A little Autsin BBQ tour

[bbqwilly]

I went to Austin Texas last week for my nephews wedding. While my wife was dealing with wedding plans I took a little BBQ tour to Louie Mueller and Franklin. I went to Mueller on Monday and got there about 15 minutes early. I was out back looking at the catering pit and the pit manager, Jason, came out. We talked for a few minutes and he told me after I ate to come find him and he would give me a tour.

I got brisket and sausage. It was by far the best I had ever had.

After lunch I got a little tour.

The 2nd stop was Frankin BBQ. I dont have much pron on that visit but let me say that the brisket was phenomenal. I have a new love for the point as well. In my opinion the fatty is definitely the best. I got there at 645. When I pulled up Aaron was in the back of his truck messing with some coolers about 20 feet from where I parked. I went over and said hi and he jumped out of the back of his truck like I was a friend he hadn't seen in 10 years. He talked to me for 10 minutes or so about where I was from and why I was in Austin. Super cool guy. After talking to him it was about 7 and I was 2nd in line.

The line at 8am on Tuesday

Later on we went to Blacks in San Marcos. It was good, but not on the same planet as Mueller and Franklin.

Franklin had the best brisket, but Mueller was really good too.
Mueller had the best sausage.
I have a new appreciation for Texas BBQ. I already miss it.

 

[TonyT]

Nice write up and great pics! I'm always curious when they talk about restaurants with amazing briskets, is it any different than if you used the same quality meat and just nailed it at home, or is it really something special that takes a perfectionist like Aaron to get just right?

 

[Lighter-Fluid]

Great write up. We went to Muellers in November and loved the brisket and sausage!

 

[bbqwilly]

Nice write up and great pics! I'm always curious when they talk about restaurants with amazing briskets, is it any different than if you used the same quality meat and just nailed it at home, or is it really something special that takes a perfectionist like Aaron to get just right?

If you work at it I see no reason why you cant be as good or better than those guys. There are a ton of guys on this site that have been cooking longer than franklin. But man, that dude is for real. I got lean at Mueller and to be honest I didn't think it was much better than mine. I wish I would have gotten moist. But Franklin is just on another level. I went on tuesday and I wanted to go back on friday but we had wedding stuff to do.

 

[BillN]

Thanks for sharing, hope to do a little tour myself some day.

 

[dsp2]

Nice write up and great pics! I'm always curious when they talk about restaurants with amazing briskets, is it any different than if you used the same quality meat and just nailed it at home, or is it really something special that takes a perfectionist like Aaron to get just right?

My theory, which is informed to a large extent from stuff I've read here, is that the biggest difference is their ability to do this all at scale and so consistently. I've eaten at Louie Mueller twice, La Barbecue twice, John Mueller, Blacks, and several others. AMAZING stuff. I've also cooked a few very good briskets. These folks seem to share many of their secrets, but I think the real difference is their ability to do this every day at huge scale so consistently. Any given Sunday I can cook a mean brisket. But I also could be a little over cooked, undercooked, late, early, etc.

That is my theory, anyway.

 

[chicagokp]

Looks awesome!

 

[SeaSalted]

Stood in line for 4 1/2 hours at Franklin and it was well worth the wait. The Brisket blew away Blacks, Smitty's, and Kreuz in Lockhart IMHO.

Arron has a nice hard cover book out (215 pages) in which he shares all of his secrets. He says it is all in the meat (hormone and antibiotic free) the wood, and mostly attention to detail.