Page 31 - Barbecue News April 2020 Issue

monitor. Big mis- take. It was tough and dry. Only ate a few bites. They charge $18/ pound for turkey - no wonder they want you to buy it!
The BBQ was so good, I never touched the sauce. No idea if his sauce is good or not - this BBQ does not need any sauce.
Small personal
pies were also very
good. Tried the
pecan and “Darn”
pies. The pecan was very sweet and good flavor. Crust was excel- lent. The Darn pie was coconut and also had great crust and fla- vor.
We could have gotten in line at 9:30 and still would have gotten the brisket, but also, the line moves extremely slow after doors open, so there is still a long wait to order, if 100 people in line. We were about 14 people back and it took about 25 minutes to get up to counter to order after door opened.
I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5, in spite of the terrible turkey (Turkey isn’t for BBQ anyway, it’s for roasting on Thanksgiving), and my quib- bles on the salt/pepper and rib rub. They also have extremely nice, helpful, friendly people working at Franklin’s, and it is clear they like their job and the company. It is also the longest wait, by far. 4.5 out of 5 to me.
Stiles Switch BBQ – December 6, 2019
Friday at 4:30pm. No one in the place. No problem with getting any meats.
Brisket point was excellent! It was slightly over cooked, but very moist with good beef and smoke flavor. Salt was noticeable, but better than Franklin’s excessive salt. Bigger briskets, but still small. Way overcooked the flat. Dry, crumbly, and may have been held too long before serving. It had a Very dark bark, and almost burned taste. Edges very dry and “burnt” ends were inedible. Should not have served it.
Ribs were cooked to tenderness about perfectly (some areas slightly over cooked), with very good pork, smoke, and rub flavor – however. there were two serious problems withe ribs. One, a very thick membrane was on the backside that I could not bite through. Once I peeled off the membrane, the ribs were excellent, except for the second situation; there was a very hot component to the rib rub. Tasted like habanero. I love heat on Mexican food, but this heat was way over the top for BBQ.
The sausage was not very good. Fairly fine grain, except for large chunks of gristle (not fat). Flavor not as good as Franklin’s, but worse than that, the casing was so tough I couldn’t chew it. Avoid the sausage.
The sauces were not very helpful. The ultra thin dipping sauce that came with the tray had very little flavor and didn’t stick to the meat well, because it was watery. The Habanero sauce wasn’t helpful due to heat already on the ribs, and the mustard sauce was very thick and mostly like a German yellow mustard, and not a BBQ sauce. It would have been good on a ham sandwich.
The coleslaw had a thin, tasteless vinegar sauce on it.
The banana cheesecake pud- ding had great ba- nana flavor (and chunks of real ba- nana), but the pudding had a light chiffon tex- ture, and not the thick and creamy texture that I pre- fer.
Overall, the brisket point was as good as Franklin’s, and the
pork ribs had a good cook and flavor, not counting the habanero- type heat. Everything else was considerably worse than Franklin’s.
I’d give it it a 3.5 out of 5. Great brisket point, but everything else was a little off. And the staff were all grumpy, including the carver and Pitmaster.
Snow’s BBQ, December 7, 2019
Snow’s BBQ is the best BBQ place I have ever been.
The Brisket was moist and cooked correctly for both point and flat in the same brisket. It was tender, juicy, beefy, smoky, and had no hint of excessive salt or pepper. The best brisket I have ever eaten. It was clearly better than Franklin’s. No sauce used or needed. The bark was light and with good flavor. The beef was from Taylor Meat Company in Taylor, TX.
The ribs were perfectly cooked, with a good pork, smoke flavor and a good balance of seasoning from the rub. The bottom mem- brane was easy to bite through, and was not a problem to get a good clean bite down to the bone with a clean bite mark and good chew to the meat. One of the best restaurant ribs I’ve ever had. The standard sausage was on the salty side, but not overwhelm- ing, and the smoke and spices had a great flavor. The fine-to- medium grind had good texture and no lumps of gristle or fat. The casings were thick enough to hold together and give a good snap, but thin enough to bite through and chew. This was the best sausage so far.
The banana pudding was excellent! It was very creamy and con- sisted of vanilla wafers in a vanilla “cake batter” with chunks of bananas. It was one of the best banana puddings I’ve ever had. The only bad experience I had was the sliced pork butt. We were 4th in line and the first to get pork butt, so my piece was cut from the edge. I found it very dry and tough. The friend I was with said his piece was moist, and I saw other slices on other trays that were very moist. I just got a bad piece. BBQ is just not a perfect science.
Snow’s is my new BBQ restaurant reference point. It is about an hour drive to Lexington from Austin at 6am, and Snow’s is only open Saturday morning. They use a large tank pit with offset fire- box for briskets and butts, and flat pits with direct coals for ribs and chicken. 5 out of 5! Very friendly and helpful. Very accommo- dating for pictures. Got there at 7am, and let in at 8am to get food. Line moves pretty slowly, but not too bad. Much better wait time than Franklin’s. Last person served by 9am. I was told it is much longer lines in summer. No sauce used, or needed.
APRIL 2020
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