Gameday Giveaway: Oklahoma State-TCU

This weekend's college Gameday Giveaway matchup is a battle of Big 12 teams: Oklahoma State at TCU (Saturday at 11 AM Central). To be counted, your prediction must include winner, final score, & total yards (total yards is in case of a tie). To be counted, your prediction must be submitted by kickoff. This week's prize: two 2-meat plates from Meyer's Smokehouse (Elgin, TX)! You can enter your prediction via comment below this post, via email, or you can tweet it to @ManUpTexasBBQ. 

ATX Homemade Jerky at Gettin' Sauced!

We are thrilled to announce that ATX Homemade Jerky will have a table at this year's 6th annual Gettin' Sauced! festival! It's our first time to partner with the Elgin company, and we are excited they are joining us. Be sure to check them out on Facebook & Twitter!

What's the best (in this case, the better) BBQ in Elgin?

The small town of Elgin, TX, is home to 2 popular BBQ joints: Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse and Southside Market. Which do you prefer?

A trip across the pond for Texas BBQ

For his 40th birthday, a reader of mine from the UK trekked it over to Texas for some smoked meats (and Mexican food). He emailed me a few pics and said that he tried to hit up JMueller BBQ and Franklin Barbecue, but they were closed. From top to bottom: Salt Lick (top 2 pics), Kreuz, & Southside Market.

Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse July 4 Giveaway!!!

Not long ago, our good buddy Kevin Kelly held a fantastic giveaway for Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin, TX), and now we're fortunate enough to bring one to you. In time for your July 4 fun, 5 lucky winners will get a tasty prize from Meyer's. We're giving you several easy ways to enter, and each way can get your name in the hat once (Thus, you get a maximum of 4 entries.).

1. Email me.
2. Comment below this post.
3. Retweet this.
4. Comment below this Facebook post.

We'll draw the winning names out of the hat one week from today. All entries must be in by the end of this Sunday (11:59 PM Central). So, get your name in the running for a July 4 treat like no other! HUGE thanks to the fine folks at Meyer's for making this wonderful giveaway possible! Be sure to follow them on Facebook & Twitter. Here are the prizes:

1st prize: BBQ feast: 4-5 pound smoked brisket, 3 pounds of smoked sausage, 16-ounce bottle of original BBQ sauce, 6-ounce bottle of bean seasoning, and 7-ounce bottle of BBQ rub. Enough to feed 8-10 hungry mouths! (Shipping available only for addresses in the Continental U.S.)

2nd prize: Deluxe sausage sampler: l pound each of original, garlic, beef, hot, tejano, jalapeno & cheese, sage, original summer sausage, and jalapeno summer sausage. 9 pounds of sausage!

3rd prize: Sauce variety pack: 1 Original, 1 Spicy, 1 Honey Mesquite, 1 Texas Hot Pepper & Wing (Shipping available only to addresses in the Continental U.S.)

4th prize: One pound of any of the 3 varieties of Meyer's jerky (turkey, original beef or sweet and hot beef)

5th prize: Spice variety pack: 1 regular bottle Meyer's Texas BBQ Rub (used on the briskets at Meyer's), 1 bottle of Meyer's Texas Bean Season, 1 bottle Meyer's Smokehouse Season (used on the pulled pork and beef ribs at Meyer's), and 1 bottle of Meyer's new 3 Mistake Chili Seasoning. (Shipping available only to addresses in the Continental U.S.)

Pics from Jacob & friends' BBQ extravaganza

Southside Market (Elgin, TX):

Snow's (Lexington, TX):






Vincek's (East Bernard, TX):

Jacob & friends MAN UP.

A few weeks ago, Jacob and 4 friends hit up 7 BBQ joints in a 24-hour span (8, if you count the lunch just before the whole group got together). Four of the 5 wrote reviews, which I will post throughout today (11a, 1p, & 3p), along with pics. Jacob spearheaded this BBQ extravaganza, so he'll kick us off:

I once believed there was no such thing as “too much” BBQ. I was right. In a 24 hour span I ate somewhere in the neighborhood 3.5 lbs of some of the greatest meats in all of Texas, and honestly I would do it all again tomorrow if I could just get the crowd to accompany me along.

My journey started innocently enough. My brother was coming through Austin and wanted to stop for lunch. I knew that if I only had one meal to eat in Austin, it would be Franklin's brisket and ribs. I have eaten here some many times by now that even the way to long wait has become second nature to me and expected. It was still what I have come to know and love, and visit 13 was just as good as the first time I went back in January. Aaron Franklin does more than just cook his meat perfectly, he seasons it perfectly also in a very unique, keep Austin weird, type of way. My brother enjoyed his first trip and both he and his girlfriend felt firmly that this could be the best they have had. I also grabbed a few links of sausage and a pound of brisket as a welcome gift for my friends coming into Austin later.

They wanted to go somewhere big and exciting in the BBQ world for dinner that night. They have all been to Lamberts before, and as hard as I tried it was too late for me to get in at Cele Store, so I finally broke down and agreed to go where they wanted to, Salt Lick in Driftwood. When I first moved to Austin, Salt Lick was the first “big name” Austin area establishment I visited. I liked it a lot. Now at almost 2 years and about 40 different BBQ joints later, I cannot honestly recommend Salt Lick to anyone wanting to experience the best BBQ Texas has to offer. My brisket was dry and tough, the sausage tasted no better than what I have made from store bought brands, and the ribs were a bit too fatty and bit to skimpy on the meat. The worst part is that they may have some of the best BBQ sauces in Texas, and the atmosphere is truly a unique experience, but the food has become a mass producing over blown factor.

The plan was to wake up early the next day and the two cars to meet in Elgin and kick off our day trip at Southside Market. My plan turned out to be, sleep in late, than speed to Lexington to try and catch up with the other car. I had been talking Snows BBQ up to everyone I know not lucky enough to have ever visited. I didn’t disappoint a soul here. Even though we made it at just after 10:00AM, ribs were sold out. We still loaded up on moist brisket, sausage, and pork butt. Honestly I was a bit disappointed with the pork today. It was a bit dry and had a slight burnt crunchiness to it. There was still a good flavor on the bark of the pork but the insides was lacking. Sausage also tasted just a tad over cooked and dried out, but still had the perfect smoke flavor all the way through. Brisket was the show stealer however, and reminds me why I always mention this place in my top 5. Perfectly moist and falling apart. Smoke emanated in every bite and the salty rub was the perfect amount for full flavor.

Next stop also happens to be my current “favorite that you haven’t been to yet” spot. Well known, but not enough to get a regular following from all around Texas, or even form Austin for that matter. City Meat Market in Giddings, Texas should be on your list of places to try. The old building was filled with delicious smelling smoke and packed with locals. Even at 11:00 they had a long line and had already gone through a few briskets and rack of ribs. We go for the sausage, brisket, ribs, and pork. I’m a big fan of their sausage, and isn’t very dense is almost crumbled into the casing, but still sticks together well. Casing has a great snap to it and the meat is full of all kinds of flavor. Ribs also were cooked well with a perfect bark and lots of salt and pepper. Any other trip I would have said the brisket here was the best, but it was just too tough to follow up on Snows, and while everything was great with the brisket it was still missing the fall apart moistness, the fat rendered until it is like butter, or the burst of perfect smoke and flavor in each and every bite. It was still a very moist, perfectly seasoned brisket that hardly required chewing. The real surprise here was the pork however. So moist you would never believe it was pig, and juicy all the way through. The seasoning had a great kick too it while still locking in the flavor, smoke, and juices of the pig. Second best meat on the whole trip.

By this point it was almost noon and each of had eaten around 1.25 lbs of meat. The meat sweats were starting to come on, and any second someone could have easily slipped into a meat coma, but we trudged on. Next stop was Prause Meat Market in La Grange, Texas. This place had been on my list for a long time, and it will have to stay on it for now as when we pulled up they were out of everything but sausage links. We order up a pair of those, and then I talked the butcher into throwing in the burnt ends of brisket and pork that were left on the cutting table for free. While not the best example, they were still good samples. What we had of those were tender and good flavor. The sausage however was one of the best yet. Perfect casing and snap with right amount of smoke and small hint of sweetness to balance with the saltiness and heat. The next two stops lead us to getting smaller and smaller portions as we were now regulated to trying samples only. Austin's BBQ & Catering in Eagle Lake provided another good homemade sausage, but nothing special in the brisket and one of the worst sauces I have ever tasted. Final stop in East Bernard at Vincek's had a similar experience. The store itself there is worth the trip, and the sausage held up strong with a subtle spiciness and lots of heat. Brisket was about what you expect from a well made cut, but just a tad too tough. Sauce, while nice, was forgettable. The real treat here is the meat market and bakery. Jerky here was fantastic, and they have about a dozen homemade sausages you can buy.

It was a great memorials day trip. A lot of driving through some beautiful parts of Texas, good friends, and great food. Luckily I already have my mapped marked out for the Labor Day trip.

They say not to ask how sausage is made...

To our friends at Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse: Please be careful with your vaccum tumbler, b/c things didn't turn out so well for this guy.

My kind of focus group

Last Thursday evening, my friend Gregg Meyer, of Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse, stopped by the house with a load of pulled pork and buns for us to taste test. Meyer's is thinking of adding pulled pork to their menu and wanted some thoughts on what they've cooked up thus far. So, we tasted, jotted down our comments, and made a little party out of it.

Saturday, January 30, 2010: Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin, Texas)

Between trap shooting and scotch & cigars, the guys headed to lunch at Meyer’s Elgin Smokehouse for Russell’s Man-Day (Man-Up's version of a birthday). I wasn’t there for the visit, but it sounds like it was a visit worth missing, unlike our first visit in 2009. Here’s what some of the guys had to say:

Russell: “Personally, I thought the dino/beef ribs were excellent as usual. The service was clearly the 'B squad' (maybe even the ‘C’ or ‘D’ squad), as the guy behind the counter couldn’t figure out my order and gave me a girly-man beef rib to start with -- though I do like the atmosphere. Everything else at Meyers on Sat -- pork rib, brisket, and chicken -- was inconsistent and subpar at best. Their quality this time was just not up to par. Very different than last time I was there and the Meyer’s family gave us a personal tour of the vacuum meat tumbler.”

John T.: “Overall: FAN, Great history and heritage, with friendly folks! Sausage (All Varieties): FAN, This is their thing, full of flavor and worth the drive (you can buy it in stores, but not the same as at ‘Sausage HQ’ {TM, jtw}) Pork Ribs: FAN, Meaty and great flavor, you can't go wrong with combo plate of ribs and sausage. Beef Ribs: NOT A FAN, WORTH A TRY. I truly appreciate the tender loving care that goes in to these beasts, but just not my thing, too much like roast on a bone. Brisket: SOMEWHAT A FAN, Flavorful, but I like others' better.”

Todd: “My first visit to Meyer's and sadly I was drastically underwhelmed. I have not had BBQ this bad in a long, long time. I'm hoping they were just having a bad day. Dinosaur Ribs: they were out. Pork Ribs: these had no taste at all. Brisket: ok, not great. Chicken: the best of my 3 meat plate. Corn: decent. Sweet Tea: a sad excuse for sweet tea. I had to add my own sweetener and they didn't have sweet-n-low. Really?”

James: “I'm too emotional to score it. I had hopes that were far too high and I didn’t like it at all (it = pork sausage, beef sausage, Dino ribs, side dishes, either barbecue sauce, even the wedge of cheese I purchased). I think the Dino ribs everyone rants about were more like stringy and dry rib roast that was cooked too hastily and without flavor. I guess there is no smoke involved. That having been said, one of the many reasons I love barbecue is as follows.... Even a bad serving of Texas barbecue can be a fine meal. I had a fine time with the gang at Meyer's, but will not return.”

Russell’s scores – Brisket: 8.01; Pork ribs: 7.72; Beef ribs: 9.89; Chicken: 7.88; Service: 3; Atmosphere: 9; Overall experience: 6.95

Ryan’s scores – Brisket: 5; Pork ribs: 4; Banana pudding: 9; Beans: 7; Potato salad: 5; Atmosphere: 6; Overall experience: 5

John T.’s scores – Brisket: 8; Sausage: 9.5; Pork ribs: 8.5; Beef ribs: 6.5; Overall experience: 8.8

Todd’s scores – Brisket: 7.8; Pork ribs: 5; Chicken: 8.2; Corn: 8.7; Sweet tea: 4; Service: 8; Atmosphere: 8.3. Overall experience: 7.98

Overall Man-Up Score: 7.1825

Best of 2009: Best Service

Our final three Best of 2009 awards are non-menu-item awards: Best Service, Best Atmosphere, & Best Overall. To get our winners for our menu-item awards (Best Brisket, Best Sausage, etc.), we average the scores for each menu item we had throughout the year at each place we officially visit (i.e. score) - provided that the menu item was score by at least two people. For the non-menu-item awards, however, each person who made at least three outings during the year may vote for his/her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices in each of the three categories. Each 1st-place vote is worth 5 points, each 2nd-place vote is worth 3 points, and each 3rd-place vote is worth 1 point. The points are then added for each vote getter, giving us our top 3.

First up is our award for Best Service of 2009. Without a doubt, one of greatest things about our Man-Up trips and about running this blog is that it lets us cross paths with some wonderful people. Visiting with, and getting to know, the folks at the joints we hit up is often as memorable (if not more memorable) than the food. From the proprietors to the pitmasters to the staff members, we have had some wonderful service throughout our journey, and we are, indeed, so appreciative. Only 1 place that cracked our top 3 in 2008 (at #2) made this year's list (at #1). Many joints received votes, but here are the top 3 for 2009:


1. Louie Mueller Barbecue: 26 points (pictured above: Wayne Mueller)

2. Opie's Barbecue: 24 points

3. Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse: 23 points

Others receiving votes: Snow's BBQ, Mills County BBQ Company, Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que (Llano), Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que (New Braunfels), The Salt Lick, Mann's Smokehouse, Milt's Pit BBQ, Burnet Feed Store BBQ, and Augie's Barbed Wire Smokehouse.

Best of 2009: Best Brisket

Our final menu-item award is for the gold standard of Texas BBQ: beef brisket. Generations of Texans have mastered the art of turning meat that was probably never meant to be eaten into something delicious - something that, arguably, defines Texas BBQ. Every place we hit up (just like every place we didn't hit up) serves brisket, and we collectively ate more brisket than any other item. As such, we had far more brisket scores than scores for anything else, making this race the most highly contested.

Fittingly, as it turns out, the results of the top 3 are also the closest of all the menu-item awards. Only 1 of last year's winners (#1, in fact) made this year's list (at #3). So, without further ado, here are our picks for Best Brisket of 2009 (rounded to the nearest thousandth - because rounding to the nearest hundredth left us with a tie for #1). Okay, I lied. Further ado: Before you get in a tizzy from not seeing a pic of glistening, fatty beef, I don't have a picture of the winner's moist brisket - so a pic of their lean will have to suffice:


1. Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin): 9.664

2. Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que (New Braunfels): 9.663

3. Snow's BBQ (Lexington): 9.63

Best of 2009: Best Sausage

Sausage. We're all a little scared of what it is, but we all love it. Like brisket, sausage is on every Texas BBQ joint's menu. Some serve it straight up. Others kick it up a notch with jalapenos or some other pepper. Either way, when it's done right, undesireables come together in perfect protein harmony. This year, we have a whole new group of winners, as none of last year's winners made the list:

1. Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor): 9.87

2. Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin): 9.66

3. Opie's Barbecue (Spicewood): 9.61

Best of 2009: Best Beef Ribs

Even in Texas, beef ribs are not easy to come by. Most of the places we hit up don't have them, so we're always glad to find places that do. For example, we were delighted to find out last Saturday that Black's Barbecue (Lockhart) began serving gargantuan beef ribs 6 months ago (just wait for the pics). Black's wasn't in the running for 2009's best beef ribs, but we found 3 really great ones, just the same. Some "Dino ribs" edged out last year's winner for the top spot:


1. Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin): 9.95

2. Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor): 9.8

3. Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que (New Braunfels): 9.42

Best of 2009: Best Turkey

Russell is quick to tell me that "Bird ain't BBQ," but I beg to differ. Sometimes, a moist piece of turkey just outta the smoker can hang with anything else on a menu. The problem is that many places (perhaps most) don't deliver on the moistness - and dry turkey can't hang with anything. Some places, however, get it right. Here are the 3 that did it best in 2009 (rounded to nearest hundredth):


1. Mills County BBQ Company (Goldthwaite): 9.86

2. Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor): 9.52

3. Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse (Elgin): 9.1

Rest of the pics from Meyer's