Super Smokers BBQ, a widely acclaimed St. Louis-area barbecue chain that included a location on Route 66 in Eureka, Mo., shut down its restaurants Thursday night, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The current owner says the restaurants never quite recovered after the economic downturn from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks. Super Smokers also was hurt by the death of a business partner two years ago and the recent spike in gas prices.
Its product was so good, it won the national title one year in the whole hog category of the Memphis in May World Barbecue Championships.
Byron Crawford, who says he was a former employee at the restaurant, says on his blog (warning: language that may be offensive lies ahead) that one of the secrets for the flavor of Super Smokers barbecue was how the employees … ahem … treated the wood to smoke the meat.
That secret ingredient? You guessed it, human piss.
I know, I was shocked too when I learned that the secret that gave Super Smokers BBQ its unique taste was that its employees, mostly the male ones, would pee on the pile of wood that was kept out back to be used in their smokers. The wood, of course, doesn’t come into direct contact with the meat, but the smoke that is produced when it’s burned slowly cooks the meat over the course of several hours. I’m not sure what exactly the piss adds to the process, but I did always notice that their meat had a certain citrus-y flavor.
No wonder it was a secret. Can you imagine the look on a health inspector’s face if he found out?
This is the most rediculous claim I have ever heard in my life. I cannot believe this even was posted on your site. Yes Super Smokers is closed, but this no time to discredit the efforts of so many people who are now out of a job. I spent the last eight years working for the company and I am proud of the product that we served. Including malicious blogs on your site speaks volumes about your credibility as a reputable source for news and information concerning Route 66.
I didn’t make the claim. Someone else did.
Besides, if peeing on the wood made the meat taste better after it had been smoked, how is this a bad thing? I was a satisfied repeat customer of Super Smokers. If it were still open, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back and order the ribs or pulled-pork sandwich.
I know for a fact that barbecuers use strange and even exotic methods. Super Smokers is such an example.
Bryon crawford is a loser that worked at my store as a line cook in eureka. i was the pitmaster at the eureka store we never once did this.
ps your website sucks for posting lies
But did you do it more than once?
Doesn’t matter much … Super Smokers had a great product, and I’m sorry it’s gone. If someone else opens a BBQ like this, I hope they use the same methods — whatever they are. 😉
Super Smokers is still open in Eureka, but I look it up online to see about ordering sauces over the internet for some friends moving to Texas, and what do I see?? The only thing really mentioning Super Smokers is this post…wow their secret is their sauces you sick f–k, river town foods .com bought their brand and kept them open from the almost defunct restaurant in 2006.