Daniel Vaughn's Profile Photo

Daniel Vaughn is the author of The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue, the coauthor of Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbecue, and the barbecue editor at Texas Monthly. He has traveled the world sampling smoked meats at over 1,800 barbecue joints, most of which are in Texas.

1756 Articles

BBQ|
February 14, 2017

I Say DeMaria, You Say DiMaria

In 1891, the S.S. Utopia departed Italy, headed for America. The ship, carrying 880 passengers, many of them Italian immigrants who boarded the Utopia in Naples or Palermo, was sailing through the port of Gibraltar when it struck another vessel. The hole created by the collision sunk the Utopia in just twenty minutes, and 562 passengers

BBQ|
February 13, 2017

Interview: Christine Jones of Christine’s Blues ‘N BBQ

Owner/Pitmaster: Christine’s Blues ‘N BBQ; Opened 2000Age: 53Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Mesquite and PecanRecords line the wall above the bar at Christine’s Blues ‘N BBQ. As soap operas played silently on the television, I asked her where all the good music was. With a smile, as if she thought nobody would

BBQ|
February 9, 2017

BBQ News: 02/03 – 02/09

– Do you know which sausage is the loudest? “Science is all too often stereotyped as academic and aloof, and I am passionate about dispelling that.” https://t.co/cbXrbZE0m7 — Extra Crispy (@extracrispy) February 5, 2017 – The Sausage King of Austin will be crowned on February

BBQ|
February 8, 2017

Texas Rangers Announce a BBQ Signing

On opening day of the 2018 Texas Rangers season, you’ll be able to enjoy a Kreuz Market sausage before the game. Texas Live!, a new dining and entertainment development is coming to Arlington. Situated between Globe Life Park and AT&T Stadium, the $250 million project will house the third location

BBQ|
February 7, 2017

Smoked in Texas: Gut Pak at Vitek’s

The Gut Pak is to Waco what rings of smoked sausage are to Lockhart. It’s part of the city’s barbecue identity. A Gut Pak is smoked sausage, barbecue, beans, and cheese, and a few other items piled high atop a mess of Fritos, making this the huskier cousin of a Frito pie.Sometime in

BBQ|
February 2, 2017

BBQ News: 01/27 – 02/02

– Emilio and Christi Soliz are cooking their own brand of Mexi-Q at Kings Hwy Brew & Q in San Antonio.– 2M Smokehouse got some high praise from San Antonio Express News critic Mike Sutter.– Pitt Stop BBQ in Lufkin might be the cleanest barbecue joint in

BBQ|
January 31, 2017

Carnal in Austin

There’s a new beef rib in town. Carnal has found a temporary home in Austin, the epicenter of the Texas barbecue boom, while their spot back home, Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg, is closed for the winter. James Zamory and Aaron Saurer, the duo that make up Carnal, draw inspiration from Texas’s

BBQ|
January 26, 2017

BBQ News: 01/20 – 01/26

– “I think people that have secrets in cooking, I really think they’re a**holes.” – Pat Martin: – The KCBS is now accepting nominations for their BBQ Hall of Fame through March 1st.– Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland is now open for dinner, and they’re planning a second location

BBQ|
January 25, 2017

Weighing Your Options

Update: Mark Loeffler, communications director for the Texas Department of Agriculture*, provided more details on their enforcement effort. Operation Maverick was launched in June 2015 to target any business buying or selling goods by weight. He didn’t have current numbers, but by March 2016, they had inspected 1,400 barbecue joints.

BBQ|
January 24, 2017

Smoked in Texas: Oysters Gilhooley at Gilhooley’s

Oyster shells crackled under the car tires as I pulled into Gilhooley’s in San Leon. The parking lot is paved with them, and a pile taller than me rose like a dune at one end of the parking lot. A storm was rolling into the small town on the Gulf

BBQ|
January 19, 2017

The Year Old Brisket

After thousands of barbecue meals, I’ve never been struck ill by smoked meat. Maybe it’s the long cooking time, or the preservative qualities provided by a layer of wood smoke, or maybe I’ve just been lucky. Either way, I put that streak to the test over the weekend.“How long can

BBQ|
January 19, 2017

BBQ News: 01/13 – 01/19

– The playoffs can be tough, but don’t leave your grill behind: When your team loses in the playoffs and you just say the hell with it & leave the Weber in the parking lot. #chiefs pic.twitter.com/sFSGGtrTUb — David Eulitt (@davidphotokc) January 16, 2017 –

BBQ|
January 12, 2017

BBQ News: 01/06 – 01/12

– This breed of dog was essential to barbecue in the 1600’s: For hundreds of years the now-extinct turnspit dog was specially bred just to turn a roasting mechanism for meat https://t.co/1SJJYtrE1S — Atlas Obscura (@atlasobscura) January 11, 2017 – Our new favorite golfer, Davis Love

BBQ|
January 10, 2017

The Zeke Sandwich

After an incredible championship game on Monday night, this season of college football is (sadly) behind us. But that means we can now focus solely on the NFL playoffs, in which the Texans are still alive and the Cowboys look to avenge Dez Bryant’s “non-catch” from a 2015 game

BBQ|
January 5, 2017

BBQ News: 12/23 – 01/05

– Have we gone too far? Bacon-wrapped ribs: Bacon-wrapped ribs, and 7 delicious bacon-wrapped recipes – Fired Up Food https://t.co/4cAVUQSCV8 pic.twitter.com/fcMCrziQFy — Heavy Metal BBQ (@HeavyMetal_BBQ) January 2, 2017 – With a new smoker, Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland plans to add dinner service

BBQ|
December 22, 2016

BBQ News: 12/16 – 12/22

– Barbecue deflation at Snow’s BBQ: The 10 best things I ate in 2016. https://t.co/t7VF8wa4UW — Danny Chau (@dannychau) December 20, 2016 – The Today Show sent a crew to Austin to see how they cook the barbecue at Franklin. – Munchies highlights the

BBQ|
December 22, 2016

Pickles, Onions, and White Bread

In the second season of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle,* it was a battle between fajitas and barbecue. A Texas barbecue couple, Michael and Katie Hunt, were in contention for an investment to open their concept if they impressed the judges. When Katie served a plate of smoked sausage to

BBQ|
December 15, 2016

BBQ News: 12/09 – 12/15

– This blast from Jim Henson’s past may make you miss your mama’s barbecue: – J C Reid of the Houston Chronicle samples the new-school barbecue at Pinkerton’s.– Just in time for a Houston Super Bowl, a bunch of new restaurants are opening in downtown, including Bud’s

BBQ|
December 12, 2016

Christopher B “Stubbs” Stubblefield: A Cook

Lubbock guitarist, Jesse “Guitar” Taylor, was hitchhiking in Lubbock when a Cadillac pulled up. A stranger offered him a ride and Taylor hopped in. They drove for a bit and stopped in front of Stubb’s Bar-B-Que in East Lubbock. “I’ve walked by this place so many times and never been

BBQ|
December 9, 2016

Gobble, Gobble

Rose Diamond once ruled the world of smoked turkey. In 1938, customers in New York, Miami, and Hollywood enjoyed her smoked turkeys shipped out from her Fort Worth home. According to The Claude News, they brined for at least ten days before being smoked in a brick pit in Diamond’s

BBQ|
December 8, 2016

BBQ News: 12/02 – 12/08

– Louie Gohmert has a burning desire to cook ribs at the US Capital: Louie Gohmert is still mad the Architect of the Capitol tried to shut down his balcony barbecue operation. pic.twitter.com/tvxjEi4fev — JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) December 2, 2016 – It looks like

BBQ|
December 6, 2016

Big City Barbecue

A couple years ago, I wrote about how barbecue around the country was starting to look the same. There was a certain aesthetic that permeated the upstart barbecue joints in Texas, the rest of the U.S., and even the international scene. At the time I was a little

BBQ|
December 1, 2016

The Barbecue Allergy

What is your greatest fear? It’s a simple question you’re rarely faced with outside of an interview setting. We just got a new editor in chief (congrats to Tim Taliaferro) at Texas Monthly, so I may have to reinterview for this barbecue editor gig. You never know how these things

BBQ|
December 1, 2016

BBQ News: 11/18 – 12/01

– The world’s largest barbecue pit went to Galveston to help cook Thanksgiving dinner for the Salvation Army:  – “[A] Yeti cooler may be the greatest source of weekender braggadocio since the Big Green Egg smoker.”– “And like French wine and Italian cheese, the singular character of Texas

BBQ|
November 18, 2016

Barbecue Line Etiquette

I had arrived at Cattleack Barbecue in Dallas later than I’d planned. I expected the line to be long at 11:15 that morning, but it was a real whopper. It snaked through the stanchions set up to herd the crowd and all the way down the side of the new

BBQ|
November 17, 2016

BBQ News: 11/11 – 11/17

– Meat Fight in Dallas raised $175,000 in the fight against MS.– The Dallas Observer has a slideshow from Meat Fight.– Check out these scenes from the 7th annul Blues ,Bandits, & BBQ fest in Oak Cliff.– It’s just that the photo doesn’t look

BBQ|
November 16, 2016

Governor Tryon’s Barbecue

Protest season seems to be upon us after the recent election. Citizens are taking to the streets to show their displeasure with a new leader, which isn’t anything new in the United States. Before the original Brexit united us, we were anything but polite. Of course you remember the Boston Tea

BBQ|
November 10, 2016

30 Years of Railhead Smokehouse

When Charlie Geren opened Railhead Smokehouse in Fort Worth, he had already failed at his previous attempt at the restaurant business. Geren said he had just “lost his ass” in a “steak and beer joint” in north Fort Worth, but decided to partner with a pitmaster friend,

BBQ|
November 10, 2016

BBQ News: 11/04 – 11/10

– Austin’s? I think you meant “the World’s.” The making of one of Austin’s very best breakfast tacos https://t.co/V2dZfTIdjB — Eater Austin (@EaterAustin) November 5, 2016 – The upscale smoked meat restaurant Smoky Rose will open later this year across from the Dallas Arboretum. –

BBQ|
November 8, 2016

Snow’s Queen

This story about the amazing Tootsie Tomanetz originally ran in our October issue. We’re posting it here in its entirety along with a collection of photos from Wyatt McSpadden. He was assigned with capturing the essence of Tootsie for the story, which he did masterfully, but we could only run so

BBQ|
November 7, 2016

Smoked in Texas: Texas Twinkies at Hutchins BBQ

Leftover brisket is a fact of life for most barbecue joints, but how they use it says a lot about their commitment to quality. It’s far better suited for fortifying pinto beans than to be back on the slicing block for day two. I’ve eaten fine chopped brisket sandwiches, tacos,

BBQ|
November 3, 2016

BBQ News: 10/28 – 11/03

– The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival wrapped up on Sunday, and the Brisket and Bagels blog has a great collection of photos from the event.– The barbecue festival was also well covered by Texas BBQ Treasure Hunt, Escape Hatch Dallas, and…– …The Smoking Ho:

BBQ|
November 2, 2016

Interview: Alice Lassaude of Meat Fight

Alice Lassaude. Image from her Facebook pageAlice Lassaude is an incredibly funny writer with a James Beard award to show for it. She’s also the Meat Queen of Meat Fight, or more properly, the CEO of Meat Fight, Inc. Meat Fight is a barbecue competition

BBQ|
October 27, 2016

Stiles Switch is Expanding

Five years after opening, Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue joint Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew is expanding. The original isn’t going anywhere, but a taste of their excellent beef ribs will be a lot closer for barbecue fans in Dripping Springs around this time next year. The build-to-suit project west

Magazine Latest