After 27 years and countless pork butts, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que replaces its first smoker (video)

New Smoker at the Dinosaur (video)Bob Baker, Public Relations and Social Media Manager at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, tells us about the new smoker.

SYRACUSE, NY — Little Black — the original wood-fired smoker that launched the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant business in 1988— moved today into semi-retirement.

Over the past 27 years, it’s smoked an untold number of beef briskets, rib racks and pork butts (the shoulder cuts used for pulled pork).

It’s being replaced by a larger version — but one that still works on the same principles: Heated only by wood (mostly hickory) to around 200 degrees, with a small electric motor that keeps the shelves holding the meat constantly rotating.

The new 1-ton or so smoker joins two other identical units in the original Dinosaur’s smokehouse, behind the restaurant at 246 Willow St. These wood-only …