Road Trip (Hwy 29 BBQ & Payne's Bar-B-Q Shak)

Last April, Matthew Odam was doing a BBQ tour throughout Texas, and I tagged along for a couple of stops near the Austin area on my lunch break. We visited Hwy 29 BBQ in Bertram and Payne's Bar-B-Q Shak in Burnet that day. I was planning to post the reviews of Hwy 29 BBQ and Payne's Bar-B-Q Shak a long time ago. When I was ready to post Hwy 29's, they were remodeling. I have been waiting since then for them to reopen. I am still waiting. The Payne's review is over a year old so there is no purpose for me to post the details at this point. I was going to upload the Payne's visit after the Hwy 29 went up so the story flowed better. Here are the pictures from that day:

Spread from Hwy 29 BBQ

Banana pudding

Spread from Payne's Bar-B-Q Shak

There was a lot of good eats on this trip. I hope Hwy 29 BBQ opens back up someday. They would probably be in running for the Top 50 BBQ joints named by Texas Monthly. All the meats were cooked well and had great flavor and smoke. The banana pudding was damn good and might be worth a drive by itself. Payne's Bar-B-Q Shak was solid. Brisket and homemade sausage were a plus there. I was stuffed after visiting these two spots and was worthless the rest of the workday. Thanks to Matthew Odam for letting me join him on his BBQ adventure.

Until next time, happy smoking...

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Stillwater Barbeque

When we went to Europe, Amber and I dropped our dogs off with her brother in Lubbock. When we came home, we landed in Austin Friday night, and on Saturday morning, we drove to Abilene to pick up our pups. Abilene was a good meeting point and was only about a couple of hours from Lubbock. I needed Texas barbecue stat especially after a disappointing meal in Rome. I have heard good things about Stillwater Barbeque, and it was the perfect situation to come on by. Owner/pitmaster Matt Proctor worked in the energy industry before turning to BBQ full time. Stillwater started in the trailer that was parked out back and took over a Quiznos once business took off.

My brother in law ordered the nachos, but he ate it all before I could have a bite. Jerk. I ordered some brisket, pork ribs, jalapeño cheese sausage, and pulled pork with smashed taters, brisket macaroni and cheese, and banana pudding. The brisket was cooked really well. The fat rendered perfectly so the meat was tender and moist. I wished Matt trimmed the brisket a little bit better and was more generous with the rub. He wanted the beef to shine which I get, but I prefer more flavor from the rub. The pork ribs were solid. They required a little effort to come off the bone, but the taste and smoke made the sweet pork enjoyable to eat. The sausage did fine for a commercial sausage. The casing was snappy, and the jalapeño gave the sausage a nice finish. I thought the pulled pork was a good offering. It was juicy, flavorful, and had a good amount of smoke. The smashed taters was fine but nothing too exciting. The brisket mac and cheese was thick and cheesy. I could eat it them all the time. Closing out the meal with the banana pudding was the way to go. I love homemade banana pudding, not the fake boxed crap.

The truck that started it all

Stillwater Barbeque had a good first showing on my visit. There are a lot of good options on the menu. I want to try more next time. Driving four hours on a stuffed stomach was not ideal. We will try to stop by more often on the way to Lubbock. If you are ever traveling through Abilene, drop in. The brisket and banana pudding are excellent reasons to break up your drive and stretch out your legs. Grade: B

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: 3365 S 14th St, Abilene, TX 79605
Phone: 325.518.5071
Website: http://www.stillwaterbarbeque.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stillwaterbarbeque/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stillwater_bbq

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Hou BBQ Festival 2017

One of my favorite BBQ festivals is the Houston BBQ Festival. This year was the fifth edition of the event and our third year to attend. Read about last year's here. At the last two, I ate myself silly. I went to most of these places in the month of January so this year, I wanted to sample some delicious bites and have a good time. There were 25 BBQ joints participating this year.

Blood Bros. BBQ

Smoked 44 Farms chuck roll

Smoked 44 Farms chuck roll slider

The Brisket House

Chipotle citrus glazed baby back ribs

Brooks’ Place BBQ

Brisket

CorkScrew BBQ


Smoked prime rib

Smoked prime rib with potatoes

El Burro & the Bull

Brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage, and boudin

Feges BBQ

Turducken sausage

Carolina style whole hog w/ slaw and turducken sausage

Gatlin’s BBQ

Red snapper



Brisket

Gerardo’s

Tacos

Killen's Barbecue

Smoked pork belly then deep fried being glazed



Smoked pork belly then deep fried being glazed

Smoked pork belly, deep fried, glazed and smoked again

Beef rib, pork belly burnt ends, and American Wagyu brisket

Louie Mueller Barbecue

Beef rib



Beef rib in a croissant

Beef rib in a croissant with lamb lollipops

Pinkerton's Barbecue

Glazed bacon wrapped duck with candied jalapeños

Burnt ends



Pulled pork sliders

Sarah McQuillan and Grant Pinkerton

Ray’s BBQ Shack

Meat coming off the smoker



Pile of meat



Rib tips, beef rib, brisket, sausage, beef belly, and fried corn on a stick

Roegels Barbecue Co.

Pastrami

Southern Q BBQ



Boudin

Brisket, sausage, boudin & spicy cracker

The Pit Room

Cabrito and Iberico suckling pig

Cabrito and Iberico suckling pig

Cabrito

Iberico suckling pig

The Houston BBQ Festival was moved up a month earlier than last year's. It made a big difference. It was sunny, beautiful, and comfortable. It is one of the premier events to attend. It is well-organized and spacious with a lot of tasty bites. Although I have been eating a lot of barbecue this year including a ton of places in Houston, I was looking forward to the festival. It did not disappoint. I felt like some of the places were trying to one up each other with their BBQ offerings. It is a win-win for all of us when this happens. The event is a great way to showcase the best of the Houston barbecue scene. Hopefully I will be back every year. It is one of those events that I do not want to miss.

On a side note, I have changed cameras recently. I have gone from a Canon 70D to a FujiFilm X-T20 for size and lens purposes. I am happy with the results so far. Future blog entries will feature photos from both cameras until I finally empty out my queue. Enjoy.

Until next time, happy smoking...

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Smoke Ring

I stumbled upon a airfare deal from Austin to Madrid or Barcelona for around $550 roundtrip! We booked it within 30 minutes. While researching food options for Madrid and Barcelona, I could not find any BBQ. I was getting frustrated and just gave up the notion that we were going to eat barbecue in Europe again. One day on Instagram, I stumbled upon a BBQ joint, Smoke Ring, in Rome. Score! Amber was going to be excited. Our trip started in Madrid, spent a week in Italy, and ended in Barcelona. Amber was tired from all of the walking and was starting to get sick. I wrote off visiting the Smoke Ring. One of the days she insisted we went. I am not going to say no.... She must love me a lot. The restaurant was a little too far to walk so we hailed a cab using the local app. The app is a blessing because of the language barrier, and it took credit cards.

Smoke Ring only had dinner hours so we arrived right when it opened at 7 PM. People in Europe eat dinner pretty late so we were the first and only customers in there. We ordered some brisket, pork ribs, and mac and cheese. The brisket was dry and very roast beefy. Flipping it over, I can see the meat was reheated. We were there on a Tuesday, and they are closed on Mondays. I assume we were eating leftovers from Sunday. The brisket had some smoke but was under seasoned. The pork ribs were a little better than brisket. The rub gave it good flavor, but the meat was on the tough side. Pulling the meat off the bone provided a challenge. The mac and cheese was served cold. Not sure if that was on purpose or not. It had a good texture and was cheesy and creamy. The noodles were cooked well, and it tasted fine. I probably should have sent back the mac and cheese, but I was frustrated and was over this meal.

It is always exciting and cool when you get to try barbecue in a foreign land. If you have a good experience, you found a treasure. If you had a bad experience, well you ate barbecue in Italy. Not everyone can say that. When in Rome... I was also a little more disappointed because we essentially wasted a meal. I really wanted to eat some more Roman pizza. This hiccup will not deter me from seeking out BBQ when we travel. We have a trip to Florida and the Pacific Northwest this year. There should be promising stops along the way. Grade: N/A

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: Via Portuense, 86, 00153 Roma, Italy
Phone:
Website: http://www.smokeringroma.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokeringrome/

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