Gary Jacobson

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Ridgewood BBQ_01S

Ridgewood Barbecue, a different -- and secret -- taste

Customers arrive at Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City, Tennessee. Photo ©Sherry Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) In Bullock's Hollow, there are culinary secrets galore. Amid the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Tennessee, you'll find Ridgewood Barbecue. It opened in 1948 and still attracts a full house of customers, even on a recent Friday not long before New Year's. That's when Sherry and I visited with friends Phillip and Trish Townsend, who live an hour or so away in North Carolina. The secrets? Start with the recipe for the tomato-based sweet and sour barbecue sauce, which goes on much of the food the place…
 - 01/20/2020
Franklion BBQ_06S

Tootsie’s barbecue pork steak warms the heart of a Carolina pig cooker

Phillip Townsend shows off his tray of smoked meats at Franklin Barbecue in Austin, one of the highlights of his four-day Texas BBQ trip. (Photo ©Trish Townsend) By Phillip TownsendSpecial to the Texas BBQ Posse The North Carolina barbecue tradition runs in my veins. Doctors say that might account for my triglycerides, but that’s another story for another day. As a kid, I grew up helping my dad raise, butcher, and cook hogs on our small farm. Through my teen and college years, I eagerly embraced every opportunity to sample good barbecue — the Eastern N.C. style of my youth…
 - 12/05/2019
Snows BBQ_05

Reflections after a decade on the BBQ Trail

Snow's BBQ pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz works the smokers during the Posse's 10th anniversary trip. (Photo ©Tom Fox/Texas BBQ Posse) Anniversaries are often times of reflection. So it was for the Posse on Saturday when we visited Snow’s BBQ and Louie Mueller Barbecue 10 years after our very first trip to these Central Texas meccas of smoked meat. In many ways nothing has changed. The food was still terrific. Snow’s brisket remains among the best around and my first bite of the beef rib at Louie Mueller’s was the best mouthful of barbecue I’ve eaten in a long, long time. Posse…
 - 11/17/2019
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Buxton Hall, the Pulled Pork Palace of North Carolina

Paul Wise, left, and David Phelps unload half a pig from the pit at Buxton Hall Barbecue in Asheville, N.C. (Photo ©Gary Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) Make no mistake. I’m partial to Texas style barbecue. Nothing compares. But when in Rome, or in this case Asheville, N.C., it’s O.K. to be venturesome. We weren’t disappointed. As we walked into Buxton Hall Bar-B-Cue just after 2 p.m. on a recent weekday, we immediately got a glimpse of barbecue as performance art. Workers lifted half a pig off the pit and put it on a cooling table with the other half. "As a…
 - 10/21/2019
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Yikes! The Posse does wine with BBQ

The partial lineup of wines and meats at the Posse's Smoke, Wine & BBQ shindig. (Photo ©Don Rypka) When the Posse eats smoked meat, the word "sipping" is usually not in our vocabulary. We prefer to swig, whether it’s beer or Big Red. But we did change the pace a bit recently with a barbecue and wine tasting shindig that had even Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins sounding like a sommelier. “This is incredible,” he wrote about a Gamble Family Heart Block Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley. “Very smooth, not too dry, full of complex flavors.” The party, which started at…
 - 07/02/2019
FLORES20

The BBQ Posse journeys into the heart of Texas

Pitmaster & owner Michael Wyont greets customers at Flores Barbecue in Whitney. (Photo @David Woo/Texas BBQ Posse) EDITOR'S NOTE: We're sorry to report that Flores Barbecue has closed effective Sept. 2019, after moving to a new location in Fort Worth. If the Texas BBQ Posse has a fault, it might be it’s bluntness. We talk bluntly — positively and otherwise — about our favorite food, barbecue. So, on a recent Saturday while I was telling Michael Wyont, pitmaster and owner of Flores Barbecue in Whitney, how much the Posse liked everything he served, I added that at least one of us could…
 - 11/27/2018
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Is the BBQ Posse just ‘a bunch of city boys’?

The Posse works a Moberg smoker full of briskets before eating at Flores Barbecue in Whitney, our No. 7 favorite spot in the state. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) We always knew barbecue commentary was a full-contact sport. So many good joints. So many different opinions. That message came through loud and clear after we published our list of the Texas BBQ Posse’s Favorite 41 joints last week. So far there have been a total of nearly 100 comments on Facebook postings by the Posse and others sharing our posts. And even a few here on our site. Some comments…
2m_Smokehouse2

2M Smokehouse No. 1 Posse Favorite

Lunch spread at 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, the Posse's favorite BBQ joint in Texas. (Photo ©Tom Fox/Texas BBQ Posse) If you’re a regular Posse reader, you know that we’ve been high on 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio since it opened a couple years ago. So, naturally, we'd take a close look at the place as we put together the Texas BBQ Posse's Favorite 41, our list of our favorite joints in the state. After our first visit in the spring of 2017 we wondered if 2M was, in fact, turning out the best barbecue in Texas. After a return…
 - 11/07/2018
Snows BBQ

Posse members share their Favorite 5 BBQ lists

Pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz works the smokers early on a Saturday morning at Snow's BBQ, the favorite stop of Bruce Tomaso. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Full and frank discussions about our favorite food. That's what the Texas BBQ Posse has been all about in the decade or so we've been on the barbecue trail. Sometimes we all agree. Often we don't. So it is with the Posse's Favorite 41. After getting opinions from everyone, co-founders Chris Wilkins and Gary Jacobson made the final selections. Here's how other Posse members rate their Top 5. Bruce Tomaso Snow's BBQ, Lexington: The brisket is…
 - 11/07/2018
Louie Mueller Barbecue

Dear readers, now it’s your turn

Customers stand in line at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) You’ve seen the Texas BBQ Posse’s list of its favorite barbecue joints in Texas. Tell us your favorites. List them in the comments section here along with a short explanation why. You can also send us an email at gary@texasbbqposse.com. We’ll compile the responses and publish a story about the readers’ choices. Have at it. . . Other links from the Posse's Favorite 41 project: The Texas BBQ Posse's Favorite 41 2M Smokehouse is the Posse’s No. 1 Favorite Posse members share their Favorite 5…
 - 11/07/2018
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Posse's Favorite 41: How we did it

Posse co-founders Chris Wilkins, left, and Gary Jacobson, center, with photographer Tom Fox at 2M Smokehouse, our favorite BBQ joint in Texas. (Photo ©Texas BBQ Posse) In the course of barbecue events we hold this truth to be self-evident: Not all smoked meat is created equal. And so after a decade and tens of thousands of miles on the barbecue trail, Texas BBQ Posse co-founders Chris Wilkins and Gary Jacobson decided the Posse was finally ready to name its favorite joints in Texas, including a ranking of the Top Ten. Our very first tour was in 2009 when a half-dozen…
 - 11/07/2018
Brisket-caramel-corn

Tell us about the most unusual Texas BBQ you’ve ever eaten

Brisket caramel corn at Loro in Austin. (Photo ©Sherry Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) Over the years, the Posse has eaten some unique Texas barbecue dishes. The Toddfather sandwich from Cattleack Barbeque in Dallas. Brisket with mole sauce from the Tejas Chocolate Craftory in Tomball. More recently, Sherry Jacobson and I had lunch with author Sam Gwynne at Loro, the Aaron Franklin-Tyson Cole collaboration in Austin. Sam made sure we got the candied kettle corn with brisket. “This is possibly the most unique combination that includes brisket. . .carmel corn and burnt ends,” Sherry said. “Delicious but a little greasy for finger…
 - 10/31/2018
Splatchcock-turkey-01

Join the discussion: Thanksgiving turkey

Two splatchcock turkeys smoke on Marshall Cooper's Jambo smoker. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) On Thanksgiving, just a short while away, 46 million or so turkeys will be eaten by Americans. Many will be baked in the oven, others smoked or cooked on a grill for friends and family. I learned to cook turkey on a Weber nearly 50 years ago from my wife’s grandfather. But this isn’t about our methods. The Posse wants to know your favored method for smoking or grilling turkey. Do you brine? What kind of wood, charcoal, pellets do you use? Seasonings? Butter baste? Share…
 - 10/15/2018
Valentinas-Tex-Mex-BBQ

Recreating Valentina’s breakfast tacos with barbecue leftovers

The gold standard of all breakfast tacos in Texas, from Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in Austin. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) What to do with barbecue leftovers? Always an important question. The best advice the Posse ever received on that front came years ago during a visit to Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Tx. Reheat slowly in the oven with lots of butter, owner Kerry Bexley told us. Still solid advice. After a recent Saturday Posse feast at 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, we found ourselves with lots of barbecue leftovers on a Sunday morning at our place in Austin. There…
 - 09/26/2018
2m_Smokehouse20

400 miles, or so, to the pork rib on a long road trip

Josh Johnson, left, and friend Cooper Furlong dig into pork ribs at 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio. (Photo ©Tom Fox) Over a decade on the barbecue trail, the Texas BBQ Posse has seen a lot of things. But we ran into a first last Saturday during a visit to 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio: A couple of young guys fueling up on smoked meat before their two thousand mile road trip to Oregon. Talk about a cross country adventure. Cooper Furlong of San Antonio and his friend Josh Johnson of Los Angeles arrived at 2M Smokehouse at 8 a.m. and…
 - 09/24/2018
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Slow Pokes Brisket Shack, you gotta see it to believe it

Slow Pokes Brisket Shack in Manchaca, south of Austin, one of the most unique BBQ joints the Posse has ever visited. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) We arrived at Slow Pokes Brisket Shack in Manchaca, Tx., a little after noon on a recent Friday. No more than 60 seconds later, Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins declared: “This is the most unique barbecue joint we’ve ever been to, man.” Wilkins has never been more right. Visually, Slow Pokes Brisket Shack, located in a rural area not too far south of Austin, is overwhelming. It’s a hoarder’s paradise that had its beginning about…
 - 09/18/2018
BBQ-Quest-combo

BBQuest, a new video series, gets high marks from the Posse

Dishes featured in scenes from BBQuest, a web series from the Texas Beef Council. (Photos ©Beef Loving Texans) If memory serves, and sometimes it doesn’t in my advancing years, no one on the Texas BBQ Posse has ever gone shopping for party clothes, cowboy boots and hats before one of our smoked meat tours. That’s exactly what Kelsey Pribilski and Jess Pryles do in the middle of the premier episode — about Austin — of BBQuest, a new digital video series from Beef Loving Texans, a consumer brand of the Texas Beef Council. No matter. The main focus for Pribilski…
 - 09/10/2018
Browns_BBQ_01b

Why aren’t the lines longer at Brown’s Bar-B-Que?

Customers line up to order at Brown's Bar-B-Que in Austin. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Call it a continuing smoked meat puzzlement for the Posse: Why aren’t the lines longer at Brown’s Bar-B-Que trailer on South Lamar in Austin? Owner Daniel Brown has been cooking and serving barbecue for more than a decade. His trailer started getting some serious buzz in 2013 and over the years has been touted by Eater Austin, Texas Monthly, even Bon Appetit. Early this year, Conde Nast Traveler included Brown’s on its list of the 10 best barbecue joints in Austin. Daniel Brown Jr. slices…
 - 08/30/2018
Texas-Beefhouse-01

Some damn good steaks from Texas Beefhouse

Hot off the grill and sliced, Wagyu ribeye steak, top row, and Black Angus ribeye steak from Texas Beefhouse in Whitehouse. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Jonathan Wilkins, brother of Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins, succinctly summed up our recent test of Black Angus and Wagyu steaks from the Texas Beefhouse: “The lede is this place in Whitehouse produces good beef,” he said, getting nods of approval from the seven other Posse test eaters in attendance. The Beefhouse farm is located near Whitehouse, not far from Tyler. Jon is a finance guy, but as a retired newspaper dinosaur I loved the…
 - 08/27/2018
Old-300-BBQ-01

Old 300 BBQ, feeling right at home in Blanco

Old 300 BBQ, on the Square in Blanco, is a very civilized place, even during the town’s popular Lavender Festival. Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins and I met another newspaper veteran, Roy Appleton, there for a late lunch on a recent Saturday. The joint was packed, as was the festival nearby. But the first sign we saw inside the front door of Old 300 BBQ made us feel very much at home. “While you wait,” it said, “grab a drink and we will settle up at the counter.” We did just that. Wilkins was driving, so I grabbed a Corona from…
 - 08/01/2018
Tejas-Chocolate-Craftory_09

Smoking times and temperatures, your guide

Briskets cook at a steady 225-degrees on the smoker at Tejas Chocolate Craftory. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Over the years, the Posse has seen — and used — many guides to smoking times and temperatures for barbecue. This chart from the folks at Bro BBQ is one of the most comprehensive we’ve run into. It includes seafood and a couple veggies as well as beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. It comes to us from Jack Thompson, the founder of BroBBQ.com, who said he was looking for information on barbecue recipes when he ran into our post from a while…
 - 07/16/2018
Brothertons-BBQ-01

‘Meat Day’ at Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue

Brisket, sausage, turkey and smoked orange chicken at Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Don’t know if Horace, the Roman poet who lived a couple thousand years ago, was a barbecue fan. But if he was and if he were around today, he would probably like Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville. If for nothing else than the sign on the front window. “Carne Diem,” it says, a play on Horace’s immortal phase, “carpe diem,” commonly translated “seize the day.” The Brotherton’s sign is a mashup of Spanish and Latin. The joint translates the bilingual…
 - 07/11/2018
chicken-cook

The challenge of cooking chicken right

Posse member Bryan Gooding preps whole chickens for competition at the first Blues, Bandits & BBQ cookoff in Oak Cliff. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) In barbecue and grilling, properly cooking chicken is a tough challenge. Much of the chicken served by backyard grillers and smokers, as well as barbecue joints, is overcooked. Probably because no one wants to undercook. Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins and I had undercooked chicken at two consecutive stops on a recent tour of Austin-area places. It’s jarring to bite into a piece of chicken and see small red splotches — blood — deep in the…
 - 07/03/2018
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Talking BBQ biz with Jerome Faulkner at J. Leonardi’s

Jerome Faulkner, pitmaster at J. Leonardi's Barbeque in Austin. (Photo ©Tom Fox) Jerome Faulkner at J. Leonardi’s is an excellent pit master. We could tell that after our first visits to his original trailer location on Airport Boulevard in Austin more than a year ago. Faulkner and his partner, former UT and NFL star Cedric Griffin, opened a second location on the near East side late last year and, after operating both spots for a short while, have since closed the place on Airport. Their new place is on 11th Street, short walks from both Franklin Barbecue and Micklethwait Craft…
 - 06/26/2018
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New Wyatt McSpadden BBQ book is must-have

  Austin-based photographer Wyatt McSpadden and his new book, Texas BBQ: Small Town to Downtown. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Dallas BBQ Posse) Texas BBQ, Small Town to Downtown by Wyatt McSpadden is as much a testament to changes in photography as it is to changes in the Texas barbecue scene. One photo in the new book due out soon illustrates both. It’s a full-page shot of Leonard Botello IV, pit master at Truth Barbecue, sprinkling rub on briskets. Light reflects off the spices, gliding in gentle curves to the meat. Beautiful! “I bet I shot maybe 400 frames to get that,” McSpadden said…
 - 06/19/2018

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