– They take their BBQ pits pretty seriously in Lone Star, Texas. A pit dispute led to shots being fired in a convenience store parking lot.

– Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin needed someone to choose their food vendors. They chose Austin pitmaster John Mueller. This should be fun. You can send applications to vendors@FunFunFunFest.com

 

– Dontari Poe, nose tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs has lost twenty pounds after swearing off barbecue. I guess that’s easier to do if you don’t live around Texas barbecue.

– There’s a new reality show called Family Beef, and it’s about a family that raises beef in Virginia.

 

Bewley photo
Larry Lewis, Tim McLaughlin & Jeff Bergus or Lockhart Smokehouse and Norman Bewley

– Dallas pit maker Norman Bewley of A. N. Bewley Fabricators was featured in the Sunday New York Times.  

– Some great aerial shots of Texas feedlots, and plenty of editorializing to go with them. 

– Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, provided his picks for best barbecue he’d ever eaten. For those not familiar with Scott’s or Myra’s, they are in Hemingway, SC and just outside Birmingham, AL respectively. Franklin is that hidden gem in Austin that you’ve probably never heard of.

 

– Five beef experts share their thoughts on the future of the beef industry.

– A new barbecue joint just opened in Aubrey, Texas. Clint’s BBQ is run by successful barbecue competitor Clint Noe.

– Of course the “Texas of Kazakhstan” has barbecue, and of course Texas Monthly’s Sonia Smith would report about it.

 

– Tickets go on sale for Foodways Texas Camp Brisket on August 15th. The event is held at Texas A&M on January 10-11 in 2014.

– Help find this pit stolen in Houston.

– In a sad discovery, there is a portion of San Antonio designated a Bar-B-Q free zone.

 

– Josh Ozersky questions the use of “breast”when describing piece of meat, when they really just mean brisket. He also proposes some changes to the judging system of the KCBS.

– North Carolina already has an established barbecue trail. Now South Carolina state tourism officials will spend $1.2 million to promote the state’s barbecue trail. No word on what joints will be included or how they’re chosen.

– Former American Idol heartthrob Bo Bice digs the ribs at Baker’s Ribs.

 

– Scrumptious Chef talks Cochon de Lait (whole hog roasted Louisiana style) and provides a link to a great SFA film on the subject.

– One look at this headline and you know the story wasn’t written in Texas. “Dickey’s Serves Up Great Texas-Style Barbecue”

 

Test-tube burger
A new Cultured Beef Burger made from cultured beef grown in a laboratory from stem cells of cattle, is held by the man who developed the burger, Professor Mark Post of Netherland's Maastricht University, during a the world's first public tasting event for the food product in London, Monday Aug. 5, 2013. The Cultured Beef could help solve the coming food crisis and combat climate change according to the producers of the burger which cost some 250,000 euros (US dlrs 332,000) to produce. (AP Photo / David Parry, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

– Finally, anticipation built over the weekend for the unveiling of the world’s first test-tube burger. Some expected it to be “the biggest agricultural revolution since the domestication of livestock.” After Monday’s tasting was complete, scientist Mark Post who developed the patty said “It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start.”