Stopped by a famous BBQ joint in Kansas City and noticed something strange about their brisket

I drove 4 hours to try Joe's KC BBQ last weekend because everyone says it's the best. Got there at 10 AM and the line was already 30 people deep. When I finally got my brisket, the bark was perfect but the meat was almost too tender, like it fell apart when I looked at it. My buddy who works at a competition team told me they probably hold it in a warmer for 3 hours before serving. Has anyone else noticed top places serving brisket that's a little overdone just to keep up with the rush?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah2481mo ago

Jesus dude, you drove 4 hours for brisket and now you're doing forensic analysis on how it was held? It's BBQ not a science experiment. Yeah maybe they held it in a warmer for a few hours, so what? That's how you keep up when you're selling 1000 pounds a day. The bark was perfect and it fell apart tender, that's literally what people travel for. If you wanted tough chewy meat you could have saved the gas money and gone to Applebee's. Let the professionals do their thing and enjoy your damn sandwich.

hall.emma1mo ago

Let the professionals do their thing" - yeah that's the part that gets me. It's like when people complain their coffee shop latte isn't hot enough but the barista actually knows the milk scalds at a certain temp. We've all gotten so used to the factory version of everything that the real thing feels wrong. Same thing happens with fresh bread from a bakery vs grocery store bread. That bakery loaf goes stale in two days because there's no preservatives and people think it's bad. We forgot what real food actually acts like because we're so used to the chemically perfect version.