Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q



5/24/14 11:39am - I am a big fan of Hungry Farmer.  I love their Crosstimbers location so naturally I wanted to sample their S Postoak restaurant. I like the whole vibe of Hungry Farmer.  Lets start with the clever name that is a play on the idiom "Eat like a farmer".  The name has a cartoon sound to it and fun to say out loud.  It makes me smile. The decor is late 1970's urban cowboy/truck stop/hunting lodge. The biggest kick are the horrible pictures of the food and plate dinners.  These drab yellowish pictures look like something out of a 1970's cookbook your grandmother owns.  The pictures are as appetizing as a school lunch.  They are wretched.  How Hungry Farmer has escaped becoming a Houston landmark baffles me.  They have been around since 1973 serving great BBQ in some of the worst locations.  So much better than the other Houston BBQ grandpas.

I scored the S. Postoak Hungry Farmer an 84 out 100.  Reserve Grand Champion BBQ.  Not as good as the Crosstimbers location.  See my earlier post.


Smoke:  Hickory.  There is a large smoke stack in the back and a large stack of wood.  They use wood fired Olyers at the original, I assume they have the same here.


Brisket:  Good.  A sad slice compared to Crosstimbers.  A 1/8in smoke ring beneath a thin bark.  They got the tenderness nearly perfect.  Flavor was just beef and mild smoke.  Use the sauce.

Ribs:  Very Good.  A big meaty Memphis style spare rib.  Smoked slow and then thrown on a hot grill. A nice red smoke ring beneath a bronze bark with grill marks.  The smokey porky rib meat was moist and tender.  No sauce needed for these babies.

Sausage:  Excellent.  A medium ground pork link with bold traditional spice and nice peppery aftertaste. It was moist and a little greasy and had a mild smoke flavor.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Fair.  Wow this was bad.  A dark brown stew thick tangy spicy sauce.  It was bitter and the sauce developed a skin, eweh!  It made everything taste worse.  Skip all together.
(see the skin below?)

Beef Rib:  Good.  The best thing about this beef rib was the price.  $4.50!!  I think they messed up but I wont't tell (just did).  It was knife tough and dry.  You get what you pay for.  Use the sauce.


The school lunch pictures on along the counter.

There is a truck stop missing all its booths.

Hungry Farmer on Urbanspoon


Son-of-a-Brisket Bar-B-Que


5/22/14 11:51 am - In my endless search for new BBQ joints, I stumbled across this one.  The name alone was worth the drive.  Three adorable senior citizens were operating the lunch crowd.  Website indicates they may have been the parents of the owner and a family friend.  The service was very friendly.  It is located in a lease space next to a gas station/convenience store.

I scored Son-of-a-Brisket a 76 out 100.  Regional Texas BBQ.

Smoke:  Oak/Red Oak.  Another Southern Pride gasser.  A brand new shiny gasser behind French doors.  At least you know what your getting.

Brisket:  Fair. A dark standard 1/8in smoke ring beneath paper thin bark.  Tested tough of tender.  Slices pulled apart with no resistance.  Slightly overcooked and on the dry side.  Smoke flavor was good.  Not much else.  Use the sauce.

Ribs:  Very Good.  Baby Backs were near perfect tender and moist.  Nice pink smoke ring beneath bronze bark.  They had a good rub seasoning and smoke flavor.  A porky good rib.  No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Very Good.  At first bite, I knew this was hand made.  Website indicates this is family recipe dating back to 1800's.  Is was a 3/4in medium ground pork link with mild traditional spice.  Packed very tight inside a snappy casing.  Aftertaste and smoke were very mild.  However, it was very fresh and delicious.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Excellent.  This sauce had the "Wow" factor at first taste.  It was a thick dark brown sweet and tangy sauce.  It was good by the spoonful but very overpowering on the meats.  A little goes a long way.
They also served a yellow mustard base sauce.  They called it a North Carolina style sauce.  It looked like yellow mustard and tasted like yellow mustard.  Save this stuff for the 99 cent hot dogs next door.


 

Son-of-a-Brisket Bar-B-Que on Urbanspoon


Meat Candy Time

                                       

5/4/14 Wife is out of town and the weather is perfect.  Time to fire up the pit.  I am ready for some meat candy ribs (See previous post Meat Candy)

                             

I have decided to abandon the meat thermometer and just monitor the smoker temperature.  A meat thermometer is pointless.  A slab has thick and thin areas and the bones heat up different than the meat.  A meat thermometer is not reliable to determine when they are done.  Instead I am using time and technique to decide when to pull off some super tender juicy ribs.

After 5 hours i will start checking for tenderness by using the bend test.  When I lift the thick end of the rack i will see if the skin splits and meat cracks.  I am looking for a 1/4in or larger crack as a sign to pull the ribs off the pit.

Also, I will no longer do the wet seasoning on the pit.  What's the point.  I wrap the ribs in foil for an hour and braise them in fruit juices.  I can easily do this in the oven.  Benefit, it provides a perfect intermission to clean the built up ashes out of the fire box.

                               

Score 28.25:  Very Good.  Beneath a soft jerky candy bark was rosy juicy tender rib meat.  I nailed it on tenderness (finally).  So much flavor!  First the bark was sweet, salty and smokey. It had a soft jerky texture. The rub was in full force adding flavor to every bite.  Pork flavor was excellent. Takeaways:  cut back on salt in rub.  Maybe remove the brown sugar from rub and apply at end.  Cut back on smoke to bring out the wet seasoning flavor.  Also will help in the bark color.  I am looking for bronze not black.

Taste Wood's Bar-B-Que

                            

12:00pm 5/3/14 - There is a very good reason folks are double parked in front of Taste Wood's.  They know Glen Woods is serving up Top 50 quality barbecue.  The question is when will Texas Monthly discover Taste Wood's.  This is one of those place where the patrons are as excited as children in an ice cream parlor to place their order.

I scored Taste Wood's a 90 out 100.  Grand Champion Texas BBQ

                            

Smoke:  The pile in the back had pecan, mesquite, and oak.  Your guess is as good as mine.  A steel barrel pit in the side garage does the day to day cooking.  A trailer mounted pit handles the catering demands.
                            

Brisket:  Very Good.  A dark red 1/8in smoke ring beneath a thick black bark.  Meat is brown in color (injection?). Near perfect tender with one push to separate with fork.  A thick slice starts out moist but drys a little before you finish.  Full smoke flavor in every bite.  A nice rub adds a little seasoning and salt.  Fat is a nice smokey treat.  No sauce needed.

Ribs:  Very Good.  A bronze crust over tan interior (brine?).  Near perfect tender with clean bite and clean bone.  Like the beef starts out moist but drys a bit after sliced.  Full smoke enhances the great pork flavor.  A nice rub adds to the experience. No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Good.  A course ground beef and pork link with mild traditional spice.  A faint after taste and faint smoke.  Use the sauce.

Sauce:  Excellent.  This sauce was unique and exciting.  I have never had anything like it.  It was a thin very sweet sauce with honey brown sugar and drippings flavors.  It was thin enough to penetrate everything you dipped in it.  It transformed every bite into smokey BBQ candy.  A benchmark sauce for this meathead.


                                                                           


                                                                                                   


                                                                           

Taste Wood's Bar-B-Que on Urbanspoon