“We cook differently than most people. We’ll take a fifteen-pound shoulder clod and get it done in four-and-a-half hours. People that cook briskets eight, ten, twelve, fourteen hours—that’s their way of doing it. I don’t. I’m not that patient. We get our briskets done in about six hours. It takes more attention. You don’t just put it on there and then come back in six hours. You have to turn them about every thirty minutes or so, move them around, find your hot spots on your pit, and do a little juggling. It’s the way we cook. We cook so fast, it’s almost a combination of barbecuing and grilling—but it’s all done with wood.”
—Rick Schmidt, owner (From Republic of Barbecue: Stories Beyond the Brisket, a UT/SFA oral history project. Read more »)
Kreuz Market
Lockhart, TX 78644
Hours: Open Mon–Sat 10:30–8. Closed Sun.
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Texas Monthly rating: 5.00
TEXAS MONTHLY SAYS: 2006: Who says nothing ever changes at this champeen of German-style, oak-smoked barbecue? Sure, the juicy beef—fatty brisket and lean shoulder clod—is still tender enough to cut with a plastic fork, if they had ’em (plastic knives are the only “silverware”), and the ambrosial pork chops remain the unsung star of the pits. But since moving in 1999 from the original downtown meat market to its present barn on the edge of town, Kreuz has expanded its menu to include, among other items, meaty pork ribs and jalapeño cheese sausage links. There are even token sides now, but still no sauce. Because some things really don’t ever change.
2008: Kreuz (pronounced “Krites”) does 45 percent of its business on Saturday. The rest of the week it feels like some kind of meat monastery. You enter, footsteps ringing out in the vast, vacant space, and head down a long hall to the pit room. The atmosphere is not convivial—you sit alone in a room, capacity 560, bent quietly over an array of absolutely beautiful meat, with no fork, sauce, or plate to disrupt the communion. The product is simple and potent. The brisket is so smoky you can imagine the tree. Swoon-inducing pork ribs are encrusted with huge chunks of black pepper. The pork chop is submissive and the jalapeño-cheese sausage addictive.
BBQ SNOB SAYS: 2011: We opted for a link, an end cut pork chop, and a thick slice of clod. The all-beef link was juicy and robust with a great snap and plenty of spice. I prefer a link with a little pork in it, but this was a good example of the all-beef variety. The clod, perfectly tender meat surrounded by a thick black crust, may be the best I’ve ever eaten. The thick pork chop wasn’t far down the ladder. Intensely flavorful and supple meat was enveloped by a thin line of perfectly rendered fat that gushed with salty flavor.
2009: Just like Smitty’s down the street, this joint offers both fatty brisket and shoulder clod, which they refer to as “lean beef.” Both were included in my pile of protein along with a spare rib and a pork chop. The lean brisket was phenomenal—moist, perfectly tender with a deep smokiness and robust flavor from the salty rub. The fatty brisket, however, didn’t fare as well. The flavor was fine, but it was simply too fat. The pork chop proved the biggest surprise. This lean meat can sometimes get dried out, but this slice was perfectly moist, tender, and smoky. I picked the bone clean.
2008: Walking into the smokehouse, you’d guess this place has been around for ages, but this is a new building (with a lot of family history). Ordering here is similar to ordering at a butcher shop: Describe the meat and how much you want of it, and it’s loaded onto a scale for pricing. They’ve starting selling some classic barbecue side items in the attached dining room, but the best accompaniments are the traditional crackers, cheese, and pickles. No sauce is available here.
The lean brisket was still heavy on the fat, but it was well rendered and smoky while the fatty brisket was simply carrying too much extra blubber to be enjoyable without a trim. A nice black crust held far too much salt on both cuts. In addition to the usual, we also sampled a pork chop, which was dry but the most evenly seasoned piece of meat of the day.
