2018

Texas BBQ Posse / 2018

2018

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No free burnt ends and other BBQ wisdom from Grant Pinkerton

The Posse's Gary Jacobson talks business with Pinkerton's Barbecue owner Grant Pinkerton in the bar at his north Houston restaurant. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) The Posse always enjoys going to Pinkerton’s Texas Pit Barbecue in Houston. The food is great. So is the bar. And the conversations can be stimulating. For a young dude, owner-pit master Grant Pinkerton is full of wisdom, barbecue and beyond. That’s gotta be one of the factors that attracted the attention of Forbes magazine, which last November included Pinkerton on its prestigious 30-under-30 list of “youthful visionaries” who are changing their industries. Forbes calls…

Joints - 04/03/2018

Recipe: The secret to great BBQ Chicken -- brining!

The whole bird with rub applied from Bryan Gooding's award-winning recipe for brining and smoking BBQ. chicken. (Photo ©Bryan Gooding) Brining and smoking BBQ chicken recipe Our brining and smoking BBQ chicken recipe earned the Posse its first category win at the Blues, Bandits festival in Oak Cliff, Tx. The key to any good chicken -- from fried to smoked-- is brining. We all have endured a tough, stringy, dry piece of chicken and making it juicy is an easy fix. Ingredients for Bryan Gooding's BBQ chicken recipe. (Photo ©Bryan Gooding) Just take a little extra time to brine. Ingredients:…

Cooking / Popular - 03/28/2018

Tejas Chocolate Craftory gets raves from the Posse

Lunch plate of brisket, pork ribs, turkey, brisket burnt ends & three sides at Tejas Chocolate Craftory in Tomball. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) At the Tejas Chocolate Craftory, a sign touting the French onion brisket soup was right in front of me at the order counter. That dish was also the first thing on the menu that caught my eye during a recent visit of the Posse to the Tomball joint, ranked one of the best in Texas. “Gotta order that,” I told my Posse mates earlier, as we reviewed all the offerings. But despite my resolve — and…

Joints - 03/24/2018

Product review: Booze Dogs liquor infused bratwurst

Booze Dogs are bratwurst infused with bourbon, rum or gin. (Courtesy photo) To answer the big question first, yes, Booze Dogs — Man’s Best Brat — are infused with real booze. Bourbon, gin and rum. “The alcohol cooks off,” says Joe McGowen, who spent seven years developing the specialty bratwursts before getting USDA approval and beginning sales last summer. McGowen calls the alcohol level in his brats “perfect proof,” meaning anyone of any age can eat them. “No one’s going to get drunk or get a buzz,” he said. McGowen said interest in his brats is growing, but he’s still…

Cooking - 03/22/2018

Side dishes are better than ever at Texas BBQ joints

Sides like these from Micklethwait Craft Meats, top & middle bottom photos, and Tejas Chocolate Craftory are changing the Texas BBQ scene. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) In the early years of the Posse, we didn’t care much for barbecue side dishes. You know, the standard potato salad, coleslaw and beans that often accompany smoked meat. We even had a no-side-dish rule, meaning we almost never ordered anything but meat. When you hit a half-dozen or more joints on a weekend tour, you want to reserve all your eating space for brisket, ribs and sausage. To us then, side dishes…

Joints - 03/19/2018

A year later, 2M Smokehouse hasn’t lost a step . . .It still might be the best BBQ joint in Texas

Our lunch of ribs, brisket, turkey & sausage with sides at 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) When we first visited 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio last year, we wondered if the joint was turning out the best barbecue in Texas. After a recent visit, our view hasn’t changed. “I’ll flat out say it,” Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said after our lunch of brisket, pork ribs, turkey and Serrano pepper/Oaxaca cheese sausage, “I think the food here is better than Snow’s.” Snow’s, of course, is the legendary joint in Lexington that was ranked No. 1 last…

Joints - 03/15/2018

Ode to the chopped brisket sandwich

A pound of chopped brisket, white bread, pickles & onions at Pat Gee's Barbecue in Tyler. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) Over the past year, I've found myself becoming more sentimental when it comes to barbecue. My earliest memories of eating Q are centered around East Texas and always involved ordering a chopped brisket sandwich, often served on simple wax paper. As I'm exposed to more & more BBQ, I'm coming full circle and ending up where it all began. A great chopped brisket sandwich is one of the simple pleasures in life. You can eat one East Texas style, the…

Joints - 03/06/2018

Hot Luck 2018: Bigger, but will 'still feel incredibly small'

The Hot Luck Austin sign shines at Franklin Barbecue at the 2017 festival. (Photo ©Gary Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) Hot Luck, a food and music festival in Austin, is preparing for its second run in May. And in the festival business, as James Moody, one of Hot Luck's founders, was saying, you’re supposed to lose money year one, break even year two and make money year three. Moody and Aaron Franklin, another founder, say Hot Luck broke even — broadly speaking — last year, its first. “So, you’re ahead of the game?” I asked Moody at a recent party for the…

People - 02/27/2018

Bodacious Bar-B-Q on Mobberly: Is this the best kept secret in Texas?

Jordan Jackson, owner & pitmaster, poses beside the original sign for Bodacious Bar-B-Q. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) If the original Bodacious Bar-B-Q in Longview were located in Austin, you'd be waiting several hours in line to order. Trust me. It's still one of the best BBQ secrets in Texas, despite the joint's No. 4 ranking by Texas Monthly. We were so impressed after our first visit in early February that we went back two weeks later. It’s a two-hour trip each way from Dallas and one well worth it if you’re seeking some of the best barbecue in the…

Joints - 02/21/2018

Shigging: New thoughts on an old BBQ topic

The Posse is always shigging. Nothing sinister, mind you, as some define the term: “stealing” barbecue secrets. We’re always looking for techniques that will make us better cooks and that we can share with readers. “To become great at anything you learn by trying, by failing and from observing those who are greater than you,” Posse member Daniel Goncalves says. We first wrote about shigging in 2011, a few months after Posse member Marshall Cooper noticed that Aaron Franklin — then operating a small trailer joint in Austin — wrapped his briskets in butcher paper for part of the cook.…

Cooking / Equipment / Joints / People - 02/15/2018

An “a-ha” moment for the Austin Posse — Driving to Snow’s BBQ is faster than waiting at Franklin

Customers stand in line at 8am on a Saturday at Snow's BBQ In Lexington. (Photo ©Gary Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) Eureka experiences are not uncommon in barbecue. Usually they have something to do with the food. My most recent BBQ “a-ha,” though, had nothing to do with great brisket or ribs and everything to do with time. Waiting time. Living in Austin, I just discovered, it's actually faster to eat at Snow's BBQ in Lexington than Franklin Barbecue in Austin, even though it involves a 100-mile roundtrip drive. My home is about three miles from Franklin and 50 miles from Snow’s,…

Joints - 02/07/2018

After the fire, kids write letters of encouragement to Franklin Barbecue

Letters from Micah Barcalow's fourth-grade class hang on the wall at Franklin Barbecue. (Photo ©Gary Jacobson/Texas BBQ Posse) Micah Barcalow teaches fourth-graders in Fort Wayne, Ind. He has never eaten at Franklin Barbecue, 1,200 miles away in Austin, Tex. But he did read Aaron Franklin’s book, Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto. Barcalow says the book and its lessons — for barbecue and life — changed him, making him more willing to try new things and learn from doing. An excellent lesson for fourth-graders, too. That’s why Barcalow has inspirational quotes from the book — “Words of Wisdom from Aaron Franklin,”…

Joints - 02/02/2018

Coming home to Pat Gee's Barbecue in Tyler

My dad, James Wilkins, enters Pat Gee's Barbecue in the piney woods east of Tyler. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) What's your barbecue home? Mine is a little clapboard BBQ joint deep in the woods outside of Tyler, where I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Every time I go home I try to squeeze in a visit to Pat Gee's, my barbecue home. I've been going there for 40 years. Pat Gee passed away in 1999 and his wife Vida Gee continued the business until she died in 2010. The Gee children continue the family tradition today When my…

Joints - 01/28/2018

Long BBQ line good, says Posse newcomer

Franklin Barbecue owner Aaron Franklin gives Gary Jacobson a tour of his new smokehouse, which is still under renovation following their fire in August. (Photo ©Daniel Gonclaves/fotobia.com) In addition to great food, one of the best parts of a barbecue tour is the wisdom it can generate. “The line is a good thing,” Dan Maguire said, sounding like a Socrates of Smoked Meat rather than a Posse newcomer. “It lets the food settle before we eat again.” It was about 1:30 or so on a recent Saturday afternoon and we had just arrived at la Barbecue in Austin. The BBQ…

Joints - 01/24/2018

Don't discount Amazon BBQ factor for HQ2

Customers stand in line at the world-famous Franklin Barbecue in Austin. (Photo ©Tom Fox( Yes, public transportation and a solid workforce are important, but don't overlook the Amazon BBQ factor as the online shopping giant decides where to put its much heralded, and much sought after, second headquarters, HQ2. After reviewing the list of 20 finalists that Amazon recently released, the Posse thinks world class barbecue might just give an edge to Austin. A total of nearly 240 communities made bids to Amazon, based in Seattle. There is obviously great barbecue in the city of Austin, including Franklin Barbecue. But…

Joints - 01/19/2018

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