Throwing a really, really, really, really big party and need to feed a whole bunch of people a whole bunch of smoked meats? Long dreamed of owning a “world’s largest” anything? Are you Austin BBQ magnate Aaron Franklin, and want to eradicate the famous, hours-long line at Franklin BBQ in one fell swoop? Got $350,000 lying around? If the answer to at least two of those questions is “yes,” yahtzee! The world’s largest BBQ pit is for sale, either on eBay or off of the side of the road on Highway 290 between Austin and Houston.
The details on this monstrosity are impressive, if entirely ridiculous: The capacity of the thing is 4 tons of meat, and USA Today has the details on exactly what the $350,000 asking price gets you (spoiler: It doesn’t get you anything to haul the pit around with):
Weighing 40 tons, stretching 75 feet in length, ventilated by seven smokestacks, it’s the “Undisputable Cuz,” a barbecue pit so huge law enforcement authorities have required special permits and escorts just to move it down the road.
Drivers passing through sometimes stop and take pictures of the black behemoth sitting alongside the road in Brenham, Texas perhaps drawn by the hand-painted sign proclaiming it the planet’s biggest barbecue pit and offering it for sale.
The price: $350,000. That’s without the low-mileage 18-speed Peterbilt that’s hauled it around the highways that’s on the market for $50,000.
“It has 24 doors – 12 on this side, 12 on the other,” said Terry Folsom.
That’s a whole heck of a lot of money for something that, as Texas Monthly BBQ editor Daniel Vaughn pointed out when we asked him about it, “Probably doesn’t cook very well.” (He also notes that, despite the recent publicity coming off of Folsom listing the smoker on eBay, the thing has been for sale in Brenham for several years—so let’s not count on someone buying it just yet.)
Still, the novelty of “World’s Largest BBQ Pit” is hard not to admire. Had the state bought it for Governor Abbott’s inauguration, the entire haul of brisket he famously served last week could have all been prepared in one convenient monster-sized trailer. Folsom, according to USA Today, acquired the pit as part of a business deal with the original owner, who toured with it. It’s unclear exactly why that person decided to invest what is surely a not-insignificant amount of money on this beast, but we’re pretty pumped that it exists—and, of course, that it’s in Texas.
