. So a liquid brine is basically a salty marinate, but a dry brine is where you just take the salt and you put it right on the meat like and so

it's so interesting. Sometimes I'll do this and I'll have a piece of meat and it's uncovered and I put a bunch of salt on it, and you can just see the water kind of bubbling up, like because I think it's the salt going in because there's a higher water concentration in the meat, so it's pulling the water out and the salt is forcing itself in. But you get to see some of the water on the surface of the meat. And so I like to do a

dry brin. I do that for chicken, for turkey, Like when I do something on the grill, like the turkey we talked about, I usually do a dry brine and so the skin will get so crispy because you've pulled all that moisture out. When I want a crisp skin, a dry brine is where it's at.

Speaker 1

So after you've already marinated or brined your meat, depending on your preference, then now it's time to start cooking. And me personally, I love a seared meat because I really love that crispy outside. Like we said, I like a crispy hota. I like my chicken crispy. I like my steak to have like a nice seared outside. And I always heard that with like a bigger cut of meat, like a steak, that you see it to keep the

juices in. Yeah, that's kind of a misconception, right, because when you sear something, what you're actually doing is removing all the water from it, all the juices from it. And so maybe a more appropriate thing to do is to sear on one depending on how thick cut your steak is.

Speaker 2

Right.

Speaker 3

I have a friend that makes these cowboy steaks, and I swear they're like three or four inches a bit, and you sear it on one side, see it on the other, and then you have a little bit of indirect heat to kind of let it finish cooking so that you're not just drying the meat out, right, because that searing isn't waterproof, no, so searing it in doesn't actually keep water in. The water is still going to try and get out, but what you're doing by seering is like forcing the water out faster fast.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 3

And so a lot of times people think if I cook everything really high, I'm going to get a really good and crispy skin. And some of y'all are finding you're putting your chicken on really high and it's crispy on the outside and it's.

Speaker 2

Raw dog on the inside.

Speaker 3

Yes, and there's a raw on the inside. And so I think you really got to look at when do I want direct heat and when do I want indirect heat.

Speaker 1

So that's when you have the low and slow technique. Right, low and slow.

Speaker 3

Is really good for some of your tougher cuts of meat, so like your shoulders, brisket, like big pieces of meat like that. I like a low and slow and just adding the coals. Like we had a big party in Durham and my whole family was there.

Speaker 2

My mom was there, and my godmom, the whole family wasn't there. I wasn't there. Yeah, you weren't there. I hadn't met you yet. I'm sorry. That's no excuse, but that's why continue.

Speaker 3

My godmom cooked ribs and she cooked something else I don't know, but it was overnight, just on the grill, just low smoking it.

Speaker 2

She was like, add a.

Speaker 3

Few more coals out there, add a little bit of chips, and when I tell you that, meat was falling off the bone.

Speaker 2

And that's what I like.

Speaker 3

I wanted to have some crispy bits on the edges and to be tender and then all that fat just.

Speaker 1

So you don't even necessarily have to see it to get the crispy stuff right, not all the time. So the meat is marinated or brined, it's cooked to perfection, and now it's time for the very last step, the sauce. You can travel all over the United States and everybody has their own opinions on what the best type of barbecue sauce is. We're just gonna tell you the different types that there are, and then you should go out there and try them, try them all and tell us which ones you like best.

Speaker 2

Yes, because personally.

Speaker 1

I had not really had different types of barbecue sauce until I moved to North Carolina, where when you go to a barbecue spot, they offer you multiple types of barbecue.

Speaker 2

Sauce on your table.

Speaker 1

They're like, okay, so this is your vinegar base, this is your mustard base, and I'm like, I don't know what you want to get. And when I first moved to North Carolina, I was just dumping all of them on there because I was just like, I don't know what to do.

Speaker 2

I don't want to offend anyone. I'm nervous, and I don't want anybody to be mad at me.

Speaker 1

But yeah, there's so many different kinds and they all like can I'm like, okay, I like this for chicken, I like this for brisket, I like this for this thing, and all of the have like different bases.

Speaker 3

I have always really liked a vinegar base, right, So this is this is like eastern North Carolina style barbecue where you have grilled your meat and then you like are pulled, like you pull the meat off the bone and then you dump something that's like vinegar, like almost like apple cider vinegar and hot spices and stuff. So I like that tangy. I like a tangy taste and a little bit of heat, not too much because you know I can't handle that, right, So a little a

mild vinegar sauce. One of the mild vinegar sauces that always takes me right back home is called Carolina Treat. But I also am a fan of like what would we called Kansas City style barbecue. So this is where barbecue where you have the meat and you rub it with all these spices and you cook it. And then after you have the meat with the spices cooked, you add like a thick tomato sauce.

Speaker 1

So so it's a dry rub, then they cook it and you cook it and there's a tomato based sauce that goes with it.

Speaker 3

I think k C Masterpiece that case is for Kansas City. Oh so KSE masterpiece is Kansas City like masterpiece style barbecue sauce.

Speaker 2

I would have thought that Casey was just like keep cooking.

Speaker 3

I think I really like that one of my favorite tomato based barbecue sauces.

Speaker 2

And I think you like this one too, Sweet Baby Race, Yeah, that is my go to.

Speaker 1

I put that on everything right next to my old bay Like it's so good.

Speaker 2

You can just put Sweet Baby Rais on a bun. I just put it on my finger and I'm like, this is a great snack. And so there's that. But then there's Texas style.

Speaker 3

There's also mustard style that I think is in North Carolina and South Carolina a little bit.

Speaker 2

There are a lot of different styles.

Speaker 1

I don't want to leave anybody out, but those are the two main things that I think are big. And I think your preference is just based off of those things that we mentioned earlier on in the episode, where it's just like if you grew up around people who only had mustard based barbecue sauce, and your likely to only like that.

Speaker 3

Yeah, especially if it's the only thing available, You're gonna eat that or you're gonna be.

Speaker 1

Hungry, you know, for real, And so like, I don't really have a preference. I'm just like what tastes best at that time and what's available and available I'm hungry. And I think that's the really interesting thing. You know, food is something that can both unite and separate us. I was at the grocery store recently and I saw what those things called. It was like dry grasshoppers at the grocery store and I was like, ewh And then I said, people are probably wondering who is eating those

pickled doubled eggs. You know, is there something for every culture that people were like, oh who eats that? And I think it's really it's really interesting because food really binds us. Like you think about a lot of major things, we celebrate, we talk, we do all kinds of stuff and bond over food.

Speaker 2

Like every major there's usually food that's involved.

Speaker 3

And it's really important to really kind of get out there and try other foods.

Speaker 1

Absolutely because I have had grasshoppers, you have and they taste like some flower seeds.

Speaker 2

What so I really enjoyed them.

Speaker 1

I mean, it's not like I'm out here like, oh, let me run to the store and get some grasshoppers real quick. But I'm never afraid to try something and not afraid to like it.

Speaker 2

If it tastes good, give it as frobs.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think it's a mental thing for me. You know how I'm about exoskeleton. Yeah, she doesn't like any shiny backed beetle or anything with antenna.

Speaker 3

But I do have to say a lobster is looking real close to a roach, she got a shiny back of heart or right outside in an antenna, I'm gonna have to reevaluate.

Speaker 2

Oh no, y'all.

Speaker 3

All we're saying is don't be afraid to try something new. And if you didn't learn anything today, I hope you learned that your taste preferences they're just temporary. You can change them. Get out there, try something new, eat a grasshopper.

Speaker 1

Yeah. If you feel like you're picky, that's something that you're deciding. It's not something that your body is doing for you.

Speaker 2

You can you can change it.

Speaker 3

Mind over matter. Just tell yourself I'm not picky. I'm gonna try something new and as long as you're not allergic to it, I think it's a good look.

Speaker 2

Yeah, tell us what you guys are eating that's different, tell us tell us what you're doing.

Speaker 3

If you stepped outside your comfort zone and try something new, we want to hear about it. So this episode was so fun that we had to just keep going. We told you all the elements for our cookout, but we left out one thing.

Speaker 2

And that's the cookout playlist.

Speaker 1

Yes, and Spotify is actually put together a cookout playlist that you can go into the Spotify app and listen to. It's got all the hits, from the old stuff to the new stuff.

Speaker 2

So go check that out.

Speaker 3

And if you check out our show notes, you can see some of our favorite and hottest barbecue takes. So I'm posting the Wattley water recipe. GT's gonna tell you.

Speaker 2

Some of my favorite barbecue places in DC.

Speaker 3

I'm gonna tell you some I really like in North Carolina. We're gonna give you links to our sauces. You name it, we got it in the show notes, so you can find those at Dope Labs podcast dot com, slash Lab zero one two and that brings you to the next point.

Speaker 2

This is lab wel, this is lab twhoa. This is the end of the semester, and congratulations, you've all passed. You don't have to go to summer school, so you're getting a break.

Speaker 3

Semester two will start September twelfth, don't be late.

Speaker 1

And so while we're on this break, we're gonna still be putting stuff out on social media and still interact with you.

Speaker 3

Guys.

Speaker 1

Please call us and let us know your episode's suggestions or if you just want to say, hey, what's up.

Speaker 3

So we're also creating an audio yearbook everybody. You know how the end of the school year you sign the yearbooks and you say, hey, I have such a great time, can't wait to see you next fall. We're basically doing the same thing. We want to hear from you, and we want to know what did you like about the show? What do you want to hear next. We're gonna put all these things together in a short clip and you can hear that if you are signed up on our website for our newsletter.

Speaker 2

For more on.

Speaker 3

Today's episode, check out our cheat sheet and show notes at Dope Laps Podcasts dot com.

Speaker 1

And remember the phone lines are always open. You can leave us a question or a comment or text us. Our number is two zero two five six seven seven zero two eight. That's two zero two five six seven seven zero two eight.

Speaker 3

You can find us on Twitter and Instagram at Dope Laps Podcast. Tt Is on Twitter and Instagram at dr Underscore T Sho.

Speaker 1

And you can find Zakia on Twitter and Instagram at z Said So.

Speaker 3

And if you do love the show, don't forget to follow us on Spotify or wherever else you listen to your podcast. Our producer Jenny Rattle at Mast. Mixing and sound design by Hannis Brown.

Speaker 1

Original theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex sugi Ura. Additional music by Elijah Alex Harvey.

Speaker 3

We want to give a special thanks to our team at Spotify, Christina Troy and Shirley Ramos. Dope Labs is brought to you by three M and is a production of Spotify Studios and Mega Owned Media Group, and is executive produced by US T. T.

Speaker 2

Shadia and Zakiah Wattley.

Speaker 3

All this talk about a little Mermaid and I was thinking, I was like, yeah, I should get some lobster. I was thinking about Sebastian.

Speaker 2

No, Sebastian's a crab. I thought he was a lobster. No, he's a crab.

Speaker 3

All this time in my head, when I recreated him, he was a lobster.

Speaker 2

No, Sebastian's a crab. That's wild.

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