After a week in Texas touring some of the worlds BEST BBQ joints I learned 3 lessons that I am bringing back with me to my next backyard bbq. 🙏 to GEOLOGIE for partnering up on today’s vid – use (BBQ70) at for that 70% discount!
Resources to Help Make BETTER Barbecue 👉🏼
► Vent settings, Better Kamado Smoke Guides & Double Indirect How To PDFs available for Big Green Egg, Primo and Kamado Joe Grills!
► Become a channel member –
————————————-
💰💰💰Gear Discounts 💰💰💰
————————————-
🌡MEATER wireless probes –
💰 No coupon needed! Just use this link for up to 10% off site-wide
🗑️ KickAsh Basket & Can –
💰 Use discount code “SDBBQ” to get 5% off any order site wide!
🔥 GrillGun and Su-V Gun from GrillBlazer –
💰 Use discount code “SDBBQ” to get 10% off any order site wide!
🪵 Smoke North offset smokers –
💰 No coupon needed! Just use this link for 25% off all accessories & pit upgrades!
🧂 Pepper Cannon (8-60 mesh 10x more per grind) –
💰 Use discount code “SDBBQ10” to get 10% off any order site wide!
🪨 Fogo Charcoal & BBQ accessories (Free shipping orders over $100) –
————————————-
Gear I’ve used in videos without a discount
————————————-
💨 FireBoard Drive 2, Spark & Pluse –
🔪 Dalstrong Knives –
🌡Thermoworks –
🧤 High Heat Pit Mitts by Meater –
🖐🏿 Nitrile prep gloves –
I couldn’t make this video without support from folks like you who choose to buy from my links. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you use them, I’ll receive a commission and it will help me make more content like this for my channel.
————————————-
Free resources at www.smokingdadbbq.com
————————————-
► Join my Free Quarterly News Letter with insider tips, giveaways etc.
► Food temperature quick reference guide (FREE with newsletter signup)
► Written Recipes / Rub Ratios / DIY Table plans etc.
👉🏼 Did this video help you? Sharing this video with friends, groups, social media etc. helps others find me and is greatly appreciated! 🙏
Chapters
00:00 – 3 Texas Lessons I Brought Back
01:04 – Technology VS Craft BBQ
04:31 – Less Is More
07:39 – Geologie Ad
09:40 – How to best experience Texas BBQ
12:28 – Things I’ll change back home
#SMOKINGDADBBQ #barbecue #pitmaster
source
41 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I love the less is more concept.
Damn man! You got interviews with the heavy hitters. Congrats!!!
I would be interested is meeting up at a BBQ restaurant and possibly taking a class
Great video, thanks!
Man did you stop in Houston? We have great bbq!
@james – I would love the idea of a gathering /class in person, but I would only go it involves cooking a brisket beginning to end. I don't get he idea of a 2 hour class on cooking a brisket. Of course I know time is money so I get the appeal of charging a couple hundred bucks for 2 hours, but that would not be for me. With that said, I can't see paying $100 per hour to cook a brisket all the way through. Ideally you would take a 6 pack of beer for the time between prepping and wrapping and carving 🙂
I'm sure this has been said in this thread, but I'm lazy so after watching 5 minutes I thought I would give my opinion on technology. You're talking to pit masters who cook more briskets in a day than most of us cook in 5 years. There is no way I can cook a decent brisket without having remote probes. Plus, as much as I wish this was my full time job, it is not – so using a heatermeter or some other temperature control (I cook on a Kamado Joe) is a great help. Plus, I'm a geek so I love anything I can monitor and control on my phone. I hope someday I can get good enough to cook by feel and just probing occasionally and to move to an offset, but I think Aaron did a good job calling out the trade off and acknologing that using technology is acceptable for us meer mortals. With that said, Thank you @smoking Dad, I love to hear from you and the experts, hopefully when I retire in a few yeras I can invest in a nice offset and cook like a Texan pitmaster 🙂
I would definitely be interested in doing your class. Michael Pittman know he also that I haven’t been able to attend but I think it’s a great concept
Thanks for all of your tips and great advice. Road trip to Texas for a class would be great experience.
Two weekends ago. I cooked for about 20 ppl. Very true. I kept it simple. Pepper and salt. On some rack of ribs. And the bar a bbq rib glaze, Nothing but compliments!!!
Great video, thanks for the time you put into it. I know visiting all those places and eating BBQ was difficult! 🤣 I agree with the less is more mentality; simple seasoning, controlled fire with a good wood selection, patience, and enjoy the process. Thermometers are a helper, not a pit master!
Will you be doing a video on the addition of the big green eggs?
I am trying to make a pizza on my Kamado Joe using the Dejoe. The crust get done before the top is done. Have grill temp at 450 degrees. What am I doing wrong?
Would love to cook with you or share my cook result with you. Unfortunately stuck in the middle of nowhere (Germany yeah in the middle of this spot). ….
I'm all in with all this less is more.
Thanks for your videos. Love them.
🙋🏻♂️
I’d love to do a meet up in Texas at a bbq class if you’re willing to be seen with a bbq rescue guy in public!
The timing of this episode couldn’t be better. I am heading to Texas this week. The information you have provided from your trip is outstanding. I am hoping to visit at least a few of the restaurants you visited. I also plan to stop by Lone Star Grillz. My wife is a little nervous about that stop. 😁 I would love to meet up on a barbecue trip. I am just starting to really barbecue vs grilling. Thank you for all the information you provide!
My great grandfather opened the first Texas BBQ restaurant in El Paso, Texas in 1909. He became a Texas celebrity because of his secret brisket recipe. But he almost ran into some legal trouble when the secret of his brisket recipe was divulged to the public by one of his disgruntled former employees. The employee revealed that the secret was as follows: every morning at 5am my great grandpa would stick a large piece of brisket into his own rear end hole, then he would let it marinate in there until 10am, at which point he would carefully pull it out and put it into the smoker, where it would slow cook until the restaurant opened for dinner. When law enforcement found out about this they came to arrest great grandpa, but when they smelled the brisket in the smoker they couldn't resist. So instead of sending him to jail, the police officers decided to stay for dinner. Great grandpa once said he reckoned he'd stuffed over 7000 pounds of brisket into his rear end hole in all the years he operated his famous restaurant, and he said every pound was more than worth it, because he loved serving quality food to his beloved customers.
Not so much a question as a comment. I feel that the temp probes for most of us backyard weekenders is a way to learn the process. As you said, not any of us are smoking hundreds of brisket a day. I feel that once you figure out the process you will figure out the color of the bark, a time to wrap, or whatever you are trying to achieve. It all comes with experience and A LOT of trial and error. The mistakes are expensive, so I feel for us weekend warriors, use the technology but pay attention to the details to repeat the process. I personally have a notebook dedicated to as many details about a cook as I can. I am my own worst critic for sure. Everyone enjoys the food, but are they saying that to save my feelings? I would hope not. Looking forward to more from you. Thanks.
Brilliant episode! Thank you! The stateside hosts were absolutely awesome too!!
As crazy as it sounds, Texas style smoked turkey is my favorite!❤
❤❤❤❤
Tip for anybody's first time. Check hours of operation. In the Austin area a few of the better rated places are closed on Tuesdays.
Fortunately when I went Franklin wasn't, but LeRoy & Lewis and Interstellar were.
I guess I missed seeing what made you bring back Big Green Eggs. What led to that decision?
Don't get me wrong, I love tech!
But….
As a boy…
"Dad, can I have a new automatic camera?" Dad: "Sure, when you learn to use a manual box camera, then I will buy you an automatic camera."
"Dad, can you buy me one of those new calculators?" Dad: "Sure when you show me you can do quadratic equations on paper, then I will buy you a calculator."
"Dad, (me learning to drive – 8 years old on the backroads). What do we do if we have a flat tire?" …pulling off to the shoulder of the gravel road, "Get out of the truck and I'll show you", replied dad and that we did, learn to change a tire (that wasn't flat 🙂 ).
I've always wanted to go down to Texas and try some of those authentic BBQ joints. Thanks for making the pilgrimage, James! This was really entertaining, interesting and informative 🙂
I’m 10 min from Bar A and 30 from Corkscrew. If you’re ever back in the Houston area I’d love to meet up for a class and hang with you!
A bbq class would be awesome!!
Color me biased, but i am all about simple. Salt and black pepper is as simple as it gets.
Thanks for the great video and good on you. You appear to be having a lot of fun with this. More emphasis on some great traditional sides is a good idea
I'm interested in roadtrip and meetup class. Sounds like a blast!
I've been managing wood and charcoal fires for years. Now that I am retired, I love my pellet grill. I can kick up my heels and relax. Of course, YMMV.
Hi James, you should meet up with my friend, Al Wasserberger in Raleigh and hit Dampf Good BBQ in Cary. Also, taking a drive to the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC is a cultural experience. That would make for some great content. There are other great places in Eastern NC as well.
Count me in on the meet up in TX (or anywhere)!! I'm planning a big Texas bbq swing to La Barbeque, Interstellar, Snow's, and LeRoy & Lewis in Austin area (already been to Franklin a few times); Barbs and Blacks in Lockhart; Corkscrew, Truth, and Bar-a-BBQ (Houston area); and Cattleack, Heim, and Goldee's (Dallas/Ft Worth). This may take more than one trip 😉 Any edits to this list? Thanks for all the insights and work, James! Very much appreciated!
Road show would be fun. How about something in Northern California, maybe Napa valley
Meh,if i want simple,i will go tona restaurant, of i want something different, I or my friends will cook it. Because like even the one short guy says,everyone has their off days & i wouldn't want to get my hopes all up and pay a premium for someones off day. I would rather use the technology to hone a delicious meal that wows my friends,that ask "Man,when are you going to open up a restaurant or a food truck!!!" And i would be like "So i can put way less LOVE into the food & make it not so special😐😐😐"
But when I'm out of town and i dont have 3 days prep time for my meats,I will bite the bullet and go to one of these #1 spots in their state and i almost always am disappointed.
I’d be up for the road trip meetup and class! Woo Hoo!
Dude awesome video. Thank you for all the information you provided from the best pitmasters in Texas.
On the tech, I scrapped my probes last year. I was wasting too much brain power on what the temps, etc were doing. I went back to my earlier BGE days and set the egg where I know the temp and just go from there.
Great video! Bringing it back home so to speak after a lot of diversions with so many rubs, secret ingredients, layering, long holds, wet brines, dry brines, clean thin blue smoke versus cold smoke methods and on and on and on! An in person event would be great!
Count me in if you come back to Texas