Monday, April 7, 2014

Black's BBQ Lockhart Texas, 4/7/14

sampled 4/7/14

Once again we opted to return from Houston via Lockhart, just because we could!  We made our usual pilgrimage to Black's and had better brisket there than at any of the 20 joints we sampled in Houston.  Just no comparison. The spare ribs were a little underdone but the jalapeno cheese sausage was tasty with a nice spicy kick.
 
I loaded up with an additional 6 pounds of Black's frozen brisket for my freezer for some good eating in the weeks ahead.

After Black's we made a stop by Kreuz Market where I grabbed another 25 jalapeno cheese rings for my freezer.  Yes, I now have a happy freezer.

The trip up the Pickle Parkway towards Dallas was enhanced by abundant bluebonnets blooming down the median and along both sides of the road for almost the entire length.  Our toll dollars at work!

2nd annual Houston BBQ Festival

sampled 4/6/14

This was our second year at the Houston BBQ Fest and once again it was fun, if not delicious.  The weather was a bit dicey at first, but the rain was never heavy or steady.  Ponchos kept us dry and we ferried our paper sample boats full of meat to the dining tents in a 1 gallon ziploc bag, keeping the food dry without any extra water added.
Once again we went with the VIP tickets and it was a very wise investment.  We got through all 20 joints well before the general admission hordes descended.
Out of the whole day, and sampling 20 different BBQ joints, the single piece of meat I would have gone back for was Louie Mueller's jalapeno sausage.  I knew that already!  A lot of the brisket was way overcooked.  When you tried to pick up a slice they often crumbled.  Several ribs were also overcooked and the meat had fallen off the bone by the time we got to the table.  A couple of ribs were undercooked and very, very tough.  I kept thinking back to the bite of New Zion brisket I had the day before and nothing at this fest even came close.  Daniel "the BBQ snob" was in attendence and I caught a photo of him with Mike, one of the organizers.

I sampled all 20 spots but Scott stopped short.  However after awhile I sort of stopped taking photos because most of the food was just very average.  We stayed a bit after they opened the general admission gates at 1 pm, took a few more photos, then headed to Lockhart.  Food photos will follow in a separate post below.

 

 


 
 
 Below, the hordes of general admission patrons awaiting 1 pm opening.

After the doors opened.
The pit area

2nd annual Houston BBQ fest, food photos

 
 
 

 

New Zion Missionary Baptist Church BBQ, Huntsville, Texas

sampled 4/5/14
On our way down to the 2nd annual Houston BBQ Festival we made 2 stops.  One at the Alma Smokehouse, where Scott had a sliced brisket sandwich, and this second stop at "Church BBQ" in Huntsville.  The sample I had last year was decent so this time I grabbed 2 pounds to go instead of the 1 pound I had gotten in 2013. Scott ate his on the spot and enjoyed it.  Even though I was fasting in anticipation of eating 20 samples the next day, I just had to sneak a taste from my box of brisket.   I found good smoke flavor and perfectly rendered fat that was full of flavor.  I have heard this place suffers from consistency issues, but on this day it was pretty durned good.  Also some of the cheapest smoked brisket I have seen anywhere, just $10 a pound.  They were generous with their sauce in little containers, but I did not need a bit of it.