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 Wayne Mueller, 46, of Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor. For more info, visit their page on TMBBQ.com.

What is your heat source and what type of wood do you use?

We use oak wood for all of our heat sources. It’s an abundant hard wood source here in our region. It provides a smoke that isn’t overpowering—it’s subtle but distinct. It works well for us and it’s readily available. There is plenty of it, so we don’t have to constantly change what type of wood we use, which would ultimately change how our product tastes.

Who did you learn your craft from?

Well, I started working in the family restaurant when my father took over from his father in 1972, when I was 8 years old. I worked in the restaurant until I left town to go to college, so about 10 or 11 years. I came back in 2007, when my father was ready to retire and we wanted to insure the restaurant stayed in the family. So I divested myself from an agency in Houston and moved back to Taylor.

What’s your signature meat?

Brisket is our number one entrée. I don’t want to say we have a cult following because that has a negative connotation, but we also have strong following of our beef ribs and sausages.

Sauce or no sauce?

No, we use a dry rub. We do offer a sauce, but it’s more of a complimentary hydration fluid. It doesn’t cover the meat. It’s not a thick, viscous sauce you would find in the south or anywhere else – like a ketchup kind of covering. Instead, it’s primarily made of the rubs. So it acts like a compliment to the meat instead of covering it up in sauce. (more…)

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, barbecue, bbq, brisket, hill country, Louie Mueller, oak wood, sausage, taylor, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, Wayne Mueller

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 Joe Arriago, 33 of Big Daddy’s Roadhouse BBQ in Lavon. For more info, visit their page on TMBBQ.com.

Photograph by Daniel Vaughn.

Who did you learn your craft from?

We went to a school for this, and my boss paid for it. And everyday I try to learn more. We try to do the most we can here. I’ve been working here for all 16 years, and I love it. I love my job. There’s always something new every time to learn.

What’s your signature meat?

We got brisket, sausage, turkey, ham, ribs, chicken and pulled pork. We have all those seven different kinds of meats. My favorites are the brisket and the ribs. I think those are the best here at Big Daddy’s.

Sauce or no sauce?

I like the meat with no sauce. Sometimes, with the meat we cook, you don’t need the sauce. They already come in with real good flavor. But we do have a barbecue sauce here for customers. It’s Big Daddy’s own recipe. It tastes real good. It’s sweet sauce. (more…)

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, Big Daddy's Roadhouse BBQ, brisket, dallas, Lavon, Plano, sausage, Smoked Meat, 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 Cliff Payne, 58, of Cousin’s Bar-B-Q, which has six locations around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including two nestled inside DFW Airport. Cousin’s sausage and beef ribs both won People’s Choice at last year’s festival. For more info, visit their page on TMBBQ.com.

Photograph by Daniel Vaughn

What kind of wood do you use?

Green hickory

Who did you learn your craft from?

My dad started in the restaurant business in 1967 when we opened a seafood restaurant in San Antonio. My dad would work about one hundred hours a week so we’d go to the restaurant to visit him, and if we went to the restaurant we had to work. I started when I was twelve. I went from scrubbing floors and peeling potatoes to helping cook. We did that for about fifteen years, then we decided in 1982 to get into the barbecue business. Dad learned it from Walter Jetton, he was the big barbecue man, and my dad worked part time for him. In ‘83 we opened in Fort Worth and have been doing it ever since.

What’s the best thing you smoke?

Well, brisket is our biggest seller and everyone loves our ribs, but each one of our products has something special about it. We’ve got the best chicken in Fort Worth and we make our own sausage that won in Austin last year. So probably brisket, ribs, chicken and then sausage.

Sauce or no sauce?

We put sauce on the side. All the barbecue I eat there’s no sauce on it though.

Do you make your own sausage?

Yes, in two styles, smoked German sausage and jalapeno pepper sausage. About twenty years ago we brought over a young man from Germany—a sausage master, and he got us in the right direction with the German sausage with some trial and error. Our other kind is a hot link, with jalapeno and cheddar in it, which won at the festival last year. People were really talking about that. We make everything in small batches because it is all hands-on. We don’t have the big equipment to mass produce it. (more…)

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, beef ribs, brisket, chicken, Cliff Payne, Cousin's, hickory smoke, sausage, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival

It’s been a long time in the making (a VERY long time in the making): John Mueller, sometimes called the black sheep of the Taylor smoked meat family, is almost back in business here in Austin. Mueller, who used to have a legendary place on Manor Rd. (and famously sold his smoker to Aaron Franklin), has a new trailer at 1501 South 1st St., and the fire has been lit. Visit his web site or follow @jmuellerbbq on Twitter for upcoming details (and while you’re at it, follow us).

The Smoker

"Burning Out" Ribs to Prepare Smoker

(more…)

Tagged: bbq, brisket, Franklin, JMueller BBQ, john mueller, Louie Mueller, sausage, taylor, texas, Texas Monthly BBQ