I've nothing against BBQued pork, and find it potentially quite appealing, but why do those effete Easterners persist in "pulling"it, then soaking the results in sauce , so that the result resemble the contents of a plugged In-sink-erator. Leave the damn pig along. I'll pull my own.

As for sauce, a band of vile, degenerate heretics, Cathars worthy of fire and sword, have wreaked havoc and destroyed culture with the addition of corn syrup, molasses, and other sugars to barbecue sauces. First, no sauce should ever touch BBQ until just before the lips do, and the grotesque practice of slathering and lathering meat is like unto splashing cologne on a bar girl and serves badly to conceal the lack of quality of the BBQ. I can tolerate a bit of ketchup, not much, as a thickener, and recall an acceptable sauce which used Dr. Pepper as the liquid base, but in the annals of man, real BBQ sauce starts and nearly ends with meat drippings, powdered or liquefied red chiles, salt and vinegar.

The Blue Riband, the BCS championship, the World Cup of BBQ is, however, measured in brisket (Untrimmed!), best ripped from the carcass of beef, either steer or cow, having reached fuller maturity than the bang-tail springing heifers and shortly-after-veal calves butchered today. Many hours, 13-15, over indirect heat, 200F or so, from a fire built from oak, pecan, hickory or the like, pre-seasoned with little more than salt and pepper or maybe a "rub" in which red pepper and garlic join the S&P base, then sliced, to be served on butcher paper, the sauce on the side in a plastic squeeze bottle, sliced red onion, dill pickles, "light" bread, some cured sausage finished in the pit...Life gets no better. If you want to cook some frijoles, fine, but I'm a harsh judge of 'tater salad unless its Danny Henderson's White Dill version.

Having lived in Central texas for years, yes, BBQ is quite a fiery topic.

And I missed my Texas bbq so much I just bought my own smoker up here in Colorado

The best pulled pork I've ever had bar none is in Asheville, NC. Any number of joints, but Mack Kells was best followed by 3 Pigs. They always put the sauce on the side as it should be. The coleslaw, beans, and hushpuppies are also perfect there. Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

And consider yourself uncorrected....

CA does not compare to Texas BBQ nor is anything you get from CA close to what is BBQ. How do I know? I have tried and it is awful stuff.

1) What are piquinto beans?

Proper sides to a BBQ are any of the following:

1) Potatoes
2) Ranch style beans
3) Coleslaw
4) Potato Salad
5) A raw or pickled Jalapeno
6) Raw onion and some pickles

NOT SALSA and never sourdough bread !!

Agree with the rest of your list, but what are "Ranch style" beans?


Slightly OT: Does anyone have an opinion on stew? Where I grew up, BBQ was always served with a side of Brunswick stew. Mom believed stew should include whole beans, corn, chucks of meat, etc. Dad felt it should all be ground to mush. Personally, I preferred to skip either version.

Couldn't agree with you more...my friend (who, since attending the KC BBQ DO has become a BBQ competition judge) preferrs to smoke his own meats too. There must be an assumed rule that once you cross the KS border, it is illegal to sell decent BBQ here. Although Yazoo BBQ Co. in downtown DEN isn't too bad...

Planning on going for a little eating trip to Austin at the end of Feb. so any suggestions in the area would be much appreciated. I'll be renting a car so out of town would be good kind of planning on a trip to Taylor, and Lockhart so far.

Let me know if you want a tour guide, I have been meaning to drive down Austin direction anyway.

Here's a pretty good place to start:
http://texasbbqtrail.com/

Besides what is on that site, I'd add Coopers in downtown Round Rock.

All these places will sell you meat by the pound, feel free to order just a slice or two of brisket and a single sausage link, etc if you have several stops to make and need to save some room. And skip the sides: you're not coming all the way from Canada to fill up on cole slaw. If you must have sauce, get it on the side, and use it only after trying the meats dry.

And enjoy!

since you'll find much heated debate on which/whose bbq is best, ill say that it very much varies from visit to visit. on a scale of 1-10, re-visiting a single place, you can go from a 6 to a 9. that said, the 3 "jewels" of the hill country (<1 hr from Austin... kreutz...blacks...smittys...etc..) are consistently good. though each place has a specialty (brisket vs sausage)

if you want to stay in *town*, i find that Rudys BBQ (a *chain*) is perfectly good if you get the fattier brisket and creamed corn side. salt lick is a great destination for the eating experience. and county line is good for a slighty more "formal" big group dining experience

Steph3nthe more the merrier, I do tend to get lost, but generally have an enjoyable time doing so.

Swag great link thanks.

Deniah thanks for the suggestions I'm leaning towards Kreuz's, and Smitty's Market in Lockhart, and Louie Muellers in Taylor for now but haven't ruled out a visit to Luling for City Market.

Of course I have to spend some time in Austin as well, and will definitely eat there so any further suggestions are much appreciated.

Having visited Lockhart, Luling, and Taylor many times, I'd advise you to definitely include Luling. Lot's of folks place City Market in Luling as #2 on their list of favorites, regardless of which Lockhart market they have in first.

Personally, the single best piece of meat I've ever had was a 1/2" slab of brisket from Smitty's - juicy, tender, smoky, just brilliant. So good I almost wanted to cry.

However, on different days and at different times of day, any of the top markets may amaze or disappoint you. Although the best single piece was from Smitty's, I've had other brisket there that was not nearly as good. I've given up on Kreuz's, as the last 3 or so times I've gone, the meat has been dry and a bit tough. They do have the perfect dessert for serious carnivores, scoops of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, quite cheap too. City Market in Luling is very consistently good, IMHO. Black's and Louie Meuller's are highly variable, from outstanding to so-so.

Best time of day to go is probably early lunch - 11 AM to noon. Briskets tend to get drier as the day goes on.

Edited to add:

Re: Louie Meuller's - make sure you go there early. I've gone twice in early afternoon only to find it closed (sold out of meat). Although any of them might do this, Meullers is pretty consistent in this behavior.

LOL. So seriously that situations develop that you can't even imagine. For a period of time we lived in a small town that had two BBQ joints, run by two brothers. Both had the same name, and one was refered to as "on the by-pass" and the other by "next to the hospital" (probably for ease of transportation after an overdose ).

As an outsider, I could detect no discernable difference in the two products, yet the locals would line up behind one or the other and refuse to set foot in the one they didn't like.

BTW - I didn't read this entire thread, but in case no one else has, I need to point out that BBQ is a noun, not a verb or adjective.

That wouldn't be Shelby, NC would it?

Why, yes it would! And, If I recall correctly, one was "Red" Bridges and the other "Alston" Bridges.