Jacob storms Marlin

A few weekends ago, Jacob made a stop at Whup's Boomerang BBQ in Marlin (one of several BBQ stops that weekend, if I recall correctly). I don't know which spelling of BBQ is correct, b/c it's written 3 different ways in the pictures Jacob sent me. Anyway, here's what he had to say about it (pics coming up later today):

Marlin, Texas, may not be the BBQ Capital of Texas, but for such a small city it sure has alot of BBQ places. When I pulled into town and checked it out on my GPS, I got no less than 9 hits for BBQ. I already knew where I was going to try however, I just need the address, so I took the road to the outskirts of town and arrived at Boomerang BBQ. Located right next to a nice sized house (I assume the owner lives there, while he and his family all work at the BBQ joint) with a big parking lot and a bit outside of downtown, I could smell the smoke even before my car door opened.

Typically I want to try alot of different things, and I'm use to ordering alot of meat at a 1/4lb each because no one sells 5 meat plates. Well Boomerang BBQ is a place that realizes hungry people aren't alway rich, and don't always want to be limited to 1 or 2 things. They had a combo plate that included a link of sausage, a hot link, a portion of brisket, and a rib. This with two sides and a drink cost me less than $10, and instantly became the best deal I have had on any of my BBQ trip anywhere.

Low prices did not translate to low quality. The exact opposite is true, as this place served me a big heaping rib, a large piece of sausage, and great portion of brisket that was well marbled with fat, along with two big scoops of sides. I will get the sides out of the way first. Mr Washington is the pit master, and I assume if you were to make a comment to him about the sides, he would say, "who comes to BBQ joints for the sides." He is right and the same holds for his offerings. Beans were canned and potato salad was mediocre by all counts. I didn't come for sides however, so lets talk about the real prize.

The hotlink was a fat and stubby bright red sausage that looked just a tad dried out. Sadly the taste was not of "hot" at all and a bit dull. It also had a rubbery taste to it. This was the one item I would do without that I ordered. Sausage link on the other hand was cooked perfectly. It had a snappy casing and the meat inside was perfectly moist. The flavor was nice, and while the texture could have been a bit better (this is due to the fact that it is commercial and not homemade I'm sure) the fact that it was cooked 100% perfect made up for it. Brisket also was great, being smoked perfectly itself. You could taste both the hickory and post oak flavor and it was perfect. The fatty piece I had was very moist and every bit full of smoke flavor. The rub didn't have much "bang" to it however, thus the bark (while crispy) was a bit lacking. I also noticed the two lean cuts I had from the top portion were just at the edge of being dried out, but still perfect smokiness. The rib followed suit nicely with the same great smoky flavor, but also a nice sweet and spicy flavor to the rub. It was also super meaty and almost completely feel off the bone. Rib was my highlight meat.

All in all this was a great trip. I also got to talk with the pit master out back for a bit and he showed me around and told me about how he got into BBQ. I'm sure glad he did because he is doing it better than 85% of the people out there, and is a man who knows his meat. The biggest problem for him is that Marlin is one of those, "middle of nowhere" Texas cities. You really will never be "driving by" Marlin unless you are headed there or an equally small nearby city. That is a shame because this place is real good.

Hot Link- 2.5
Sausage- 7.75
Brisket- 8.5 for fatty, 6 for lean
Rib- 9.25
Sides-2
Atmosphere- 8.5