You know you are in for some fantastic BBQ when your destination is not just a restaurant, but a full smokehouse experience. Smoke on the Water, a new craft BBQ restaurant in Salisbury from the team behind Peabody’s Big Pig Barbecue Catering, focuses on high quality ingredients while allowing diners a look behind the curtain.
“Smoke on the Water is about giving people more than a meal,” said founder and owner Chris LaBella. “We want guests to experience real barbecue up close — to see the pits, learn about the process, smell the post oak smoke, and then enjoy the finished product at its best, whether they stay for the full experience or order ahead for pickup.”
LaBella, a Lynnfield native, teamed up with Chris Newberry Big Pig’s Director of Operations to open Smoke on the Water after an extensive 13-month renovation of the property. Newberry, who is a co-founder and the Pitmaster, gave us a tour of the smokehouse explaining their carefully orchestrated smoking techniques. There are two massive purple MM2000 pits with rotating racks that can each fit up to 70 to 80 briskets, or up to 124 pork butts and two 1,000-gallon Bison offset smokers. All four smokers were made in Texas and are powered solely by post oak firewood shipped up from Texas.
“They’re all wood smokers. There’s no gas. There’s no propane. There’s no oven. It’s the time, the effort that goes into this, we’re really paying attention to the fire. We’re adjusting the fire every 20 to 30 minutes to keep temperatures consistent,” details Newberry, “All of our briskets, our pork butts usually take anywhere from 10 to 13 hours. The beef ribs that we cook take about 10 to 12 hours. We cook mostly everything at a low temperature – 225 degrees and never go over 250. When you cook at that lower temperature, it allows the meat to stay really moist, and you get a tender flavor over a longer period of time.”
The inspiration is Central Texas market style BBQ, but Newberry explains that their focus is Craft BBQ – a scratch made menu with hand-mixed rubs, small batch sauces, craft recipe sides, and low and slow meats.
“I was immersed in BBQ my whole life growing up in Texas. I moved here five years ago, and I worked at a high-volume barbecue place down in Texas and kind of learned all the tricks of the trade,” explains Newberry, “I brought some of the specials that we did down there and some of the techniques that I learned down there up here.”
The menu contains a variety of smoke meats, including the showstopper Dino Beef Rib, an oversized rib with a spectacular crust that can be easily shared. Sides range a rich creamed corn to a lighter cucumber salad. A full restaurant review including craft cocktails and a luscious banana pudding dessert will be forthcoming in a Northshore print issue this fall.
In celebration of Newburyport’s Yankee Homecoming Festival from July 25 to August 2, Smoke on the Water will be offering their first annual “8 Days of Yankee Homecoming Specials.” They will showcase a special smoked meat and special side dish each day.