Going whole hog at CattleAck BBQ on Saturday

Tray of whole hog, brisket & pork ribs with sides at CattleAck BBQ in north Dallas (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The Posse first caught wind of CattleAck BBQ in May 2013, when Jim Rossman picked up some Twitter buzz on a new joint in north Dallas near the Galleria. Jim headed up on the tollway to investigate, finding a promising new player on the DFW barbecue scene.

After success in the catering business, owners Todd and Misty David decided to open on Fridays from 11am until the meat ran out. A full Posse contingent made a followup visit  to CattleAck a few weeks later for a rare Saturday opening and was blown away. Gary Jacobson wrote, "After eating at Cattleack Barbecue last Saturday, the Posse declared the Dallas joint the equal of any in town."

Over three years later, the Davids are still catering but are now open Thursdays and Fridays at 10:30am, and starting last month are open the first Saturday of each month. They also recently expanded their restaurant by adding a large dining room in the space next door. As the lines will attest, CattleAck is far from a secret for hard core BBQ aficionados.

We met pitmaster Marshall Cooper out front on Saturday at 9:30am, where we were first in line. Our timing as good, the line started building almost immediately behind us. There was a lot of anticipation in the crowd for Todd's whole hog offering, not a regular menu item and something you don't see a lot in Texas BBQ.

Along with the whole hog, we ordered brisket, pork ribs, turkey, sausage, beef brisket pastrami and sides. Every meat was cooked to perfection, moist and full of smokey flavor. By 11am I counted 80 people in line, which ran from the back of their new dining room, snaking into a queue for the serving line in an adjacent room. The line seemed to move pretty quickly though.

If you haven't been to CattleAck BBQ yet, check your calendar for the first Saturday of the month and plan a journey to have some of the best BBQ in the state.  And if you're lucky, Todd might just be smoking another whole hog, you can check "What's Cooking" on their website for any special offerings that day.

Cattleack BBQ, 13628 Gamma Road, Dallas, 972-805-0999. Open: Thurs & Fri 10:30am-2pm & the first Sat. of the month 10:30am-3pm. Website: www.cattleackbbq.com

The line of customers winds through CattleAck BBQ's new dining room. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Cattleack Barbecue's Todd David reveals his secrets for great pastrami -- some of his secrets anyway

Cattleack BBQ pitmaster/owner Todd David works the cutting board. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

After eating at Cattleack Barbecue last Saturday, the Posse declared the Dallas joint the equal of any in town. We especially loved the pastrami. Salty with a hint of sweet, the taste pleasantly lingered long after swallowing.

During an email exchange this week, I asked pit master Todd David for more details about how he prepared his pastrami. Here, in edited form, are his comments:

"I have made pastrami a few times in the past in all my experimenting but never for the public. While my experience with eating great pastrami comes from my growing up in St. Louis as well as many trips to New York, I have always made mine to have a Texas familiarity.

"The meats used were whole briskets and whole beef bellies.

"They went through an extensive brining process along with salt, sugar, and spices.

"After the brine, we rinsed the meat, dried it and then applied a dry rub.

"The meats were then smoked just like our regular briskets, wrapped in butcher paper and rested. They were never steamed because I have never done that except on crab legs. I know they do that in New York but I like how we smoke meat in Texas and have always done it that way.

"The only thing we did for the first time this go around was the beef belly. I have always used only brisket in the past."

We asked David for a more details about his recipe, particulary whether he used allspice, which a friend said she detected. David replied:

"While I do keep our recipes private, I can give you a pretty good feel what we do.

Smoked brisket pastrami at Cattleack BBQ. (Photo©Jim Rossman/Texas BBQ Posse)

"It's very typical pickling/brining spices and yes allspice is one of them but I don’t think that is where she is tasting it.

"In addition to standard brining spices (red pepper, allspice, bay leaves, mustard seed, and so on) we add standard aromatics (garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and so on).

"Nothing is unusual. I do not try to be different or unique since most folks know what they like and too much variance brings too much social media criticism.

"My focus is about doing our best or as we say 'Branded the Best.' When we put our brand on it, we want folks to know it is our best at that time.

"O.K., back to the brine. It is brought up to a boil so salt, sugar, etc., can dissolve. Shocked with ice if I am in a hurry or just cooled.

"Once cooled we add our meat. It must be completely submerged and weight added to keep it that way. We keep it in the walk-in for at least a couple of weeks. We visit with it everyday, making sure everyone is happy, and move the pieces around so they do not get bored in the same position.

"After that hiatus, they are bathed to allow surface removal of all that we can. They are now corned beef.

"They are then dried well and ready for their rub down. While I won’t go through the entire mix, its primarily black pepper, coriander, and juniper berries. Again the standard pastrami rub. Nothing is out of the normal.

"After they rest with their rub they are smoked just like our briskets but not quite as long.

"I have not done pastrami enough to vary items to tell you where the different tastes come from. I feel the initial taste is the rub and the long-term taste is the meat and brining combined."

Cattleack BBQ, 13628 Gamma Road, Dallas, 972-499-0999. Open: Thurs & Fri 10:30am-2pm. Website: www.cattleackbbq.com

Pastrami, brisket & pulled pork at Cattleack BBQ. (Photo ©Bryan Gooding/Texas BBQ Posse)

'Nobody better' in Dallas than Cattleack Barbecue

Lunch sampling of brisket, pulled pork, beer bacon beef sausage & brisket pastrami at Cattleack BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

There may be some prophets of smoked meat, but too bad there aren't more poets.

The Posse could have used one last Saturday because the smoked pastrami that Todd David served at Cattleack Barbecue deserved an ode, if not a sonnet.

"That's the barbecue gauntlet right there," Posse member Bryan Gooding said of the pastrami. "Everybody else is going to have to figure out how to do it."

Sliced from the lean end, the meat glistened on the tray. Salty with a hint of sweet, the taste lingered pleasantly long after swallowing.

Cattleack, located on Gamma Road not far from the Dallas Galleria, is usually open only Thursdays and Fridays for lunch. But David has been staging some special Saturdays lately.

This past Saturday was particularly special. In addition to the pastrami, David served whole hog, as well as brisket, sausage and smoked bologna.

Pitmaster Todd David points out the Saturday menu for diners.

Posse members started going to Cattleack right after it opened two years ago. Jim Rossman, in fact, might have been the first blogger to review the joint.

"The beef was perfectly cooked and the fat had rendered into that silky-salty state that we’re all searching for," he wrote in May 2013. "This was really good brisket."

Since then, we've been back many times, particularly Rossman, who says he eats at Cattleack about three times a month.

"There's nobody better in town," Rossman said of David. "He's all around, too. Not just brisket and ribs. He's always willing to experiment."

He got no argument Saturday from the three other Posse members in attendance. We loved the pastrami, the brisket, the pork and the sausage.

Notice the wording: "Nobody better." That means the Posse is putting Cattleack in the same category as Pecan Lodge, ranked among the top joints in the state by Texas Monthly.

That's elite company.

Initially, Cattleack was open one day a week for take-out lunches. Now, it's normally open two days, with eat-in seating. David and his wife, Misty, also run a catering business.

Made from brisket, pastrami is cured in brine, rubbed with spices and smoked. It's very popular in New York-style delis.

"I've never heard about it in a barbecue place," Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said.

I liked the pastrami so much that I ordered a pound to go. We ate some -- re-heated -- with dinner Saturday night and I made a cold pastrami sandwich, with a slice of raw onion, for lunch on Sunday.

Best sandwich I've had in a long, long time. Can't say that about cold brisket.

Cattleack BBQ, 13628 Gamma Road, Dallas, 972-499-0999. Open: Thurs & Fri 10:30am-2pm. Website: www.cattleackbbq.com

Todd David works the cutting board on a busy Saturday at Cattleack BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Brisket and two kinds of brisket pastrami, fatty & lean, sit on the Cattleack cutting board. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Pitmaster/owner Todd David also smoked a whole hog for the Saturday special occasion. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Cattleack BBQ, 13628 Gamma Rd. in Addison. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

YABBQL: Yet Another BBQ line -- Cattleack BBQ tweaks their operation to address the long lines.

From left: Todd David, David Mills, Misty David and Lauren Parajon (photo by Jim Rossman)

On the heels of Pecan Lodge making some tweaks to their ordering process, relative newcomer Cattleack BBQ is making some changes to their Friday-only lunch service to address it's growing lines.

Our BBQ Take-Out service on Fridays has become such a hit, we now have a line out the door! While this is a measure of success for us, we don’t want it to be an inconvenience to our BBQ-loving customers. We have two new processes in place to help those who have limited time to spend in line.

1) Starting next week, we will open the doors at 10:30 instead of 11. That way, you can get a jump on the line and give yourself plenty of time to return to the office with lunch.

2) For those of you who need large quantities of bulk cut meat for either the office or home, order online ahead of time. If you need more than 5 pounds of bulk meat (per customer order), you can call or email at least 24 hours ahead of time. Noon sharp Thursday is the cut off. Your food will be cut and ready for you to pick up at 10:30am. If you don’t get there by 10:30, you’ll still have to wait in line to be fair to all our other customers. This is for meat only and does not include sandwiches because we prefer to make those as fresh as possible. Please get your orders in early as we will only be able to accept a limited amount of advanced orders to be ready to open the doors on time. Phones are not answered during our Friday event. We are too busy!

- See more at: http://cattleackbbq.com/bbq-take-out-friday-improvements/#sthash.9oQZXRPn.dpuf

If you haven't made the trip to north Dallas to Cattleack, you're missing some great BBQ.
Owner and pitmaster Todd David uses gas to cook is meat, but don't let that deter you. Todd shows it really is possible to get flavor from a gasser if you know how to use it.

CattleAck BBQ, 13628 Gamma Road, Dallas, 972-499-0999. Open: Fridays 11am-til the meat runs out. Website: www.cattleackbbq.com 

New Dallas Joint: CattleAck BBQ

From left: Todd David, David Mills, Misty David and Lauren Parajon (all photos by Jim Rossman) 

In the wake of the Texas Monthly Top 50 list which was released this week, there’s been an abnormal amount of BBQ chatter on Twitter.

It was in a Tweet I saw mention of CattleAck BBQ in Dallas. I was intrigued, as I’ve at least heard of most joints in Dallas and this one was under my radar.

A jump to their Twitter feed @cattleackbbq led me to their website www.cattleackbbq.com.

What I found was a BBQ catering business that four weeks ago started opening for lunch on Fridays (take out only) from 11am until the meat runs out.

Today is Friday and it was 11am when I Googled the address and decided to make a quick run north up the Tollway.

I was greeted by the owner, Todd David and his wife Misty. Before I could get out a “hello” I was handed a slice of brisket from the moist end and it melted in my mouth.