Today is Saturday,1 Sept. and it was either stay home and cut the grass, or take a field trip and go to Lockhart. Guess what I did? Lockhart, of course. My plan was to visit the barbecue joints of the BBQ capital of Texas. Being Labor day weekend, the town was pretty busy. As you get in to town on the main drag, Chisholm Trail BBQ is the first joint you will see. I never heard of this one, and it was pretty crowded already. As I drove further, Smitty's was on the left with a line out the back door, so I headed to Black's. I was greeted by 3 school busses of kids in line at Black's, but miraculously, it moved pretty fast. As I got in the front door, that wonderful smell hits the nose,and the mouth starts watering as you know that soon you will be enjoying some good Q. I passed on the sides as I had my heart set on some Brisket, and I wanted to save as much room as possible because I wanted to eat at as many of the other places as my stomach would allow me. I ordered a half pound of Brisket and some Garlic sausage. Both were quite tasty! Brisket had some good bark and smoke, but seasoning was absent. The sausage was very juicy and tasty ! My only knocks about Blacks is the place is getting pretty run down. They have not spent much on upkeep, as the place looks very dirty inside, and the restrooms are tiny. They need to shut down about 2 weeks and clean and maybe put in new flooring and fix the interior. But that is JMO. Leaving Blacks, It was on to Kreuz Market. Kreuz was also packed and had a long line, which did not move as fast as the line at Blacks, but it was well worth the wait! Another pound of Brisket, more sausage to take home, and some beef ribs! MMmmmmm!! It all was sooooo Yummy and juicy, and I would have to say better than Blacks, but that is just my opinion. The Brisket was right off the smoker and the bark was Primo! Seasoned perfectly with just salt and pepper and not buried with rub. The absolute best smoked Brisket I have ever had in my life, Hands down!!! The beef ribs were also seasoned nicely with just salt and pepper and were the smaller kind like I get from my butcher, not Dino ribs. The lady said they stopped selling Dino ribs due to the fact that they just didn't sell. Blacks had Dino ribs but I only saw one person purchase them, and he shared them with his whole family. They are just way too big for me. I prefer the smaller beef ribs.
Kreuz has a wonderful set up in their kitchen. I counted about seven huge brick smoker pits that can hold massive amounts of meat, all of them fired by oak. They also have a huge fenced in area out back full of oak for the pits.
After Kreuz market, I was going to go to Smitty's, which is in the same building that Kreuz Market started out in in 1900 or so, but my stomach just would not allow it. I was topped off with no room to spare. I did load up with another pound of Brisket and sausage to take home with me from Kreuz. Smitty's will have to wait for another time.
I HIGHLY recommend to all of you that if you ever get the chance to stop at any of these BBQ restaurants to stop in, eat, and check out the methods of real pit BBQ. At both places, the employees and pitmasters are happy to talk with you about their craft. I know it is not the same as smoking with our cookshacks, but it is definitely a great educational experience for us students of BBQ. And it is GOOD EATIN'!
Original Post