Every day, 164 people move to Austin, Texas, the nation’s second-fastest-growing city. The next morning, they all get in line at Franklin BBQ.
There are always 164 people in line at Franklin BBQ; I suspect there may be some city ordinance requiring this. That Aaron Franklin is justly hailed as Austin’s finest pit master is all the more impressive for a 36-year-old ex-punk-drummer who stumbled into the craft. “I was a professional beer drinker and rock-and-roller, playing music full-time,” he says. “I had zero barbecue experience until my mid twenties. When I cooked my first brisket, I actually had to search ‘how to cook brisket’ online.”
Franklin soon learned enough to start selling his food out of a trailer parked by I-35. His legend grew quickly, alongside the city itself. Six years later, he works out of a proper two-story building, where six post-oak-fired smokers (some named for hardcore bands) turn out a ton of smoked meat per day. Which still isn’t enough to feed everyone in the queue.
The more of Franklin’s barbecue I eat—his brisket, his ribs, his juice-bursting links—the more I’m convinced he’s a cosmic smoke-sorcerer sent to save us from our boring Earth food. What’s the secret? “There are a million variables in barbecue, and they all matter,” he says. One stands out: unlike most of the old-school guys, Franklin is obsessive about sourcing. “Nobody traditionally cared about the meat—it was corporate, feedlot beef-in-a-box.” Franklin buys his brisket from Creekstone Farms, at upwards of $4 a pound.
More BBQ tips on the next page
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