Lots of gorilla dust in the Texas barbecue world…Why?

Customers wait in line at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

I don't know if Ross Perot likes barbecue. He's Texan, so probably. But it doesn't really matter.

He had the perfect term for what's happening now in some parts of the Texas barbecue world.

Gorilla dust.

Whenever Ross saw sideshows obscure real issues, whenever he saw posturing and anemic attempts at intimidation, he called it "gorilla dust."

For him, cutting through b.s. was the only way to do business. That approach helped make him a business legend.

During the past week or so, as I've thought about the reaction to Mike Leggett's recent column in the Austin American-Statesman, I keep thinking of Ross' term, gorilla dust.

Leggett, if you recall, is the outdoors columnist who wrote about his unpleasant experience at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor when he was in line at the same time a tour group from Texas Monthly arrived.

In Leggett's opinion, the tour group caused him to have to wait an inordinate amount of time to be served. That's the main issue, sideshows aside.

"Call me an old goat," Leggett wrote at the top of his column. "Call me a grouch and an ungrateful snake. Call me just plain shortsighted because I haven’t recognized the smoked meat worship that’s swept over our state."

6 things the Posse learned from its DFW Top 7 BBQ Tour

Lockhart Smokehouse, Dallas, Texas. (Photo ©Daniel Gonclaves/Fotobia.com)

1. Pecan Lodge, without a doubt, is the best joint in DFW. We already knew this, but it was reinforced as we toured the 7 area places that made Texas Monthly's new Top 50 list. There isn't a weak spot in pitmaster Justin Fourton's smoked meat lineup.

2. Bartley's BBQ in Grapevine and Cousin's Barbecue in Fort Worth don't belong among the Top 50, for food or atmosphere.

3. Call ahead to Meshack's to make sure it's open. We didn't and we paid the price when the place was closed. We wound up eating bad barbecue at a place we wish we had never tried.

4. Tim Hutchins of Hutchins BBQ in McKinney is the state's next hot pitmaster. He regularly benchmarks his food against the best joints and wants to constantly improve. "I'm trying to bring the level up across the board," he told us during our visit.

Longoria's definitely belongs on Texas Monthly's new Top 50 list; not so Cousin's

Meats sit on the smoker at Longoria's BBQ in Everman. (Photo©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Longoria's BBQ in Everman turns out some pretty stout ribs, but the star of the menu is the brisket sausage, no doubt about it.

"Brisket sausage, I don't think life gets better than that," Posse member Magda Michna Goncalves said during the final day of our "DFW Top 7 BBQ Tour" after she tasted Longoria's specialty.

To be proper, we should probably refer to Magda as Dr. Michna Goncalves.

Among its members, the Posse numbers several JDs, and we just picked up a reverend, but Magda is the only PhD. A vision scientist, she earned her degree with a thesis titled: "Novel Imaging Techniques using the Transport of Intensity Equation."

Kinda humbling for the English and journalism majors among us.

'Bikes, Blues, and Barbecues,' about a father and son bicycle tour through Texas, now available as an e-book

Robby Landauer rides between Lockhart and Bastrop, on the way to Giddings. This was the longest day of their tour.

You may remember the father and son -- Tim and Robby Landauer -- who made the bicycle barbecue tour through the Central Texas heartland.

We published an item about them in March after Robby sent us a copy of an unpublished manuscript he had written about the trip titled "Bikes, Blues, and Barbecues: Me, my dad and our three favorite things."

Now, Robby Landauer has turned his manuscript into an e-book, available both through Amazon and Google Play.

"You don't need a Kindle to read the Amazon copy," proud father Tim informed us in an email. "Amazon has free apps for reading it on any computer, smartphone, or tablet.  With Google Play, I think it's just a PDF, so even easier."

First Look at Jambo's BBQ: Great start for the new place from pit builder and competition pro Jamie Geer

Dining room at the newly-opened Jambo's BBQ Shack in Rendon. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Jamie Geer of Burleson is a big-time barbecue competitor and has been called the da Vinci of barbecue pit builders with his sleek-looking and good-cooking line of Jambo smokers.

Now, he is trying his hand at running a barbecue joint, called Jambo's BBQ Shack and Catering, located in Rendon, not far from his home.

We visited Saturday, the end of Jambo's first week in business.

"It's been crazy," Geer said as he cut orders for a steady line of lunch customers.

We sampled his brisket, pork ribs, sausage and a giant pork chop. All were moist and very tender. Posse member Jim Rossman easily cut the 3-inch-thick chop with a plastic knife and fork and handed samples to Posse members and friends, a dozen strong.

"That's cooked perfectly," Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said of the chop. "I know what I'll be ordering the next time I come."

Photo essay of Hutchins BBQ in McKinney, by the Posse's Daniel Goncalves

Hutchins BBQ in McKinney, newcomer on the Texas Monthly Top 50 list. (Photos ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

Here's another great set of images from Dallas-based editorial and commercial photographer Daniel Goncalves, who joined up with the Posse early this year after moving to Dallas with wife Magda in late 2012. Daniel is helping us document the current DFW 7 BBQ Tour, where we are hitting all seven area BBQ joints from the Texas Monthly Top 50 list, each during lunch time on consecutive days.

We've previously published several series of his classic pitmaster portraits, which is an ongoing project for Daniel. Click here and here to see these projects. You can see more of his work at www.fotobia.com.