The Queue for some sweet 'Cue

Daniel Vaughn's 'The Prophets of Smoked Meat'

My first knowledge of Franklin Barbecue came from Daniel Vaughn’s book, “The Prophets of Smoked Meat.” He tells of the ubiquitous three-hour wait as a precondition to savoring the legendary BBQ. Over the next few months, the Franklin Barbecue name kept popping up in conversation, especially once I got up to New York. Many foodies on the East coast had heard the tale of the barbecue megastar that started in a simple trailer in Austin, Texas, yet I lived right down the road and hadn’t heard of it. It’s shameful, I know, but I cut my teeth on classic Texas BBQ at the nearby joints in Lockhart and Luling. Franklin’s just wasn’t on my radar yet.

Yet.

Aaron Franklin’s smoked meat has been drawing crowds since 2009 when he started slinging barbecue goodness out of a trailer. Word spread like wildfire and his brisket became legend – so good in fact that he has sold out EVERY day since he opened his brick and mortar just south of the Texas State Capitol. Daily, there is at least a two-hour wait – no exceptions. Well, unless you’re the President of the United States and in that case, you and your Secret Service agents can cut the line right to the front. For everybody else, including Kanye West, you gotta stand in line and do the time.

I arrived at 9:20 in the morning – late by Franklin’s standard. Luckily, I was meeting up with an old high school buddy who had arrived at 8:30 and had been posted up in line for nearly an hour. I carefully scanned the crowd for Devin and spotted him camped out in two, UT burnt-orange, folding chairs. Devin is a seasoned Franklin Barbecue vet,  hence the two folding chairs, so clutch in a situation where one must wait in line for hours at a time. He even brought his lab, Cinder, to keep us company.

At the back of the line.

We had secured a nice spot, a mere 80 bodies between the door and us. As Devin and I chatted and caught up, the line began to slowly grow until it curled into the street. It was a Tuesday morning, yet there were a solid two hundred people waiting to partake in some of the most notorious barbecue in the country.

The doors finally opened at 11:00 am and the first few customers came spilling out with their arms loaded down with pre-orders. They duly received their fair share of mean looks from those of us praying there was plenty more.   Luckily within another thirty minutes I was finally in the front door.

Well, let me tell you, that, was pure torture of another kind. I could now smell the deliciousness, but it was still out of reach. Another thirty-minute line lay before me, only this time, I was given a front row seat to watch other customers devour inhale their mounds of the legendary Franklin meat.

A look at the line once you make it inside Franklin's.

The menu is on the wall.

Finally when I arrived at the counter, I ordered some of everything.

Yeah, my eyes were bigger than my stomach but heck, I had just waited two hours and I wasn’t going to let something slip by me now.

I sampled a pound of brisket, a half-pound of sausage, and a half-pound of pulled pork. I accompanied this blowout with a side of coleslaw and a serving of potato salad. Devin slipped me one of his ribs for the final round out and after a quick photography session and a prayer, we dug in.

MY OPINION: Franklin Barbecue knocks it out of the park – it lives up to its reputation and all of the hype. Everything on the menu is amazing. The Franklin Brisket probably gets the most notoriety and rightfully so – its damn good. Melt in your mouth – good.

MY SUGGESTION: Don’t be deterred by the long lines and infamous wait, get your tail down to Franklin’s the next chance you get. Just about everyone is enjoying a libation of some sort and the Franklin staff sells a great selection of local Austin beers. My advice is to bring a folding chair, grab one of those Austin Beerworks Fire Eagles, and get to know your neighbors. It was worth the wait.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Bon Appetite, Texas Monthly, and Anthony Bourdain all sing Aaron Franklin’s praises, cause Aaron Franklin is the man.
• Aaron was awarded a James Beard Foundation award for best chef in the Southwest region.
• Located at 900 E. 11th Street, Austin Texas
• Closed on Mondays
• Opens at 11 am and closes when sold out
• Get in line around 8:30 am
• Bring a folding chair, cooler, and a friend or better yet, make a new one in line.
• Pick up a copy of Aaron’s book and if you’re lucky have him sign it.

If you feel I have been living under a rock and have missed another  good place to eat, let me know because I love checking out new eats.

This ‘ol Gal is Smoking Hot

It’s a damn good feeling to be back in the Lone Star state. For the past few weeks, I’ve been at home resting up and sampling some good eats. I’ve gotten more than a few dinner requests from the Family and I’m beginning to think they have forgotten that my time in New York was spent in a meat cooler, not a kitchen.

Whatever. I love to get in the kitchen, throw on some jams, and make something special.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve learned to make tamales and I tied and prepared a huge rib roast for the Family Christmas dinner; however I was craving to experiment with things I had learned in New York. Unfortunately, I lacked a commercial kitchen and shiny appliances like I had access to at Fleishers. That meant I was going to have to find my own and on a broke butcher’s budget. After mapping out my meat quest I figured I would need the following:

• a smoker to practice my brisket making,
• a dehydrator to test my new jerky recipes,
• and a curing chamber for some charcuterie experimentation.

My trip to New York wiped out my bank account, but Santa Claus came through with a couple of Benji’s in my stocking. I just had to decide which one of the three pieces of equipment to invest in. I only had enough cash for one. The other two would have to be put on the back-burner. This was my line of thinking until I stumbled on an old, unclaimed smoker.

At first, I wasn’t sure if the ‘ol gal would work. There were rust holes in the bottom, the grill had come detached, and the pipe stack that once rose from the pit had been severed. Her thermometer had definitely seen better days. Its glass cover was shattered and the needle registered a perpetual 185°.

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All and all, not insurmountable for an old Boy Scout. A quick trip to Walmart for a freestanding oven thermometer and a few twists of wire to get the grill back on, I had the ‘ol gal back on her feet. Now to give her a test run.

On the actual brisket, I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Chef Jason and I had thrown one in the electric smoker in New York and it turned out awesome – no work and great meat with an amazing bark. Since my smoker didn’t exactly stack up to that commercial one, I would have to keep a careful watch over this brisket the entire time it cooked. The main chamber temperature needed to hover around 225° and stay as smoke-filled as possible.

Pulling an all-nighter would require some help. Luckily, the fridge was stocked with Shiner Bock and my brother was home for Christmas break.   He willingly volunteered as soon as I uttered the word “fire.”

We’ve been pyro-maniacs since birth.

The new recruit and I made our way to the local meat market where we commandeered an 15lb. USDA select brisket. Yeah, it wasn’t the 100% grass-fed brisket I was use to working with in New York, but it would do.

After a good thirty minutes of hand-grinding seasonings, I laid down a heavy coat of salt and pepper over the meat.

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In the meantime, Sam had started a fire in the smoke chamber and once he had a good bed of coals and the oven thermometer read 225°, we placed the brisket in the main chamber.

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Pit masters apply wood chips to create a large amount of smoke without all the heat of a large fire. I applied hickory wood chips every 10-15 minutes throughout the night.

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The next morning, the meat thermometer read 190° when I placed it into the center of the brisket. I pulled the brisket from the hand-me-down smoker and let it set.

The ‘ol gal had done good. The bark was thick, dark and glistening. The smoke ring was a lovely ombre red.

After 30 minutes of resting, I sliced and shared.

Sweet victory!

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Feedback:

1. Aunt Hedy thought it was a bit peppery. It might have been from all the fresh cracked pepper I used.
2. Mom thought the meat could have been more tender, but the flavor was spot on.
3. Note to self: ALWAYS invest in good meat. If you want a great end product, you have to use great ingredients.