2010

Texas BBQ Posse / 2010

2010

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Merry Christmas from the Texas BBQ Posse

We've been busy since 4pm Wednesday smoking Christmas briskets and hanging with Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper. Best holiday wishes to you and yours and we hope to see you all on the BBQ trails of Texas in coming year!!!! Photo by Chris Wilkins

People - 12/25/2010

Pit Talk: Butcher paper wrapped brisket - Pitmaster Marshall Cooper shows you how

*We have an updated article Cooking butcher paper wrapped brisket, which includes a step-by-step video. Our recent Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour yielded an unexpected discovery as we talked technique with Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Barbecue in Austin. Several Texas BBQ Posse members are backyard pitmasters, so we are always pestering BBQ joint pit bosses for their tricks of the trade. This one stopped us in our tracks though, when Aaron casually mentioned that he wraps his award-winning brisket in butcher paper, rather than foil, during the cooking process. What was that? Butcher paper wrapped brisket? Pitmaster Marshall Cooper…

Cooking - 12/23/2010

Prause Meat Market in La Grange - Four generations of BBQ greatness

Our sixth stop on the Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour took us back in time to Prause Meat Market, a fourth generation meat market in the small town of La Grange. We had begun day two of the tour with breakfast at Snow's BBQ in Lexington, which set the bar for BBQ excellence for the day. La Grange is 39 miles south of Lexington on US Hwy. 77, a route that passes directly by City Meat Market in Giddings, one the the best BBQ joints in Texas. Gary Prause met us at the counter and basically gave us the…

Joints - 12/20/2010

Birth of a BBQ Joint - Mama Faye's in Deep Ellum

We had the rare opportunity to try a new BBQ joint on its second day of operation today. Plans were set into motion when Texas BBQ Posse member Gary Barber spotted a big smoker at the corner of Commerce and Walton Streets while at lunch in Deep Ellum the day before. Ernest and Francine Williams opened Mama Faye's BBQ at 2933 Commerce on Thursday. The joint is named after Francine's mother Faye, who supplied the sauce recipe, a family secret that dates back to the 1900s. They are already known in Deep Ellum for their mobile operation, selling sandwiches in…

Joints - 12/18/2010

Why we chose Snow's BBQ as the best joint in Texas

It was a tough call to name the best barbecue joint in Texas for our 2010 Best in Texas BBQ picks. After tallying the votes from Texas BBQ Posse members, we had three very strong contenders for the title. First came Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. This is truly a world-class BBQ joint, with smoke staining the walls and windows. The tradition is there, the food is great and the ambiance is extraordinary. Their beef ribs and beef sausage are among the best we've ever had. The second contender was Snow's BBQ, situated in an old country feed store next…

Joints - 12/17/2010

Texas BBQ Posse - Follow us on Twitter!

We fought the Twitter thing for a couple of years, making fun of those who tweeted. But in the end, it's time for the Texas BBQ Posse to get aboard the Twitter revolution. "Son, if you can't beat'em, join'em," as my east Texas grandpa always said. Just a quick way to keep the Posse nation up to date with where we've been and what we're up to. Click here to follow us on Twitter, we'll promise to keep it interesting. Thanks for your support and remember, always let the meat speak for itself!

People - 12/15/2010

Announcing the Posse's "2010 Best in Texas BBQ" picks

We all know how controversial picking a "best of barbecue" list can be. Surf a few BBQ blogs in the Lone Star State and you'll be entertained for hours. Outside of religion and football, it's a close third for spirited and emotional discussion, to say the least. Folks in Texas take their BBQ very, very seriously. That being said, the Texas BBQ Posse is publishing our "2010 Best in Texas BBQ" picks. Disclaimer: We have not gone to every joint in Texas, that would take years. Thanks to our friend Daniel Vaughn and his Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog, we…

Joints - 12/13/2010

Wilkins tries something new - Blogging while riding shotgun on a BBQ tour

Given a choice, Chris Wilkins would prefer to do his blogging from home, a glass of red wine nearby. More and more, though, the Texas BBQ Posse co-founder has been live-blogging from the center of the action. During the Blues, Bandits & BBQ cook off in Oak Cliff in September, he regularly posted items and photographs over two days and one long night. "Can't believe I'm still standing," he wrote then. "It's 3:30 am and it's finally cooled down, after a pretty strong little thunderstorm..." On our recent "anniversary" tour to Central Texas, Wilkins tried something new: Posting from the…

People - 12/11/2010

It’s hard to beat BBQ and trains

A surprise from our recent anniversary tour of Central Texas barbecue joints was the discovery of all the train-watching opportunities near the places we visited. In Smithville, a few blocks from Zimmerhanzel’s Bar-B-Que, there’s a nice city park, with a big gazebo, located trackside. In Giddings, a short walk from the City Meat Market, you can watch coal trains (empty and full) pass through and visit a train museum. One of the exhibits lets you toot a train horn. Bet you can’t do it just once!! In Taylor, right outside the doors of the Taylor Cafe, there’s a switching yard…

People - 12/09/2010

Franklin Barbecue plans to move

UPDATE: According to our friends at Man Up Texas BBQ, Franklin Barbecue will be moving to 900 E. 11th St., the former location of Ben's Long Branch Barbecue, hoping to open some time in early January. On our recent Central Texas anniversary tour, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin told us that he was looking to move soon to a permanent building. For about a year, he has been operating out of trailers at the back of an old gas station on the east side of I-35 at 34th street, producing what many of us in the Posse think…

People - 12/08/2010

Taylor Cafe - Your chance to attend the Vencil Mares University of BBQ

The final stop of day one of our Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour was the Taylor Cafe, a rare Texas BBQ joint open until 10pm, perfect for our overnight stop in Taylor between days one and two of the tour. I have written several times on the posse blog about Vencil Mares, owner of the legendary BBQ joint that he has operated since 1949. My respect for Vencil and what he means to the legacy of Texas BBQ is deep. You run a BBQ joint 7 days a week, from 6am to 10pm, for 61 years and then we'll…

Joints - 12/07/2010

Baby Back Shak - Is the "Rossman Platter" the best BBQ sampler deal in Dallas?

If you go to the Baby Back Shak and ask for the "Rossman Platter, it's very likely they'll look at you with blank stare and say "excuse me, what did you ask for?" To members of the Texas BBQ Posse, the Rossman Platter may be the closest thing to BBQ greatness that Dallas has to offer. To backtrack, Jim Rossman, shown above on a recent trip to the Taylor Cafe, is a member of the posse who also happens to the the Dallas Morning News tech guru. This man knows his Mac computers and iPhone stuff, but he also knows…

Joints - 12/06/2010

Southside Market in Elgin - It's on the way from Austin to Taylor....

As I was making the itinerary for our recent Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour, I reluctantly added Southside Market in Elgin. It was on the way from stops one and two in Austin and our fourth stop at the Taylor Cafe in Taylor, where the posse was overnighting. The problem was that reviews of Southside Market are all over the place, never a good sign if you're looking for the best joints in Texas. This was either going to be the best sausage the posse had ever tasted or a waste of time. As we pulled in the parking…

Joints - 12/04/2010

Posse writer Gary Jacobson talks Central Texas cue with Mr. BBQ

Listen in as Texas BBQ Posse founding member and Dallas Morning News writer Gary Jacobson returns for his third visit this year with Mr. BBQ, a syndicated radio show out of Portland, Oregon. Gary is the preeminent barbecue expert at the Morning News and one of the top writers in the BBQ nation. Mr. Barbeque, aka Bruce Bjorkman, has an outdoor cooking show on Newsradio 750 KXL in Portland that is syndicated up and down the Pacific coast. Gary has become a regular visitor on the show as he helps spread the gospel of Texas BBQ to those less fortunate.…

People - 12/04/2010

Texas BBQ Posse named to list of top 50 BBQ blogs in U.S.

We got the news today from Cate Newton of the Guide to Culinary Schools that the Texas BBQ Posse blog has ben named as one of the top 50 BBQ blogs in the country. We share that honor with our Texas BBQ blogging friends at Man Up Texas Barbecue and Full Custom Gospel BBQ Blog. Cate writes, "I am writing to inform you that Texas BBQ Posse has been featured on Guide to Culinary Schools' list of the Top 50 BBQ Blogs. We hand-picked a list of our favorites and outlined the unique reasons why we love them. We chose…

People - 12/04/2010

Posse favorites: Crispy wild boar ribs at Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

Our second stop on the Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour took us to Lamberts Downtown Barbecue in the heart of Austin. Our previous stop at Franklin Barbecue was going to be a hard act to follow. The dining room had just closed for lunch, so we took over the bar in the historic Austin building that dates back to 1873, ordering up a round of frothy cold beverages. Looking over the menu, the crispy wild boar ribs jumped out as must-sample bbq tour fare, described as "Honey & Sambal, Cabrales Blue, Celery & Daikon Slaw. Though not exactly sure…

Joints - 11/24/2010

Franklin Barbecue - Is this the best brisket in Texas?

One giant question loomed over our Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour. Could Franklin Barbecue, aka: the little trailer that could in Austin, beat out Snow's BBQ in Lexington for the title of "Best Brisket in Texas?" We had 12 posse members meet up for lunch at Franklins. The joint opens at 11am but they were sold out by 12:30pm, not an unusual occurrence. We had called ahead anonymously a few days earlier to pre-order a brisket, a couple of racks of ribs and some sausage. The posse arrived at 1pm and dug in, sitting at the picnic tables next…

Joints - 11/21/2010

Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour: The final numbers

Since the day we retuned from our first Central Texas BBQ Tour one year ago, the posse started making plans for our next trip to the epicenter of the world's best barbecue. Since then, we've been exploring BBQ trails in every direction from DFW. The Texas BBQ Posse has taken tours to East Texas joints in Tyler and Kilgore, the Best of Fort Worth tour, the North Texas-Texoma tour and our Beyond the Brazos tour to Glen Rose, Stephenville and Granbury. Our Central Texas 5-Star BBQ Tour last weekend totaled 555 miles roundtrip. We visited and dined at eight BBQ…

Joints - 11/09/2010

8 joints in 26 hours - The Central Texas BBQ Tour II comes to an end

The Texas BBQ Posse headed to the finish line at City Meat Market in Giddings, the last stop on our Central Texas 5-Star BBQ Tour II. We walked in around 3pm and ordered sausage and pork, the two meats remaining on the smoker. Both were tremendous and well worth the wait, a perfect end to a great tour celebrating our first anniversary traveling the BBQ trails of Texas. Over the next couple of weeks we'll be writing detailed blog posts on each stop and the tour as a whole, followed by Gary Jacobson's story in The Dallas Morning News and…

Joints - 11/06/2010

Central Texas BBQ Tour II day two: Three joints down & heading to the finish line at City Meat Market in Giddings

The line was long, almost heading out the door when we got to Zimmerhanzel’s Bar-B-Que in Smithville around noon. The posse headed around back of the orange metal building to see three huge smokers dwarfed by one of the biggest live oak trees we'd ever seen. Back inside we joined the line and asked the locals what was best on the menu. SInce we had already eaten twice that morning, we were looking to order very strategically. Chicken and ribs seemed to be the favorites, but ribs sold out right before we made it to the counter. The chicken was…

Joints - 11/06/2010

Central Texas BBQ Tour II day two: A walk back into BBQ history at Prause Market in La Grange

Stop number two took us back in history to Prause Meat Market, a fourth generation meat market and BBQ joint. Gary Prause runs the business with other family members. He took the time to show us family photos and explain the history of the meat market, which started in another location on the old town square in La Grange in 1904. Stay tuned for more updates from day two on the barbecue trail, our next stop is Zimmerhanzel’s Bar-B-Que in Smithville. (Photos by Chris Wilkins)

Joints - 11/06/2010

Central Texas BBQ Tour II day two: Breakfast at Snow's

We left Taylor around 7:20am and headed east to the little town of Lexington, starting day two of our Central Texas 5-Star BBQ Tour II. The sun had just risen when we pulled in and parked next to the grain elevator across the street from Snow's BBQ, one of the best BBQ joints in the universe. The line wasn't too long yet and 10 minutes later we were having the breakfast of champions - a Snow's sliced brisket sandwich. Having just had Franklins BBQ's brisket the day before on our first stop, a vigorous debate broke out. These are the…

Joints - 11/06/2010

Central Texas BBQ Tour II day one: Nightcap at the Taylor Cafe

We capped off an amazing day on the BBQ trail with a visit to the historic Taylor Cafe. As usual, there was owner Vencil Mares sitting at the bar, the same place he's been 7 days a week, from 6am to 10pm, since he bought the joint in 1948. We made a third stop of the day earlier at Southside Market in Elgin, mainly to sample the sausage. Then onward up Hwy. 95 to downtown Taylor, to the little BBQ joint located under the Hwy. 95 bridge beside the railroad tracks. Members of the posse immediately gravitated toward Vencil, who…

Joints - 11/06/2010

Central Texas BBQ Tour II day one: Two down, six to go

The Texas BBQ Posse loaded up and headed south to Austin this morning for our Central Texas 5-Star BBQ Tour II. This is the first anniversary of our inaugural tour to central Texas last November. We were 13 strong when we pulled into Franklin BBQ at 1pm. As usual, they were sold out by shortly after noon, but we called earlier in the week and owner and pitmaster Aaron Franklin held back one brisket, some sausage and a rack of ribs for us to sample. The photo above shows the amazing spread of meat we devoured. On to Lambert's BBQ…

Joints - 11/05/2010

It's our anniversary this weekend: Heading back to central Texas for the world's best BBQ

One year ago this week the Texas BBQ Posse made their first trip to central Texas, where we discovered the way, the truth and the life of barbecue. Nothing has been the same for any of us since then. We've been on BBQ journeys north, east, south and west of DFW in the year since then. We've tasted the good and the bad and the ugly, but the bar for great barbecue is set in central Texas, perhaps the greatest cue in the world. Here's our plan of attack: CENTRAL TEXAS 5-STAR BBQ TOUR II Nov. 5-6, 2010 FRIDAY NOV.…

Joints - 11/02/2010

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