The secret to avoiding those long lines at Franklin Barbecue in Austin

The line was over 100 deep at Franklin BBQ on a recent Saturday. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Even now, four weeks later, we're still complimenting ourselves for our nifty navigation of the long lines at Franklin Barbecue in Austin during the Posse's Best of Texas Tour. People can begin queuing up two hours before the joint opens and the number can quickly grow to a hundred or more.

We took advantage of Franklin's advance-order service and had Posse members and Austin residents Libby Jacobson and Mike Gagne pick up our food before the place opened for regular business.

"It was a glorious feeling," Libby said of walking past the line and directly inside the restaurant to the pick-up counter. "You feel like you're someone special."

A readers' guide to The Barbecue Chronicles, the journeys of the Texas BBQ Posse

Since November 2009, members of the Texas BBQ Posse have traveled nearly 5,000 miles searching for the best barbecue in the state. True sojourners of smoked meat, BBQ Snob and prolific blogger Daniel Vaughn once called us. Back at you, Daniel.

As we await publication in The Dallas Morning News of our recent Best of Texas Tour, here's an annotated readers' guide, with links, to the first 11 chapters of our barbecue chronicles.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Photographing the Best of Texas BBQ tour

Dallas Morning News staffer Tom Fox works the line at Franklin BBQ. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

We had several firsts for the Posse on our recent Best of Texas BBQ Tour. This was the first tour spanning three days and also our first trip taken to rank the top joints in the state. The results will be published in The Dallas Morning News and online on March 10.

Another first was to have the Morning News assign a staff photographer to travel with us, documenting the 700-mile journey to the best BBQ joints in Texas. The Posse is made up mainly of photographers and writers, but we'd never had someone fully dedicated to shooting the trip. There's a big difference between shooting with your iPhone or happy snapper, as opposed to using full pro gear.

Here's the best comment we've ever seen about wood and Texas BBQ

Over the past four years, we've gotten a lot of comments from readers about our observations on Texas barbecue. Good or bad, we post them all, with the exception of those with extreme profanity. Texas BBQ is an emotional issue.

However, a comment on Gary Jacobson's Monday post "Memo to Gov. Perry: Texas needs a truth in BBQ law" set a new bar for comments on our blog. A reader tagged as "Anonymous" left a pronouncement that summed it all up better than we could ever do.

Memo to Gov. Perry: Texas needs a truth in BBQ law

Last week on the Posse's Facebook page, we had a good discussion with readers about the use of real wood or other means to smoke barbecue.

One reader, Mark "The Hogfather" Gabrick, suggested that we lead an initiative to get Texas to pass a truth in barbecue law. Or, more simply, we should designate joints that use only wood as "Posse approved."

Gotta admit, that last phrase does have a nice ring.

Kreuz Market wins best sausage in BBQ Posse's Best of Texas Tour

Jalapeño cheese sausage at Kreuz Market in Lockhart. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Regular readers know we had some internal Posse conflict before our recent Best of Texas Tour.

Should sausage count equally with brisket and pork ribs when trying to rate the best joints in the state?

Initially, we decided, no, sausage should count less. Then we got an impassioned defense of the sausage maker's art from Posse member Bryan Gooding, the sausage king of Oak Cliff after his victory last fall in the Blues, Bandits and BBQ cookoff.