How to plan the perfect Texas BBQ tour

Pecan Lodge in Dallas is a don't miss stop on any DFW BBQ tour. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The Posse is approaching its sixth anniversary of driving the cities, towns and backroads of Texas in search of great barbecue. Inspired by Texas Monthly magazine's 2008 list of the Best BBQ joints in Texas, our original group of six hit the road in early November 2009.

Six years later, we've made dozens of trips around the state, sharing our stories on this blog and in The Dallas Morning News. Here are a few things we've learned along the way.

1. Do your research: There's no substitute for good planning when it comes to barbecue tours. You have access to plenty of good information on the internet. Find a couple of sites you trust and go from there. When we began in 2009, the go-to source was Daniel Vaughn's Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog, but it's been inactive for several years since he became barbecue editor for Texas Monthly. However, Daniel writes for and maintains the magazine's current website for all things Texas BBQ.

I usually avoid using Yelp or Google reviews as a guide, the feedback rarely comes from people who really know barbecue, IE: "Dickey's brisket is great!" (You get the idea.) Another favorite of ours is Don O's Texas BBQ blog. Don and his friend Scott really know their BBQ and blanket the state looking for the next great joint. You can also check out our interactive Google map of the Posse's favorite Texas BBQ joints. A list of some of our favorite barbecue tours also appears on the right side of the Posse blog.

2. Pace yourself: It took us a year or two to really figure this one out, but it's crucial to having a successful tour.  You may be eating some of the greatest brisket in the world for breakfast at Snow's BBQ, but you have three or four more stops during the day. It takes practice, but limit yourself to a snack, not a full meal.

We usually eat a bite or two of brisket, sausage and turkey/chicken, along with a rib at each stop. Of course you will order more than a few bites, but that's where the cooler and ice in your trunk come in for. Take some home. And when you get there, you'll the most popular person in the dining room as your family and friends relive your tour, digging into the best barbecue they've ever eaten.

The Posse digs in at Louie Mueller Barbecue on our first tour in Nov. 2009. (Gary Barber/Texas BBQ Posse)

3. Group size matters:  Our tour groups have varied from four to more than 20 participants. Since the Posse usually travels with more than a few photographers, writers and videographers, we found the large groups pretty much overwhelmed some small BBQ joints.

We've found the perfect size to be around eight, so you can travel in a couple of cars and order pretty quickly. With eight folks, you also get a lot of BBQ opinion and debate going at the table. That's a big part of the fun on a barbecue tour.

4. Don't be bashful: The Texas BBQ community consists of some of the greatest people you'll ever meet. Strike up a conversation with the owner and/or pitmaster and you might just end up in the pit room talking BBQ secrets. Don't be pushy if the line is out the door though, these folks have to make hay while the grass is growing.

4. Find diversions along the way: It may be tempting, but you can't eat barbecue non-stop. (See above: No. 2. Pace yourself.) Texas is full of cool things to see along the way, so keep your eyes open for great diversions as you plan your tour.

Does your tour include a stop at the legendary Leon’s World Finest In & Out Bar-B-Que House in Galveston? Follow your visit with a Gulf of Mexico beach break to burn those barbecue calories. Stopping at Posse favorite Kirby's Barbeque in Mexia? Your next stop could be nearby at historic Fort Parker, where the legend of Comanche chief Quanah Parker began.

We've also been known to pack a set of horseshoes and a few chilled beverages, stopping at a local park for a recreation break between BBQ joints. Anything to get you ready to eat at the next tour stop.

5. Follow the smoke:  Keep your eyes open for unexpected stops along the way. Some of our most memorable stops have been the unforeseen ones, when someone saw a pit bellowing smoke and we pulled over, usually making new friends along the way. Meeting the citizens of the great BBQ nation of Texas will never grow old.

Snow's BBQ pit boss Tootsie Tomanetz tends the pits as the sun rises over Lexington. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The Posse began its first anniversary tour at the original Franklin Barbecue in Austin in 2010.

The Posse tells you how Texas barbecue is different from the rest

A father & son wait on their order at Gonzales Food Market. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

(Note: This item was written as a guest post for the blog at FoodyDirect, a Posse advertiser, and is being republished here.)

As the popularity of Texas-style smoked meat spreads across the country, one of the great philosophical questions of our time is emerging. What makes Texas barbecue different from other barbecue?

The answers are many and can lead to intense debates: Beef vs. pork. Dry rubs vs. sauce. Wood vs. charcoal. Indirect heat vs. direct. Austin vs. Memphis or Kansas City or Carolina.

At the Posse, obviously, we’re partial to Texas-style, though we occasionally stray. A pulled pork sandwich sprinkled lightly with vinegar sauce and topped with coleslaw. Yum. Chicken coated with an Alabama white sauce. Tasty and memorable.

Because this is such an important question, I asked some Posse members for help in answering.

More evidence that Lockhart has lost its barbecue magic

Smitty's Market oak wood pile & the Caldwell County courthouse. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

On our way back to Dallas from our recent Houston-area barbecue tour, all 6 Posse members on the trip listed their top 5 joints in the state, in no particular order.

Specific criteria probably varied from person to person, but these would be places we'd drive across the state to eat at or recommend to good friends that they do the same.

Since then, we've been asked to run each person's top 5. Those lists are below.

Three joints mentioned by each of us: Killen's Barbecue in Houston, Pecan Lodge in Dallas and la Barbecue in Austin. Only 3 of us listed Franklin Barbecue in Austin, generally considered the best joint in the state.

Others receiving at least one mention: Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Miller's Smokehouse in Belton and Snow's BBQ in Lexington.

Reviewing the lists now, a bigger revelation than the lack of unanimity for Franklin, is the total absence of any joint in Lockhart. Five years ago, that wouldn't have been the case. Then, Smitty's, Black's and Kreuz Market demanded a pilgrimage.

That's more evidence that Lockhart is no longer the barbecue capital of Texas.

Greater Houston, we have barbecue redemption

The four meat plate with a link of boudin brought a smile to Posse faces at Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack in Houston.
(Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

In a previous post, careful readers might wonder about the heading over the itinerary of our weekend trip:

"Houston Redemption BBQ Tour"

What's that all about?

Flash back to the Posse's first Gulf Coast tour two years ago. It was disappointing. The only good barbecue we found was in Galveston, 50 miles away.

"Houston, we have a barbecue problem" was the headline on that chapter of our BBQ Chronicles. Some of our smoked meat brethren in The Bayou City are still upset at us.

So, one of the main goals of our most recent tour was to see if Houston had redeemed itself, in a barbecue way.

Or, would that billboard along I-45 near downtown about a dinosaur exhibit prove true?

"Best ribs in town
Houston Museum of Natural Science"

While finding good smoked meat in the city proper is still a challenge, we can report that, yes, the greater Houston area certainly has found barbecue redemption.

Beef ribs at Killen's BBQ in Cypress. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/fotobia.com)

Five of the six joints we hit served solid barbecue. One, Killen's Barbecue in Pearland, might just be the best place in the state.

(Note: Because of an internal communications snafu, Posse members actually ate at 7 places last weekend. While the main body went to The Brisket House location in Deer Park, one member went to the location in Houston. The food at both received good reviews.)

The only real disappointment, food wise, was Virgie's Bar-B-Que, located in the city. We didn't like it two years ago. Ditto last weekend.

"I thought we might have been wrong the last time, but we weren't," said Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins.

Texas Monthly rates Virgie's among its Top 50 in the state. The Posse can't figure out why.

Houston Redemption BBQ Tour

Friday 6/27
7:45am: Leave Dallas

10:30am: CorkScrew BBQ, 24930 Budde Rd., Spring, 832-592-1184. Open Tues-Sat 11am-til the meat runs out. Website: http://www.corkscrewbbq.com (Texas Monthly Top 50)

1pm: Virgie's Bar-B-Que, 5535 Gessner Dr., Houston, 713-466-6525. Open Tues 11am-2pm, Wed-Fri 11am-6:30pm, Sat 11am-5:30pm. Website: http://www.virgiesbbq.com (Texas Monthly Top 50)

3pm: Brooks' Place, 18020 FM 529, Cypress, 832-893-1682. Open Wed-Sun 11am-til the meat runs out. Website: Website: http://www.brooksplacebbq.com (Texas Monthly Top 50)

7:10pm: Detroit Tigers @ Houston Astros, Minute Maid Park.

Overnight in Houston, Club Quarters Houston hotel

Saturday 6/28
10:30am: Killen's BBQ, 3613 E. Broadway, Pearland, 281-485-2272. Open Tues-Sun 11am-until they run out of meat. Website: http://www.killensbarbecue.com

1pm: Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack, 4529 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, 713-748-4227. Open Mon-Sat 11am-8pm. Website: http://www.raysbbqshack.com

3pm: Brisket House, 5775 Woodway, Houston, 281-888-0331. Open Mon-Sat 11am-9pm, Sat 11am-6pm. Website: http://thebriskethouse.com

4:00pm: Head back to Dallas

Brooks Place pitmaster and owner Trent Brooks talks BBQ 101 with the Posse in Cypress. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Smoked meatloaf is a hit at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. in Sanger

The Posse samples various smoked meats at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. in Sanger. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

In the 5 years the Posse has been on the hunt for the best smoked meats in Texas, we've met lots of people chasing their barbecue restaurant dreams, including a preacher, a city councilman, and former corporate consultants.

Jay Coin, the owner and pit master at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. in Sanger, is our first former undertaker.

Texas Smoke was the second stop of our recent Denton County tour. We traveled 120 miles in 6 hours and ate at 4 places.

Coin's place, located in a rustic building downtown, is decorated with old photos and signs, along with sports jerseys and a football helmet from Sanger High School. "Purple Pride," a sign said. There's also the requisite mounted deer head.

It reminded us of Buck Snort BBQ in Van Alstyne, also located in an old downtown building. Buck Snort, where you can eat a free buffet on your birthday, is run by Jim Smith, a former Van Alstyne city councilman.

The smoked meatloaf, bottom right, was a huge hit for the Posse at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins)

Coin, 38, said he was in the funeral business for about a decade. He started Texas Smoke in a trailer about a year ago, moved to a building at the first of this year and more recently moved again to his current location.

"What do I need to do to get better?" he asked us at the end of our interview.

Posse member Ahna Hubnik told him his smoked meatloaf, an unusual offering, was great. "You can't beat that," she said. Coin said he cooks it about two hours.

Posse members Jim Rossman and Bruce Tomaso told Coin he needed to bolster the spice he used in the rubs for his brisket and pork ribs.

The brisket was cooked perfectly, but needed much more flavor, they said.

Earlier, Posse members Michael Meadows and Gary Barber commented that Coin's barbecue sauce went very well with his brisket. Tomaso also liked the meatloaf and the regular sausage.

Coin said he buys his sausage -- regular and jalapeño -- commercially, but someday wants to make his own. He said he's having more fun now than in his previous vocation and business is going well.  He said he sells 10-12 briskets a day.

"It keeps me out of the funeral business," he said.

Denton County BBQ Tour

Bet The House BBQ, 508 S Elm St., Denton, 940-808-0332. Open Wed-Sat 11am-8pm (or when the meat runs out), Sun 11am-3pm. Website: www.BTHBBQ.com

Texas Smoke BBQ Co., 205 Bolivar St, Sanger, 940-231-6674. Open Mon-Fri 11am-6pm (or when the meat runs out), Sat 11am-3pm.

Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ, 102 Lobo Lane, Little Elm, 972-987-4885. Open Tues-Sun 11am-9pm.

Chasin' Tail BBQ, 8656 S Stemmons Fwy, Hickory Creek, 940-321-0524. Open Tues-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-7pm. Website: www.chasintailbbq.com

Texas Smoke BBQ Co. pitmaster and owner Jay Coin visits with the Posse. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Ribs and brisket at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Texas Smoke BBQ Co. is located on Boliver St. in old downtown Sanger. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Barbecue photography the old-fashioned way

Posse member Bruce Tomaso lends a hand with a reflector as photojournalist Guy Reynolds focuses in on Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ owner Blake Merrell in Little Elm. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

If you follow this blog, you know it regularly features great barbecue photography. Several Posse members are photographers and they bring their equipment -- all kinds of equipment -- when we go on tours.

Our recent Denton County tour, though, saw the most unusual piece of equipment yet. Guy Reynolds used a tripod mounted Graflex to shoot portraits of some of the pitmasters we visited.

On other tours, Guy has used his digital cameras, but he says he wanted to try something different this time. Here, Guy explains his mission:

I brought along my vintage '50s Graflex Crown Graphic 4x5 camera to shoot portraits with film just for the challenge of it.

Using a view camera requires a tripod and a dark cloth over the shooter's head in order to compose and focus the image on the ground glass at the back of the camera. The subject has to remain still during the interval between the settings being made and the film holder being inserted. This can easily be 30 seconds and many pieces of film are wasted.

The old camera was given to me several years ago by Bill Weisner, of Bill's Records and Tapes, because he had no use for it. It's a very difficult beast to use so I don't very often but the results and hard to beat.

The bigger the negative, the better the image - as far as sharpness goes when making enlargements. That's the same with digital file size: the more megapixels the better end results. 4x5 negatives can easily make prints 30x40 without the quality falling off to much. That's not possible with a 35mm negative, which is about 1/12 the size.

I only had 8 pieces of film loaded to do shots at our stops so there's not much margin for error. And there may not be any worthwhile. It's a risk limiting the number of takes that much. Unlike the instant gratification of digital, I won't know what I got until the film is processed and I have to take it to a lab for that. The film costs about $4 per sheet and processing is another $6 so it can get expensive real fast.

Just call me crazy but I still enjoy the craft of photography.

Blake Merrell, Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ in Little Elm. (Photo ©Guy Reynolds)

Cody Smithers, left, and Shawn Eagle of Bet  the House BBQ in Denton. (Photo ©Guy Reynolds)

Jay Coin, Texas Smoke BBQ Co. in Sanger. (Photo ©Guy Reynolds)

Guy Reynolds puts a 4x5 film holder into his Crown Graphic camera before photographing Texas Smoke BBQ Co. pitmaster & owner Jay Coin in Sanger. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Bet the House BBQ in Denton gets high marks from the Posse and football guru Rick Gosselin

The Posse digs into a platter of smoked meats at Bet the House BBQ in Denton. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Rick Gosselin is one of the foremost football experts in the country. When he says the Dallas Cowboys offense is not yet ready for the regular season, as he did this past weekend, fans -- and the Cowboys -- should take serious notice.

The Dallas Morning News columnist also knows barbecue.

A couple weeks ago, he emailed us about a new place in Denton, Bet The House BBQ, where he had just eaten.

"Brisket was awesome," he wrote, encouraging us to visit the place.

Bet the House's fatty brisket. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

"You won't be disappointed."

As it happens, Bet The House was already on our barbecue radar. We had it slated as the first stop of a Denton County tour, which we made Saturday. We covered about 120 miles in 6 hours and ate at 4 places.

Gosselin was right. We weren't disappointed by Bet The House.

"That brisket is awesome," Posse member Jim Rossman said, sampling a fatty piece with nice crust.

Later, after the fatty morsels were gone, Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins tasted one of the lean pieces.

"That's a test of a good brisket, man," he said. "That lean's been sliced for 15 minutes and it's still good."

Nine of us made this stop of the tour. We also sampled pork ribs, pulled pork, turkey, a beef rib and two kinds of sausage.

James Osborne, making his first trip with the Posse, especially liked the turkey and both sausages, regular and jalapeño cheddar. Posse veteran Ahna Hubnik singled out the beef rib. Several of us commented about the nice tangy taste of the pulled pork.

The one shortcoming: pork ribs. We thought they could have been cooked longer, have more smoke flavor and a more robust rub.

"Not a lot of flavor profile going on there," Rossman said of the ribs.

Bet  the House co-owners Cody Smithers, left, and Shawn Eagle. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

When we talked to co-owners Shawn Eagle and Cody Smithers, we discovered that we might have been lucky to be eating any barbecue at all from their joint, a store front in a small strip center a few blocks from the main square in Denton.

They had a fire the previous day in the detached smokehouse at the rear. So, instead of their normal pit, they had to cook at home on portable pits.

"Now, it's got a little character on it," Smithers said, pointing to exterior smoke and heat stains on the smokehouse. They hoped to have the regular pit back in action soon.

Eagle teaches at Ryan High School in Denton and Smithers works in marketing at The Morning News. (Full disclosure: Some Posse members had previously tasted their barbecue when they catered  at the newspaper.)

Bet the House is located south of the Denton town square on Elm St..
(Photo ©Chris Wilkins)

The Denton Record-Chronicle did a story about Bet The House in June, shortly after the place opened. After cooking together as friends, then doing some catering, Eagle and Smithers are pursuing their barbecue dream, with the help of a small KickStarter campaign to raise money for some basic supplies.

"We've sold out all but three days of the first two months we've been open," Eagle said.

In future posts, we'll write about the other stops of our tour.


Denton County BBQ Tour

Bet The House BBQ, 508 S Elm St., Denton, 940-808-0332. Open Wed-Sat 11am-8pm (or when the meat runs out), Sun 11am-3pm. Website: www.BTHBBQ.com

Texas Smoke BBQ Co., 205 Bolivar St, Sanger, 940-231-6674. Open Mon-Fri 11am-6pm (or when the meat runs out), Sat 11am-3pm.

Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ, 102 Lobo Lane, Little Elm, 972-987-4885. Open Tues-Sun 11am-9pm.

Chasin' Tail BBQ, 8656 S Stemmons Fwy, Hickory Creek, 940-321-0524. Open Tues-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-7pm. Website: www.chasintailbbq.com

Bet the House has a small indoor dining room along with outdoor tables. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Posse member Michael Meadows shows off a newly-acquired beef rib. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

BBQ lovers wait to order Saturday lunch at Bet the House BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Smoked cheese a highlight at Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ in Little Elm

A waitress delivers our first course, a four-meat platter at Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

We called it our Denton County BBQ Tour, but it could have just as easily been named the Lake Country Tour.

As we traveled 120 miles in 6 hours to eat at 4 joints on a recent Saturday, we crossed 3 different bridges over Lake Lewisville and drove atop the Ray Roberts Lake Dam.

Seeing the water, the boats, the parks, and the nice shoreside homes was a pleasant respite from the heat, which approached 100 degrees.

And then we met Blake Merrell, owner and pitmaster of Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ in Little Elm, open just a week when we arrived.

Merrell said he once had a boat storage business and transported big motor yachts. Getting a 90-footer from the Gulf to North Texas would cost about $75,000, he said.

He retired a couple years ago, he said, but recently decided to get busy again with a barbecue joint.

Early indications are that he made a good decision. The food -- one week in -- is pretty good and crowds are showing up.

"Last weekend, we did $18,000 in business," he said. It was the first weekend Big Daddy's was open.

The joint is located in a building that was previously a convenience store and gas station.

The Posse sampled brisket, pork ribs, sausage, turkey, and, later, burnt ends and three kinds of smoked cheese. The smoked cheese was so good that two Posse members ordered extra to take home.

We tried three different smoked cheeses, which were amazing
(Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

"I don't know of anyone else doing that except the guy who taught me," Merrell said of the cheese.

He might be right. Posse member Bryan Gooding, the chicken and sausage king of Oak Cliff, smokes a delicious cheese. But we can't think of anyone else we've run into on our barbecue tours.

Generally, Posse members weren't impressed by Big Daddy's regular brisket, but the burnt ends made some of us reconsider.

"If you ate these every day, you'd be dead in 6 months," Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said. "They're that good."

Bruce Tomaso said the burnt ends raised the joint's overall brisket score to a "C."

"That rib was pretty tough but it had a really good rub on it," said Guy Reynolds.

We asked Merrell about the ingredients in the rub.

"Pepper," he said, with a smile, unwilling to divulge much else. He did say he cooks ribs with pecan wood and brisket with oak and hickory.

All in all, one week in, we liked Merrell's operation. It's definitely worth a visit if you're near Little Elm.

Our our way out of Lake Country back to Dallas, we made one more stop, Chasin' Tail BBQ in Hickory Creek. The turkey was excellent. Everything else was unremarkable.

Denton County BBQ Tour

Bet The House BBQ, 508 S Elm St., Denton, 940-808-0332. Open Wed-Sat 11am-8pm (or when the meat runs out), Sun 11am-3pm. Website: www.BTHBBQ.com

Texas Smoke BBQ Co., 205 Bolivar St, Sanger, 940-231-6674. Open Mon-Fri 11am-6pm (or when the meat runs out), Sat 11am-3pm.

Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ, 102 Lobo Lane, Little Elm, 972-987-4885. Open Tues-Sun 11am-9pm.

Chasin' Tail BBQ, 8656 S Stemmons Fwy, Hickory Creek, 940-321-0524. Open Tues-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-7pm. Website: www.chasintailbbq.com

Big Daddy's is located in a former gas station on El Dorado Pkwy. in Little Elm. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Big Daddy's Ribs & BBQ owner Blake Merrell holds court with the Posse. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Strong reviews for CorkScrew BBQ in Spring...but

Brisket, ribs & sausage at CorkScrew BBQ in Sprint. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The food is excellent at CorkScrew BBQ, a trailer joint located behind a shopping center in Spring:

"This could be a Top 10 joint," said friend of the Posse Bryan Norton, who joined us on this stop in our 35-hour, 610-mile barbecue tour of the Houston area.

"I can't stop eating," said Posse member Phil Lamb as he picked from a selection of fatty brisket, pork ribs, turkey, sausage, pulled pork and chopped brisket. Later he said he would have liked more smoke flavor on the brisket and ribs.

"The brisket is on a par with la Barbecue," said Daniel Goncalves, referring to the top Austin joint.

"This is really good," said Tom Fox. "The chopped brisket is better than the pulled pork."

"I'm with you, man," echoed Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins about the chopped brisket. "I could eat two pounds of that."

At CorkScrew, customers eat outdoors, at shaded tables. And anyone who eats outdoors expects some bugs from time to time. On this visit, though, the flies were out in force. We had to shoo them away before we could take a piece of meat.

"I couldn't bring my wife here," Lamb said. "She wouldn't put up with the flies."

CorkScrew BBQ, 24930 Budde Rd., Spring, 832-592-1184. Open Tues-Sat 11am-til the meat runs out. Website: http://www.corkscrewbbq.com (Texas Monthly Top 50)

Customers wait in line on a Friday at CorkScrew BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Robust flavors make Brooks' Place in Cypress a BBQ winner

Our meal of Brisket, deer sausage & pork ribs at Brook's Place in Cypress. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

In the Spring of 2013, Trent Brooks said, he was struggling to sell 3 or 4 briskets a day from his barbecue trailer located in an Ace Hardware parking lot in Cypress, outside Houston.

"Then one Wednesday," he recalled, "I opened and all of a sudden my Twitter account exploded. In an hour, I was done." Sold out.

The next day, he said, there were about 50 people in line when he opened.

What happened?

Brooks' Place made Texas Monthly's list of the Top 50 BBQ joints in the state. Instant celebrity and business boost.

Pitmaster/owner Trent Brooks. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

"For a month, I sold out in 2 hours a day," Brooks said.

A half-dozen strong, the Posse arrived at Brooks' joint about 2:30 on a Friday afternoon during its recent Houston-area tour. The first stop of the day was CorkScrew BBQ in Spring; the second, Virgie's in Houston.

We sampled brisket, pork ribs and a very spicy deer sausage and liked them all. Four members said Brooks' barbecue was the best of the day. Two gave the nod to CorkScrew.

""There's a lot more going on here flavor wise," Posse member Jim Rossman said of Brooks'.

"CorkScrew is a little more delicate," said Phil Lamb. "This is more robust."

Brooks said he cooks with a mix of oak and pecan wood and uses mainly salt and pepper in his brisket rub, though he was protective of the exact recipe.

"I'll give you one ingredient that you wouldn't normally think of," he said. "Cinnamon."

Brooks started his joint part time in 2009 and went full time in 2011 after the company he worked for let him go.

"After I lost my job, I didn't look back," he said.

Open 5 days a week from 11 a.m., Brooks said he normally sells out by 2-3 p.m. on weekends and 4:30 to 5 on week days. He said he sells 50-60 briskets a week now.

The ordering and eating areas of the place are sheltered by a metal canopy attached to the parking lot.

When it rains -- and it rains a lot, Brooks said -- he turns the space into a drive thru. Customers can order and get served without getting wet.

Brooks' Place, 18020 FM 529, Cypress, 832-893-1682. Open Wed-Sun 11am-til the meat runs out. Website: Website: http://www.brooksplacebbq.com (Texas Monthly Top 50)

Brooks Place's trailer is located next to an Ace Hardware in a Cypress parking lot. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) 

From the NFL to Ray's BBQ Shack in Houston, meet Herb Taylor, pit master in training

Herb Taylor, co-owner of Ray's Real BBQ Shack in Houston. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/fotobia.com)

At TCU in Fort Worth, offensive tackle Herb Taylor started every game during his four-year college football career.

He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007 and spent time with four other NFL teams over six years.

Herb Taylor as a Kansas City Chief.

Now out of football, Taylor is a co-owner and self described "pit master in training" at Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack in Houston. The other co-owners are Ray Busch and Maxine Davis, Taylor's mother, who were't there when we stopped.

Taylor said he started cooking for his teammates and friends while he was at TCU. Now, he's learning from Ray, who began serving barbecue out of a food truck nearly 30 years ago.

On day 2 of the Posse's recent barbecue tour of the Houston area, we hit Ray's Shack right after Killen's Barbecue in Pearland, a very tough act to follow.

Still, we liked Ray's sausage and pork ribs, although we thought the brisket tended toward roast beef and the chicken was dry.

The rub on the ribs reminded some of us of the Baby Back Shak in Dallas. Shak ribs are among our favorites.

Ray's four meat plate with boudin. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves) 

Like the Shak, Ray's also serves a tasty boudin.

"To me, this place is better than Gatlin's or Virgie's any time I've been there," Posse regular Jim Rossman said, referring to two Houston joints that made Texas Monthly's Top 50 list.

We had visited Virgie's the previous day and were disappointed.

Taylor's jersey -- #72 -- from his time with Green Bay Packers, hangs on one wall. At 6-4, he looks considerably lighter than his listed NFL playing weight of about 300 pounds.

While he may still be a smoked meat apprentice, he shares the same attitude about food as many veteran pit masters we have met.

"No way I can eat barbecue all the time," Taylor said.

Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack, 4529 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, 713-748-4227. Open Mon-Sat 11am-8pm. Website: http://www.raysbbqshack.com

Customers wait in line at Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/fotobia.com)

Herb Taylor's jersey from the Packers hangs in the dining room of Ray's. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/fotobia.com)

Ray's BBQ Shack is located next to a convenience store & gas station in south Houston. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Rave reviews for BBQ on the Brazos from the Posse

Pitmaster John Sanford works the cutting board at BBQ on the Brazos. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Too bad Posse member Bruce Tomaso didn't make our tour last weekend. We could have renewed our recent wood-versus-gas debate when our first stop, BBQ on the Brazos in Cresson, got rave reviews from everyone present.

BBQ on the Brazos uses a gas-fired Ole Hickory smoker.

"How many of our tours have started off with barbecue better than this?" said Posse member Phil Lamb.

Technically, it was a question. But like all good attorneys, Lamb knew the answer before he asked: Very, very few.

"It's not impossible that this is a Top 10 joint in Texas," Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said. Our group, 8 strong, declared the pork ribs and brisket outstanding, and the banana pudding divine.

Afterward, as Wilkins and I reviewed the tours we've taken over the past five years, we could only think of a couple that started stronger. One at Snow's BBQ in Lexington and another at Franklin Barbecue (the original trailer) in Austin. That's pretty stout company.

Bud Kennedy at the Star-Telegram and Daniel Vaughn at Texas Monthly also think highly of BBQ on the Brazos.

On our South of DFW Tour Saturday, we visited four places -- the other three were Lazy S&M BBQ in Joshua, Jambo's BBQ Shack in Rendon, and Pit Stop BBQ in Waxahachie -- and covered about 160 miles in 8 hours.

Several of the joints were started by accomplished competition pit masters. Our itinerary, in part, came about because of Vanessa Graham, the wife of Steve Graham, pit master at the Pit Stop. Wilkins recently asked the Posse's Facebook followers to suggest future tour stops and Vanessa responded with several leads.

The ribs & brisket at BBQ on the Brazos are tremendous. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins)

An hour from Dallas, we arrived at BBQ on the Brazos just before 10 a.m. It's located in the same building as a Texaco gas station and adjacent to the MotorSport Ranch. If you're lucky, you might get to watch some cars speeding around the circuits while you eat.

Pit master John Sanford, who said he has been cooking professionally for more than three decades, said he opened the joint with his brother-in-law, Michael Warren, about a year ago. Sanford's wife, Kathryn, also helps run the place and makes side dishes, including the wonderful banana pudding.

In addition to the ribs and brisket, we ordered turkey (it was good) and sausage (o.k.). Sanford said he cooks about 1,000 pounds of brisket a week on his Ole Hickory, which is mounted on a trailer. While it's gas-fired, Sanford said he stuffs the firebox with oak so he can get plenty of smoke on the meat.

He said he has an old wood smoker that he can "cook magic" with, but it requires too much attention to use for regular production.

"I'm sorry if that makes me a bad person," he said. "I'm just not going to do it."

Some, like Tomaso, think great Texas barbecue can't be cooked with gas.

BBQ on the Brazos and Jambo's are strong evidence to the contrary.

Sanford said he's looking to open a second place, this one in Fort Worth. We asked if he thought he could maintain the same quality. He answered yes.

"That's the benefit of having a two-man operation," he said, referring to Warren.

In future posts, we'll cover the other joints we visited on this tour.

The South of DFW BBQ Tour

9am: Leave Dallas.
10am: BBQ on the Brazos, 9001 E Hwy 377, Cresson, TX. Open Mon-Fri 6:30am-3pm, Sat 9am-3pm. www.bbqonthebrazos.com
11:45am: Lazy S&M BBQ, 2008 Conveyer Drive, Joshua, 817-475-5687. Open Tues-Wed 6am-4pm, Thurs-Fri 6am-7pm, Sat 10:30am-3pm.
1pm: Jambo's BBQ Shack, 5460 E FM 1187, Rendon, 817-478.2277. Open Tues-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-3pm. http://jambosbbqshack.com
2:30pm: Pit Stop BBQ, 3921 S Highway 287, Waxahachie, 972-923-8921. Open Mon-Tue 11am-9pm, Wed 11am-10pm, Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-9pm. http://www.pitstopbbq.net
4pm: Back in Dallas.

BBQ on the Brzos is located in a Texaco Plaza in Cresson. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The restaurant also bottles their own BBQ sauce. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Customers wait to order at BBQ on the Brazos. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Hutchins BBQ in McKinney can hang with Austin's best and it's open all day

(L-R) Jim Rossman, Kathy and Steve Hunt, Gary Jacobson, Michael Landauer, Bruce Tomaso and Gary Barber at Hutchins BBQ. (Photo by Tom Fox)

For quality, the barbecue benchmarks are clear for Tim Hutchins, owner of Hutchins BBQ in McKinney.

"We're shooting for those guys in Austin," Hutchins said during the Posse's recent visit to his joint. He said he and his crew regularly travel to the new BBQ Capital of Texas to sample the fare at places like Franklin BBQ, la Barbecue and John Mueller Meat Co. They also visit Pecan Lodge in Dallas.

But Hutchins is even more ambitious. Many of the top joints in the state are open only a few hours a day. They close when they run out of meat.

"We want to serve great barbecue10 hours a day instead of just 2," Hutchins said. His place, which made Texas Monthly's Top 50 list last year, opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Hutchins BBQ won The Dallas Morning News' recent barbecue poll of readers. The Posse went there with Steve and Kathy Hunt, who live in McKinney and are regulars at the place. Steve won a meal with the Posse. He was randomly selected from among those who Tweeted a link to the poll.

Kathy ordered brisket and chicken. The rest of us -- we totaled 8 -- ordered the all-you-can-eat $16.59 special, which may just be the best barbecue value anywhere.

Everything -- brisket, pork ribs, turkey, chicken, pulled pork, sausage -- was good. The ribs were tremendous.

"These ribs are meat candy," Posse member Tom Fox said.

"This is just too pretty to eat," Posse member Jim Rossman said.

"The rub they apply is ridiculously good," Steve Hunt said.

Rossman and Hunt said they were the best ribs they had eaten in a long time.

Just before cutting and serving, general manager Dustin Blackwell applied a glaze to the ribs. When he stopped by the table, we asked Blackwell the ingredients.

"A real simple sweet glaze," he said, without elaborating.

Trade secret?

Blackwell nodded, smiling.

When Hutchins stopped by our table, he said that his goal is constant improvement. That's why he and and his crew regularly make pilgrimages to other top joints.

"We're trying to be cool," Hutchins said. "We're trying to get into the fraternity."

Hunt, who works for Dell, told Hutchins that he was moving soon to Austin.

"If you ever get ready to open there, I think you can give them a run for their money," he said.

Hutchins laughed.

"I think we've got a little more training to do," he said.

The Posse agrees with Hunt. Hutchins can hang with Austin's best right now. Make room in the BBQ Fraternity.

The food takes a back seat to the atmosphere at North Main and Hard Eight

A pitmaster tends the smoker at Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

North Main BBQ has lots of fans. We know that. Ever since the very first Posse tour five years ago, readers have told us that we need to get to the Euless joint, which is only open Friday through Sunday.

Tardy but determined, we finally made it during our Mid-Cities mini-tour.

North Main was our second stop, sandwiched between Eddie Deen Crossroads Smokehouse in Arlington and Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell. It was nice, relaxed tour, covering 60 miles in 3 1/2 hours.

After we ordered at North Main and as we were sitting down, a server who discovered we were the BBQ Posse came over and chewed us out.

"We've been open 33 years and you're just now getting here?" he said.

We pleaded guilty. He went and got owners Ray and Hubert Green, son and father, and we had a nice talk while we waited for our food.

In the beginning, the Greens' main business was trucking. You can see the sign -- Green's Trucking -- on the building behind the barbecue joint. Cooking barbecue started as a way for all the subcontractors they worked with to get together and review the week's progress.

"Redneck networking," Ray said.

The sign at North Main BBQ in Euless say it all. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

As word got out, people started showing up to buy barbecue, ribs, onions and sauces at first. And the Greens started selling. Open initially only from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Fridays, they would sell a couple of hundred pounds of ribs a week.

"You had to call in an order by Wednesday to get it Friday," Hubert said.

Eventually, they expanded into the current building and opened a real joint.

Now boasting "The Best Barbecue Anywhere" and with some "World International" rib championship banners to support the claim, the place cooks about 4,500 pounds of meat a week, Ray said.

That's 1,800 pounds of brisket, 1,800 pounds of ribs, 400 pounds of chicken, 300 pounds of sausage and 200 pounds of pork butts.

"In Texas, barbecue is a food group," he said.

Along with the main production smokers, which are gas-fired with hickory wood added for flavor, the joint also has one of the most unusual rigs we've ever seen: an anatomically correct armadillo. Put wood in the mouth and smoke comes out the tail.

BBQ competition trophies line the wall at Main Street. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com) 

What about the food?

We ordered brisket, ribs, chicken breast, sausage and pulled pork.

"I don't think there were any parts of those meats better than the first place," Posse member Jim Rossman said, comparing North Main and Crossroads Smokehouse.

Other Posse members agreed, with one reservation.

The rib I ate was cooked perfectly. The meat needed only a slight tug to get off the bone. But it could have used more smoke flavor and more kick in the rub.

Ribs & brisket at Main Street BBQ. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

Our next stop was Hard Eight, which finished second to Hutchins BBQ in McKinney in the recent readers poll by The Dallas Morning News. Hard Eight is a huge place, like Kreuz Market in Lockhart.

Some of us had been to the Hard Eight in Stephenville, Jewel's favorite bbq joint. But we had not been to the Coppell location.

The setups are similar. The pits are located at the entrance. This allows barbecue to become performance art. As diners get ready to order, they can watch workers shovel hot coals from the burning station into the cooking pits.

For briskets, Hard Eight seals the meat at high temperature on direct heat, then wraps in foil and finishes at much lower heat. Total cooking time can be about 12 hours, a pit tender in a cowboy hat said.

We ordered brisket, ribs, sausage and a specialty item: bacon-wrapped chicken with jalapeño.

Meats on display at Hard Eight BBQ. (Photo by Michael Meadows)

"This sausage is not bad," said Michael Meadows, president of the Dallas Zoological Society, on his first tour with the Posse.

After a few moments, Meadows modified his stance.

"I would move that to outstanding," he said. "I like the jalapeño kick. That's probably why I'm not a big fan of the sausage at Pecan Lodge."

He thinks the sausage at Pecan Lodge, considered by many to be the best joint in North Texas, is a little tame.

Overall, the Posse didn't give the food at Hard Eight high marks.

"The beans are the best thing here," said Georges Badoux, an accomplished chef and custom tour guide making his first trip with the Posse.

Georges got no argument from Posse regulars.

North Main BBQ, 406 N Main St, Euless, 817-267-7821. Open Fri-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-4pm.

Hard Eight BBQ, 688 Freeport Pkwy, Coppell, 972-471-5462. Open Mon-Thurs 10:30am-9pm, Fri-Sat 10:30am-10pm, Sun 10:30am-6pm.

Watching over the pit room at Hard Eight. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

Diners on a Saturday afternoon at Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

Hard Eight also has a huge outdoor seating area for barbecue diners. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)