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Joshua Bousel

Joshua Bousel

Sauced and Grilling Columnist

Sharing his love between three beautiful grills and two handsome smokers (oh, and lets not forget a wife and a couple cats), Josh has a passion for grilling and barbecue that seems to grow bigger everyday.

Starting with a bi-weekly backyard barbecue series called The Meatwave in 2004, this pastime quickly became an obsession that turned into a full fledged recipe blog a few years later. He then brought those grillmaster skills to Serious Eats in 2008, delivering the best in grilling recipes every week. Taking the plunge from backyard to pro, he started up a competition team in the spring of 2012 and quickly added the "award-winning" label to his barbecue.

At this point, Josh has slow smoked and eaten so much pork, he's legally recognized as being part swine.

Columns

  • Website
  • Location: Astoria, NY
  • Favorite foods: Barbecue, Tex-Mex, Fried Chicken, Hamburgers
  • Last bite on earth: Smoked sausage and brisket, with a side of fried chicken.

Sauced: Ancho-Raisin Sauce

Sauced: Ancho-Raisin Sauce Get Recipe

Although originally billed as a "salsa," this isn't the type of sauce made for dipping tortilla chips, but rather, it's rich and complex character that's slightly bitter, sweet, and tangy, is a great match for hearty items like a grilled skirt steak. More

Sauced: Sambal Oelek

Sauced: Sambal Oelek Get Recipe

A hot sauce in one of its purest forms, Indonesian sambal oelek is merely freshly ground hot red chiles with some salt and vinegar for flavor and preservation. Sure, it's simple, but it's also incredibly awesome and infinitely useful. More

Grilling: Ratatouille

Grilling: Ratatouille Get Recipe

Grilling each vegetable (and fruit, if you want to get technical), dicing them, and then finishing them with a dressing of herbed white balsamic created a medley of flavors and textures. Creamy eggplant, sweet and sharp onions, and acidic tomatoes all mixed with tangy vinegar and fresh herbs to create an excellent early taste of spring. More

Grilling: Filipino Barbecue

@fwilger The yield field was added a few years ago, so older recipes like this one generally don't have the yield on it. This should yield 8-12 servings, depending on if you're serving other foods as well.

Grilling: Spicy Mango Chicken Sausage

@mefoxlaw I believe the mangoes I used were unsweetened.

Grilled Chicken Under a Brick with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

@leejay Yes, for a gas grill, light half the burners and leave the other half off. This will create a two-zone fire, the on burners are the hot zone, and off burners are the cool zone. With that set-up, you can then follow the recipe as written.

Grilling: Mexican Roadside Chicken with Green Onions

@Boerderij Kabouter So glad to hear you liked it!

Grilling: Pimientos de Padrón

@punkin712 I didn't think I'd see them once back, which is why I was so excited to find them. If you can't find these peppers, the best substitute are shishitos, which are similar in size and flavor and can be found more easily in the US (try looking for them in in Japanese/Asian markets).

Grilling: Pimientos de Padrón

@chanjying I found them at Whole Foods, prepackaged. They were actually grown in Mexico and not Padrón, but Spain got them from Mexico to begin with anyway.

Mango Habanero Barbecue Sauce

@Robert D. Nope, that's just how long it should stay good if stored in the fridge, you can use the sauce right away.

Montreal Smoked Meat

@DCEats Not sure how the longer curing process would effect the end result. If it was a wet cure, I can see needing more time for the cure to fully penetrate the meat, but for the the dry cure in this recipe, 4-5 days was enough for the brisket to turn out red all the way through.

Rotisserie Porchetta

@scaramoche There's both a belly and loin in the recipe. The loin is brined and then placed in the belly which had been scored and spread with an herb and garlic rub. The whole thing is then tied into a roll and placed on the rotisserie.

Grilled Cheese Tacos

@triplecatsink For this recipe I used a cheese simple labeled "Grilling Cheese" that's common in the Mexican cheese section at groceries. You can sub it out for halloumi though, which is the king of grillable cheeses.

Grilling: Grill-Pressed Chorizo Tortas

@thesteveroller No, it's Mexican chorizo. I cooked it in the casing so I could use the grill for everything. You can cook crumbled on the grill too, just nestle a cast iron skillet in the coals, let it preheat, then add the sausage and it'll be done in minutes.

Mole Verde

@mnvader I would go for the subs in the recipe over dried epazote. The dried is not of the same caliber as the fresh, and I think the subs of fresh herbs will work better here than trying to go with dried.

Duck Pastrami

@reposado If using Morton Tender Quick, I'd use 2 tablespoons of that and omit the Kosher salt from the recipe.

Duck Pastrami

@1sherman Sorry, that was just a mistake. I've fixed it.

Duck Pastrami

@brbeats The cure fully penetrated in 3 days for me. The duck was reddish all the way through without injecting.

Planked Chicken Quarters with Lemon and Herb

@scaramoche Yup, I fixed that typo.

Duck Pastrami

@arbeck To 165°F.

Shrimp Boil Skewers

@nova721 I didn't have problems with these spinning, but another option is using two wooden skewers spaced out a little. I use that method for asparagus and it works great.

Sauced: Alabama White Barbecue Sauce

@C Baughn I'd brine bone-in chicken breasts 45-60 mins.

Blackened Catfish with Creole Sauce

@Scott569 Thanks for letting me know. The link is fixed.

Homemade Sriracha

@zowie888 Yes, the vinegar, straining, and cooking are all necessary. The vinegar add the tanginess and helps preserve the sauce so you can keep it longer. The straining creates the fine texture, and cooking thickens it to the right consistency.

Grilling: Charred Radicchio With Balsamic and Bacon

@C Baughn I really love my cast iron grates (they're from Craycort). They take more TLC than the standard grates and are a little annoying taking and on and off to start the fire because of the weight, but they're so much better for getting grill marks and they retain heat really well. Best of all is their durability. I had to replace my regular grates every few years, but the cast iron should last a lifetime.

Sauced: Filipino Spaghetti Sauce

@MontanaWildhack My wife prefers the Vienna sausages, but I'm not a fan of them, so we go with Oscar Meyer wieners.

Grilled Meatball Parmesan Hero

@GarySr Whoops, that was a mistake (accidentally copied over from an old recipe). I've corrected it, no more brick :)

Grilled Meatball Parmesan Hero

@Delicious B I always opt for making meatball separate to develop a nice crust on the outside. For meatballs and spaghetti, I usually put the seared meatballs in the sauce as it simmers, but there isn't much of a need to do that here. You can if you like though.

Grilling: Zucchini with Parmesan and Garlic Chili Oil

Grilling: Zucchini with Parmesan and Garlic Chili Oil

Zucchini is my go-to veggie for the grill. The way it browns and softens over the coals makes it irresistible in both looks and taste. I've always thought a little olive oil, salt, black pepper, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes is all you need to make it perfect, but recently wanted to expand on the classic. I introduced some new flavors with Parmesan cheese and garlic chili oil (my Sauced column this week) which only left me loving it more. More

Wing Week: Wings al Pastor

Wing Week: Wings al Pastor

Al pastor on its own is pretty awesome, but on chicken wings—now that's something special. Guajillo and chipotle chiles give the baked wings an earthy heat, while pineapple, cilantro, and lime add freshness to create a combination that's hard to beat. This also marks our first post of Wing Week! Every day this week we'll be sharing a different non-Buffalo wing recipe for your Super Bowl parties next week. More

Habanero-Brined Roasted Turkey

Habanero-Brined Roasted Turkey

For the family who worships fiery food, this is a way to relish spiciness for Thanksgiving. Soaked in a habanero-filled brine, this turkey packs a punch you won't soon forget. If the family isn't totally on board for a spicy turkey, then pare down the brine recipe and use it for a chicken instead. More

Snapshots from Sunday's Slice Meet-Up

Snapshots from Sunday's Slice Meet-Up View Slideshow

Yesterday we had a Slice meet-up for A) the heck of it and B) well, to celebrate Slice's 7-year anniversary (October 13, for those keeping score at home). We met at DBA bar in the afternoon with the idea that Slice would order some pies in and that Slice'rs would bring a pie (or pies) from their local fave — or even make one of their own — to share. After a slow start, a nice-size crowd showed up — about 16 total, with five pizzerias represented — Rosario's on the Lower East Side of Manhattan; Sam's of Cobble Hill,... More

Grilling: Keftedes

Grilling: Keftedes

What seemed like a ton of onion, garlic, oregano and mint in proportion to the meat at first, ended up being just the right amount of flavor to make these meatballs taste distinctly Greek. Although they didn't necessarily need the accompanying tzatziki and lemon to make them delicious, put altogether, they were outstanding. More

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party 2010 in Photos

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party 2010 in Photos View Slideshow

The Eighth Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party rolled into town this past weekend, bringing along seventeen different pitmasters from all over the country—representing the the diversity that is American barbecue. As each pitmaster focused their attention on only their one strongest item, the barbecue found at the event truly represented the best of the best. More

Guide to Grilling: Gauging the Heat

Guide to Grilling: Gauging the Heat

To become a true "Master of the Flames," you'll need to know how to own a fire. Gauging and controlling the temperature is crucial in delivering the just right heat to your food—luckily, one of the easiest way to determine this is always at hand (literally). Just hover your hand above the cooking grate and count the seconds it takes until you're positive your skin will melt off. With the findings, you can determine if the heat is at high, medium, or low, and which foods should be cooked at each. More

Dinner Tonight: Velvet Chicken

Dinner Tonight: Velvet Chicken

The "velvet" in the title alludes to the chicken's texture after it emerges from the pot. While some poached chicken recipes come out stringy and tough, this one is cooked in a liquid that's barely simmering for 30 minutes. The result is perfectly cooked chicken that's beautifully tender and aromatic thanks to a particularly flavorful cooking liquid. More

Serious Heat: A Guide to Chile Substitutions

What to do when you don't have the right chile. You know the drill. You've clipped or printed out a recipe that's supposed to be tonight's dinner. Except, the grocery store betrays you—not having those few essential items you need. As an editor at Chile Pepper magazine, for me that usually means a certain chile necessary to test or develop a recipe. For example, in certain regions, some chiles like cayenne are impossible to find fresh. The key to finding an adequate chile replacement is knowing its heat level, sweetness, and smokiness. We pooled our resources to come up with a substitution guide for whole chiles. While it focuses on whole fresh or dried chiles, you can always use a... More

The Best in the West: Nugget Rib Cook-off in Sparks, Nevada

The Best in the West: Nugget Rib Cook-off in Sparks, Nevada

"Pitmasters here represent the entire nation." [Photographs: Joshua Bousel] I had the most perfect Labor Day planned, a lazy afternoon next to the smoker filled with pork, some beers, and close friends. That was until I received an invitation to visit the The Best in the West: Nugget Rib Cook-off in Nevada. After a second pause contemplating whether I wanted to alter my ideal holiday, I thought better of my reservations, and before I knew it, I was on a plane headed for a weekend of pure barbecue bliss. If you're an East Coaster like myself, the Nugget Rib Cook-off may not sound familiar, but for the pitmasters and attendees alike, it's the biggest event of the year. The six-day... More

Saag Paneer

Saag Paneer

I couldn't find one saag paneer recipe that resembled another. I went for a rather simple, almost comfort-food version, but you can jack the spices way up if you'd like.... More