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signs01

BBQ Signs of our Times - Chapter 3

Back by popular demand, our BBQ signs series continues. A rule of thumb: The more homemade the sign, the down home the barbecue. Here are some signs from our recent East Texas II BBQ Tour and a couple of other recent BBQ roadtrips. You can click to see the first BBQ Signs of our Times post or BBQ Signs of our Times II. Thanks to new posse member Phil Lamb for his contributions to this chapter. Family Tradition Bar-B-Q, Waelder, TX Baby J’s Bar-B-Que & Fish, Palestine, TX Lonnie Ray's BBQ, Harrisburg, MO Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Que, Tyler, TX Stacy's…
Joints / People - 04/23/2011
wilk

If we're the posse, he's the sheriff

The tough part about always being the guy behind the camera is that you're never* in the photo. Chris Wilkins, the driving force behind the Texas BBQ Posse, is a professional photographer. So are a lot of posse members. But Chris is the guy who's always ready with his lenses and flash when we pull up to a new joint. He's the guy who's always walking in with at least two cameras around his neck. He's the guy who's always in perfect position to record the moment when a pitmaster agrees to take us around back and show us where…
People - 04/23/2011
marshall2

Smoking brisket in a grocery sack

Jason Hoskins writes: First of all, I enjoy your blog. Check in on it everyday. I have one question. I am planning on smoking a brisket this weekend and I wanted to try the butcher paper method you all wrote about. The problem, I can't find any plain brown butcher paper and I don't have time to order it. I was wondering if you all thought a plain brown paper sack (grocery bag) would work? I figured it is basically the same as butcher paper but I'm not totally sure. Thanks for your time. Posse Pitmaster Marshall Cooper responds: Interesting…
Cooking - 04/21/2011
smokinjsEXT

Best name ever for a barbecue joint? Smok'n J's Butt Nekkid BBQ

Editor's note: This just is now closed. We were driving on Highway 19 between Palestine and Athens when we spotted the smoke. No one wanted to cram an extra stop into our East Texas barbecue tour last weekend. We were stuffed after eating at three places and we wanted only to sample the Hog Wings at Cripple Creek in Athens before returning to Dallas. But the smoke on the side of the highway in Montalba was enticing. We drove past, but Posse co-found Chris Wilkins said, "We probably should turn around." Wheelman Marshall Cooper obliged. And so we pulled into…
Joints - 04/20/2011
TMtop50

Texas Monthly's Pat Sharpe joins the Top 50 BBQ dialogue....

Texas Monthly executive editor and food writer Pat Sharpe graciously comments on our blog posts regarding their Top 50 BBQ rankings. We wanted to publish her comments in a seperate post to be sure everyone got a chance to read it. Hello, all. Since I am the person who heads up Texas Monthly's top-fifty list every five years, let me respond to a couple of questions. We do, in fact (as Jacob said, above), indicate whether each place uses wood or gas/electric, but it's in the form of a symbol (of flames or a commercial smoker) so a reader might…
People - 04/19/2011
hard2

More on Texas Monthly’s taking the gas

I don’t mean to pour charcoal lighter on the fire, but Gary is indisputably correct about gas versus wood: No one who cooks with gas belongs on a list of Texas’ best barbecue joints, any more than grape Nehi belongs on a wine list. (And the offense isn't pardoned just because the gas cook throws on, as Marshall Cooper puts it, "a couple of sticks of wood for perfume.") Texas Monthly, more than most, ought to realize this. Indeed, in the introduction to the magazine’s last Top 50 issue (published in June 2008), the editors described their vaunted list thusly:Our…
People - 04/19/2011
cwfirewood

'Someone needs to call out Texas Monthly on its Top 50 BBQ joints'

One of the great things about full-day barbecue tours is the time it allows for important, spirited debates about important issues. Some of the topics we've addressed: Is it ever worth making a special stop at a joint that advertises on a highway billboard? (No.) Should you make an impromptu stop at a place that has "Soulman" in its name? (Probably not. They're trying too hard.) Can "great" sausage ever truly compare to "great" brisket? (No. We need a new grading system for sausage.) On our East Texas tour last weekend, we got into a new hot topic. "Someone needs…
People - 04/18/2011
babyjake2

Pitmaster and preacher, Baby J McKenzie wins BBQ converts in Palestine

Editor's note: This joint is now closed. It's the most unusual smoker any of us have seen. A giant black metal box on short stilts with a smokestack reaching 20-feet high, located just out the side door from Baby J's Bar B Que and Fish near Palestine. With a flick of his wrist, Jeremiah "Baby J" McKenzie toggles one of the huge counterweights and a door magically lifts, exposing eight rotating cook racks filled with chicken and ribs. There is an identical cooking chamber on the opposite side. "That's just heaven," says Posse veteran Marshall Cooper, clearly smitten with an…
Joints - 04/17/2011
stanleysign

On the road again: East Texas II BBQ Tour begins tomorrow at Stanley's

The posse returns to one of our favorite joints in the state on Saturday to begin the second East Texas BBQ tour. Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q in Tyler was the starting point for our first East Texas tour in February 2010. We've gotten to know owner and pitmaster Nick Pencis pretty well since then, he's one of the "young gun" pitmasters who are leading the next generation of great Texas BBQ cooks. We can't wait to try Stanley's ribs, considered by many to be among the best in the state. The first time the Posse was there, a customer bought…
Joints - 04/15/2011
smoke1

Pit Talk: Finding the best level of BBQ smoke

Here's a new feature on our blog, Pit Talk. Texas BBQ Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper will share insights he's gained in almost 30 years manning a backyard smoker. Here are a few of his thoughts on smoke and BBQ. Marshall writes: So, it seems there could be a big disparity on desired smoke levels between competition judges, BBQ restaurants and everyone else. In talking to several competition guys, "the judges just want a very subtle layer of smoke, so you can taste smoke but not enough smoke that it makes you burp" is one comment. "I always lose points if…
Cooking - 04/15/2011
halletts01

Novosad BBQ & Sausage Market: The I-10 BBQ adventure continues

After lunch at Gonzales Food Market, we headed east on Hwy. 90. The next official stop was going to be City Market in Schulenburg, but we hoped to find a joint or two on the 41 mile drive over. We talked about having a cold Shiner beer in the town of Shiner, of course. This was the first decent sized town on the route, but we came up empty. The brewery was closed and we didn't find a bar open. Onward to Hallettsville and Novosad BBQ & Sausage Market, a joint I had heard of but didn't know much about.…
Joints - 04/13/2011
MO02

Lonnie Ray's BBQ: Texas smoke in the heartland of Missouri

I got a chance to try some "Texas-style" BBQ on a trip last week to Columbia, Missouri. I'm alway skeptical when I hear those words and I'm not in Texas. The meat is usually cooked on a gas burner and that ain't Texas-style in my book....... Longtime friend Jim Curley, a photojournalist in Columbia, drove us north 21 miles to Harrisburg, population 184, home of Lonnie Ray's BBQ. Mike Whiteley, owner and pit boss, has been cooking most of his life and opened Lonnie Ray's seven years ago. Jim had heard about the Gee Wilikers sandwich, a wholly original choice…
Joints - 04/11/2011
gagaaaron

Lady Gaga, Texas BBQ and Aaron Franklin

If you can work Lady Gaga into a conversation about Texas barbecue, then it's probably going to be a pretty good conversation. That was true Thursday morning when I stopped by Aaron Franklin's new place in Austin on my way back to Dallas. It was just after 9 a.m., still about two hours until he opened for business, so Franklin had a few minutes to show me around. "What are you doing in town?" he asked. I explained that I had gone to the Lady Gaga concert the night before at the Erwin Center. (Terrific show, btw.) One of her…
People - 04/08/2011
gonzoweb01

Gonzales Food Market: Three generations of BBQ mastery

After breakfast at City Market in Luling, we headed southeast on Hwy. 183 to the old town square of Gonzales, home to another one of the best BBQ joints in Texas. Gonzales Food Market was founded 52 years ago by the Lopez family as a small grocery and meat market, with one brick pit constructed to cook sausage. Two more pits to smoke a wide array of meats followed. Second and third generations of the family still run the joint, which morphed into more of a restaurant in the mid-1970s. When we arrived at 11:30 am the line was already…
Joints - 04/07/2011
family01

Family Tradition Bar-B-Q: New stop on the central Texas BBQ trail

UPDATE: This joint closed in October 2011. The Fogle family hopes to open a joint near Lake McQueeney sometime in Spring 2012. An unexpected stop was awaiting us as we threaded our way on the blue highways around the Interstate 10 corridor looking for the next BBQ joint to visit. We had planned a fourth stop at Schulenburg City Market, but they were closed when we got there. We were on the prowl for a replacement. In the tiny town of Waelder, population a little over 900, we stumbled into the newly opened Family Tradition Bar-B-Q. Waelder is north of…
Joints - 04/05/2011
lulingweb01

City Market in Luling: First stop on the I-10 BBQ roadtrip

I was joined by an old friend last weekend on a quick five-stop BBQ roadtrip. Sports photographer extraordinaire Jeff Haynes, who was in San Antonio covering the NCAA basketball regionals for Reuters, had a down day on Saturday so we headed east on Interstate 10. The original plan was to hit three city markets and see what we found in between. All three joints were threaded together by I-10 between San Antonio and Houston. They had all received five stars from our friend Daniel Vaughn, aka the BBQ Snob, so I knew it would be a tasty journey. We planned…
Joints - 04/01/2011
louies2

Texas BBQ wins another convert

Before Dan Sweet made his recent pilgrimage to the Central Texas barbecue holy land, he called the Posse. The Oregon resident, who works in corporate public relations, said he had won a Texas tourism essay contest and that one of the research resources he had used was this blog. Thanks, Dan. It’s always nice to get a nod. Anyway, for his essay about starting the church of Texas barbecue, Dan and his wife, Cheryl, won a five-day trip to Austin and the Central Texas barbecue trail. Last week, they went to Lockhart, Taylor and other famous barbecue towns and ate…
People - 03/28/2011
pecan1

Is Pecan Lodge in the same league as Franklin?

Is Pecan Lodge in the same league as Franklin? That was the case this week, according to Posse pit master Marshall Cooper, who eats barbecue – his own and other’s – several times a week. Marshall is hard to please. But after his lunch Sunday at Pecan Lodge in the Dallas Farmers Market he was raving. “In terms of quality, in my opinion, the brisket and ribs today hands down beats any BBQ in DFW,” he reported. “The ribs were better than any ribs I’ve eaten out. Today, the brisket was so damned good, it makes me re-think Franklin for…
Joints - 03/24/2011
ledeoc

Texas BBQ competition season is upon us

As the Texas BBQ Posse, a small group of us from the The Dallas Morning News, and friends, have traveled much of the state in search of the best smoked meats we can find. Then we tell readers what we think of the joints we visit. Anyone can talk a good game, some readers have gently reminded us since we began our Barbecue Chronicles in late 2009. So we decided to see if we could also walk the barbecue walk. Last September, we entered our first competition, the Blues, Bandits & BBQ festival in Oak Cliff. It was an exhausting,…
People - 03/22/2011
Steve-BBQ-Pic

On the road: The Steve Miller Band makes a BBQ stop in Austin

Texas BBQ Posse member and Dallas Morning News staff photographer David Woo was on the road last week with the Steve Miller Band, a group he has been photographing for 20 years. Steve, who moved to Dallas when he was 7 years old, is a huge fan of Texas BBQ and always looking for the greatest que the state has to offer. David accompanied the Posse on our recent anniversary tour to central Texas and discovered the brisket at Franklin Barbecue and the ribs and sides at Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, both in Austin. He started planning a BBQ feast for…
People - 03/05/2011
luckies01

Luckie's Smokehouse: Last of the OC's three new BBQ joints opens for business

Editors note: This BBQ joint s now closed. UPDATE 2/28: Click here to see our friend Daniel Vaughn's review of Luckie's Smokehouse on his Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog. Daniel also points out Oak Cliff Barbeque, yet another new BBQ joint in the OC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After months of preparation, Luckie's Smokehouse is open for business at the corner of Davis St. and Clinton Ave. in Oak Cliff. Luckie's is the third BBQ barbecue joint to open in the OC in the past month. They were formerly located at I-30 and Cockrell Road. The Posse watched the early stages of their…
Joints - 02/25/2011
oldskul01

Old School BBQ & Grill: East Austin ‘Que joint delivers solid brisket, fantastic burger

Here's a report on Old School BBQ & Grill from the Jacobson branch of the Texas BBQ Posse, including Gary, Sherry, Libby and Gunnar Jacobson and Mike Gagne. They visited Old School last Sunday and share this report: Among the newfangled trailer eats of Austin, fine smoked meats can be found at Old School BBQ & Grill, operating out of an old yellow school bus at East 6th and Waller streets. The crew is often mobile. Check online on their website, Twitter feed or Facebook page to see their particular whereabouts. Trey Cook, the pit master this day, chatted us…
Joints - 02/19/2011
marshall_newJamboSM

Marshall Cooper takes his new Jambo J-3 pit for a test ride

Texas BBQ Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper finally got his new Jambo J-3 pit on Thursday, after being delayed by the ice storms. In typical Marshall fashion, there was a fire going almost as soon as the J-3 was parked in the driveway. Marshall has been smoking meats for over 25 years and keeps intricate notes and meat maps from all his cooks. Here are some notes from the initial cook: Friday, 2/11 at 11:12 pm "I've staggered about 58 pounds of meat onto the pit since 1:30 pm today. Fire management is easier than you would believe. The desired pit…
Equipment - 02/12/2011
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