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Tyler Skidmore slices meat at Back Home BBQ & Brew Co. near Evans City on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Morgan Phillips\/Butler Eagle<\/p>\n
\n Morgan Phillips\n <\/p>\n
\n State council creates guide spanning numerous beef dishes\n <\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Beef Council published a list of 73 restaurants to get a unique or delicious cut of beef. Three Butler County locales made the list.<\/p>\n
One of those restaurants is Back Home BBQ, a restaurant in Callery, where guests can get smoked brisket worthy of being listed on the 2026 Pennsylvania Beef Trail. The place\u2019s owner and chef, Tyler Skidmore, said his dishes are tinged with southern inspiration from his days living in Texas and North Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re able to source with our food vendors fortunately, it is way more expensive here but we’re able to get everything we need,\u201d Skidmore said. \u201cWe use full packer brisket which has flat and point meat on it. They can order fat or lean brisket \u2014 the Texas way is fat, but we can accommodate anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A whole brisket is prepared by Brian Johns, owner and chef of Sidehack BBQ in Jackson Township. Submitted photo<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Beef Council compiled 73 restaurants placed on the Pennsylvania Beef Trail based on nominations and votes from people around the state. The council began accepting nominations for restaurants and specific beef dishes they make in January. The Pennsylvania Farm Show kicked off the campaign.<\/p>\n
Kylie Lusk, director of consumer affairs for the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative of the Pennsylvania Beef Council, said there were no specific qualifications as to what could be nominated for the trail. If it contained beef, it was eligible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to be as all-inclusive as possible,\u201d Lusk said. \u201cAs long as restaurants had a physical location they could be on the trail. We wanted a really diverse showing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other two Butler County restaurants that made the 2026 Beef Trail are Sidehack BBQ in Jackson Township, its sliced brisket being the dish of choice; and Freedom Farms Farm-to-Fork Kitchen in Penn Township, its Haystack Burger being its dish of choice.<\/p>\n
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Tyler Skidmore slices meat at Back Home BBQ & Brew Co. near Evans City on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Morgan Phillips\/Butler Eagle<\/p>\n
\n Morgan Phillips\n <\/p>\n
Brian Johns, the owner and chef of Sidehack BBQ, said he smokes his brisket for about 18 hours, but it may be the way he finishes it that gives it a taste that leaves an impact on customers. He moves the brisket from the smoker to the oven to finish it, which he said is not the most common method for meat-makers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I finish them helps keep them a little more moist than others,\u201d Johns said. \u201cA lot of people wrap it and smoke it. I put mine in the oven. It seems to hold the moisture and the crust stiffens back up the edges, they call it the bark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johns also said the sliced brisket is the bestselling of Sidehack BBQ\u2019s four meats.<\/p>\n
The Haystack Burger is a 6-ounce farm-raised patty on a brioche bun, typically topped with Swiss cheese, saut\u00e9ed onions, mushrooms, haystack onions and barbecue sauce.<\/p>\n
Lusk commented that while the beef council didn\u2019t specifically seek nominations of different kinds of beef or beef dishes, it worked out well that people nominated different items.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey asked for restaurant name and dish name, so we made it as easy to get as many as possible,\u201d Lusk said of the nomination process. \u201cIt could have been all burgers but we’re glad they submitted different dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johns said Sidehack also carries pulled pork, smoked chop chicken and homemade kielbasa. He added that he doesn\u2019t know who nominated the restaurant or the sliced brisket for the Beef Trail, but the Beef Council did notify him that Sidehack made the 2026 list. Skidmore also said he got notified about Back Home making the list.<\/p>\n
Lusk said the Beef Council may take new nominations each year to revamp the Beef Trail on a regular basis. She added that the reception of the trail has been good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve been getting great feedback already,\u201d Lusk said. \u201cWe are hoping to, so our timeline right now that we’ve been saying is to keep this as an annual thing, let nominations open up every January and then the trail will be launched every May.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Haystack Burger, served at Freedom Farms Fork-to-Kitchen in Penn Township. Eddie Trizzino\/Butler Eagle<\/p>\n
Skidmore said the ingredient that makes Back Home BBQ\u2019s brisket special is the way it is smoked. When he left Texas, he took the knowledge of the state\u2019s usual method of meat smoking with him, which involves the close attention from a chef.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people who smoke brisket do 5 to 7 pounds. We smoke it with both muscles,\u201d Skidmore said. \u201c(You) have to trim it correctly. You have to have the knowledge, skill and willpower, you’ve got to rub it correctly, rub it at the right time and slice it correctly. All that goes into making a good brisket.\u201d<\/p>\n
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