Tales from the pits, a Texas BBQ podcast featuring trendsetters, leaders, and icons from the barbecue industry

Andrew Soto quietly launched his BBQ joint two years ago but the secret is out - he and family are cranking out great BBQ in the small town of Mathis, Texas.

If an article by Daniel Vaughn and making the Texas Monthly Top 25 new BBQ joints wasn't enough to put him on our must-visit list, our buddy Abe Delgado of the I Crush BBQ Show told us to quit procrastinating and make the trip.

After a recent visit we sat down with Andrew to discuss his journey to the top 25, his struggles along the way, and his family that is involved in the operations.

https://www.facebook.com/BUTTERSBBQ/

Address: 104 TX-359, Mathis, TX 78368
Hours:
Sunday 9:30-6 or sell out
Monday-Thursday 11-6 or sell out

We take a long overdue road trip to the southern tip of Texas, where barbacoa is king but Central Texas BBQ has continued to take a foothold.

We hit up Butter's, Teddy's, and 1848 BBQ. We even got to take a firsthand gander at the SpaceX Starship prototype. While we did not get to revisit Smoking Oak or stop by Smokin' Moon, we did get to revisit Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que which still cooks whole cow heads in an literal pit in the ground and is one of our must-experience stops for those who want to sample all kinds of Texas barbecue.

We also get into some good conversation about the candidates for the 2021 Top 50 where there will be an abundance of top quality joints to choose from.

 

Joel And Jesse Garcia grew in a barbecue cooking family, and Joel gravitated towards the world of craft barbecue as an adult working in Austin. Joel worked for several acclaimed BBQ joints in Austin while Jesse went to culinary school and began working in fine dining.

When Joel and his wife decided to move back to the Rio Grande Valley area so that their son could grow up closer to family, the reality of Joel and Jesse opening their own place started to become more of a reality. After helping lead another restaurant in the valley to major accolades, the Garcias were ready to open their own place.

Teddy’s Barbecue opened in September 2019 serving traditional central Texas barbecue with some personal touches like their housemade chile pequín sausage. They’re off to a strong start at Teddy’s and are a great addition to the growing South Texas barbecue scene.

Teddy's Barbecue

2807 N Texas Blvd
Weslaco, Texas
(956) 532-6124

Thurs-Sunday 11am - sold out

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TeddysBarbecue/

Twitter https://twitter.com/teddysbarbecue

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/teddysbarbecue/

 

Some recent openings, closings, and moves have occurred in the Texas BBQ world and we catch you up with a number of them. Also tune in for an announcement from Jim Lero of Lillian's BBQ.

We had a great time with the crew from Zavala's BBQ at the Smoked Dallas fest and would like to thank them again for allowing us to lend a hand.

We would like to recognize Tin Roof BBQ for bringing their dual Oyler rig out to Beaumont to help the Giving Bak Foundation, helping to feed first responders and people affected by flooding from tropical storm Imelda.

Hit us up on your favorite social media outlet and make sure to support great BBQ joints, pit builders, and photographers.

Ryan Newland's path to pit building started with fabrication. Building unique set designs for Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Pink his innovative work set the stage for custom one-off pits that he would build after moving to Texas.

Probably currently most well known for the hog cookers at Banger's in Austin, he collaborated with Sunny Moberg to build a wild motorized pit for Smoke Draw BBQ that you have to see and his pits are beginning to show up at many well known barbecue joints. From the Santa Maria style live fire grill for Treaty Oak to dual 500's and more, if you can dream it Backline Smokers can build it.

Contact:
http://www.backlinefab.com/

Phone:  (818) 481-4157

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backlinefab/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backlinefab/

 

It's taken us three years of making sausage before we felt like we could truly speak on the art of craft sausage. A number of people have asked us to do an episode similar to our Ribs 101 and so here it is - Tales From the Pits Sausage 101. This is a crash course in the basics of making fresh cooked sausage; from what equipment to buy, to the best tips we've learned, and finally we provide a base recipe for you to enhance.

Mentioned in the episode and a great resource is the A&M Creative Sausage Making class.

Here is a link to the class in 2018 that Bryan attended: https://meat.tamu.edu/2018/01/22/2018-creative-sausage-making-course-tamu/

The class is usually held in the second week of January and while not available to register at the time of this episode, the link will be available from here:
https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/

A&M also hosts other valuable courses such as Beef 101 and Pork 101, plus the immensely popular Brisket Camp and Barbecue Camp events which are held in conjunction with Foodways Texas

If you found this episode helpful please take a moment and rate us on your podcast app and let us know on social media:
Twitter: @bbqpodcast

Instagram: TalesFromthePits

 

After an enlightening visit to Lockhart and Taylor BBQ joints, Robert Lerma moved to Texas. While holding down a full time job his passion for capturing the essence of Texas barbecue in the people, restaurants, and food launched a photography business that has set him apart as one of the top in the segment. While still maintaining his weekly job his photography gig has taken him across the world. He has built a special bond with those he chooses to work with and has been able to capture moments that are unique and connect with his audience.

Not only have his photos been published in national magazines and elsewhere, you can also see his work hanging in many barbecue joints such as Brotherton's Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville and Corkscrew Barbecue in Spring. 

You can purchase directly from his website at http://www.robertjacoblerma.com/online-store/images

Contact:

http://www.robertjacoblerma.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertjacoblerma/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertjacoblerma1

 

This week's episode is brought to you by our buddies Sean and Ryan at The Smoke Sheet

The Smoke Sheet brings you weekly news, events, recipes and more delivered right to your email

 

Check em out at https://www.bbqnewsletter.com/ and subscribe

You can also catch them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesmokesheet

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmokesheet/

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesmokesheet

Bradley “Chud” Robinson is one of the most talented people in barbecue. As one of the pitmasters at the great LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, he helps produce some of the best fire cooked meats in Texas. As if that full-time job wasn’t enough, Bradley also builds BBQ pits. LeRoy and Lewis cook a lot of their food on pits he’s built or modified.

Chud BBQ Pits are custom built to order and Bradley currently offers offset backyard smokers, 250 gallon propane tank based pits, and his Chud Box direct heat pits. One of the unique benefits of Chud BBQ Pits is that it gives the consumer the opportunity to purchase a pit from a builder who’s also a working pitmaster and designs his pits with years of cooking experience to draw from. Contact Bradley via Instagram if you’re looking to order a Chud BBQ Pit.

Instagram: @chudsbbq

 

In this episode:
- Recap of a 9 stop BBQ run with 3 top 10 BBQ joints
- Upcoming BBQ fests
- Listener Questions

In the heat of the summer it can be uncomfortable downing brisket at every stop of a barbecue run, especially if you like the moist side of the brisket like we do. The rich, fatty meat can drag you down if you don't pace yourself.

We came up with the idea to do another run focused on pork steak with some sausage thrown in. First time BBQ run buddies Tom Weldin and Derek Wedel joined us along with longtime friend and veteran of multiple runs Terry Osborn who drove in from San Antonio. Cory Gregg met us at Snow's, our first stop for some early morning shenanigans.

We did chow down on some brisket during the trip at each of the three Texas Monthly Top 10 joints we stopped at, we just couldn't avoid it altogether.

Itinerary:
Snow's BBQ: Pork Steak, Brisket, Ribs, Chicken
City Meat Market (Giddings): Pork Steak, Sausage
Prause Meat Market: Sausage
City Market (Schulenberg): Sausage
Kolacny Bar-B-Q and Catering: Pork Steak, Sausage, Chicken
Glenn's Meat Market: Pork Steak
Shiner Brewery: Beer
Micklethwait Market & Grocery (Smithville): Brisket, Ribs, Sausage, Braised Greens, Slaw, Beans, Jalapeno Cheese Grits, Banana Pudding, Peach Cobbler
Truth BBQ (Brenham): Brisket, corn pudding. Cake to go

 

Get some great pickles from our buddy Tom - http://www.texaspickleco.com/

Houston BBQ Throwdown: https://houbbq.com/

Smoked BBQ Fest: https://www.smokedbbqfest.com/

Butcher's Ball: https://www.butchersball.com/

TMBBQ Fest: https://www.texasmonthly.com/event/tmbbq-fest-2019/

 

 

Dustin Pustka, a classically trained chef who'd worked in professional kitchens for years, had grown tired of that aspect of the food world and began gravitating towards a less fussy, more comfort style of cuisine. Having grown up cooking barbecue with his family, it was a natural progression for him to return to those roots.

Dustin and his father launched their BBQ food truck north of Austin in the small town of Hutto, Texas in October, 2017. While the early days were a struggle, people soon began to take notice of the quality food being produced by Pustka. Praise within the barbecue community and accolades from media would soon follow.

 

Pustka Family Barbeque has grown since those early days, as have their crowds. They've recently had a larger pit built to eventually help them increase capacity, and a brick and mortar location should be coming sooner than later. Open six days a week, they're an easy stop just outside the big city and the future is bright for Pustka.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/pustkafamilybarbeque/

 

550 FM 1660 South

Hutto, Texas

 

Monday - Saturday 11am - 4pm