In Lockhart, Texas: Where There's Fire, There's Smoke
- Keith Morrison
- Mar 13, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 17
The process of smoking meats. Could there be another cooking method that captures the primordial essence of cooking more than smoking? Wood. Fire. Smoke. Meat. Fat. Flavor. The constant action of allowing smoke to gradually surround and slowly heat the meat causing the fats and collagens to melt and enter, imparting wonderful and varied flavors, is an addicting affair both to cook and to eat. Smoking meats is referred to as barbecue in most areas of the country. And if you happen to walk into a barbecue joint that has blackened walls from years of smoking, don’t turn around and walk out, because it’s probably the best barbecue around.
Four Regional Barbecue Styles
Smoking meats is an American tradition going back hundreds of years. There are four predominant regional styles of smoking. Kansas City is known for its thick tomato base sauce applied to all types of meat. Memphis is known mostly for pork basted with a light tomato sauce during the cooking process, and Carolina again mostly pork with a vinegar/tomato or vinegar/mustard sauce added after smoking. But the fourth style, Texas barbecue, is by far my favorite. However, the hotly contested debate of which region has the best barbecue can be easily be settled; just eat and enjoy them all equally!
Texas has its own varied types of barbecue, but most Texas regions are characterized by the same smoking style: a dry rub base of salt and pepper added before smoking, and a tomato based sauce is offered only on the side as a personal preference. And beef! Texas barbecue is famous for its beef!
Lockhart, Texas; The Best Barbecue In Texas?
I recently visited the city of Lockhart, located in the Hill Country of Texas roughly midway between the metropolitan cities of Austin and San Antonio. The Hill Country region has a long standing barbecue tradition, starting with German immigrants who brought their Old World butchering and meat cooking skills to Texas in the 1830’s. My goal in Lockhart was to brush up on my smoking skills, and sample the incredible meats.
Hill Country barbecue started from local butcher shops that smoked their leftover meats over post oak wood after butchering the animal. So, Hill Country barbecue is still served today simply on brown butcher paper, with an accompaniment of bread or soda crackers. That’s it. No plates, utensils or sides dishes. (But sides like luscious German potato salad and creamy Southern mac and cheese are available for purchase from the counter portion of the butcher shop.) All you really need are napkins to wipe the glorious mess off your face.
And what a glorious mess it is! You order from the pit boss, he slices the meats in front of you on a well worn butcher block, wraps it in butcher paper, and you are off to a community picnic table to devour your feast.
The Big Three In Lockhart
The three main butcher shop barbecue joints in Lockhart are Blacks’s Barbecue (opened 1932), Smitty’s Market (opened 1948) and Kreuz Market (an offshoot of Smitty’s). In each location you will find a selection of delicious and delectable smoked meats such as big hardy beef ribs, juicy brisket, succulent chicken and turkey with crispy skin, meaty pork spare ribs and baby back ribs, flavorful pork chops and sausages. And oh, the sausage! When the German immigrants arrived in Texas, they brought their sausage making history and skills along with them, and added those skills to Hill Country barbecue. When you bite into the charred casing of a perfectly smoke sausage, it literally “pops” in your mouth with incredible juicy, smoky and spicy flavor.
There are many unique towns all over the Hill Country like Elgin, Luling and Weimar that have exceptional barbecue joints. But to sample three of the oldest and classic butcher paper barbecue markets with a small town attitude and exceptionally friendly atmosphere, there is no place like Lockhart. I sampled meats from all three places on my one day excursion to Lockhart. While many people will frequent only one of the three as it has been their favorite for generations, I decided that each was outstanding on its own merit. It was impossible for me to pick a favorite, as I enjoyed them all equally.
I was stuffed, satisfied and had plenty of barbecue left over for the next day.
And oh yeah, I went through plenty of napkins.
Oven Roasted Pork Ribs
Ready to grill or smoke your pork ribs? Is it pouring down rain outside? Grill and smoker buried under a foot of snow? Well, we have the recipe to cure your carvings when you can’t cook outside. Oven roasted barbecued pork ribs are so simple to prepare and cook, that you will be enjoying them before you know it! And the recipe has only three ingredients. So, grab a roll of paper towels to wipe the barbecue sauce off your face and hands, and let’s get cooking!
The ingredients start with a full rack of pork ribs. I like to use St. Louis style pork ribs because I find them meatier and juicier, but baby back ribs will do just fine too. The other two ingredients are your favorite dry rib rub and bottled barbecue sauce.
Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel and remove the membrane on the back of the ribs, holding the membrane with a paper towel and forcefully pull off.
Liberally sprinkle the ribs with the rib rub and gently pat the rub to make sure it adheres to the ribs.
Cut the ribs into two ribs sections so they will fit in a pan and stay moist, and place on a rack set in a roasting pan meat side up. Add little water to the pan and cover with foil.
Place the pan in a preheated oven set at 350 degrees, and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the pan, flip the ribs over meat side down, replace the foil and cook for another 45 minutes.
On a cutting board, cut the ribs into individual pieces and place back on the rack in the pan. GENEROUSLY slather the ribs with barbecue sauce. Place pan back in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.
Flip the ribs over and again GENEROUSLY slather the ribs with barbecue sauce. Place pan back in the oven uncovered for another 30 minutes.
Switch the oven temperature from bake to broil. Broil the ribs until they char to your desire and liking, flipping the ribs to char evenly. Brush on more barbecue sauce if you desire too.
