the barbeque exchange

wow! my first visit hopefully won't be by last. the sides are so phenomenal they almost outshine the bbq, but not quite. sauces were spectacular, overall one o the best lunches i've had in a long time.

great service and awesome bbq. i prefer their meat combo with pork bbq and brisket. they also serve pork belly if you are into that. there are about 6 types of sauces you can choose from, i usually stick with the eastern carolina style. great place to grab a great sandwich and beer. worth the drive from louisa.

the real mckoy. this place not only serves the best barbeque but also caters to vegetarians and vegans alike. the staff is trained to those who have food allergies and able to make sensible suggestions for food items. the meats are slowly and with plenty of love. it is family friendly and even the bread (buns) is baked on the premises. kid's drawings litter the walls from used table mats. whether you desire take away or eat in you have to be impressed with the quality and quantity of the food that you order. they even make their own hickory charcoal from scratch. i mean, it does not get any better to down to the earth barbecue. owners come out of the top of the line chef italian restaurant business and wanted to get making and serving down to earth food and boy have they done it!! soon they will be opening an attached bakery and coffee house and i can't wait to try it.

creosote bbq :ash tray bbq. thanks for the feed back. well, you are right! i have not just cooked 6oo lbs of bbq. i probably cooked over 20,000 lbs. lol. also i have won 4 grand championship in kcbs ( look it up ) i finished 5th in pork in about 500 teams in the american royal! ( again look it up!) first place in sauce in nc twice. go figure!
,have you ever seen thin blue smoke - the highly desired color and amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust of a smoker.

i am very simple man, that is why i cook bbq
here is my explanation of what i am trying to convey:

wood does not burn directly. rather, when heat is applied it first undergoes a process of thermal degradation called pyrolysis in which the wood breaks down into a mixture of volatiles and solid carbonaceous char. the cellulose and hemicellulose form mainly volatiles while the lignin mainly forms the char. exactly what products are formed by each depends upon the temperature, heating rate, particle size, and any catalysts that might be present.

the solid char remains in place. what goes up with the volatiles are a gas fraction (carbon monoxide and dioxide, some hydrocarbons, and elemental hydrogen), a condensed fraction (water, aldehydes, acids, ketones, and alcohols), and -- here we go! -- a tar fraction (sugar residues from the breakdown of cellulose, furan derivatives, phenolic compounds, and -- pay attention here -- airborne particles of tar and charred material which form the smoke.

if oxygen is present and the temperature is sufficiently high, burning of the volatiles occurs. when temperatures are too low or when there is insufficient oxygen for complete combustion of the volatiles, smoldering occurs. this is characterized by smoking, the emission of unoxidized pyrolysis products. (this is the awful tasting stuff, creosote, that will give barbecue a bitter taste. (ie bbq exchange! ) if the temperature is high enough and sufficient oxygen is present, then flaming combustion occurs with less smoking and more complete oxidation of the pyrolysis products. further pyrolysis of volatiles during flaming combustion may cause char particles (soot) to form.

the remaining lignin char burns in the presence of oxygen in glowing combustion. these are my beloved coals that yield the thin blue smoke that makes great barbecue! and, that's why it is so important to preburn the wood to coals."


conclusion:
thin blue smoke good , white smoke bad!
i believe in the truth.
craig, i challenge you to prove yourself and cook at a national kcbs sanction bbq contest with the way you cook at the exchange. if you place in the top five over all , i would be very happy to retract my statements.

i just like good bbq. if you need any help, i would love to help you!
sincerely the bbq snob!

stop looking, best bbq found here. i have family stretched from va through the carolinas and been eat'n q since i was a tot. i regulary attend the annual blue ridge fest and helped a team at memphis a few years ago. this here bbq stacks up against any i've eaten, and that's alot. the warmth of a family run place only adds to the ambience. you can taste the tlc. for a bbq nut like me, its worth traveling a few hours.

that white smoke is steam!!!. user john posted the same review on the c-ville blog 10 months ago. i don't think john ever cooked 600 lbs of pork before. during which time( in the first 3 hours) it drops 100 lbs of juice which creates a ton of steam. the word carcinogenic is a strong one that is to be used wisely and after real research. folks we make our own charcoal and shovel it into the offset the carcinogenic smoke is gone before we even start smoking our meat.
come try our q and let john know what you think.

i am a vegetarian..... and i ate well at this bbq joint. it was awesome. mac'n'cheese, fried green tomatoes, and spicy slaw...maybe not the healthiest, but delicious none the less.

i first tried the brisket. i will say it was great, with a good smokey character. i only wish i could get that kind of flavor when i smoke something at alphageek headquarters. i tried the brisket with each of the four sauces that are provided on the table

overrated. bbq exchange isnt awful but it's gotten a lot of hype for what's essentially an average place. pulled pork is far better at belmont bbq and the bread they serve it on isnt doing things any favors. ribs were fall-off-the-bone but the smoky taste & dry-rub spice were lacking. so the pork bbq was disappointing, but their brisket was damn fine. matter of fact, if you went there and just had a brisket sandwich, you'd be fine. i've had far worse bbq in charlottesville (and that blue ridge pig joint is a joke). but this would be 2nd rate bbq further south.

un-obscure bbq in a completely obscure town. of all the road trips i've taken one of the best bbq joints i've found is found right at home. off the beaten path but worth the drive... a rugged but classy establishment this is what a bbq joint is supposed to be. if you're a bbq connoisseur or just a fan of getting fed, don't miss this one!

i eat here alot. never been let down. the food is amazing. it's 52 steps ahead of all other bbq places.