Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, which means you’re going to need a centerpiece. We don’t mean flowers, though a little tablescape couldn’t hurt. We’re talking about turkey, ham or another hearty protein. Unfortunately, cooking turkey at home usually goes one of two ways: You obsess over an oven-roasted turkey only to be left disappointed when it turns out dry, or you deep-fry a turkey and trigger a house fire. And the average grocery store ham never lives up to the hype.
This year, leave the meat to the professionals, and score your main course from a treasured Texas barbecue joint — because several of the best smoked meat emporiums in the state are offering smoked turkeys, hams, briskets, ribs and other Thanksgiving appropriate treats via the Internet, wherein they’ll ship meat straight to your door in exchange for money. That means you’re just a few clicks away from serving brisket alongside your famous mashed potatoes. These are five of the best options around.
Smoked Turkey Breast from Snow’s BBQ
Snow’s is a fixture on Texas best-of lists, and its octogenarian pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz was immortalized on Netflix’s Chef’s Table. But it’s still only open on Saturdays, which means lines are long and your chance of eating the food straight from the source depends on your willingness to wait. Fortunately, they’ll send that same food to your dinner table, with options including brisket, ribs, sausage and turkey. Make the smoked turkey breast the star of your Thanksgiving show, and you’ll get boneless breast meat that’s been generously seasoned with salt and pepper and then smoked for six to eight hours until it’s loaded with flavor. Clocking in around three and a half pounds, it’s a great choice for smaller celebrations. Or get a few and feed a crowd.
Whole Brisket from Franklin Barbecue
The brisket at this Austin restaurant might be the most famous hunk of meat in the entire meat-heavy state. Pitmaster Aaron Franklin sources Black Angus beef and slow-smokes whole briskets over post oak until they’re perfectly moist and capped off with delicious, crusty bark. The brisket is cooked and shrink-wrapped, arriving ready to heat and eat, and it’s accompanied by a bottle of sauce. Plunk down one of these on your table, and you’ll be hailed as a hero. You can also throw in a pack of sausages for good measure.
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Pit Ham from Kreuz Market
This Central Texas institution will ship you just about anything that can be smoked, from brisket and ribs to whole turkeys, sausages and pork chops. You can’t go wrong with any of these, but if ham’s calling your name, order the boneless Pit Ham. It’s well seasoned and slow-smoked until the smoky flavor permeates the meat and leaves you with a richer, deeper flavor than anything you’ll find at the grocery store. If you have leftovers or need a late-night snack, ham sandwiches are only a couple slices of bread away.
Kreuz Sausage from Lockhart Smokehouse
The Kreuz lineage runs deep, with the family also responsible for Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas, Plano and Arlington. Lockhart’s sausages are made with a 110-year-old family recipe featuring a blend of 85% beef and 15% pork that’s seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne. They’re juicy with a good snap, and they pair swimmingly with whole-grain mustard or barbecue sauce. The one-third-pound sausages are available in Original or Jalapeño-Cheese, and they come in packs of six, 12 or 25, so you can ensure everyone gets plenty to eat.
Pork Ribs from Salt Lick
Salt Lick is one of the most famous barbecue joints in Texas and therefore the world. The pork ribs and beef ribs are the best bet at this massive compound of open pits and sweet smoke, and they can be sourced in such a quantity that everyone’s still gnawing on bones during the evening’s football game. The pork ribs come with a bottle of addicting sauce, so go ahead and slather that on everything in sight — the meat, the potatoes, green bean casserole… everything.
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