I was trying to find a good video clip on carne ahumada, the smoked meats of Mexico, when I tripped upon this gem from what looks like the History Channel. It goes a long way toward explaining why Texans are so crazy about their style of barbecue.

As promised, a group of meat eaters gathered last weekend at Urban Bar-B-Que to test drive the brisket, ribs, pork, and chicken that co-owner David Calkins was pulling from his new Southern Pride smoker. I can’t speak for the rest of the crew, but from the moment I walked in the joint, I knew things were different. The entire space was perfumed with the smoke from oak logs. Frankly, I don’t know why Glade doesn’t create a Texas Pit Barbecue air freshener; personally, I’d rather live inside a place that smells like a smokehouse than an old lady’s boudoir.

But I stray. Back to the ‘cue: The chicken was more about seasoning than smoke, and the ribs were wonderfully smoky, charred, tender, pink, and tasty (but still slathered in a sticky sweet sauce). The revelation, however, was Calkins’ brisket. I’m not about to call it Kreuz quality, but in the three years since I first sampled Urban’s wares, the brisket has improved to the point where I can claim, without hesitation, that it’s the best among the metro area’s ‘cue joints.

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David Calkins, co-owner of Urban Bar-B-Que, called this afternoon to tell me that the Rockville location of the two-store chain had just installed a XLR-600 Southern Pride smoker, which is a significant improvement over the joint’s previous equipment. The Southern Pride machine can handle about 600 pounds of meat on its self-basting rotisserie racks, but even more important, it cooks brisket, ribs, and chicken almost wholly by wood smoke—oak in Urban’s case.

Calkins knew I’d be particularly interested in how the smoker treats Urban’s briskets, given my ongoing search for real Texas barbecue. The smoke flavor of Calkins’ brisket, which I had once criticized in a review, has significantly improved with the new smoker, the owner says. So has the meat’s moisture content, since the new smoker melts the entire fat cap into the brisket now, spreading that rich, buttery goodness throughout the cut. Plus, Calkins is rubbing his briskets with nothing more than salt and pepper before throwing them in the smoker.

Read More “Urban Bar-B-Que Upgrades Its Smoker at Rockville Location” »

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The Shitheads, as I’ve noted previously, are an obnoxious lot, prone to loud outbursts in public, over-drinking and over-eating, and the occasional ridicule of the blind. Four of the six Shitheads have Texas roots, which may explain something. I spent 14 years in Houston, and I’m probably the least beholden of the Shitheads to the Lone Star State, except in the cases of the Astros, Rockets, Tex-Mex, single-beer-sales at convenience stores, and smoked brisket.

Some of these things I’ve learned to appreciate from afar or, in the case of real pit-smoked brisket, suffer without. Sure, you can find places that come tantalizingly close to the real thing, but mostly they just make you ache for meat slow-smoked for hours over post oak, mesquite or some other hard wood. They make you pine for a square of red butcher paper heaping with slices of glistening, fatty brisket with nary a fork or sauce in sight.

I had some of that kind of brisket on Saturday. I had it in D.C.

Read More “Texas Brisket on Saturday Night…in D.C.” »