BBQ Thread
- Thread starter KissimmeeNole
- Start date
I went and had timed it just right. I got there and the line was pretty short but soon after I was in line it was out the door. It was better than the 4 Rivers in Jacksonville that I have been to several times.
Hard Eight BBQ is the best brisket and other food I have ever had. If I am going to Texas I am going to that restaurant. I once had a buddy of mine in Texas pick me up during a long layover at DFW to visit the Coppell location. All other bbq pales in comparison. 4 Rivers is garbage and I will never go back. It is on par with Sonnys. Except Sonnys wouldn't use the whole container of salt in their meat ( and I love salt).
Dreamland is okay, but just okay. It have eaten there multiple times in both Mobile and Birmingham and would go back. Birmingham location is much nicer.
Dreamland is okay, but just okay. It have eaten there multiple times in both Mobile and Birmingham and would go back. Birmingham location is much nicer.
See with the 4 Rivers comments here varying from "best I've ever had" to "garbage" tells me it's the consistency. I personally had it vary from one of the best (but not THE best) to the absolute worst trash I've ever eaten masquerading as food and they should be ashamed. That tells me there's some real training issues going on despite their VERY HIGH price of food (Goodman's my fave in the area gives you 3/4 lbs of ribs, two sides, a tea AND a cobbler dessert for $8.75. 4Rivers charges $15 just for the ribs and two sides.). I'm not sure I will trust them again when it's that widely varying. Because when I say that was the worst bbq I've ever had about a week ago...it met that by a HUGE margin. How do you turn ridiculously fatty beef rib into hard, inedibly salty jerky and then have the audacity to charge that much for it?
Did you give them a chance to make it right? Like return it or ask for a manager to provide the feeback. Curious how their customer service might have been.
I've eaten at the Dreamland in Mobile a couple of times and thought it was B level place (with Sonnys being my cutoff C level place). But I've never eaten it in Birmingham because I LOVE Miss Myra's and to a lesser extent Saw's and the quasi nearby (about an hour) Big Bob Gibson. I would definitely give Myra's chicken a solid A+ and I am NOT usually a fan of bbq chicken as it doesn't usually hold up well to the method.
Unfortunately both times we took it home (which is a 20 plus minute drive) as there's no place to sit in the restaurant most of the time.
I don't know. The last time I ate at Piggy's I got the butt end off three different racks of ribs and a miniscule amount of brisket and the sides were not Golden Corral good. Now before Cob left a different story but since then not so much...
The last time I went was about a year ago and I got the sausage and brisket. The brisket was dried out as they clearly sliced it out too hot and it lost all of the juice. But it was just ordinary dry brisket like the sliced beef at Sonnys but thick and the meat was still meat, not good but edible despite being dry and a little tough. The sausage was fine.
That %*%* I got at 4Rivers was not "dry beef rib", there was literally nothing left it had been cooked into a hard and ridiculously salty rock of two inch thick jerky. It was well past "dry", well past shoe leather and was full on lump of coal. Seriously, they should be ashamed of serving that %*%*. I know I said worst bbq, but it may literally be worst meal especially when the beef rib is something like $25. I'm trying to think of a worse meal and I truthfully can't think of any, certainly not in the last ten years or so.
Holy shite on the 4 Rivers reviews, especially from Tribe. I have only eaten there a few times in Orlando and we have had it brought to our house in Georgia and it has been really good each time. And it was the brisket each time. I have not had a bad 4 Rivers experience, and hope I never have a Tribe 4 Rivers experience. Changing gears, someone mentioned Bob Gibson's. Doesn't he do a white sauce? What's the deal with that? Never tried it, basically because I am scared.
And I'll tell you from my experience, brisket is a difficult meat to bbq correctly. Do it wrong and you are more likely to have pot roast than brisket. I think I have finally figured out my technique, but it has taken me quite a few experiments to get here. Now a butt is completely different. You really got to screw the pooch to mess up a butt. Overall and easier piece of meat to smoke.
And I'll tell you from my experience, brisket is a difficult meat to bbq correctly. Do it wrong and you are more likely to have pot roast than brisket. I think I have finally figured out my technique, but it has taken me quite a few experiments to get here. Now a butt is completely different. You really got to screw the pooch to mess up a butt. Overall and easier piece of meat to smoke.
I agree...I've given up trying to make Brisket at home because no matter how or what I do to it it comes out extremely dry....wish I knew 4 Rivers secret because somehow they make moist Brisket which even very few BBQ Places can do
And that's consistent with what I've been hearing. Pisses me off that they'd screw up a good thing thinking they know better. Supposedly 2 guys are in there now from The Front Porch and they are claiming for the first time they have a pitmaster.
Cob - If you're at liberty to say, what kind of patents are you working on?
Chuck Wagon on Hwy 20 is decent BBQ in Huntsville/Madison.
Chuck Wagon on Hwy 20 is decent BBQ in Huntsville/Madison.
I'll get ribbed for this but...
I was having the same problem which I solved by cooking the whole brisket in the oven, covered with foil, for 4 to 6 hours. I put it on the smoker for a few hours the next day and it takes the smoke just fine. I do my ribs in a similar fashion. Not text book but they are both always tender and tasty...
The Front Porch..lol..that place sucked so bad the owners torched it already...errr "Tallahassee Kitchen Fire"...which strangely always seem to happen here to failing restaurants
Oven brisket I get because it is really hard to do on smoker for many.
But not being able to create good ribs cooking the entire time in the smoker? that's a serious lack of BBQ skill.
Or it's an easier, hassle free approach that gives you great results.
I'm USUALLY a slow foods type of person as I make my own jams and jellies, a lot of my own charcuterie, and I'm always mindboggled by people who buy salad dressings, sauces and marinades when they take five minutes at most to make from scratch (some dip(*&( on the Next Food Network Star used BOTTLED bbq sauce...for real, that takes about a minute and you're on a cooking show. But SOMETIMES...I don't feel like staring at a fire for hours on end. lol.
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I wrap them in foil with pineapple juice and bacon grease for one hour then smoke them up. Mock all you want but you'd slap your momma they're so damn good...
Funny you should mention Chuck Wagon which according to yelp and other places is the top rated BBQ in the Huntsville area. In 2011 I built a food truck called The Big Pig that we primarily used when I made the mistake of having a booth at Doak. In September 2013 that truck was sold to a caterer in Niceville. I'm driving down the road a few months back here in Madison AL and sure enough there's The Big Pig at Chuck Wagon. They bought it from the guys in Niceville. I've talked to the owner a few times about it to see if I can help him as he's had some issues with it. Brisket tasted liked pot roast when I tried it so I'm still looking for decent bbq.
Both patents are for products in the automotive industry. 2nd prototype just came back from China for the first product.
BBQ is all the same, it's the people that make it not the state. There is some damn good BBQers in this state. We have this event here called grills gone wild, there's some old men out there whipping out some good food for a hobby.
Maybe, jam. But when it comes to beef, I have not found a passable form of brisket or beef rib in Florida. I thought 4 Rivers was terrible-especially considering the price. In Texas the brisket jiggles like jello. Beef ribs are even more difficult. I'll take you to Killen's, Pecan Lodge, Snow's, la barbecue and Kirlen's whenever you make it to Texas.
This is absurd. Are you saying a guy from Texas that moves to Florida all of a sudden can't cook brisket or beef ribs? Are you saying a guy from Florida can't cook brisket and beef ribs as good as a guy from Texas. You sound like the ESPN of brisket. Lol...
I'm saying that I have not had brisket in Florida that is even close to what is in Texas. If there is a place, I would love to go to it when I'm over there (which is not often). It's much the way that people from the pork-region say that Texans can't do pulled pork properly.
LOL, not only that, but I'll blow the Texan's mind and say...I've never had brisket in Texas that comes close to the Jewish deli pastrami in NYC and LA. That's right, Yankees do "bbqed" brisket better.
Texas brisket is usually overcooked with a black outer crust tasting of char and a grey interior.
Here's some pics I pulled googling Pecan Lodge
And Franklin's
Those are NOT from me looking for the worst pics, just the first couple that come up googling it.
Now look at the deliciousness that is Langer's in LA
And Katz in NYC
TWO of these groups of pictures are making me hungry. And it's not the ones from Texas.
Comparing brisket to cured brisket....sigh. You recognize that pastrami is short smoked and then steam roasted, and the curing salt gives it that red color. (Please don't post something from Wiki).
Hey, we all have different opinions. That's what makes the world turn. Originally, I couldn't stand white bbq, but after seeing a recipe for an African-spiced and Harissa smothered bbq chicken with white bbq sauce - I think i'll give it another try.
Hey, we all have different opinions. That's what makes the world turn. Originally, I couldn't stand white bbq, but after seeing a recipe for an African-spiced and Harissa smothered bbq chicken with white bbq sauce - I think i'll give it another try.
Comparing Pastrami and TX Style brisket is a reach at best. Surely you know the difference in how they're prepared. Pastrami is brined in sodium nitrates with spices and TX brisket is not. You're comparing apples and oranges.
Besides, saying pastrami is "better" is your opinion as it is. I like pastrami but I don't put it in the same class as TX style brisket.
Besides, saying pastrami is "better" is your opinion as it is. I like pastrami but I don't put it in the same class as TX style brisket.
I seriously don't understand what it is with Texans and burning the (*&)* out of their meat. Most of the places do it the same, cook the outside until it's pitch black salty char and there's no other flavoring than that. Meanwhile, you look at the good bbq literally everywhere else and they aim for a nice chocolatey carmelized brown not burned. The only thing I intentionally burn at home is blackening spices on redfish, shrimp, gator and crawfish which I do outside on the side burner and campfire marshmallows.
I mean look at this from Skylight in NC...that skin looks amazing.
Then look at this poor pig ruined by a Texas BBQ place
QUIT BURNING YOUR MEAT TEXAS!!!!
I mean look at this from Skylight in NC...that skin looks amazing.
Then look at this poor pig ruined by a Texas BBQ place
QUIT BURNING YOUR MEAT TEXAS!!!!
Apparently some people like burnt salty meat, it probably makes the Lonestar and Bud Light go down easier.
Again, your opinion. I've had pastrami at Katzs and Carnegie. I don't think either can be compared to what you might get at Franklin's or Pecan Lodge. Aaron Franklin's brisket is in a class of it's own.
I have NOT been to the Pecan Lodge (I believe, unless it was a long while ago), but I have been to Franklin's and it does not live up to the hype. Even with his vinegar and water spritzing it's still what I would call burnt. If you can point me to a place in Texas that DOESN'T burn their meat I'll give it a try next time I'm going back. The only BBQ Ive enjoyed so far in actual Texas is most of the places make decent sausage.
AND &^)) (*&) IT! They even ruin chicken. This is the third image from google on Texas bbq chicken.
STOP RUINING PERFECTLY GOOD MEAT!!!! And this image is from a "best of Texas" bbq article. Barf.
More "delicious" Texas chicken.
And because looking at the nonTexas bbq has made me starving, I'll post some more food porn.
Here's Big Bob Gibson's bbq chicken aka what it should look like not that gross Texas %^&(. Both with and without white sauce (which is amazing on chicken).
Here's Big Bob Gibson's bbq chicken aka what it should look like not that gross Texas %^&(. Both with and without white sauce (which is amazing on chicken).
Somehow I doubt you've been to Franklins, except through Google, but again, your opinion
You want a receipt?
I make it a point to try all of the famous BBQ places I've been near and while I am not a fan of Texas for vacays I've driven through it quite a few times (as a matter of fact I just drove through it in April albeit nowhere near there, just through the tip and stopped off at Amarillo for the ridiculous Big Texan to strike it from my list) and flown into it for work or as a layover on a trip elsewhere. So I haven't done many of the out of the way places in West Texas, but I have been to the famous places in Dallas, Houston and Austin. Out of curiousity just to make sure I was thinking of the right places, I pulled up the list and I've been to Lockhart, Cousins, Dickey's, Mesquite, Gatlin's, Killen's, Stockyard, Corkscrew, Central Texas, Pappas, Franklin's and Salt Lick. Not an all encompassing list and some of them were literally at the airports but all meh at best. So you're saying...why if he doesn't like it does he keep trying it? Good point, Texaskills I should just write them off. But I go through or to Texas often enough and I'm not a fan of TexMex (compared to Arizona, CalTex, and especially New Mexican, let alone the authentic styles) so what am I going to eat?
