Dayne's Craft BBQ, Aledo 11/13/24

 https://daynescraftbarbecue.com/

Wowzers.

Green's experimenting with twinkies, 10/12/24

 

https://greenstexasbbq.com/

sampled 10/12/24

I was up at Green's last Saturday and still have a few pieces of brisket and pork belly bites left in the fridge (they warm up great).   For whatever reason, I took a look at Green's facebook page this morning and lo and behold, he had a photo of a big pan full of Texas twinkies, or torpedoes, or poppers, or whatever you want to call those big jalapenos stuffed with brisket and wrapped in bacon.  I knew I needed to give his a try, so I headed up there about 10:30 am and was surprised to find myself first in line.  Usually there are a couple of other crazy BBQ folks waiting by then, but I guess today I was the craziest.

I ordered 6 twinkies, 4 orders of pork belly bites, some brisket biscuits, and a pound of sliced brisket from the fatty end.  Somehow, they mixed up my order and I got home with a sliced brisket sandwich instead of a pound of sliced.  I think it had 2/3 pound of brisket ends on it so I did not take it back.  It was delicious.  The twinkies were average sized jalapenos, not the monster ones some places have.  Each was filled with chopped brisket but I did not detect any cheese filling, which is fine by me.  The bacon was well cooked but not crispy as it is done at some other places.  He is only charging $3.50 each and at that price they make a fine little addition to his menu.  Those things are very labor intensive, so I doubt they will be a regular item, but I will definitely add some to my order if they are available next time.

When I left there were 20 people in line behind me.  It pays to go early!

Hurtado's BBQ, 8/1/24

 

https://hurtadobbq.com/

sampled 8/1/24 about 11:15 am

Scott celebrated his birthday recently and when I asked where he wanted to go for his birthday lunch he said, "Hurtado's!"  There was almost no line at 11 am but they were working hard on a lot of pick up orders.  Our food came out quickly and everything was just as good as it looks.  I even had a few bacon burnt ends and Texas Twinkies to take home for later.  I told Scott he needs to have more birthdays.  

17 pounds of Pork Loin, 7/13/24

 

So my Mrs spotted a good sale on boneless pork loin a few weeks back and came home with 2 weighing a total of about 8 and a half pounds.  We found that they would fit well in our little bullet smoker, so she went back and got 2 more.  They went into the freezer until this week when we decided to thaw them and smoke on Saturday.

They only needed a little trimming and a healthy dose of Green's  "All N 1" seasoning and into the smoker they went at 11:15 am. 

About an hour into the smoke, I went out and found the temperature had dropped and there was a big puddle coming from under the smoker.  At first, I thought the fat dripping from the meat had overflowed the water pan, even though I had left room in the water pan for quite a bit of dripping fat.  However, when I pulled the barrel off the coals, I found the coals were drenched and the water level was far from full.  A small hole had developed in the bottom of the water pan and about half the water had drained into the coals and wood.  Now what?

The first thing we did was to get the loins into the oven at 250 degrees while we pondered the situation.  I cleaned out the drenched coals into an aluminum pan and took the fire pan out into the sun to dry off.  Fortunately, the sun was shining hot and it was above 90 degrees so the pan dried out quickly.  

My Mrs had the perfect answer for our dilemma.  We dropped an aluminum pie pan into the bottom of the empty water pan and sat 2 small aluminum loaf pans with water into the pie pan.  No more leaking today!  I started a fresh set of coals.  When we got them burning well we transferred the loins from the oven back to the grates of our smoker using a big heavy spatula I use for briskets.  It was fun moving the hot loins, but no further disasters occurred.  I dropped some new oak and pecan wood onto the coals and we were back to smoking again.   

At 6 pm we pulled the loins and checked the temperature.  They were a bit overcooked, around 180 when we were looking for about 150, but after a 20 minute rest they still tasted great!  After they had cooled, we wrapped two of the loins tightly in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer in freezer bags.  The other two we shall munch on for the next few days.  

Dayne's Craft BBQ, Aledo 6/6/24

 

https://daynescraftbarbecue.com/

visited 6/6/24 about 11 am

I think the two photos above tell the story.  However I will add that they served their first ever stuffed potato today.  We were there for the celebration and it looked pretty durned good.

The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ, 6/2/24

 

https://www.royhutchinsbbq.com/

Finally got a chance to take the BBQ elevator up to the second floor and have a meal up there in the crow's nest.  They have fountain drinks and dessert up there, too.  A very nice set up.  Today I went with a couple of Texas twinkies, 2 ribs, and half a pound of pork belly burnt ends.  They all went away.

Brisket smoke 5/26/24

                          

As often happens, choice brisket is on sale this weekend for Memorial Day.  My Mrs picked up a couple for $1.87/lb, more than half off.  Today is one of the few days where thunderstorms are supposedly not going to pop up, so I thought we'd better get one on the smoker.

I did my usual process, trimming off about 2 pounds of excess fat, cutting in half for our little bullet smoker, and sprinkling liberally with Green's All N 1 rub.  It went on the smoker at 10:15 am with charcoal, oak, and pecan wood.  A wind storm had conveniently dropped a nice dry pecan limb in our yard last night and it is going right into the smoker.  We should have some tasty brisket ready about 8:30 tonight.

When I took the trimmed fat and trash out to the trash can, I found this little lady nearby digging a hole for her eggs.  She was working low and slow, just like our smoker.

I think it is a red eared slider and the eggs will probably be unfertilized, but I will put a protection cage around them anyway.  We'll know in 60-90 days.  If she hangs around maybe I will take her some brisket.

After 6 hours in the smoker, we pulled the brisket halves and wrapped them in Reynolds cooking bags.

Next they went into the oven for another 4 hours at 250 degrees.  After checking the temp at a perfect 202 degrees, they went into a cooler to rest overnight. 

The result was tender, moist, smokey brisket that will keep us smiling all week long.  

Miss red ears vamoosed so we didn't even have to share.

Brix Barbecue, Fort Worth 4/28/24

 

https://brixbarbecue.com/

sampled 4/28/24 around noon

I have passed this place several times during off hours and finally got the chance to sample their que today.  I got there around 11:20 and found a short line, just 2 folks in front of me.  I grabbed my usual Texas Trinity and went out to their nice covered picnic table patio to wait for my food.  And wait I did!  It took 30 minutes for my food to come out.  I think there must have been a longer line before I arrived and they were playing catch up on the dine in and to go orders.  

The brisket was moist and tender with well rendered fat but did not have a hint of smoke flavor.  The pork rib was also well cooked and left a perfect bite mark.  The jalapeno & Tillamook Cheddar sausage was full of cheese, but had a particularly tough casing and there was little jalapeno flavor.  

This place is just down the street from Panther City BBQ and is a nice option when their line is too long to stand in.  

The Original Roy Hutchin's BBQ, Trophy Club 4/24/24

 

https://www.royhutchinsbbq.com/

sampled about 1:15 pm

After having another great meal at Roy's on Sunday, I had a hankering for some more pork belly burnt ends and several more armadillo eggs.  We added Roy's kind as an afterthought and because we weren't able to find a third joint southwest of Fort Worth that looked interesting.  Sadly, I found out too late that the armadillo eggs are a Friday-Sunday only thing there.  Dang it.  Oh well, I made the best of it with a couple of Texas Twinkies, a couple of ribs, and half a pound of pork belly burnt ends.  The PBBB were still as good as Green's, but I did notice Roy charges double what Mr. Green does.  $18/half pound versus $9 at Green's.  There's that Trophy Club mark up again.  That said, Roy's is doing a very good job of serving craft quality BBQ that is available all day long, instead of just at lunch.  

BBQ on the Brazos, Cresson 4/24/24

 

https://www.bbqonthebrazoscressontx.com/

sampled around 11:45 am

This was the second spot on our mini-daytrip and another good spot.  We have had their food many times at Red Dirt, Smoked Dallas, and the Texas Monthly BBQ festival, but this was the first time we have visited their location in Cresson.  It is attached to a Sunoco gas station which is easier to spot than the BBQ signs.  We got there about 11:30 am and found just a couple of folks in line ahead of us.  I ordered my usual Texas trinity and added the baked beans and mac and cheese as sides.

The food came out quickly and the brisket had some nice smoke flavor.  The ribs were of the dry rub variety and fell off the bone, literally.  I picked one up and half the meat fell off.  The sausage was pretty average and didn't have much spice for a jalapeno sausage.  The sides were pretty average, too.

About noon the line started to snake across the room and pretty soon it was a full house.  There was a lot of olive green clothing and ATF and Dallas Bomb Squad logos.  I suspect there is a training ground nearby and the guys were taking time off from their training to grab some Q.  I think they picked a good spot but I'm glad we got there just before they did!

Dayne's Craft BBQ, Aledo 4/24/24

 

https://daynescraftbarbecue.com/

sampled around 11 am 

I have had Dayne's several times before, at Lola's Trailer Park in Fort Worth, then later at their planned brick and mortar location in western Fort Worth.  Recently, they moved even further west after finding their "dream location" in Aledo.  My wife had brought me some food from their new location a couple of months ago, but this was my first visit to their latest location.  The food is still amazing.  This was Scott's first time to visit Dayne's.  

We arrived about 10:40 am and were diners number 3 and 4.  There was no line at all.  Most folks leaving work for lunch can't get by at 10:30 when they open and we used that to our advantage.  :)  I wish more quality Q joints would follow that plan.  

I ordered 1/4 pound of brisket, 1/4 pound of pork belly brisket and a Jalapeno Havarti sausage.  I wanted 1/3 pound of each, but they only offer meats in 1/4 pound increments.  Kinda weird, but it is what it is.  The brisket and pork belly came out quickly, but they told us the sausage was not quite ready yet and would be out shortly.  

The brisket and pork belly was awesome, as it always is, and my sausage arrived while I was still working on those.  As usual, Dayne's sausage was top notch.  Big chunks of cheese and lots of spicy jalapenos gave the sausage a great bite.

I grabbed a half pound of ribs to go and added their excellent Chocolate lasagna dessert.  I shall enjoy those later!

The new place has a comfy dining room and there is also a nice patio dining area.  I think they will stay here, but if they keep moving further west I will still be following Dayne's!

BBQ Daytrip 4/24/24

 

This was our second BBQ daytrip in the last couple of weeks, hitting 3 joints in one afternoon.  We went west this time, leaving at 10 am and hitting Aledo and Cresson, then back to Trophy Club.  

The delicious slice of brisket above was enjoyed at Dayne's Craft BBQ in Aledo.

The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ, Trophy Club 4/21/24

 

https://www.royhutchinsbbq.com/

Ribs, Brisket, Texas Twinkie, Armadillo Egg, and Pork Belly Burnt Ends.

Any questions??