So it’s no secret that we love us some Country Glazed donuts. I am not afraid to drive 45 minutes to get me some of those immaculate fry donuts or a breakfast sandwich from this absolutely amazing family. Seriously, these are THE best donuts in CNY and worth every second of the drive and I will not ever stop raving about them. So imagine my excitement when I saw a Facebook post that Country Glazed was going Country Smoked. Our favorite donut shop wants to take a crack at some roadside barbecue? Count me in.
We decided to be brave and hope for the best as we took the drive out to the BBQ shack located on the same property as Country Glazed and just take whatever we can get that they have left considering today was their first day open for business. We managed to sneak out a little earlier than expected since Chelsea works from home and our internet went down due to Spectrum coming out and working on lines, so we arrived right around 3:00. In the three hours that Country Smoked was open, they sold out of brisket and pulled chicken which was unfortunately the two primary things we were coming out to try. But that’s the gamble with “until gone” bbq joints. Instead we opted for a pulled pork platter with two sides (corn bread and potato salad) and a quarter rack of ribs with two sides (pasta salad and coleslaw).
The pulled pork was great, with a really nice softness to the pork and well seasoned. The pork was pulled really well and had a touch of that delicious smoked fat mixed in without there being globs of chewy, undercooked bits of fat. The Original BBQ sauce was solid with hints of smokyness and a good tang to it. Cornbread was a basic, albeit well-executed, corn bread that Chelsea was a bit too excited to dig into and started eating before snapping a picture. Potato salad had perfectly cooked potatoes, a nice creamyness to the dressing and a light mixing of crunchy vegetables but it could have used a touch more salt for our tastes.
The ribs were the standout for me. I rarely order ribs when we go out to barbecue places because I’m extremely picky with my ribs and, as conceited as this is going to sound, have a hard time finding someone that makes a better rib than mine. But I’ve also been smoking ribs since I was a kid and (in my opinion) almost perfected my cook on some baby back or St Louis ribs. Were these ribs perfect? No. Were they still REALLY good? Absolutely. The first thing I do when I get a set of ribs in front of me is try and pull a bone. A properly cooked rack should have the bones slide right out with little-to-no resistance, almost like pulling a warm knife out of butter. The first bone didn’t slide out, but that was just because the membrane was left on while cooking. There’s nothing WRONG with leaving the membrane on instead of peeling it before seasoning, especially because when it’s cooked properly the completely edible membrane gives a little crackle and crunch to the underside of the ribs. This rack had membrane and that caused the bone to stick a tiny bit. But it still popped right out after a gentle twist. Second bone gave less resistance and the third practically fell out. The meat was beyond perfect, wonderfully seasoned and very tender while still having a nice bark to the top layer. Once again, the Original BBQ sauce gave a lovely flavor, especially after the sugars caramelized during the cook.
The coleslaw was properly dressed and not overly creamy like a lot of places around CNY seem to make and had the perfect amount of pepper but was a touch too vinegary for my personal preferences. Well made, well seasoned, just not how I normally like it. The pasta salad was a bit of a surprise simply because I wasn’t expecting gemmeli pasta in a cold, Italian-style pasta salad. The dressing was creamy and well seasoned, a solid amount of crunchy vegetables mixed throughout and a light sprinkling of black olives combined with the denser, doughy pasta worked really well and was a really refreshing side to go with the ribs. We also tried the Blueberry Jalapeño and Honey Garlic BBQ sauces. Both were very good, with the Blueberry Jalapeño having a mild heat and a lot of sweet, but the Honey Garlic was fantastic and I feel like if the ribs were cooked with the Honey Garlic BBQ sauce it would make a perfect rib.
Overall, this is solid roadside barbecue. Is it knock-your-socks-off barbecue like everyone expects everyone who ever tries to sell smoked foods in CNY thinks they should be? No. But they are still learning. The family behind Country Glazed wanted to try something new, they took a risk and asked for advice from Syracuse BBQ staples and are learning as they go. There are bound to be hiccups on the first day but everyone was extremely polite and apologetic for running out of certain items despite the fact that this is their first day, they are still learning what to anticipate and they got rocked for lunch a lot more than they expected for a Thursday. There were mild issues with the credit card reader due to Wi-Fi and Hotspot connectivity issues, but that’s part of the growing pains of new endeavors. Country Smoked is a solid 9/10 and we look forward to coming back to try the brisket and pulled chicken in the future, especially because the pork was good enough that even Chelsea liked it and she typically doesn’t care for anything pork that isn’t bacon. I hope they continue to succeed and tweak their recipes and cooks, because this family could very well conquer the small town of Central Square if they keep going like they are.
548 S Main St, Central Square, NY 13036