BLOGS

Out go the orchards; in come the condos. Ever wonder what happens to the wood from those rows of ripped-up fruit trees?

Thankfully, it’s put to good use. In fact, a lot gets loaded and trucked over to Seattle for cooking what the Seattle Weekly says is some of the tastiest barbecue in the Pacific Northwest.

The two fellows who run Raney Brothers BBQ, a food-truck paradise for pulled-pork sandwiches, attribute the taste of their “NW-style” barbecue to the cherry and apple wood they buy by the truckload in the Wenatchee Valley.

“We like to use both types of wood,” said co-owner and co-chef Paul Raney. “Lately, we’ve been using cherry for smoking our port butts — OK, call ’em pork shoulders. When we smoke our pork ribs, we first use Wenatchee cherry wood and then finish ’em off with apple. Talk about tasty.”

The Wenatchee wood gives Raney’s smoked meats a truly distinctive flavor that’s not found anywhere else, said Paul. “People ask what type of barbecue we do — Texas, Memphis, Carolina? When we tell them it’s Northwest style, they always ask, “Huh? What’s that?”

He explained that local fruit wood produces “a more subtle smoke flavoring that complements and enhances the flavors of the meat.” Hickory, mesquite and oak can cover up those flavors, he said, but not fruit wood.

“We’re picky about that kind of thing,” Paul said. “It’s why we don’t smother our meats with barbecue sauce.”

A food truck blog on the Weekly’s website by Katelin Chow (“Kat Chow”) described the pulled pork sandwich with cabbage slaw, grilled onions and cheese as “a beast,” with “awesome tasting” pork juice dribbling from the sandwich, down your chin and probably onto your new jacket.

Of course, the taste of the Raney boys’ BBQ can’t all be attributed to the wood. They marinate the meat for 24 hours with a dry rub that Paul’s spent years perfecting. Then they smoke it for 12 hours straight.

But the Wenatchee wood is absolutely key, said Paul. “Luckily, we live in the Northwest. Central Washington produces the best apples and cherries in the world, right? Turns out it has the best fruit wood, too.”

Details: Raney Brothers BBQ is housed in a food truck that stops at various Seattle locations during the week. Their Facebook page lists the sites and serving hours. (206) 371-5078.

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