John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged barbecue · everything

www.texasmonthly.com

The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2025 Edition

Texas barbecue has improved so dramatically since Franklin Barbecue's 2009 opening that Texas Monthly's barbecue editor faced an unprecedented challenge: 120 contenders worthy of the magazine's top-50 list, compared to only slightly more than 50 in previous years. The transformation reflects the democratization of excellence—first-rate brisket and house-made sausage are now commonplace rather than rare—while pitmasters increasingly experiment with global influences, from smoked koobideh sausage to Korean beef ribs to jerk chicken. The resulting rankings showcase a Texas barbecue landscape that honors both traditional smokehouse mastery and bold culinary innovation, with only 7 joints from the 2013 list making this year's rankings.

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www.jongsbarbecue.com

Jon G's Barbecue

Jon G's brings Texas-style barbecue traditions to Peachland, North Carolina, operating from a brick-and-mortar location after starting as a food truck, and has built a reputation for smoked meats and sides that draw enough customers to regularly sell out. The piece emphasizes that quality barbecue depends equally on careful preparation and the community of people who gather to eat it, with the restaurant also offering catering services for events.

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Food & Wine

Pit Boss Grills

Grilled Steak

A basic Pit Boss recipe for grilling bone-in ribeye steaks using their Chophouse Steak Rub: bring two thick-cut steaks to room temperature, season generously, sear on a 400°F pellet grill for 5-7 minutes per side (flipping only once with tongs, never a fork), then rest under foil for 10 minutes before slicing. Worth keeping mainly as a quick reference for timing and technique — room-temp meat, single flip, no piercing the meat — rather than for any unusual ingredient or method.

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Taste of Home

The United States of Barbecue: A Regional Guide

Regional barbecue in America splinters into a dozen distinct traditions rather than one cuisine, and the piece maps those differences pitmaster by pitmaster: Kansas City's sweet-savory dry rub and burnt ends, Memphis's dry versus wet ribs, North Carolina's whole-hog vinegar sauce versus Lexington's ketchup-based version, and Texas's brisket-forward, sauce-optional Central style. It also surfaces lesser-known traditions worth seeking out—Alabama's mayo-based white sauce, Hawaii's imu-cooked kalua pig, Chicago's indoor "aquarium smoker" rib tips, and Kentucky's smoked mutton with black dip—making it a useful reference for tracking down what to order in each region rather than assuming barbecue means one thing everywhere.

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www.samjonesbbq.com

www.rd.com

How to Clean a Grill Quickly and Easily

Cleaning a grill regularly improves food taste, extends equipment life, and needn't be complicated once you know the proper steps. For charcoal grills, the process involves scraping hot grates immediately after cooking, waiting 48 hours for ashes to cool, deep-cleaning the interior with degreaser and a brush, then wiping down the exterior. Gas grills follow a similar initial grate-cleaning step but require disconnecting gas lines and disassembling components before using warm soapy water and a vacuum to clean the interior and exterior, with preventative maintenance like oiling grates and using a grill cover helping maintain both types year-round.

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www.mentalfloss.com

It’s Grilling Season, Which Means It’s Also Clean-Your-Grill Season—Here Are the Best Ways To Do It

Regular grill cleaning prevents buildup that degrades flavor, reduces heat efficiency, and risks foodborne illness, with a practical approach involving quick cleanups after each use plus deeper monthly maintenance. The guide recommends scrubbing hot grates with a brush or aluminum foil, vacuuming out ash and debris, scraping the grease trap, wiping the exterior with mild cleaners, and soaking removable parts seasonally, with an optional trick of using a halved onion to break up stubborn gunk.

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www.lonelyplanet.com

The ultimate guide to BBQ in Texas

Texas barbecue tradition emphasizes slow-cooking beef over low wood heat for 12-16 hours, with regional variations in wood type (hickory or pecan in the east, oak in central Texas, mesquite in the west) creating distinct flavor profiles. The guide covers the importance of rubs—both wet and dry—as seasoning foundations that are equally crucial to sauce, though sauce itself is regionally debated; authentic joints are identified by their smoke-blackened simplicity, meat sold by the pound, and an ethos that the meat's natural quality should speak for itself. Dining etiquette demands embracing the mess, wearing stain-forgiving clothing, and eating with hands or fork depending on the cut, with some legendary establishments like Kreuz Market refusing to provide forks entirely.

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Food Com

Houston's Best Barbecue Spots

A guide to Houston's best barbecue restaurants, featuring twelve establishments ranging from casual smokeshacks to upscale venues, each highlighted for signature dishes and distinctive approaches to Texas barbecue—from Pinkerton's jalapeno buns and Killen's pork belly burnt ends to The Pit Room's innovative barbecue tacos and Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue's unusual pairing of smoked meats with handcrafted chocolate truffles.

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Garden & Gun

Liquid Smoke Cocktail

Science has identified roughly five hundred chemical compounds responsible for smoke flavor, which skilled producers of Scotch and mezcal have learned to harness—using peat smoke and pit-roasting respectively—while tequila producers largely avoid it through modern cooking methods. Bartender Amanda Schmadel created the "Postcard Home" by layering two complementary smoke flavors: smoky mezcal and Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro, an Italian liqueur made from naturally smoky rhubarb root, which proved far more balanced than adding wine or other amari that overwhelmed the drink. The resulting cocktail is restrained and sophisticated enough to serve as an aperitif before smoked meat, with lemon providing brightness that prevents the dual smoke notes from becoming overbearing.

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