Wednesday, September 15, 2004

In Praise of Coopers BBQ of Llano, TX

Several folks have agreed with me on Cooper's BBQ being a shrine of the Texas Style. If you're hunting in the Texas Hill Country, this is THE place to go for bbq.

Cooper's was the highlight of my trip to Texas. I got to eat ribs under the picture of W. I figure anyone who can claim Cooper's as his favorite place to eat is the right man for leading the free world. I can't get mesquite easily at home so I've been using red oak skid runners from work. It comes real close.

For those of you who don't know Coopers, it's this little BBQ joint in Llano. They have these huge pits fired with mesquite coals. They've got beef ribs, pork chops, prime rib, chicken and sausage all done up with a dry rub (mostly salt and pepper) and basted with a sop (beefbroth and vinegar). Everything gets dipped in the sop before being slapped on brown paper and put on your tray. You pay by the pound, and all the fixins are free.

http://www.coopersbbq.com/home.asp

I found recipes for a rub and a sop that come close, and I now do most of my barbeque that way-- either on a new braunfels horizontal smoker or a weber kettle. One of these days, I'll post the recipes.




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