The seed of Project Smoked was sown into our founder's, Bino's, heart while he was studying in the University of Minnesota.
"It was a Fourth of July, and I really wanted to make something uniquely American for my American & International friends.", recalls Bino. While studying in Minnesota, he was staying in a Church Campus House in Dinkytown, Minneapolis, which housed many International Students from countries like Malaysia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Kenya, China, as well as local Students from America.
"Barbecue. The type where it is smoked. That is what is truly American", Bino thought to himself. Luckily, the Campus House that he was staying at the time had an outdoor gas grill. Bino wasted no time and went to Google to search if he could smoke some meats using a gas grill. Sure enough, Google had the answer. You can use tin foil to make a pouch & put wood chips in it to make a makeshift smoke diffuser in the cook chamber of the gas grill.
Excited, Bino wasted no time and rushed to Aldi's and bought himself some Apple wood chips along with a nice rack of pork spare ribs & some spices to make a rub out of it. A few hours later, the pork spare ribs was seasoned, placed on the gas grill, and waiting for the apple wood smoke from the foil pouch to do its magic. As it smoked, the front porch was filled with the heavenly aroma of smoky, porky goodness and Bino knew that it was going to be a mind opening experience.
Three excruciating & hungry hours later, the pork spare ribs was ready for devouring. The surface of the ribs was glistening from the fat that has been rendered. It also had an amber red hue to it from the penetration of the smoke into the meat. After the rib was cut into individual bones, the rib was so tender that you could pull the bone right of the meat.
Then came the moment of truth. The Taste Test. When Bino had the first bite into that juicy, smoky, sexy piece of rib, his whole life changed. His mouth was filled with tender & well spiced meat along with smooth silky lard that has been kissed by a light yet complex apple wood smoke. Among his twenty years alive, he never tasted any meat that tasted like what he just bit into.
As he was trying to process the beautiful flavour of the rib, he looked around at the faces of his housemates who were also consuming the meat along with him. Bliss. Pure Bliss. That was the expression they all had on their face. Rob, his giant 7 foot American friend, exclaimed that this was the best Barbecue he ever had. Even though Bino knew that the statement was highly subjective, it didn't matter at all. This statement had set him on a path of no return. Bino had set himself unto a journey into the deep limitless rabbit hole that is the never ending pursuit of American Barbecue.
