WHERE THERE'S TEXAS SMOKE BBQ CO THERE'S FIRE

Update 08-07-15: Texas Smoke has closed their Sanger location and are catering only.

I never thought I would be in downtown Sanger Texas to eat anything other than fried chicken at Babe's.

Then I heard about Texas Smoke BBQ Company and I had a tough decision to make because Babe's is like comfort food kryptonite to me.

I had heard that Texas Smoke regularly sells out. So we decided to get there when they opened to make sure we wouldn't miss out on anything.

There was only one other person waiting for them to open when we arrived but by the time we left the place was starting to fill up and was doing quite a few take out orders as well.

I could smell the smoke as we walked across the street and Babe's fried chicken began to shift to the back of my mind as my mouth shifted gears towards eating some tasty Q.

Then I walk in the door and the decor is very similar to Babe's.... Only brighter.... Must stay on course and eat the BBQ I tell myself...... Forget about the moist and tasty chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and hot biscuits beckoning you from around the corner.

So we make our way to the front counter to place our orders. After looking over the menu board our plan of attack was to get two 3 Meat dinners and get a little bit of everything, brisket, jalapeno cheddar sausage, pulled pork, meatloaf, and pork spare ribs.

Since I started using Instagram. I share the pictures to my Facebook Page much faster. So I'm going to turn the description of the brisket over to one of the people that participate on my page because he pretty much nailed what I was going to say just by looking at the picture.....

You can tell by the picture that the brisket was overcooked. When it's done right the slices will be smooth by retaining the moisture. Overdone and you tend to get that honeycomb look like you can see on the right side of the first slice. Makes the meat crumbly.

The brisket did have a great bark and good flavor but was dry and crumbly. I think if it wasn't overcooked it would have been an incredible piece of brisket but I couldn't get passed the dryness of it.

I didn't get a lot of smoke flavor from the smoked meatloaf but as far as meatloaf goes.... It was really good! ...... Moist, good flavor, not dry or crumbly as meatloaf can sometimes be. To sum it up in one word...... TASTY.

I don't know if the jalapeno cheddar sausage was house made or not but it was a very tasty sausage. The jalapeno offered just the right amount of heat and flavor to the sauaage and there was a good meat to cheese ratio.

 The pulled pork looked good, and had good flavor, but the texture was mushy and it was room temperature when it was served. Cooked right and served warm it had the potential to be really good pulled pork.

 The ribs were just slightly more done than I like them to be but not by much and they had a wonderful savory salty and peppery rub with just a slight note of sweetness to them.

In hindsight we wish we had ordered a whole slab. They were that good.

For sides I went with the smoked mac and cheese and baked beans.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... I'm not a bean fan. I only order them because beans are as much a part of BBQ as apple is to pie and mustard is to hot dogs....... These beans are good! So good in fact that I'm going to dub them Wonka Beans because the flavor profile changes as you are eating them.

At the beginning of the bite it tastes almost like a bowl of good Texas Red Chili except we know that a Texan  would never put beans in a bowl of Red Chili..... I'm also no bean afficianado but these weren't the typical type of beans you find in most baked beans either, These looked more like the type of beans that non-Texans ruin their chili with...... Ok, back to the beans before I start a chili war here.....  about mid chew the flavor profule sweetens up and they taste more like traditional baked beans......  I loved them,

The smoked mac and cheese was good but I got a few bites that were a little salty and the pasta was just slightly over-cooked. I've smoked mac and cheese on many occasions and it is very easy to over-smoke. This had just the right amount of smokiness to it.

There was no toast served at Texas Smoke BBQ Co. The menu board said to ask for bread, pickles, or onions..... We already had a ton of food and I certainly don't need to be eating the bread. So I didn't ask for any.

They did have Big Red in glass bottles in a cooler and I couldn't resist. So I washed the meal down with one.

Somehow I failed to copy the picture of it from my phone. So if you want to see it, You will have to go check out my Instagram page and you will see it along with a lot of other tasty pictures that I only share there.