Last week, seasoned pitmasters and aspiring barbecue cooks descended on tiny Murphysboro, Illinois, for the fourth annual Whole Hog Extravaganza and Brisket Bonanza. The students had paid good money to learn the secrets of the professionals, and the teachers weren’t shy about sharing their recipes for porchetta, whole hog, beef
John Raven of Johnson City, Texas was a writer, a pioneer in the barbecue and chili competition circuit, and a part-time daredevil. He passed away January 15th at the age of seventy-six.Raven was outspoken about his contributions to barbecue, and valued flair over humility whenever possible. “I know more
Stephen Joseph aims to sell out of his barbecue every day, but earlier this week he announced that he’s looking to sell more than brisket. Joseph’s Riverport Barbecue in Jefferson, Texas is officially for sale. Joseph has weathered a devastating fire and an economic downturn to keep the doors open for
If it weren’t for the big, red sign that reads “BBQ” out along FM 1970, I’d probably have passed Chuck’s Smoke House. It’s a few miles southwest of Carthage in East Texas, near the shores of Lake Murvaul. A metal bull mounted to the roof and hand painted lettering on
– They served barbecue in Austin at Governor Gregg Abbott’s inauguration on Tuesday. KVUE in Austin provides this report.– About a mile of Kiolbassa Sausage, made in San Antonio, was served to the hungry crowd at the inauguration celebration.– Here’s a combo plate from the Capitol
Owner/Pitmaster: Eddie Deen and Co.; Opened 1994Age: 58Smoker: Wood Fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: HickoryIn the last twenty years, Eddie Deen has quietly built a barbecue empire. His restaurants include Crossroads BBQ in Arlington, Hickory Roots BBQ in Terrell, and Eddie Deen’s BBQ in Rockwall. There’s also a giant event space south of
Later today, after the inauguration of Greg Abbott as the forty-eighth governor of Texas, 17,000 hungry ticket holders clamoring for food will line up for lunch on the Capitol grounds in Austin. Forty-five minutes later, they’ll all have a full plate of barbecue. At least that’s what mega-caterer Eddie Deen has
Barbecue and pizza are two items that usually don’t join forces on a restaurant menu, but in the East Texas town of Daingerfield they’ve come together at Fran’s Barbeque and Pizza since 1971. Fran’s is named for Frances Neely. She was married to Dick Neely, and worked at
It was big news when the Austin American Statesman announced fourteen months ago that Black’s Barbecue was opening an Austin branch. It looked like the Black barbecue family from Lockhart was expanding. Running the place would be twins Michael and Mark Black, nephews of Kent Black who manages
– Eater food critic Bill Addison went all over the country looking for the 38 best restaurants in the U.S. The list included a Texas barbecue joint:Austin’s @FranklinBbq nabs a spot on @Eater‘s #national38 http://t.co/Js1Hw1QSjV pic.twitter.com/fItIMS4Nsa — Eater Austin (@EaterAustin) January 8,
Owner: Jambo Pits; Opened 2007Age: 59Jamie Geer isn’t some one-dimensional competition barbecue cook. After a career in welding, he started building smokers. They were some of the prettiest ones out there, but also made other cooks a lot more competitive. These days you don’t have to look
Houston Wright cut meat, made sausage, and cooked barbecue at Kreuz Market in Lockhart for sixty years. He was tying sausage there before the brick building that housed the market (and is now home to Smitty’s Market) was built in 1924. He was deaf and mute by then—former Kreuz Market
The history of Central Texas barbecue is shaped by meat markets, and meat markets are open early. Those early hours are still honored by some of the state’s best, so getting a link of smoked beef sausage at City Market in Luling and Smitty’s in Lockhart.
It was a phone call that brought me back out to Hickory Hill BBQ. It sits along a stretch of State Highway 31, right on the western edge of the East Texas pine curtain. I’d driven by it a few times, but always found it closed, then owner Kerry Shaw
– Beef prices continue to rise, and brisket is getting even worse. Grub Street, KTRH in Houston, TAMU, and TMBBQ all had a different take on the effects.– Who knows, maybe Irish briskets to the rescue?– Texas BBQ Treasure Hunt
Co-Owner: Perini Ranch Steakhouse; Opened 1983Age: 71Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: MesquiteTom Perini cooks with mesquite. It might be in the form of coals for direct heat cooking, or the active flames of burning logs for grilling steaks. That mesquite also fuels an offset smoker for the smoked prime rib served
That beef is more expensive than it was a year ago is no surprise, and this trend doesn’t look to be easing up anytime soon. As David Anderson, a Texas A&M professor of ag economics, told a room full of barbecue joint owners last month at the university’s first-ever Barbecue Town Hall,
– “Praying to The Altar of BBQ in Texas” from Trivago.– Carolyn Wells and the KCBS traveled to Europe to help them put on a proper barbecue competition. The article goes into how to judge barbecue along with describing just how popular American cuisine, like barbecue and burgers,
I ate a lot of barbecue meals in 2014. Some were great, some awful, but most of them landed closer to the middle. Rather than reliving the bad ones, these were my twenty-five most memorable bites from the past year, presented in chronological order.Fargo’s Pit BBQ in Bryan, Texas –
Dave Barry and Kevin Tully left the east coast for Austin for the music scene and the barbecue. In 2011 they started Moniker Guitars on South Congress, and racked up visits to Black’s BBQ, The Salt Lick, and Franklin Barbecue among others. “Barbecue and live music are iconically
Barbecue is always the headliner on TMBBQ, and every week you’ll find a new line-up of barbecue news. There are barbecue joints and pitmasters that manage to keep themselves perpetually newsworthy, and some stories are just more impactful than others. Looking back over the past year, we’ve collected and ranked the biggest
In 1908, German immigrant William Specht bought some property outside Bulverde, Texas, about twenty miles north of San Antonio. He took over the operation of an existing store, and by the early twenties erected a building that, according to the Bulverde Standard, was originally a dance hall. Being
– Pitmasters have embraced the term “joint” to describe their restaurants:If it’s not a barbecue “joint,” then what is it? My latest for @HoustonChron. http://t.co/C44IXkh8Ci — J.C. Reid (@jcreidtx) December 15, 2014 – Carl’s Jr. has announced a grass-fed beef burger that they starting serving
Chris Manning, Siretha Davis, and Earl HarrisOwner: Smokey Joe’s BBQ; Opened 1985Age: 24Smoker: Wood-fired Brick SmokerWood: HickoryThirty years is a long time to keep a barbecue joint going, but Chris Manning wasn’t even born when Smokey Joe’s opened in 1985. The twenty-four year old swore he wouldn’t work in the
In a Dallas city directory from 1948, there is a listing for Hardeman’s Barbecue. In fact there were two at the time, both of which were located in what was known as Freedman’s Town. It was a segregated African-American neighborhood just north of downtown in what
Can the beef industry sustain it?
With a history formed by ranching and railroads, Abilene sounds like a city destined to have good brisket. It was founded in 1883 after cattle ranchers and land speculators convinced the railroad to swing north of former county seat Buffalo Gap, and a new city was born. After the
– Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston is ditching its original building for a larger location about a mile and a half north.– Russell Roegels is rebranding his barbecue restaurant in Houston from Baker’s Ribs to Roegels Barbecue Co.– Hinze’s BBQ in Wharton was destroyed by fire in
Keith (left) and Ricky (right) MumphordCo-Owner/ Pitmaster: Mumphord’s Place; Opened 2000Age: 57Smoker: Direct heat steel pitWood: Mesquite and OakWhen your family came through Indianola, Texas, which suffered two hurricanes and was essentially abandoned by 1887, you know the family’s been around a while. That’s where the Mumphord’s landed
Last week, one of the Big Four meatpackers in the U.S. announced plans to produce sustainable beef, but environmentalists did not rejoice. According to a company press release, Cargill Cattle Feeders and Vela Environmental, in a joint venture, will “create a verified beef supply chain sustainability assessment program
The smokers were everywhere. Co-owner Rhonda Scales had led me through a swinging door into the kitchen where a hulking rotisserie pit was churning with tomorrow’s briskets. “We use all oak,” she told me as we walked out the back door. Split oak logs were piled around two more trailer-mounted
– “This is white trash ambience with four star barbecue.” Billy Woodrich describing his restaurant Billy’s Oak Acres BBQ.– Beef giant Cargill looks to create a sustainable line of beef.– “Qibuchang village is to stinky tofu what Lockhart, Texas is to barbecue.”– The NYT
Owner/Pitmaster: McMillan’s Bar-B-Q; Opened 1974Age: 69Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: Oak, Mesquite, and PecanLouis McMillan wasn’t happy, and I knew he wouldn’t be. I was in his restaurant to interview him because he’d been honored as one of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ joints, but we had a longer history. While
Conventional wisdom holds that traditional Texas barbecue doesn’t need to be sauced. That Texans have an aversion to the stuff. Case in point? A recent primer on national barbecue styles in America on Eater noted that “while the rest of the nation is busy making barbecue sauces, many
It was a Sunday morning and Jake Adam York was preaching. Poetry was his scripture as he read his own work to a mostly hung-over crowd of Southern Foodways Alliance symposium attendees. Through the mental fog we were captivated. “I know that good poetry shares a spirit with
– Greg Gatlin of Gatlin’s BBQ is partnering with Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd on a new barbecue joint in downtown Houston.– J. C. Reid of the Houston Chronicle looks around Houston for barbecue joints gone by.– The government’s new calorie labeling requirements means
Stiles Switch BBQ in Austin is celebrating the days leading up to Christmas in a big way. For the third year running, there will be twelve days of smoked meat. Well, Stiles Switch has smoked meat on the menu every day, but from December 9th through the
The popularity of Texas barbecue—and specifically Texas-style smoked brisket—has launched a frenzy of new activity. New joints pop up all the time, and relatively new pitmasters are hailed as masters of craft. Many of these places and people are deserving of considerable attention and high praise, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what
Thanksgiving is just four days away, so most of us have already charted a plan for getting a turkey on the table, but in case you haven’t, here are a few helpful ideas.Smoke Your Own – If you want a simple recipe for a whole smoked bird, then Aaron Franklin’s
Owner/Pitmaster: Serious BarbecueAge: 45Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: Red Oak, White Oak, and PecanThere isn’t much that Adam Perry Lang hasn’t done in the world of barbecue. He has authored multiple books on barbecue including Serious Barbecue, BBQ 25, and Charred & Scruffed. He found success in a brief stint on the
Two weeks after this review ran, Russell Roegels ended his franchise agreement with Baker’s Ribs and rebranded the business as Roegels Barbecue Co. Great barbecue at a chain restaurant? I was skeptical to say the least, but in Houston I stopped at the lone Baker’s Ribs location in town.
– The Slow Bone in Dallas is serving a free turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving Day. It is open to all from 1-4.– Southern Living has named Robert Moss as their Contributing Barbecue Editor.– Robert Moss’s first barbecue column is out on the
Texas seems to export our barbecue styles as far and wide as our natural gas. Earlier this year I noted how often the aesthetic of meat on butcher paper, a decidedly Texas design is imitated on both coasts (and a few places in between). But as anyone who has
The Wall Street Journal felt the swift and vicious wrath of Texas barbecue fans this weekend. Austin, the Best New Barbecue Destination was written to shed light on the burgeoning barbecue scene in the capital city. Instead, it will be remembered only for comically praising Franklin Barbecue’s boneless brisket
The Guinness World Record for the world’s longest sausage, from the UK, checks in at just over thirty-six miles. The longest smoked sausage, from Germany, was 1,581 feet, 5 inches, but the longest smoked sausage in Texas (probably) was on display yesterday at Meat
Shawn Eagle and Cody Smithers opened a Denton barbecue joint in a strip mall with $5,000 from a Kickstarter campaign and a big dream. A week into running the business they shared with the local paper the desire to make the Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue list. Five months
– Here’s why good barbecue joints run out of meat.– The most important employee at a barbecue joint might be the person cutting the meat.– Ronnie Killen and Wayne Mueller are coming to Austin for a barbecue pop-up on 11/17.– A new homemade sausage
Patience. Not only is it a virtue, it’s the key to good brisket. No meat in barbecue suffers more when it’s subjected to the foolish habits of the impatient pitmaster: cranking the heat too high in the smoker; obsessively opening and closing the lid to check on the smoker’s contents; or just taking the
Tracy Frydberg attended the Kosher BBQ Championship in San Antonio and filed this report:When we eat smoked brisket in Texas, we can stop and thank the Jewish community. Or, at least that connection can be firmly made. As Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor, noted in a column on the
I’d like to be able to say more about Mesquite Wood Bar-B-Q, but the items available from the smoker the day I stopped in didn’t allow for it. I stood perusing the menu on the small porch at the ordering window that faces Drake Street. A few blocks south the county
