Tom,

Someone (amoeba, maybe?) posted a Texas Best BBQ list somewhere that was pretty great, where I think the reviewer had eaten BBQ every day for a month or something. Doesn't seem to be in this thread, though. Well, I guess that was a pretty useless post...

http://fedmanwalking.com/content/austins-top-10-bbq
This guys reviews 50+ bbq places in Austin. Although only a handful are worth eating at.

Pork Rub...

I'd kindly apprciate some insight to [better] preparing my Pork Ribs and Loin. I'm doing "ok" now, but think it could be better.

Currently I'm sitting out my meat to warm-up to near room temperature for a couple/few hours. After some experimenting the rub that I'm currently using consist of Salt, Black Pepper, Onion powder, Garlic, Paprika & Chipolte Powder.

I have noticed a huge difference in taking the meat outta the fridge, rub down and straight onto the grill, versus letting it warm up to about room temp, them rub and let sit another hour or so, then start cooking it. The "difference" I'm noticing includes tenderness, overall texture & moistness of the meat from outside-in, and ease of cooking more uniformly.

Other common rub ingredients? Methods?

Specfically I like to cook thick Loins, maybe 1 1/2" to 2" thick, on a (gas) grill. I can make these everyday of the week, because there's easy and don;t take much time. My current and best-to-date cooking method (without using a smoker) is to hot glaze them for 1-3 minutes on all sides, them install a water pan to provide moisture and place them on the top rack for some slower cooking for another 30-40 minutes. I'm experiencing nice flavor on the outside from the rub, a nice almost hard/flaky shell and then very moist inside w/ a gobs of traditional pork flavor, the inside color is grayish -not really pink, but not far from it , I'm not using a thermometer anymore- just cooking and then make a test cut for doneness...these loins make a pool on your plate when you cut into them, similar to a nicely cooked beef steak.

And...never thought I'd find a thread like this on a poker site, LOL. But right now nuttin sounds better than some good ribs, freinds, and a poker table sitting on my deck w/ a cold beer.

txdome got the right link.

http://fedmanwalking.com/content/austins-top-10-bbq

pretty much everything in the top 3, especially #1 and #2, is going to be pretty great and comparable if not superior to some of the places outside Austin in Lockhart, Taylor, Luling, Lexington. I'll put J Mueller's beefribs up against any joint.

http://www.fedmanwalking.com/content...rib-redemption

I really like #4 but its strong suit is really Georgian style BBQ (pulled pork, brunswick stew) though their brisket is good. #5 is strong in its Texas style staples but its the Saturday special that really makes it stand out from other BBQ joints.

http://liveoakbbq.net/specials.htm

Its a pretty big fall off after #5. Still decent enough for out of towners but definitely not worth going out of your way for.

Ended up here, just wasn't that impressed.

Excellent link. And here I thought Ruby's was just a derogatory term for Rudy's on shaggybevo.

I'm pretty far North, sad that they didn't get anything on the outskirts on that list. Still due to hit Louie Mueller's (which is closer to me than most on that list). The top 2 are definitely something I want to try out, but just a pain for me being far away, then dealing with the lines.

Tom, if you still work where I think you work, just go to Stiles Switch any day or Mann's on thursdays (brisket special) and fridays (pulled pork special + free homemade ice cream) . Should only be a 15min drive for you.

thank you for this, good find

Not terribly exciting, but I tried a couple of new techniques over the weekend that I think worked well.

Beer fried onions:

Melt 2tbsp butter + 2tbsp olive oil in a nonstick skillet.
Turn to lowest setting, add sliced onions (I did 4, was using red onions)
Add salt (1-2tsp)
Leave for an hour
Turn to med/hi, add cayenne (2tsp) and a little white sugar (1-2tsp)
Stir until the onions are about the color you want.
Add beer (about 2oz, I used Coors Light since I had it and probably won't be drinking it)
Turn to high
Stir continuously until most of the beer has cooked off.


Beer Brats

I did this on the grill (charcoal)
Boiled fresh brats (Sheboygan from Costco) for about an hour on the grill in a mixture of beer, onions and a little butter (my cast-iron pan held 4 cans of beer and 12 brats and easily fit on my Weber)
Then I took them out of the pan to brown them.

They ended up being crispy/brown on the outside and incredibly tender on the inside.

Wherever it was posted earlier, I mentioned my bro had his Rehearsal Dinner at Live Oak a few months ago and it was outstanding. Place was literally a shack in the middle of the hood.

Kreuz is probably the last place i'd go in Lockhart. I've been once and was not impressed. Smitty's, Black's, and even Chisholm Trail are all better imo.

here's some bbq pics to spice up the thread

first off atomic buffalo turds...cream cheese, jalapeno, smokies, wrapped in bacon and sprinkled with seasoning

ribs

God i love ribs.

No sticky sweet chilli sauce though?

i had sauce on the side to dip but I like to serve smoked ribs sauceless and let each person decide how they want to eat it

Durango, care to write up a report on how you made/cooked your ribs? They look solid

pedal, just basic stuff really...

wash ribs with water
pat dry
remove membrane on underside of ribs
season with favorite rub all over and even under
let sit for a few hours
smoke with hickory/cherry blend for approximately 2 hours uncovered at 225F-250F
cover and spritz with apple cider + little vinegar, seal up and cook another 1-1.5 hrs
uncover and very lightly sauce and finish up a little higher temp for last 30 minutes
let cool for at least 20 minutes, cut and serve with a spicy bbq sauce on the side

easy way to check for doneness in ribs on the smoker is to watch how the meat pulls up and exposes the bone...u can also poke with a knife/fork to see how tender they are.

the longer you cook = more tender for the most part but I don't like them completely fall off the bone..I like to have decent bits that are somwhere between pulled pork and brisket like if that make any sense at all

also those jalapeno popper/ ABF's are soooo money for fantasy football drafts, parties, superbowl, tailgating...

u can actually let them cool and freeze for use later and they still taste good. all u gotta do is reheat in oven or medium heat grill.

serve with a side of ranch...

side note: if you want to mess with someone you can creep in a habanero pepper instead of a jalapeno and absolutely gas someone out! even some of the jalapenos are damn hot if you leave a lot of seeds in and/or part of the stem...they can def bring you to tears if you're not careful cleaning them out

smoked a 9lb pork shoulder/butt last week

put a rub on it, saran wrapped it and put it in the fridge for about 14 hours. smoked on a charcoal grill for ~13 hrs.







bear claws - these are the greatest invention ever if you make pulled pork. had the whole thing pulled in under 5 minutes

What are the best ribs for plenty of fat/moisture? I've had both babyback and spare. Someone else before was talking about a meatier version of babybacks itt? It seems like babyback can be thicker depending on the rack. Any suggestions? I want the most meat/bang for my buck. Thanks

First time at doing pork-butts on my Traeger Wood-Pellet Grill. Anyone else use/like these grills? I'm pretty much in love with mine b/c of how versatile it is.







Sorry, not sure how to post normal pics on here w/o having to open in different tab. If a mod can change it, go ahead. Thanks.

Not sure where you think I work, but both those places are reasonably close to work (within 15 mins). I don't work at Dell though.

that pork butt is moneeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy

TomC, have you made it to JMueller yet?

No. I tried on Friday, we were downtown with the kids, didn't get out of the Children's Museum until 12:15, figured it would be too late and kids were melting down, so had to head home. Could have tried call ahead, but kids were a mess. I'd really like to do it, though.

What's the expected wait/availability if I head down there on a given weekday for lunch? When do I need to get there and how long will it take?

It's been a total crapshoot lately. We went last Thursday, got there at 11:15 and only had 2 groups ahead of us. By the time we left around noon the line was getting close to the street which is a 1 hour wait at least.

Tuesdays are the slowest days. Fri-Sat-Sun the busiest. If you get there at 11 most days you're looking at 15 minute or less line.

Great article here about a visiting German journalist and his trips to bbq places around Austin:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs...s-bbq-convert/

He called up JMueller:

If you give me a day or so heads up I'll meet you there. If the line is too long I have ways to get around it.