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Lump Oak Charcoal from Weimar

I learned about B&B Charcoal from the old-timers at the Washington Lodge of the Sons of Hermann. These guys have been barbecueing on an open pit since the 1950s and their lodge has been holding barbecues since the late 1800s, so maybe they know a thing or two.

The modern Texas barbecue smoker [...]

Franklin's Beats Snow's: TM BBQ Fest

Snow’s brisket is famous. It comes with the somewhat dubious Calvin Trillin seal of approval. Ever since Texas Monthly rated Snow’s the best barbecue joint in Texas, I have felt it my duty to join the crowd and make a pilgrimage to the hamlet of Lexington. Yesterday, I got lucky–I scored a sample of their brisket at the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival without a pre-dawn drive in the country.
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Barbecue Time Machine

At dawn on the morning of Sunday October 16, I drove into the parking lot of the Washington Lodge of the Sons of Hermann. As I described in an earlier post, a handful of old fraternal organizations in this part of Texas have preserved the pit barbecue style that was once common all across the South. This Sons of Hermann Lodge was established in 1898 and the members claim that their barbecue tradition goes back that far too.
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2012 Foodways Texas BBQ Summer Camp

Foodways Texas announces BBQ Summer Camp dates and details: From Foodways Texas: “Mark your calendars for June 8-10, 2012, for the Foodways Texas Barbecue Summer Camp held in partnership with the Texas A&M University Meat Science Center in College Station, Texas. Tickets for the camp will go on sale sometime in November and we [...]

BBQ Road Trip: Going Whole Hog

BBQ Capital of the World?

After defeating South Carolina in a barbecue contest held in Washington DC back in the 1980s, Skylight Inn declared that tiny Ayden NC was the Barbecue Capital of the World.
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BBQ Road Trip: Pits of the Piedmont

Feediing the cookhouse furnace at Lexington (North Carolina) Barbecue


The array of chimneys sticking out of the brick cookhouse wall at Lexington Barbecue in Lexington North Carolina are very impressive.
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Fetishizing Fried Chicken

Two Piece Basket at Hill Country Chicken in NYC

The fried chicken at Hill Country Chicken in Manhattan was pretty good, so were the french fries and cole slaw. The chicken was fried to perfection, it would have been really great if they hadn’t sprinkled so much salty seasoning on it at the end. And I like a lot of salt.
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Hallal Pepperoni?

I thought this was a hallal pizzeria, what’s with the pepperoni?” I asked the Mexican-American pizza maker.

“It’s hallal pepperoni–it’s made out of beef,” he replied.
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Underbelly and El Real

Chris Shepherd

Chef Chris Shepherd’s new restaurant, Underbelly, will be next door to the Hay Merchant Craft Beer Bar in the old Chances building–across the street from our very own Tex-Mex joint, El Real! I ran into Shepherd at the Farmer’s Market last weekend. Alison Cook had just reported the news. Underbelly will [...]

Tyler Turkey

The Greenberg Smoked Turkey

My family consumed two Greenberg Smoked Turkeys and a turducken over the Thanksgiving holiday. (There were 26 of us.) I didn’t know the fascinating story of the Greenberg Smoked Turkey until I read about it in my friend John T. Edge’s column in his New York Times. The Tyler, Texas turkey smoking operation turns out some 200,000 birds every holiday season and they’ve been at it for decades. As soon as I heard about it, I had to try one.
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