In Texas, BBQ is Almost a Religion
Our Philosophy
Why smoke meat?
Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with all the BBQ in central Texas, places come and go. The beautiful thing is that it's hard to go to any of them and come away saying "that was bad". Sure, some are better than others, some stand out and make you want more. So what's the difference? What makes one place great and another just okay? What is the magic sauce that gets people coming back again and again? I would love to say I know exactly why, but I will leave that for someone smarter than me. Here I will give you our thoughts on the subject.
When you want to eat barbecue, what pulls you to this specific type of food? Some people probably have no idea, they have just heard this certain place has amazing BBQ or amazing food and just want good food. Others maybe eat barbecue often and consider themselves a BBQ connoisseur of sorts. And then a small group probably legitimately know their way around BBQ and have their idea of how it should be. And then some stages in between.
This leads me to the question: what is right and what is wrong? What is good food, what is not so good food? Which one should everyone go to and which should they avoid? Which ones are worth the wait? Who's to say that Joe's idea is the right way? Or that mine is? I will go out on a limb here and say this is the real problem with critics in the food industry (I'm sure some would argue that the same problem probably exists in other industries as well and for the same reason). It is all subjective, it all comes down to tastes and what someone likes or dislikes, what people are used to and not used to. If you are a "professional" you may look at things from the point of view of your training and what something is "supposed to be" and that may overshadow what is really important - is it good?
So now to our humble opinions on this matter which brings us back to the initial question. If you are going to make barbecue, it should have a smoke flavor. Period. If not, why are you going through the trouble of smoking your meat? It is a lot more work. There's a lot more variations and issues you can run into. You might as well save yourself a lot of headache and do it in an oven! You can get it flavorful, control the temperature easily and so get it cooked exactly how you want it and get a great tender meat. But the beautiful reality, if you want smoke - naturally, you must smoke it and you can't be afraid to leave it in the smoker for a long time. That’s just how it has to be.
A little pet peeve in this realm. Some people confuse smoking - barbecue and grilling. How many times have you been invited to a friend's house to barbecue? And then you get there and they aren't using a smoker, they are using a grill. That is grilling. If you are smoking meat or barbecuing, the smoke is the only thing that cooks the meat, no flame ever touches it. This is my point of view.
This next part is something I find that a lot of places miss on. The sides. Sure, barbecue is the meat. But who wants to go to a place and just eat the meat? Maybe some. I don't know about you but I like a good, well-rounded meal. This means, I don't want beans where someone opened a can, added some salt and called it a day. I find that offensive. Especially when someone has gone through the trouble to put together really good barbecue - which as we already covered is a lot of work, practice and skill. You need some good sides! Maybe some people don't realize that they are part of the experience? That they are just as important as having great meat and that if they aren't just as good, it detracts from the experience with the meat? There are places I don't return to just because the sides didn't stack up to the quality of the meat!
So where does this leave us? Barbecue is an experience. Whether you are cooking at home or for a lot of people, I don't think anyone wants to eat sub-par food. So don't do it! We don’t! Ever. Make sure your meat has at least some smoke, has a great rub and/or sauce and make sides that can hold up to the great flavors of the meat! (Or buy ones that you can be proud of.) There IS a right way and a wrong way, a “good” and a “bad”. But that has to be decided by each of us. I sincerely believe that if you follow these basic tenants, you will be on a good path to please most – not everybody. Leave the non-smoked meat to non-barbecue restaurants and tasteless sides or dishes to those who don’t love food or treat it like a waste of time. In the meantime, no matter what food you serve, make it well, serve it well and enjoy the company it will unquestionably bring.
So coming back to an earlier question or point. Good BBQ vs "bad" BBQ. Barbecue isn't just well-cooked meat with sauce on it. Quite the contrary. well done barbecue should stand on its own - you should never NEED sauce to make it taste good. The meat should be flavorful and smokey. It should never just taste like meat. You should be able to taste the rub and any sauce used during the smoking process. All of this should be a complex symphony of flavors in every bite, none overpowering the others. And this is what I find to be the hardest part and one for the biggest differentiators. Because getting the smoke, cooking it right, having that perfect balance of flavors from cooking in a smoker, it just isn't as easy as it looks. It takes practice and it takes skill. And I will admit, there are days where maybe it just doesn't come out quite as perfect, maybe a little dry. That's where the sauce comes in! Or maybe there's a sauce you just love and put on all barbecue - that is your prerogative. But the meat should be able to stand without needing any sauce to make it good.
So that's our point of view. I don't know if this helps. It certainly is a conversational point! (I'm sure I have had a few people leave a chat with me thinking "wow, he's passionate about barbecue!" Maybe they even thought I was a little crazy. Who knows. All I know is we love barbecue and barbecue is about passion.