Why can't anyone around here make Texas-class barbecue brisket?
The Triangle area is full of restaurants that cook great barbecue--as long as you define barbecue as being pulled pork. Now, don't get me wrong: I love pulled pork barbecue. Sometimes, though, I want barbecue brisket. When I do, I have to wait to go to Texas, because so far I have not found a single restaurant in the Triangle area that serves barbecue brisket that is as good as the worst brisket I've had in Austin.
Why is that?
The technology involved isn't hard: rub the brisket with salt and pepper, cook the brisket over smoke low and slow, and you'll get something good.
Instead, all the brisket I've had in the Triangle is cooked until it's dry and usually fat-free; great brisket needs some fat.
I've tried every place that someone has told me made great brisket. If you have a favorite barbecue brisket place in the area, please write and let me know. In the meantime, I'll look forward to my next trip to Austin (which, as happy coincidence would have it, is Monday).
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6 comments:
The only place I could suggest is the Original Q Shack (the original one in Durham on University Dr.; the Q Shacks ones in Raleigh are definitely inferior). But I'd be surprised if you hadn't already tried them.
I have, but the brisket was still cooked to dryness. If you've recently eaten there, however, and had good brisket, I might give it another try.
What about Big Mikes Brew N Que in Cary?
I have not tried it. I will have to do so. Thanks!
Agree. Been working in the Triangle area a bunch since the beginning of the year and have tried over a dozen different BBQ places. Brisket also is my benchmark as to how good a BBQ place really is. I've had some good BBQ in the area, but I'd agree that the stuff here, while tasty, doesn't come close to the best stuff in Texas or Tennessee. There's even one place in Sturbridge MA near my home I would place above the brisket here. Won't stop me from trying out more in the Triangle, though, and the Big Mike's suggestion looks good. A dirty job, eh?
A dirty job, indeed!
If you do try Big Mike's, as I hope to do, please report back here on your findings.
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