– A Texas Ranger tweets that he prefers North Carolina barbecue and rightfully catches the ire of fans.

– The Rangers don’t serve North Carolina barbecue at the stadium:

 

– USA Today kicks off National BBQ Month (which starts today) with this very brief description of US barbecue styles. 

– The average cost for choice brisket is at $3.20 per pound, up from $1.93 one year ago. 

– On a killer hog disease: “Something like a tablespoon of PEDv infected manure is roughly enough to infect the entire U.S. hog herd.” 

– A look at beef production in the US in the last fifty years.  – A painting of Black’s BBQ in Lockhart:

 

– The True Cue group in North Carolina wants names. They’re seeking out any government entity in NC that has forced a barbecue joint to stop using wood for their cooking. 

– The restaurant group of famed American chef, Thomas Keller, has started taking barbecue more seriously. At the Yountville, California based Addendum restaurant they have revamped their barbecue menu. 

– Lamar Lounge is a new barbecue joint in Oxford, Mississippi from acclaimed chef John Currence. He’ll be cooking whole hog and a number of other meats. 

– It seems the Canadians are also obsessed with barbecue. 

– Myron Mixon now has a full line of pre-cooked, pre-packaged barbecue at Costco. Rumor is that he doesn’t actually cook it all:

 

– The Houston Chronicle has hired a weekly barbecue columnist.

– Forbes posted this interview with Houston’s Ronnie Killen, “The New King of Houston Barbecue.”

– The Houston Chronicle provides their list of favorite local barbecue joints.

– A Texas Monthly BBQ Bus Tour is coming to Houston on 5/31.

– Earlier this month, Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston was featured on the Cooking Channel along with pit builder David Klose.

– The Salt Lick has a new wood-fired smoker in their arsenal:

 

– BBQ, Burgers, and Beer – part of the wider Culinaria event – is coming to San Antonio on Sunday, 5/18.

– The SA Current reviews B&D Icehouse in San Antonio, and finds a lot to like.

– UTSA has a free BBQ event tomorrow evening. Cooking up Culture: BBQ in Texas.

– An announcement from Hutchins BBQ:

 

– A new show on Discovery called Boss Hog stars Brian “Pigman” Quaca from Groesbeck, Texas. He runs a business hunting feral hogs, and has partnered with Wright’s BBQ in Mexia to cook hogs that he brings them. 

– Destination America announces a new show BBQ Pit Wars which will feature “top pitmasters in the country going head-to-head on the national BBQ circuit to prove who is a bona-fide BBQ black belt.” 

– Your guide to pellet smokers from The BBQ Beat. 

– Here’s a road trip guide to Southern BBQ that actually looks pretty good until they get to the Carolinas. Charlotte is not the place to go for Carolina BBQ. 

– There was a Texas barbecue panel discussion over the weekend at the Austin Food & Wine Festival. The panel included Wayne Mueller, Aaron Franklin, and Tim Rattray, and it was led by Andrew Zimmern:

 

– The “Taste of Texas” at the Austin Food & Wine Festival was also rich in smoked meats. 

– The New York Post went to the Austin Food & Wine Festival in search of Aaron Franklin’s brisket and to ask about his chances of moving to New York. “Not going to happen.” 

– Wait in line for food at Franklin Barbecue, get $100, via Craigslist. Make $10,400 annually. 

– Whole hog…on a rotisserie smoker:

 

– The St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church of Galveston is holding their annual BBQ fundraiser this weekend. Neil “Big Mista” Strawder will be cooking, among others.

– Tom Micklethwait of Micklethwait Craft Meats in Austin is expanding his business, his staff, and the line of sausages he can prepare. He also “can gobble the entire theme song to Star Wars.”

– Burger Mary visits Micklethwait, and find the brisket to be “decent, not great.”

– BREAKING: Cooper’s BBQ Austin was reasearching at Cooper’s BBQ Llano, and they liked what they found:

 

– The Smoking Ho enjoyed a visit to Miller’s Smokehouse in Belton.

– The Costco Signature BBQ Brisket Sandwich is now sold at Costco food courts around the country. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a sandwich like this elsewhere,” says Sharlene Taylor, Costco’s Food Court buyer. I bet she’s right.

– Milt’s Pit BBQ in Kyle is under new ownership:

 

– Dallas Morning News dining critic Leslie Brenner referred to “burned ends” rather than “burnt ends” in a recent barbecue joint review, so fellow Dallas food critic Teresa Gubbins pokes a little fun at her.

– There’s a Pitmaster Picnic coming to Dallas with some pretty big Texas BBQ names in attendance.

– The Dallas Observer calls the BBQ Ranch in far northwest Fort Worth “Texas in Miniature.”

– 4T’s BBQ in Forney is profiled by the local paper.

– The boys from the UK’s Red’s True BBQ came to Texas on a barbecue pilgrimage and blogged about their trip through Dallas.

– Schmidt Family BBQ in Bee Cave is now serving breakfast:

 

– Soon-to-be-former Texas Monthly editor Jake Silverstein was interviewed about his new position over a hulking tray of barbecue from Stiles Switch.

– An interview with Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe on how he went from being a trucker to a full-time BBQ guy.

– A man broke his own Guinness world record for consecutive hours barbecuing. Jan Greef grilled for eighty hours in Columbus, Georgia where he cooked “1,000 hot dogs, 200 pieces of corn, 104 pieces of chicken, 558 hamburgers and 526 pieces of boerewors.”

– Finally, Operation BBQ Relief has responded to the aftermath of the recent tornado outbreak in the South. They do good work, and need your help: