A barbecue lunch feels like a major investment these days.<\/p>\n
Beef prices rose from last year by over 11%, according to the June Consumer Price Index<\/a>. Anyone who\u2019s gone out for some brisket this month can tell you, the prices have suffered<\/a> too.<\/p>\n Many headlines declare a state of emergency for Texas barbecue. Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor of Texas Monthly, recently wrote a plea to pitmasters to consider alternatives to brisket<\/a> in the face of rising beef costs. <\/p>\n He sat down with the Standard to discuss his article, the rising prices and the reality of brisket\u2019s grasp on pits across the state. Listen to the interview in the player above or read the transcript below.<\/p>\n This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:<\/p>\n Texas Standard: Let\u2019s start with the squeeze: How serious is the rise in beef prices when it comes to barbecue restaurants? Why is brisket taking so much of the blame?<\/p>\n Daniel Vaughn: Well, beef prices are up, as we\u2019ve all seen at the grocery stores. But the problem with Texas barbecue in particular is we\u2019re really relying on brisket, and the brisket prices have just outpaced that rise in price for beef. <\/p>\n So, brisket is just even more expensive. But, as Brian Bracewell at South Side Market says, he\u2019s like: \u201cBarbecue is not expensive. Brisket is expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n Ah, we\u2019re too focused on a single cut of meat, perhaps?<\/p>\n Yeah, I think so. In the \u201960s and \u201970s, Texas barbecue really changed from being focused on a half a beef coming into the meat market, to ordering boxed beef. So, you could order individual cuts. And that\u2019s really where we saw that shift towards just those individual cuts, like brisket and in some cases shoulder clod. <\/p>\n But, nowadays, it\u2019s all about the brisket and it\u2019s all about the brisket at every Texas barbecue joint, and every Texas-style BBQ joint across the country. These days, we\u2019ve just got so many more places ordering brisket by the box than we\u2019ve ever had before.<\/p>\n \u00bb RELATED: Even Taco Tuesday could be more expensive as beef prices continue to rise<\/a><\/p>\n I gather that, according to what you\u2019ve been reporting for Texas Monthly, some pitmasters are now turning to tri-tip, beef cheeks, flat iron, some of these other cuts. Which of those are producing food that might persuade even a brisket loyalist to branch out?<\/p>\n Well, I mean, I\u2019ve had some great tri-tip out there. Space Kat BBQ<\/a> in Austin does a really good version. <\/p>\n And the thing about tri-tip \u2014 it seems a little counterintuitive because it is more expensive per pound than brisket \u2014 but the thing about tri-tip is it cooks a lot quicker, so there\u2019s a lot less labor that goes into it. And because you\u2019re only cooking it to about a medium doneness, and you\u2019re not really having to trim it much, your loss on it is so much less than a brisket. <\/p>\n So, a brisket, you might be serving 50% of the starting weight of that brisket by the time you get it trimmed and smoked, whereas a tri-tip, you\u2019re probably going to serve more like 90% of that by the time it\u2019s trimmed and it\u2019s smoked.<\/p>\n Wow, all right. Well, that\u2019s it. So when you order at the counter, you ask for tri-tip?<\/p>\n Well, you\u2019re going to have to check the menu, because there\u2019s not a ton of places that are serving it. <\/p>\n And that\u2019s really my plea here, is that if these Texas barbecue pitmasters want the price of brisket to go down, we\u2019ve got to cut into the demand of it, right? We\u2019ve got to cut into the demand by looking at different cuts of beef. <\/p>\n And some of them are adding the tri-tip, some of them are adding beef cheeks as well. Beef cheeks, if you\u2019ve never had them, sounds maybe not that appetizing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00bb RELATED: Fed up with sky-high beef prices? Some people are stocking their freezers with a whole cow<\/a><\/p>\n It sounds gross, frankly. I don\u2019t like the idea of beef cheeks. It grosses me out. I\u2019ve got to get my head around that, it\u2019s just one of those things.<\/p>\n Well, I mean, we could give it a different name if you\u2019d like. I mean, look at what \u201csweetbread\u201d the name has done for the thymus gland.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t even \u2014 see, you\u2019ve just ruined that for me. Thanks a ton. All right\u2026<\/p>\n But again, if you\u2019ve ever had a beef cheek, then you know that it\u2019s incredibly rich in gelatin. It\u2019s like eating a mini fatty brisket.<\/p>\n It is good, it tastes fantastic, but there\u2019s just no getting around it\u2026 But here\u2019s the thing, I mean, your plea seems to be more toward the people who run these joints. But customers arrive with expectations, and I\u2019m wondering how tough it\u2019s going to be for a restaurant owner to say to the customer, in effect, we\u2019re going to serve you a different version of Texas barbecue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yeah, well, you know, Mimsy\u2019s Craft Barbecue<\/a> in Crockett has had this issue. They\u2019re only serving sliced brisket now on Saturdays. So, their customers do come in throughout the week, asking for brisket, and they just don\u2019t offer it. <\/p>\n It\u2019s such a loss. It could be a loss leader for them, except it\u2019s really just a menu loser for them. So, they\u2019ve got it just once a week. <\/p>\n And I mentioned Brian Bracewell earlier at Southside Market<\/a>. He is producing videos speaking directly to his customers<\/a>, just saying: \u201cListen, we\u2019ve still got brisket, and you can pay this price for it, or for half the price you could get our sliced pork instead.\u201d <\/p>\n So, you know, trying to push pork, trying really to push any other protein.\u00a0<\/p>\n You know, Texas barbecue was in a sense born from necessity and improvisation, when you look back at history. I wonder if there\u2019s not a silver lining here, these high prices ultimately making barbecue places more varied, maybe more interesting altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n I mean, to me, Texas, what makes it unique is it\u2019s the beef state, but it doesn\u2019t have to be brisket. I think Texas barbecue is bigger than brisket. <\/p>\n \t\t