Where There’s Smoke, There’s Flavor!

If you’ve noticed the intoxicating“eau de BBQ” fragrance coming from the parking lot to be even “smokier” it’s not your imagination!

Scotts Valley Market has had its outdoor Mesquite Grill running daily, rain or shine, for over a decade, but we’ve recently added a new component with a depth-of-flavor you can’t get for a thousand miles! Introducing the Scotts Valley Market Smoker and an extensive menu (in-store and online!) to go with it!

We are now offering Smoked Beef Brisket, Beef Tri-Tip, Pulled Pork Shoulder, Pork Ribs, Chicken and Sausage and an extensive selection of side dishes!

We are offering everything from Breakfast Tacos with your choice of smoked Brisket, Tri-Tip or Pulled Pork, to complete meals and sandwiches with an extensive selection of sides and you can even order any of our smoked meats a la carte by the pound!

Barbecue started in the Caribbean…

The process of smoking foods is an age-old technique developed centuries ago when it was discovered that smoking foods, mostly meats, preserved them from spoilage.

What we often call “Barbecue” is really just grilling with charcoal or gas. REAL Barbecue is believed to have originated in the Caribbean Islands and brought to Mexico via Spanish explorers. Caribbean Islanders dug pits in the sand near the shore, and lined the pits with large stones. They would then burn piles of wood in the pits until the stones were super-hot and the wood had burned down to become charcoal. They would then place large animal carcasses in these pits directly over the smoldering embers and because the pits were usually near the ocean, the sand was moist which created a combination of smoke and steam. They then covered the pit with large Guava leaves to retain the heat and the resulting smoke and steam infused the meat with an intoxicatingly deep and smoky flavor! This process was called “barbacoa”!

Start with the right wood: Oak!

There are dozens of woods used for smoking including Mesquite, Madrone, Hickory and many others but well-seasoned Oak is exceptionally hard, dense and burns evenly without getting too hot.

As opposed to grilling, where the goal is primarily heat with smoke-flavor as a pleasant side-effect, smoking is more about a consistent flow of flavorful smoke and lower, even heat.

We fire up the Smoker when it’s still dark!

Smoked meats are not exactly “fast food” by any stretch so we get the smoker going early in the morning before sunrise for our smoked meats to be served that evening!

Low & Slow is the Name of the Game!!

While this process is known as “hot smoking”the temperatures required are relatively low. It’s a process of striking the right balance to get just the right amount of air flow (draft) to keep the oak smoldering without going out or burning too hot. We shoot for a temperature of about 210º F. At this temperature, Beef Brisket and Pork Shoulder (Pulled Pork) can take from 10 to12 hours and Chicken and Sausage is the “quickest” at 4 hours.

As far as offerings of our smoked goodies we’re offering delicious Breakfast Tacos, which consist of a fried Egg, your choice of Smoked Beef Brisket, Smoked Pulled Pork or Smoked Tri-Tip and Salsa Fresca on a warm, griddled Corn Tortilla. For an extra $1.00 we’ll throw in Onions and Hash Browns. We also offer all of the above meats in Sandwiches a la Carte, or with 2 sides including smoked Sausage sandwiches as well as complete Meals.

All of our meats can be purchased a la Carte by the pound! If you would like to order a large quantity, (over 2 lbs), it might be a good idea to place your order a day ahead to make sure we have enough on hand!