Mouse over for captions, or click for full-size image. See ya next year (or tomorrow at your favorite joint)!

Tagged: austin, barbecue, bbq, beef, brisket, franklin bbq, pork, ribs, sausage, Stanley's, taylor, texas, Texas BBQ, Texas Monthly BBQ, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, Wayne Mueller

Photo by Trey Kazee

Make that 22 pitmasters.

Since Bertram Smoke Haus made our Top 50 in 2008, a lot has happened with the joint northwest of Austin. Pitmaster and owner Jim Wallace moved out of his original location, a 100-plus year-old former mercantile and lumber store, for a bigger new spot that he renamed Bertram Bar B Que.

Unfortunately, as some of our most die-hard BBQ Finder App and web site users already know, Bertram 2.0 did not work out.

The good news is, Wallace is still manning the mesquite, including as a caterer, but more importantly, he’s planning to re-open back at the old Smoke Haus spot as soon as possible.

The bad news is, because of that transition, he can no longer make the festival on Sunday. We at TEXAS MONTHLY still wish him the best, and look forward to future feedings at the new old place.

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, austin, barbecue, bbq, bertram, brisket, burnet, oatmeal, ribs, sausage, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival

Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.

Today we bring you Marco Oglesby, 30, of Opie’s BBQ in Spicewood. For more info, visit their page on TMBBQ.com.

Photo by Daniel Vaughn

Who did you learn your craft from?

To be honest, before I started working at Opie’s, I never used smoker before. I used a backyard circle grill with my dad, but when I worked at a gas station I became friend’s with the owner of Opie’s; when they had a spot open up, I jumped at the opportunity to start working there. Mike, the pitmaster who was already there, taught me how to use the smoker, and that was pretty much how I started. I’ve always loved BBQ, and I was born and raised in Austin, so I’ve just always cooked it.

What’s your signature meat?

I like everything we cook. However, I’d say our most popular meat is our sweet and spicy baby back ribs.

Sauce or no sauce?

No, I don’t use sauce. The baby back ribs are the only thing we cook with sauce. But me personally? I think if you cook meat properly, the simpler the better. I prefer to taste the meat.

Slow and low or high and fast(er)?

We usually cook at about 250 degrees.We used to cook a bit hotter than that, but now we go low and slow. We do the briskets overnight, ribs for about three hours, and the chicken usually takes a couple hours. (more…)

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, bbq, brisket, Marco Oglesby, Opie's BBQ, Pitmasters, ribs, Spicewood, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival