Fittnell Barbeque

It's nice when an idea comes together and works. Originally I planned on cutting the hole and making a generic serving window that flipped up, and then I had the idea to reuse the existing skin and window to maintain the trailer's aesthetic.

I've been putting off this part of the project and saved it for the last big task as I was nervous how it would all come together, fortunately it worked.

Today I start the trim and finish details, hard to believe we're almost done after 6 months of work

We had so much fun last night serving over 800 samples at Taste of the Finger Lakes. The event gives us a chance to experiment and serve in a different format than we're used to and reach so many new people.

This year we served an Asian style pork belly (salt, pepper, and garlic pork belly finished with a Japanese bbq sauce, topped with nori, sesame seeds, and crispy onion), smoked chicken salad (basil, lemon, chive flowers), brisket on weck (brisket finished with a smoked mushroom au jous and topped with a horseradish and carraway seed cream with some crispy onions) and not pictured as I always forget at least one, pork belly with a red chimichurri.

Had some friends over to get another cook in and test some different items and methods. This cook I was testing long holding spare ribs as a potential scheduling option in the future. I smoked them until the internal temperature hit low to mid 180's, wrapped one with sauce and one without, put them straight into the warmer sr 155 and then held for 16 hours before we ate them. They held up really well and while I prefer bite tenderness, these were fall off the bone tender while not being overcooked and grainy, the flavor was well balanced and not washed out, overall a good test.

On the platter: naked and sauced pork spare ribs, hatchapeno sausage, chicken drumsticks, street corn pasta salad, couscous salad, coal bed charred cabbage, smoked sweet potatoes, and pickles.

Phew, we just finished washing dishes and we finally had a chance to sit down and eat a bite ourselves. Thank you to everyone that came out today and patiently waited in line. It was our single busiest day of service, we moved over 150lbs of cooked meat in 3 hours and sold out in just over 4 hours.

We definitely have a little rust to shake off after a winter off and will keep chugging away dialing it all in.

Thank you Meagan for the photo!

Thank you Jesse for the help!

You are only one week away from our first pop-up of the year! We'll be at Personal Best Brewing on Saturday, May 16th, for their 3rd anniversary party. We'll be serving from 12 until sold out (we're hoping to make it past 4pm).

We will be bringing more food than last year and filling the smoker with ribs as they always go too fast! We look forward to seeing you all there and sharing our bbq with old and new friends!

Thank you to everyone that came out last night to the Foodnet Mac N' Cheese bowl. This is our 3rd time doing it and it's one of our favorite events to be a part of as we get to interact with so many people. The outpouring sense of community to raise money for Meals on Wheels is remarkable. It's great to see so many local businesses donating their time and resources to help food insecurity in Tompkins County.

We gave out over 700 samples of our Moo Attack (brisket Mac), Spicy Hen (buffalo chicken) and our Classic 4 cheese Mac. We cannot wait to do the event again!

The smoker is clean, has a fresh coat of seasoning oil, and is 3/4 filled with pork shoulders for a catering, not a bad way to start a Saturday morning.

Our first pop-up of the year is on May 16th and we couldn't be more excited to be back at Personal Best Brewing to celebrate their 3rd anniversary and all of their delicious libations!

We'll be loading the smoker and bringing as much meat as we can carry without throwing out our backs. We'll be serving from 12-4 or until sold out, dine-in only.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

We're all stacked with food for the bbq season, thanks ! This year we're switching it up a little and adding oak to the mix. For the past three years I've been using exclusively hickory, but I've wanted to add oak to the mix as I love the flavor and aromatics of it. This will also give me the option to mix the woods for long cooks or use one or the other for different proteins. We're excited to taste and share the differences.

May 6th we'll be at the Foodnet Mac and Cheese bowl at the Ithaca Farmers Market, serving up our Classic Mac, Buffalo Chicken Mac, and a Brisket Mac! Come out and support this great community event to help fund their mission of feeding our community.

Our first pop-up of the year will be on May 16th, at Personal Best Brewing, from 12 to sold out, for their 3rd anniversary party! Be sure to add it to your calendar! We plan on filling the smoker and making more food than ever in hopes of spreading the BBQ love as far as possible. We look forward to seeing you all there!