Red Dirt BBQ and Music Fest pix part 3

some more photos from the fest.  Click on any photo for a larger view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stanley's Famous Pit BBQ, Tyler, Texas 5/3/14

almost sampled 5/3/14

Scott and I arrived early for the Red Dirt BBQ fest so we walked over to Stanley's to give it a visit before the fest.  Unfortunately, the line was literally out the door, and we decided to stop by for some to go later after the fest.  I snapped a couple of pix outside and had to laugh when I saw the one above. Aggies and Longhorns don't agree on much, but there's two vehicles side by side at Stanley's that prove they both like Stanley's Q. Note the car with the Texas Ex sticker right next to the TAM pickup.  :)  Click on the photo for a larger view.

Scott grabbed some to go after the fest and he reported later that it was "Definitely top 50.  We need to go back."  The Stanley's I had at the fest was excellent.

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. 

reheating frozen brisket and sausage

I've had several folks ask how I go about reheating frozen brisket and sausage.  In the past I have answered privately, but since it has just popped up yet again (thanks Steven), I figured it deserved a post.

I know there are a variety of ways folks go about this, but this is how I do it and I'm very happy with the results.

First off, I never freeze pork ribs.  I am too close to some really nice ones I can get fresh any weekend so I have no need to ever freeze them.  However I do often freeze brisket and sausage.  I have bought many frozen 4 pound hunks of brisket from Black's, both in person and by mail.  I have also frozen lots of brisket from Pecan Lodge and Franklin BBQ, all with good results.  I have also done lots of jalapeno cheese sausage from Kreuz.  In every case I try to get it eaten up in 4-6 months.

If you can, stick with the prepackaged vacuum sealed packages.  That will prevent freezer burn and give you better freezer life overall.  Here's a photo of 4 lbs of Black's brisket and Kreuz jalapeno cheese sausage in vacuum sealed packages.

Brisket is best when you can freeze one big chunk.  When you decide to thaw it out, leave it in the fridge for 2-3 days until you can feel it is thawed.  Then just slice off pieces as needed and re-wrap.  I think it retains the most moisture when you do not pre-slice it up before freezing.  I have also sliced up brisket into quart freezer bags.  This works well, too, but I think the freezer life is not quite as long and you should plan on consuming it in 2-3 months max.  In the case of sausage, the first time I want to get into the big package I thaw it out just enough to break off a few sausages to thaw, then rewrap the main body and put it back in the freezer.  You can also break them down into individual quart freezer bags but again, I don't think they keep quite as long. 

Now to the cooking.  After thawing out the meat completely in the fridge, I cut it to fit in a covered microwave bowl.

  

 

I use some old style Grab It bowls from CorningWare.  What surprised me is they do not seem to make these anymore.  You can get similar bowls with a plastic lid on Amazon, but they don't seem to have the nice glass lid anymore.  I am guessing any small CorningWare or Pyrex microwave bowl will do the same and you could use any microwave plate as a cover.  The two most important points are to use a covered bowl and to heat lightly.  Until you get used to how the reheating sets, it is best to underestimate and have to hit it again for 30 seconds rather than overcooking it.  The two slices of brisket and 1 sausage above were microwaved for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.  Be sure to let the meat sit, covered, for an additional 1-2 minutes after. 

I am always amazed to take the lid off and smell smoke from Black's, Franklin, or Pecan Lodge in my own kitchen.  It will never be as good as fresh off the smoker, but you can get pretty durned close with these easy steps.  The meat below was in the freezer for 5 weeks but tasted pretty good last night!