how much for one rib?

a few months ago i heard tale of a great idea that i -unfortunately- did not conceive. on memorial day, a couple who live in our ward took the elders in our ward on a barbeque crawl.

according to texas monthly -and other sources- much of the state's (and thereby the world's) best barbeque can be found within 30 miles of my house.

lockhart has been deemed the "barbeque capitol of texas" by legislative resolution. the "big three" are smitty's, kreuz, and black's.

luling has a couple of good places, but only city market had achieved legendary status.

of course, no one needs say anything to expound on "salt lick."

with this in mind, russell wilde and i decided to educate the utah and idaho-born missionaries in our ward by recreating the memorial day adventure.

ava and i met elder borom and elder walker at their apartment at 11 one monday morning. just behind us were russell and his wife, charmaine riding with steven and betsy cantu. off we go.

our first stop was at city market where we were meeting dave smith and darrell hatch. at each place we planned to get one slice of brisket, one rib, and a link of sausage to share. city market has a cool old pit that is in a separate room from the dining area. with a few beans for ava and a big red, we were ready for the science to begin.

next on the tour was smitty's. smitty's used to be kreuz, until the family had a spat. kreuz got to keep the name, but had to move down the road. smitty's got to keep the building and the pits. i think they won the fight. we arrived just before a wedding party. good timing. like city market, one must walk through the pit area to place an order. it's cool that everything is open for the world to see. due to the wedding party filling the dining room, we ate in the entry walk. it's the best place to sit, but we had some serious heat to endure since only the main dining area has a/c. same meal plan, different results.


what turned out to be our final stop was kreuz. they are in a brand new building with hardly any soot on the walls and nothing caked deep enough on the tables to fill in the space between nail and skin. nevertheless, they call it a bbq joint. we ordered that same menu, this time topped with a bottled coke with real sugar. not bad, but not my favorite.


after kreuz, we were all so full that there was no way any of us could make a decent showing at black's so we headed home. black's is not going anywhere.

the verdict:

the best brisket was a tie between city market and smitty's. i wonder if kreuz needs to smoke theirs a little longer at lower heat, because it was not falling apart like a good brisket should.

sausage has to go to city market. the links at smitty's were good, but a little too greasy for me. kreuz was also very good, but third place nevertheless.

the best pork ribs were the ones at smitty's. they were still juicy enough, but the fat had emulsified so they the meat just tore off in strips. city market was a very close second, followed up , again, by kreuz. the ribs at kreuz were too chewy for my taste. to each his own. at least kreuz had the best soft drinks. i have to give them their due.

i wonder how the salt lick would have fared in a head to head with smitty's or city market. in my mind salt lick is the king, but their sausage might be ripe for an upset.

that is a test for another day.