Why is Franklin BBQ in austin so good?

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waytoodeep03

Fire Starter
Original poster
Oct 30, 2009
61
11
The line is like 2 hours for some brisket. I looked at the way Aaron Franklin makes his Brisket on youtube and it is very simple. Salt and pepper and smoke until it is tender. Yet people are lining out the door for this simple made brisket.

Is it the grade of brisket he is using? Does he use Wagyu or Prime, Choice or select?
 
I have no idea what grade of beef he uses , although I'm sure he gets better meat than we could buy.
But I think the line is out the door just because you can't make meat like that at home I mean , most people can't ....he's got that huge pit , the post oak wood fire , the hours and hours of smoking time into it. You go there and they slice it up and pile it on the bread....you lay down your 8 or 10 bucks and you're in hog heaven. I've cooked brisket on my WSM , and it's pretty good , but I'm not going to do that very often. But you can bet if franklins bbq was within walking distance of MY house , I'd be there once a month. Wait or no wait.
 
He stated that he uses a very good quality brisket, and that he does not pass the price on to his customers. When he made that statement you could tell by his facial expression it was some seriously good cut.
 
So where does he make his money then? 
Not sure I have ever heard anyone say Aaron Franklin was the wealthiest Brisket Smoker in the USA.
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In reality probably breaks even, or looses money in the brisket and makes it up on the PP, Ribs, Turkey and Sausage, along with the sauces he sells and TV appearances.
 
Not sure I have ever heard anyone say Aaron Franklin was the wealthiest Brisket Smoker in the USA.
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In reality probably breaks even, or looses money in the brisket and makes it up on the PP, Ribs, Turkey and Sausage, along with the sauces he sells and TV appearances.
says he sells out of brisket EVERYDAY. and has sold out of brisket everyday since its existence.
 
I'm sure his brisket is Awesome but the long lines are probably because he has made such a big name for himself by putting out a very quality product people will come from all over the country just to say they have eaten there!

Unlike Lady and Sons in Savannah. Paula Dean has made a big name for herself and to eat there you have to stand in line at 9am for 2 hours so you can get a number and come back in the afternoon and stand in line for 2 more hours just so you can eat some mediocre southern cooking.
 
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Man, I love living in Austin and Aaron's brisket is one of the top reasons. I make a mean brisket in several varieties and I just can't hit that kind of perfection, but he does it every dang day. He is one heck of a nice guy too. If he is there he is always happy to talk smoking meat with you.
 
he uses black angus prime.
I've heard the same, and that his supplier is Creekstone Farms. Their 12-14 pound packer is available online for $99.99.

Also, during the latter part of the cook, he wraps the briskets in plain  brown butcher paper.

I've never purchased from Creekstone or tried the butcher paper method, but I know a couple competition teams that do both and their scores have risen dramatically.
 
I've heard the same, and that his supplier is Creekstone Farms. Their 12-14 pound packer is available online for $99.99.

Also, during the latter part of the cook, he wraps the briskets in plain  brown butcher paper.

I've never purchased from Creekstone or tried the butcher paper method, but I know a couple competition teams that do both and their scores have risen dramatically.

Yup creekstone is his supplier, I'm set on ordering a BBQ package. 1 big arse brisket and 3 tri tips for $170 or something like that....also if you look at some of Franklin bbq's photos they sure are some awesome views!
 
Lets see where to start. I wished the admins would make a drag and drop or highlighted section for replying with multiple quotes from other people. Ok, first Turn n Burn Thank you for correcting everyone about the brisket. BRISKET IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF BBQ! my 12 yr old second cousin can smoke a whole pig to near perfection with minimal practice but only the select few can master brisket. sorry Georgia, Carolinas, Tennessee. Texas BBQ is the best. Way to deep, if you were to try his brisket with "just salt, pepper and smoke" you would fall to your knees and shed a tear lol maybe. He uses brown butcher paper but mostly unbleached peach paper, no wax. Hambone, you said $8-$10 that's funny! I wished I could get out of that place for less than 15! Keep in mind, his brisket is $17.00lb ribs 15.00lb pulled pork 14.00lb turkey 14.00 lb and sausage 11.00 lb (also us Texans like to eat) Honestly just a combo sandwich here in Amarillo is $8.00! John is one of the pitmasters, he shows up late evening and starts the briskets/fires they currently have 5 pits (in the process of building another) Aaron is about to hire they go through on average 1500 lbs of BBQ per opening. 11am till sold out. The line as of recent count has exceeded 400 people which is why he has line attendants that count people get a rough estimate of how much meat they will order (Aaron tells them to round up because people always order more once they get to the counter) then they pass a marker to the estimated "last" person in line and tell people behind them that "Ya'll might be wasting your time, meat ends soon here (and points at the person)" I talked to my friend who said this past Saturday 7-27 he drove by and at 8am he stopped and counted almost 200 people waiting in line!  yea he uses Creekstone out of Arkansas city, KS whose meat is not only black angus prime (not actually the best tasting IMO, but definitely tied for first ...but the meat is supposedly all natural no hormones no probiotics, etc, (you know how those organic liberal Austinites are everything organic and natural) The fat on these briskets (according to Franklin in Texas Monthly interview) apparently renders better than a typical brisket. The fat will actually render better yet will take almost twice as long to smoke. The result is that "velvet" texture on a brisket most people in the world have no clue what is about. Its like heaven in your mouth. Keeping the German/Czech Central texas style is what its all about salt, pepper. low and slow smoke, steady heat, carving the brisket in front of you asking which you prefer, lean, super lean, moist, super moist, cutters choice, brisket tip, sugar cookies, burnt ends, etc. Given the fact that he is located in downtown Austin, (expensive) he buys very expensive cuts of beef, throws away the trimmings, Yes, you heard right throws away all his beef fat, beef meat from trimmings, pork skirting, and rib trimmings. (his sausage is not made in house but is made to his specs by a local market) I would say his BBQ is adequately priced for what you get (just don't go out there and expect to spend 8-10$ you may only get a few sides piece of bread and a big red! I did read another interview in texas monthly about aaron franklin going to a slaughter house to learn more about how they cut the briskets off the cow and it made him more aware of how precious the meat is so now he is considering making sausage in house with his trimmings. He also has a few beers there in Austin ya'll should check out!
 
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