Where to eat BBQ Mutton in Louisville
Smoked aged mutton (sheep) with a vinegar-and-pepper dipping sauce and white bread. The western Kentucky BBQ tradition centred in Owensboro, with Louisville echoes on a handful of barbecue menus.
The story of BBQ Mutton
Western Kentucky's barbecue tradition centres on mutton rather than pork, a distinction that goes back to 19th-century immigrant farmers in the Owensboro region who raised sheep for wool and ate the older mutton at community gatherings. The smoked mutton is served chopped or sliced with a thin vinegar-and-black-pepper dipping sauce. The dish is most reliably found west in Owensboro at Moonlite Bar-B-Q and Old Hickory; in Louisville the tradition is now rare on regular menus. The Owensboro Bar-B-Q Festival celebrates mutton each May.
How to make BBQ Mutton
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1.5kg bone-in mutton shoulder
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Hickory wood chips, soaked
- For the dip: 250ml cider vinegar
- 250ml water
- 60ml Worcestershire
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
Method
- Combine salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Rub all over the mutton shoulder. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.
- Heat smoker to 110C. Add hickory wood chips throughout.
- Place the mutton on the smoker. Smoke for 6 to 8 hours, until internal temperature reaches 90C and the meat pulls easily.
- While the mutton smokes, simmer all dip ingredients in a saucepan for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- Rest the smoked mutton 30 minutes loosely tented in foil.
- Chop or slice thin. Serve with the warm vinegar-and-pepper dip and white bread.
Editor tip. Real western Kentucky mutton is older sheep, not young lamb; the flavour is gamier and richer. Use bone-in shoulder and don't rush the smoke.
The editor picks for BBQ Mutton in Louisville are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Louisville signature-dishes index or the Louisville food guide.