I think it is more to do with cleaning the meat than marinating. A quick soak or rinse.

Rendezvous used to be a hit or miss place but now it seems to be completely miss. I was there about a month ago and the ribs were some of the worst I've ever had. You can find a good dry rib recipe on the net that will obviously kill what you had at Rendezvous.

Maybe I've said this already itt, but if you're ever traveling b/w Little Rock, AR and Memphis, take the DeValls Bluff US 70 exit to Craig's and get the pulled pork sandwich. In fact, get about 5 because they are incredible right out of the fridge cold. Don't cut the coleslaw!

I'm cooking in a competition today through tomorrow in Dillon Colorado. If you're in the Rocky Mountains and come by you can find me as the head chef on team whistle pig.

I found an interesting article from Huffington Post Food about preventing stall when cooking pork shoulder/brisket.

Cliffs-the stall is evaporation from the moisture in the meat, not fat rendering or collagen turning into gelatin that kept temperature from rising. It was just the meat "sweating" in ur smoker! This comes from a physicist who is an avid cook who ran a few tests. apparently foiling ur meat is the way to go.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-..._b_987719.html

This thread needs a bump for summer.

I was craving BBQ last Thurs so I hit Gates on the way home. Last time I go there. Ribs were overcooked, dry, and flavorless. Next time I'll drive the extra mile (literally) and go to LC's. I've been to lazy to do my own but saw some ribs on sale so I decided to cook some up today.

Cross posted from Man food thread...







I think these were the best ribs I've ever made. Tender, good flavor, and a nice bark.

jfc bbq is not a verb its not something you do. its a type of meat cooked in a special way.

what you like to do is grill or cook out. and its a fng grill not a bbq

Qft i posted after i read the 2nd reply and missed yours.

3 best in country lexington (western) parkers in wilson (eastern) bridgers in shelby (western)

and if you ppl itt dont know what western and eastern means then you dont know much bout bbq

im not mad just amused by the 1st level thinking itt

As if the only barbque in the the world comes from the Carolinas.

Bar-B-Que as a verb is pretty common on the west coast. It is almost as annoying as "cokes" is in Texas. lol regional variations.

i didnt say only i said the best. its generally voted that way in competition.

bbq as a verb is wrong. here is a quick rundown for the uneducated yankees who might skim the thread. also not from the carolinas. from north carolina. lumping the 2 together is like lumping the us with mexico.

Language is fluid and very regional. Today's bastardization is tomorrow's standard. Deal with it.

Someone from the Carolinas thinks Carolina BBQ is the best and can cite competitions that back up his claim. Well, I guess that's settled. I'm sure no one from Texas or KC could make the same claim.

Never saw this thread before. But lots of good info.

I was in Austin on business, so I took the time to tour some of their famous BBQ joints, as recommended on amazingribs.com. Tried both Smitty's and Kreuz's in Lockhart, as well as Ruby's over by UT and Louie Mueller in Taylor. (BTW, Louie Mueller doesn't have a liquor license, so you can't buy a beer there, despite the Budweiser signs throughout the restaurant.).

I stood in line in Franklin's (which is allegedly the best) twice. Once, around 1 pm on a Thursday. They announced that they sold out just after I got there. So I went there around 11:15 on Saturday (they open at 11). They told me the wait was 2.5 hours and there was no guarantee they'd have anything but brisket by the time I got served.

Of those places, I think I liked Kreuz's the best. They certainly had the best spare ribs. Louie Mueller possibly had better brisket, but I wasn't impressed by their ribs. Unfortunately, my daughter deleted all the pictures I took on my phone, so I can't post them here.

Another thing I realized is that I don't like sausage. I tried them at both Louie Mueller and at Kreuz's and didn't like them at all.

Kreuz's schtick of their meat being so tender you don't need a fork, while based in truth (the meat is really tender), is just annoying as hell. People don't eat with their hands for a reason. Forcing people to eat with their hands by not providing plasticware is stupid. I also don't get their fascination with butcher paper. Would it really kill them to give you a paper plate or a tray? Louie Mueller does fine with trays.

BTW, I'll be getting a Weber Smokey Mountain this summer. Pros and cons of the 18.5" vs the 22.5"? I hear that you can't fit a rack of ribs on the 18.5 unless you bend it. Is that really a big deal?

Smokey D's BBQ in Des Moines won the 2010 BBQ Pitmasters competition on TLC..

it's settled.. IOWA=BEST BBQ

Nice TR gus, I'll be in New Braunfels next weekend, going to try to hit up all the Lockhart places.

LOL at Kreuz Market not giving you forks or trays. I took my wife and all of her family there when they were in Texas (they are thai), and it was absurdly hilarious watching them try to eat without utensils. They seem to be a bit smug about the no plates/forks/sauce, but the brisket was great, along with the pork ribs.

I was going to Louie Mueller on Saturday, but my wife got sick, so we tried to go Monday, but it was closed (found that out after we drove there, fortunately, I'm not too far away). So disappointing. Ended up at Salt Lick, which is decent, but after having some Extra Moist Rudy's Brisket, just isn't the same.

I thought Louie Muller had beer taps- I've seen them in pictures. Wonder if they had to get something switched over. I need to make the trip to Lockhart, but with LM's being only 15 minutes from my house, gonna be hard to not try that a few times.

No idea why people wait that long for Franklin. Not sure how something could even be worth that kind of wait. Not even sure I'd wait that long for a blowjob from a supermodel, let alone some damn brisket.

If you're in Austin and don't want to wait at Franklin you should try J Mueller's on south first. Long story here:
http://www.austin360.com/food-drink/...r-2374398.html

Summary: John is from the Mueller's of Taylor, moved to Austin, had a place for a while, taught Aaron Franklin how to cook, became an alcoholic, disappeared for a few years and then opened a trailer on south first.

There is a 3000 post thread about his place here http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/show...stin-BBQ-Plans
which he posts on occasionally.

I like his bbq more than Franklin's. His beef ribs are unique.
Here's a pic of prime rib, beef rib and pork rib

hey hey hey no pimping out your sipperbevo website here

Folks were supposed to come to DFW this past weekend, was going to take them to Pecan Lodge at the Farmers Market, but plans fell through. Anyways, it ends up being featured on D,D,D last night, so I'm sure it'll be packed for the near future.

I lived in Memphis for a long time, there are significantly better BBQ joints than Rendez-Vous--it's just the most famous. My favorites are Commissary in Germantown and Central BBQ which has 2 locations. Both are significantly better and have better service than the obnoxious, overpaid a-holes at Rendez-Vous.

All they told me was that they don't have their liquor license now (well, two weeks ago). Since I was only in town that week, I didn't bother asking them when they expect to get their liquor license.

EDIT: Came across this review of the place.
http://fcg-bbq.blogspot.com/2010/01/...-barbecue.html

One of the comments hits a point I didn't make, but should have--the speed of service at these barbecue places is horrendous. I happened to get there just after they opened at 11 and was within the first 10 people in the door. But it still took 15+ minutes for me to get my food.

Muellers, Kreuz, and Smittys all serve the same way. A long line where you're waited on one person at a time. As soon as you order, a guy cuts your order, gives it to you on butcher paper, and then you pay. Sounds simple. But it takes so long. Don't understand why they can't have 3-4 people on the butcher block (or even just 2), and an additional cashier or two. As the comment says, many people don't have a lot of time for lunch. Maybe an hour or so. But these horrendous lines make it nearly impossible to do.

And the thing is, since "all" the big, respected BBQ places serve like this, there's no incentive to speed up. It's like they see it as a badge of honor to have this huge line out the door. (Buddy's Bakery in Cake Boss seems similar). After all, if you're Franklin's, and you sell out every day, why bother trying to sell more.

a) they might believe the line is good for business
b) they might be able to sell all the bbq they can produce without changing their service, so why would they change the service
c) if they do sell all the bbq they can produce, then adding additional staff just costs money out of their pocket. additional servers, cashiers, etc, cost money