calling Hornian.....

T

Tarpon

< 25 Posts
Hornian, yesterday (the 3rd) I bought a new smoker and put it together with my son. Today (4th of July) I smoked 3 racks of ribs and the trimmings with your recipie/method. It was simply outstanting and I appreciate you posting that; particularly with the pictures. Also did two beer can chickens although I need to improve on that. But the ribs were a tremendous hit for the family. I used a simple store-bought rub and the rest of the flavoring was post oak. Finished the day picking okra and cantalope in the garden and watching the kids shoot fireworks. Thank you again.

Tarpon
 
I only peeked once. I'd almost convince myself that they might not still be there, but to my great relief they were.
 
Glad they worked out for you.

I kind of messed up a brisket this weekend. I mean, it tasted great, it was just too tender and I didn't get the nice presentation on the sliced end product.
 
help a yankee out...what the **** is "post oak"???

I once stayed at a Houston hotel on Post Oak Rd.

is that a variety of Oak? a grade of Oak?
 
It's a variety or species of oak. Houston has quite a few and the Hill country is predominantly Live Oaks. Spanish Oaks are the Typhoid Mary's of Oak Wilt, but Post Oaks are largely resistant which is why Houston has never had much of an oak wilt problem and the hill country has. There are Lacy Oaks, Monterrey Oaks, Chinquapin (Pin) Oaks, Burr Oaks. I'm sure there are more varieties that I can't think of.

I've never heard of anyone much caring which variety they use for cooking, but it wouldn't surprise me if there are people who are particular.
 
they are tall and skinny and have bigger leaves that live oak-- we used to cut them once in a while-- trash trees of the oak group--makroom for the live oaks to spread
 
Trash trees? Ours are probably about 70 feet tall with a crown of probably 70 feet and trunks about 3 feet diameter. I personally prefer a 100 year old live oak, but not if it's dead from oak wilt. We have about 10 in the yard at the ranch near Medina and the Live Oaks (in the yard) are all pretty much dead from oak wilt or ****** up from oak decline.

I totally understand "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but they are hardly "trash trees".

We have some Monterreys in the yard that are about 10 years old and doing pretty well, but I have no idea how they will be when my kids are all growed up and old. The Spanish Oaks are all pretty much gone and there are 2 or 3 Pin Oaks and Burr Oaks (each) on the 400 acres. We also have a clone/graft of the Treaty Oak that is doing quite nicely.

One thing that astute observers will notice is that there are no baby live oaks growing naturally in the Hill Country much. As soon as they come up from roots (they almost never come from acorns) they are obliterated by whitetails. Look for them next time you take a drive. I don't know what significance that really is, but it's something I have noticed. It is my hipshot opinion that poor grazing practices 100 years ago caused the oaks to proliferate (most are really not that old) and then the junipers (a much faster growing super shrub). Most of the really old buildings in the hill country have very small rooms. Theoretically that is because the available lumber source was cedar which doesn't grow very straight or very tall. It isn't the old mighty oak that was used. Ancient pictures and renditions of the hill country show it to be grassland with a few scattered mighty live oaks. I have no idea how the post oaks got on our property (or the magnolia tree that I hate so much or the Afghan Pine that dies inm y arms one day), but they aren't common at all. Nevertheless, ours are beautiful and make for a very cool and soothing spot for us.
 
Post oaks are a common variety of oak tree here in East Texas. Others are red oak (best firewood because it splits clean and easy), blackjack oak, white oak, pin oak, etc. I have always understood that post oak gives the best flavor for smoking meat (of the oaks that is). I'd always heard that and then in Rob Walsh's book Texas Barbeque (I think that's the title) he mentions it several times.
 
The famous joints in Lockhart and Luling all rely on post oak. It provides a better char and produces more smoke than other oak varietials. Of course, if you go west of Austin, they do not use oak at all... the Llano joints use mesquite
 
I am now out of Pecan; there was a rather large (i.e. 70' tall or so) tree that went down in my grandparents yard - lightning strike.

The neighbor cut it up into rounds & damn, those sumbitches are heavy. He did them in 24" tall rounds & unfortunately, that's way too long for my meager smoker (& most fireboxers I know of).

I need to make another trip to Shreveport & see about another one.
 
Post Oaks are in the same family of trees as Burr Oaks. I believe it is the "white oak" family and they are known for lobed shaped leaves (unlike red oaks which have sharp pointed leaves).

We have Post Oaks in my neighborhood that are gorgeous. Big 30-50 foot tall trees with big canopies. I, unfortunately, have none on my lot. I have about 20 native live oaks that are about 6" in diameter when we bought (~3 years ago) and only growing. The builder put in 3 red oaks but I wish we could have had post oaks. Never seen them in nurseries.........
 
Overgrazed. Cattle, but mostly sheep caused the loss of soil for grasses and that's believed by some to be the root cause of it.
 
Certainly a factor, but my opinion is that the wildfire issue came after the overgrazing. You can't even have a controlled burn in much of the hill country because there often isn't any fuel for a fire, because there is no grass, because there is no soil. I'm no expert, just a guy with an opinion.
 
I grew up with about 30 large post oaks in our yard. They are beatiful trees and provide some nice, dense shade. As kids we used to eat the acorns, but we never knew if this was harmful or not. Guess not, since I'm still here.

We never smoked meat with them, though.
 
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