2018

Texas BBQ Posse / 2018

2018

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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…

Recipe: Smoked Turkey & Sweet Potato Casserole from HangryQ.com

Here's a holiday classic from our friends at HangryQ.com, barrel-smoked turkey and sweet potato casserole. (Photos ©Jason Shane/HangryQ.com) Just in time for Thanksgiving, here's a great set of holiday recipes and a video from the the cook team at HangryQ.com. HangryQ posts a new recipe and video every week, with some fun ideas for your backyard smoker or grill. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Enjoy! Additional photos for reference Preparation photos of smoked turkey and sweet potato casserole.(Photos ©Jason Shane/HangryQ.com)

Cooking - 11/16/2018

First Look: Uptown Bar-B-Q in Dallas

Three meat plate of brisket, ribs and jalapeno sausage with pinto beans and potato salad at Uptown Bar-B-Q in Dallas. (Photo ©Jim Rossman, Texas BBQ Posse) Editors note: Good news, we got an email that Uptown Bar-B-Q is open again under the ownership of Al Heidari. I ate lunch at a new barbecue joint this week called Uptown Bar-B-Q, which is aptly named, as it shares space with venerable uptown Dallas restaurant The Old Warsaw. Uptown Bar-B-Q shares space with the legendary Old Warsaw restaurant. (Photo ©Jim Rossman, Texas BBQ Posse) Robert Austin, who had the Baker’s Ribs franchise in Grapevine until late…

Joints - 11/13/2018

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…

Join the discussion / Posse's Favorite 41 - 11/13/2018

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…

Joints / Posse's Favorite 41 - 11/07/2018

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…

Joints / Posse's Favorite 41 - 11/07/2018

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…

Joints / Posse's Favorite 41 - 11/07/2018

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…

Joints / Posse's Favorite 41 - 11/07/2018

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…

Join the discussion / Joints - 10/31/2018

A pig roast, the Lopez Island way

Scenes from the annual “Big Fat Pig Roast” on Lopez Island, Washington. (Photos ©Bryan Gooding) It is a week and a half into September and the rains we usually see later in the month are here. It is 60 degrees and it feels like fall. In a week we are having a fundraiser for the Lopez Island (Washington) Grange because it is an old building with a history that sorely needs a paint job. The event is called the “Big Fat Pig Roast” and will be a covered dish dinner for 150 locals where the main course will be a two-and-a-half…

Cooking - 10/23/2018

See the photos: The new Lockhart Smokehouse at Texas Live!

The new Lockhart Smokehouse at Texas Live! is the third location for one of DFW's top barbecue destinations. (Photo ©Michael Ainsworth/Texas BBQ Posse) The first time we wrote about Lockhart Smokehouse was in January 2011, before they opened their first restaurant in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff. Their opening, along with that of Pecan Lodge in the Dallas Farmer's Market, signaled a major change in the then-mediocre Dallas BBQ scene. The Posse joined in as Lockhart Smokehouse celebrated their first anniversary a year later, then we reported that great Texas barbecue had finally come to Plano when they opened their second location…

Joints - 10/17/2018

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…

Cooking / Join the discussion - 10/15/2018

Zavala’s Barbecue in Grand Prairie is moving down Main Street

Our lunch at Zavala's Barbecue in Grand Prairie, this is what Texican BBQ perfection looks like. (Photo ©David Woo/Texas BBQ Posse) Barbecue lovers: You have two more Saturdays to head to Grand Prairie for some of the best food, served by some of friendliest people, the Texas BBQ Posse has come across in some time. After that, you’ll have to wait a few months to see why Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins declared, after his first visit to Zavala’s Barbecue, “A star is born.” (That was back in May, so, no, Chris wasn’t pilfering from the sensational new movie starring Bradley…

Joints - 10/10/2018

$Valentinas-Tex-Mex-BBQ$

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…

Cooking - 09/26/2018

Smoking beef short ribs and tri-tip steak on a perfect Sunday

Beef short ribs hot off the smoker. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) A recent Sunday in DFW offered the combination of perfect weather, the start of the NFL season and an interesting package of meats from Texas Beefhouse. So, what a better way to spend the day than smoking beef short ribs and tri-tip steak? After another hot Texas summer, a cold front brought a cloudy 70-degree day to Posse member Darrell Byers' backyard test kitchen. Darrell grabbed the flatscreen TV from his catering rig and set it up on the patio. With the addition of a couple of cold…

Cooking - 09/25/2018

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…

Joints - 09/24/2018

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…

Joints - 09/18/2018

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…

Joints / People / Roadtrips - 09/10/2018

Recipe: Smoked Pastrami with Smashed Baby Reds from HangryQ.com

HangryQ.com brings you another great recipe, smoked pastrami and baby red potatoes. (Photos ©Jason Shane/HangryQ.com) Here’s another great recipe and video from the good folks at HangryQ.com. This week's recipe features smoked pastrami and baby red potatoes, a perfect combo for an upcoming football Sunday. The HangryQ team posts a new recipe and video every week, with some creative ideas for your backyard smoker or grill. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Enjoy!

Cooking - 09/07/2018

Checking in with Smoke Sessions Barbecue in Royse City

Customers order lunch on a Saturday morning at Smoke Sessions Barbecue in Royse City, east of Dallas. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) The Posse first visited Smoke Sessions Barbecue about a year ago, when Jim Rossman saw a Facebook post about a new trailer operation located in a feed store parking lot between Rockwall and Royse City, east of Dallas. Jim was impressed with the overall offerings, calling the brisket "superb" and the beef sausage "outstanding," in his story introducing readers to DFW's newest barbecue joint. One year later, Jim and Posse member Mike Stone joined me for a return…

Joints - 09/05/2018

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…

Joints - 08/30/2018

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…

Cooking - 08/27/2018

8 must-have BBQ grilling tools for you

By Tom Masters/Guest contributor Grilling is not just tossing some burgers on a grill and letting them cook. Grilling is a form of art. It’s a culinary skill that is not taken lightly by the thousands of self-proclaimed grill chefs around the world and it is something that many must work hard at for many years to perfect. It takes skill to keep a steak nice and juicy and filled with flavor or to smoke a salmon or cook veggies until they’re at the perfect texture as well as bursting with that flavor only a grill can provide. Yes, grilling…

Equipment - 08/16/2018

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…

Joints - 08/01/2018

Smoked-Chicken-Salad-Recipe-by-HangryQ-1-2

Recipe: Smoked Chicken Salad from HangryQ.com

HangryQ.com brings you their smoked chicken salad recipe, a great dining idea for a hot summer day. (Photos ©Jason Shane/HangryQ.com) Here’s another great recipe and video for smoked chicken salad from the pitmasters at HangryQ.com. What could be better on a hot summer day than a smoked chicken sandwich on fresh bread, perhaps served with a cold beverage of your choice?! The HangryQ team posts a new recipe and video every week, with some of the most creative ideas you’ll ever see for your backyard smoker or grill. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Enjoy!

Cooking - 07/27/2018

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