I'm a big Pecan Lodge fan but went last week and it wasn't great. The lines are outrageous now and they're in a big battle with the city about moving out of the Farmers Market.

If anyone is in the north 'burbs, I'd highly recommend Hutchins in McKinney. It's gotten to be as good as the places in the top 4 and could challenge to be in it next time. No lie, it's that good, I promise.

Half the fun is cooking the meat yourself. Once you get it down and have a quality supplier of meats, it is not difficult to match or even beat what any restaurant offers with a Green Egg smoker and Dizzy Pig rubs.

do we have to go to your profile to get the link for dizzy pig, or are you going to provide it for us?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dizzy+pig

see, i was implying that he was eventually going to spam his products website given his 8/13 reg date, not that i can't ****ing google it for myself.

Bode,

I assumed it was a spammer as well, but taking a quick look at posts, now I'm thinking it very well may just be some dude who's really into Dizzy Pig rubs!

Considering how many posts here are about products or restaurants, picking on one person for recommending a product is kind of silly.

I've got a buddy that's big into smoking and he raves about dizzy pig, so might be something to it. I haven't tried it yet....usually just make my own basic rub.

playa, so which dizzy pig seasoning is the one to order?

posters with mid 2000's reg dates with 1000's of posts mentioning something casually is not nearly the same as some august 2013 reg date mentioning a specific product multiple times within a 10 post span.

that said, it looks like it is just coincidence, so my apologies playa.

Naw, I just love BBQ'ing, definitely not trying to steer anyone the wrong way nor do I have any financial stake in the company or associations.

As far as the best to order, it depends on what you like to smoke. For long smokes, the coarse cut dizzy dust is always quality, as they actually size the spice pieces bigger to sustain longer smokes.

Personally I love the red eye express, it is coffee based. The raging river is a favorite of most of my family and friends, with a sweet element from the brown sugar base. Their Jamaican rub is killer, with a hot and contrasting sweet element, good stuff. Shaking the tree is citrusy and works well with asparagus and mushrooms.

The chunks of crystalized spice are very fragrant and stand up to the smoking very well maintaining their flavor. Also I have never had a thicker crust until I used these, thick, dark and pronounced flavor.

I even marinate ribs overnight with mustard based paste and the rubs. Then spritz the ribs with apple vinegar based solution and apply the rub as they cook.

I really hate sounding like a shill, but this is one product that I would gladly endorse for free. If someone does try them I would be shocked if they didn't love'em.

Chicken time:

Keep in mind to get on the top 4, you had to be open a year, so that may have excluded a few contenders. I wasn't terribly impressed with Louie Muellers, although it was good.

If you are in Austin and want BBQ without huge lines or only at lunch, another option is Stiles Switch which is a step off the top ones but still quite good and similar style. It's nice to at least have an option after 1PM.

Im not like super duper knowledgeable about bbq but in kansas city I reccomend Oklahoma joes. I also reccomend just going to the leawood location unless you really need a touristy trashy gas station bbq feel then you can go to the original.

firing up my smoker for my fantasy football draft on labor day...any suggestions for what to cook for 12 drunk guys?

I am thinking...

ABT's - jalapeno poppers
Ribs
Chicken Wings - smoked and then finished on grill
Maybe some hot italian sausage?

Anyone have any other links or receipes for some type of small finger food/appetizers?

Thanks

Spread sounds out of control good.

lol thanks...yeah I just plan on stuffing my smoker full of goodies basically but was just seeing if anyone had any recommendations for something I haven't thought of

Moink balls

yeah that's a good idea, never made them...do you have a specific receipe you like

That's the beauty of it. Get frozen mass produced Italian style meatballs. Wrap in bacon dust with rub and smoke until done to your preference then glaze with sauce. Can't miss.

u think frozen meatballs will be okay and still absorb the smoke good? I was thinking I needed to make my own meatballs?

They work great from thawed, don't over think it. Traditionally one was only allowed to use pre-made meatballs to make official moink balls anyway. It was only when the euros started wanting to moink without american style "italian" meatballs available that the Internet deemed it acceptable to make your own.

By all means you can make your own but that's up to you. If you do youre "supposed" to use only beef otherwise theyre not technically moink balls. The frozen ones are the perfect size for 1/2 strip of bacon.

so just wrap in a half slice of bacon and smoke for an hour or two and glaze with bbq sauce?

Yeah just that easy

smoked some bacon while waiting on ribs



back ribs smoked ~3hrs with apple wood

foiled with apple juice for an hour and then back on grill with bbq sauce