Viewers like you make this
program possible. Support your local PBS station. Welcome to
BBQ with Franklin. Today's episode is
about chicken and sauce, two things that
usually go together. But first, we're gonna
take you to a place with chicken so good, you
don't even need sauce. (acoustic guitar music) We're at Snow's Barbecue
here in Lexington, Texas. They're only open on Saturdays and they're well
known for brisket, but, I really like the chicken. So, that's what we're gonna get. (upbeat music) In 2008, Texas Monthly
declared Snow's the best barbecue in Texas, and every Saturday since,
they've been rockin' it. One of the best
known pitmasters in the state of Texas, Tootsie. Over here at Snow's. It's neat from somebody
else's perspective to see what you've done
for Texas barbecue. Like, you may not
realize it but, you know, in 2008 when you
guys got the number one in Texas Monthly, that was huge. No one ever, like, where did this come from?
- Knew where Lexington was? Sure didn't know about Snow's.
- Well, I knew where it was. But, nobody else did.
- And nobody knew Tootsie. - Exactly. And, you know, what an
inspiration it's been for everybody from
around the world. I mean, people fly in here
from all over the place. - [Tootsie] All over the world. And I wanna see Tootsie.
- I mean, the first time I ever saw you, I was like,
oh, my God, that's Tootsie! I thought I was
lookin' at Elvis, like, the most famous person
in the world, you know? - Well, thank you. I have enjoyed cookin' barbecue, I started at City Meat
Market in Giddings in 1966. 1976, my husband and
I bought a meat market here in Lexington. And Lexington has always
had barbecue Saturdays. - [Franklin] Why is that? Is it because people
come in to buy cattle and sell cattle and stuff? Or is it just 'cause you
guys have day jobs, or? - Actually, years
ago, with the farmers, they brought their
products to town to sell. The head of the
household came to town, he would buy barbecue
to take back home to treat his family for the
work they had done all week. And at the same time,
meat markets always got some extra cuts of
meat that you can't sell across the counter. It's one way that you can
move all your meats out and start with a fresh
cut of meat on Mondays. (folk music) - [Franklin] I wanna
ask you about being one of the few lady pitmasters. There aren't a lot of you. - No, that's what I've heard
and I think nothing of it. I mean, really, I haven't
had very many women to ask me how do I
become a pitmaster? If they did ask, I will tell 'em that it is a hard, cold
job in the Winter time, a hot job in the Summer Time, and you gotta be tough. - [Franklin] Well,
when I grow up, I wanna be like you, Tootsie. - Okay. - I'm excited
about your chicken. That's the thing that, you know, you guys are known for
brisket and everything, but, the chicken is awesome. - [Tootsie] I start them
all with the cut side down, and after they get
brown, I move 'em over and brown the other side. - [Franklin] Perfect. You know, one thing about the
chicken that I really like is the skin on your chicken
is always super bite through, and it's just got such
a good amount of flavor and juiciness on there. - Well, thank you. These chickens went
on this morning at 2 o'clock, the
same time the ones that were up here were on. - [Franklin] Okay. - So, they've been
on X number of hours. We put all the meat
on around 2 o'clock except for the brisket. And it goes on at 10
o'clock Friday night. - [Franklin] 10
o'clock, Friday night. So, your son, Herschel. He lights the fires
and then, you show up. - [Tootsie] At 2 o'clock,
Saturday morning. - [Franklin] At two-ish. And then, so, and
then, you're good to go for the rest of the day? - [Tootsie] Then, we go
for the rest of the day. - [Franklin] It's hard work. - [Tootsie] It's a long day. - [Franklin] It's
a long day and night. - Short night. - But. (upbeat music) You know, one thing about Snow's that I think is
super duper cool, most barbecue places only
have one style of cookin'. They cook on direct coals or
they cook on an offset cooker, or something like that. You do both. - We do both. - And I think
that's really neat. - Our chicken, pork, and ribs are all on direct heat. - [Franklin] And you've got
a burn barrel back here. Ooh, it's hot, it's hot. - It's hot.
- It's hot. - We take the coals from here and sprinkle 'em
under those pits for our indirect heat. - [Franklin] Now, is
there a temperature you're lookin' for
or are you just like, it smells right, and it
looks right, it feels right? - [Tootsie] Just feels right. - [Franklin] Just
feels right, got ya. - [Tootsie] I've got a hand
that I just lay on the pit. - Thank God you've got a hand. The hand of God on chicken. - That's it, that's it. - [Franklin] And this
is the famous one. This is the on that
everybody gets a picture of. - [Tootsie] This is the
big pit that we are very happy with.
- [Franklin] Do y'all have a name for this one? - It's just the big pit. - Just the big pit. - We have some
briskets on here yet. Kerry designed this pit. - He built it, too, right? - With three shelves, uh huh. We have temperature
gauges on it, but, mostly, we just pay
attention to the coloring and how the fire is burning,
and etcetera to that. - [Franklin] So, is
this a water tank? Or a propane tank? - It's either a water
tank or an air tank. - Ah, air tank, okay, got ya. (casual instrumental music) - [Tootsie] I hope that
I'm given the strength and good health to do it
for several years yet. I enjoy doing it. - [Franklin] Well, I think
so, and you do a fine job. - You know, that's
what's so odd, to actually enjoy the
work, as hard as it is. I'm just an old country
girl, I keep a low profile. I'm happy that
people come to see me and come to eat my barbecue. - Well, I'm happy you keep
making barbecue for us. - I'm gonna try. - I'll keep eating it. Thank you. Sometimes, ordering
at a barbecue joint can be a little
bit intimidating. But, never fear, these
guys only want you to get the best piece
of meat you possibly can and that's exactly
what you want, too. - [Woman] Good morning. - How you guys doing today? - [Woman] Good, and you? - Excellent. Well, I'm pretty hungry. Let me get like, a
couple slices of lean, maybe a slice of fatty? I don't call that very hungry Oh, that's perfect. - [Woman] Good. - [Franklin] That's the
favorite piece, too. Oh, I need to get
a pork steak, too. Okay, maybe a little more. (casual music) That's good. I'll take the big side. - [Woman] The big side? - No, no, no. - [Woman] I will be gladly. - [Franklin] If you're
gonna travel for barbecue, don't short change yourself. Now, and then, a
chicken half, also. Just get a little
bit of everything. I'd like two ribs. - [Woman] Off the
little end, middle? - [Franklin] Right in there
would be pretty neat. Perfect. Thank you, thank you. - [Woman] You're
welcome, thank you. - Gonna have to talk to
people later. I better load up on onions. - [Woman] It's a
meaty kind of day? - [Franklin] It's a
meaty kind of day. Awesome, thank y'all. - [Woman] Thanks. - So, I'm gonna get
on this chicken. And it pulls right apart. It's just so juicy, they've
got the right amount of rub on there, and it's got
perfect bite through skin, which means when I bite down, I'm not pulling
off all the skin. I just get what I want. (acoustic guitar music) - One of the best
things about Snow's is that their chicken
doesn't need barbecue sauce. But, sometimes, I like a
little sauce on my chicken. So, we're gonna make a
simple barbecue sauce with a few interesting
ingredients. (country music) Gonna start with
one cup ketchup. Gonna add a half
cup of brown sugar. Light is fine. Quarter cup white vinegar. Quarter cup apple cider vinegar. And this is one of few
interesting ingredients. Concentrated tamarind. You can get this stuff
at Asian markets. You can maybe get it at an
Indian food market, too. So, just a couple spoons worth. Not too much, it's
really, really tart. Super fruity. I like it a lot. And it's surprisingly
common in barbecue sauce. The other interesting
ingredient, I'm not a huge fan
of liquid smoke. I think it tastes
a little funny. So, I'm gonna do
smoked salt instead. (country music) And then, a splash
of Worcestershire. Just a splash. And a little bit of
ancho chile powder. You can do cayenne and regular
chile powder if you want, but, I really like the ancho. Kinda tastes like raisins,
a little bit smoky, and a little bit of
spice on the back end. Just a little bit
of garlic powder. Not a whole lot. Just a little bit
of onion powder. Not too much. And then, a pretty good
portion of black pepper. And just a smidge of honey. Just a smidge. And off to the stove. (upbeat folk music) Gonna put the sauce on low heat. It's gonna kinda
dissolve the brown sugar and kinda marry the
flavors a little bit. Don't want it to
burn on the bottom, so, we're gonna
kinda keep it movin'. One thing I really
like about this sauce is that it kind of reminds me of a real Midwestern kind of sauce, yet, it's not too sweet,
it's not too tart, it's got a little bit of
spice on the back end, but, it's still ketchup based. So, it's really just
a super basic sauce with a little bit of
tartness from the tamarind. I think it's great for chicken. This sauce is
lookin' pretty good, brown sugar's dissolved,
everything's lookin' real nice. I'm gonna turn off the heat and go brush it on some chicken. (folk music) (acoustic guitar music) (electronic music) If you find yourself
needing to make just a little more than
a few cups of sauce, then, you might need to look
outside your own kitchen. A few years ago when
we decided to start bottling some of our
sauces, we tracked down a local sauce manufacturer. - [Voiceover] When we started
having the conversation with Aaron about
his barbecue sauces, it was definitely
different from other types of barbecue sauces
that we made here. His were a lot more unique, the flavors were real
innovative, very creative. The first thing I
thought when I tried the espresso sauce, I thought
it was very, very unique. But, at the same side of
me, the manufacturing side said, wow, this could
be very difficult. And talkin' to Aaron about it, he was tellin' me how he was
using his espresso machine, in adding tosmall batches. I'm thinkin', at the facility, we don't have an
espresso pot that big. We overcame that
obstacle by finding that extract that worked, that
still got the same flavors that we were looking for. The four steps that
really take place in a manufacturing
facility, number one, would be the prep. Which, we'll be
adding the spices, the raw materials, the
other type of liquids. From there, we go to the
next step which is cooking. There, we'll add all the
ingredients to the kettle. (electronic music) When we cook, we
bring up to a certain thermal temperature that
we're trying to achieve. And then, from there,
we go to the next step which is filling. We fill the bottles. We'll go ahead and
cap the bottles. In steam capping,
what will happen is the product
will come through, we'll go ahead and introduce
steam into the head space that's there, just to
basically sterilize the jar the cap will be applied, to
make sure we have a very safe product that we put out. And then, we'll run it
through a cooling section where we bring the temperature
of that product back down. From there, we go
into packaging, which is labeling. Casing. (electronic music) And ultimately, over wrapping. We're making product
on a very large scale. It's very similar to what
you would do at home, just on a much larger
scale, more product going through the system. But, overall, it's very
close to the same process. (folk music) (rock music) - [Franklin] Here at
Franklin Barbecue, we cook boneless turkey breasts because a whole turkey takes up an awful lot of
room on the grill. Turkey breast doesn't
take up much room and you can still feed
the same amount of people, and during lunch, all that
juice goes back into a half pan, slice it up, dip it in
the butter, delicious. Today, we're gettin' ready for the Texas Monthly
Barbecue Festival. It's a huge event
for Texas barbecue, they only invite
about 20 of the top 50 barbecue restaurants
in the state. We're lookin' to feed
about 3,000 people in about four hours. Got an overnight cook,
we're cookin' pork ribs, beef ribs, brisket, we're
also gonna be cooking turkey breast, it's
a quick, easy cook that gives folks
just one more option when they're ordering. And we're gonna get this
party started right now. (dreamy surf music) First, we trim and
season all the beef. And we get the briskets and
beef ribs on the cookers. It's time to prep our turkey. Now, we buy all
natural turkey breast with no additives whatsoever. This gives us a
little more control over the flavor and texture. First, we trim off the skins
and sprinkle on some rub. This rub is two parts
coarse black pepper and one part kosher salt. We use about a quarter
cup per turkey breast. We're just gonna let
these turkey breasts sit in the cooler
with the rub on 'em until it's time
to start cookin'. Got my fire. (police siren) (upbeat music) When you're cookin' barbecue
for an event this big, you are definitely gonna lose
a night's worth of sleep. I like to cook the turkey
breasts around 270 degrees. And even though the skin's off, we place them skin side up and
cook for a couple of hours. Once they're golden
brown, flip 'em, wrap 'em up in foil with
about a half pound of butter, and let 'em cook. So, everything will come off. It'll be resting. And then, once the
internal temperature reaches 160, pull 'em
off, let 'em rest down to 140 degrees
internal temperature, slide 'em in the warmer, off
to the barbecue festival. (upbeat music) The Texas Monthly
Barbecue Festival attracts a ton of people and
it's always a crazy time. Hey, hey, hey. How are you guys doing? - Double bump. - Thank you so much. - It's better for
people with sharp knives and greasy hands. - [Voiceover] Yeah, we'll
get this party started. Right? - [Franklin] Sure, we
had to stay up all night cooking barbecue,
but, at least we get to see some old friends. - Marvelous, have some brisket! And while beef is always
numero uno, turkey is a quick and easy cook if you gotta feed
a lot of people. - You get a big slice
of turkey, man, why not? - Thank you. - It's a party. - My favorite part. - I think that to stand here and talk about
regional barbecue sauce guarantees I'm gonna
make people angry. (acoustic music) Barbecue sauces have
been used by people to define the regions and
what meats are cooked. And the truth is it's
the meats of the region that really define the sauces. So, Kansas city really, I think, is most famous
for its pork ribs. And what you're
gonna find is a heavy tomato based sauce in Kansas. It is really sweet. It almost looks
like it's got a nice glassy finish when
you caramelize it because as a glaze,
there's enough sugar in it to make it really shiny. But, it's tangy, it's
sweet, and a little hot. And it includes the
regions around it like Oklahoma, and Nebraska,
and in through there, they all like that sweet sauce. They all love it on ribs. And some of the most famous
sauces in the United States are from that part
of the country. Also, what's little
known about it, it was invented by a
child psychiatrist. And that makes me
really identify with it because I just think
therapy when I put it on. Eastern Carolina
is that vinegar, hot pepper flake
sauce where the pork is kind of, usually
cooked whole hog, and then, chopped up and tossed. And what that clear,
tangy hot sauce does is melt through the
fat a little bit, make pork, which is
normally flavorless, it gives it more flavor. And that's how it's served. It's usually served on
a bun with coleslaw, but, it's got a
lot of heat to it. And I think that's what
people like about it. Then, you have the
Western, or Piedmont, or Lexington barbecue sauce,
which is more Ketchup-Ee. It might have some
vinegar mixed in, it might have some hot sauce
mixed into that, as well, but, it's a thicker,
sweeter sauce. That's the Western Carolina. then, you have the
midland Carolina sauce, which is a mustard sauce. We have the Germans to
thank for mustard sauce because Germans love putting
mustard on all kinds of stuff, so, naturally, their
influence in butchering, in making sausage,
all this stuff, mustard is a big informer
of their flavor palette. Memphis is a really
thick tomato sauce that's got hot sauce
in it, it's hot, it can be a little
peppery sometimes. It's almost like
somebody in Memphis said, let's take every ingredient
and dump it into the pot. Apologies to Memphis,
but, seriously, you're not known for your sauce. You're known for Elvis,
you're known for ribs, you're known for dry dubs, so, I'll thank you to
just leave it at that. There are actually lesser
known sauces in other regions. My favorite of the
lesser known regions was invented by a guy
in Decatur, Alabama named Bib Bob Gibson, and
that's the Alabama white sauce. Chicken is smoked
barbecue style, and then, dunked
whole in a mixture of either mayonnaise
or Miracle Whip, and sugar, and
vinegar, and spices, and it is unbelievable. It's like a beautiful
tender chicken with a bare trace of
this great sauce on it. That's one of my favorite. Now, we're gonna get to Texas. (country music) This is where the guns get drawn because if you're gonna
start ascribing sauces to Texas barbecue,
I think it's heresy. Personally, I don't like it. I feel put on the spot,
I feel I'm endangering my life, just discussing this. But, there is a Texas
style barbecue sauce and it's occasionally put
on the tables with brisket. You see it, it's
a thinner sauce, it's not a heavy ketchup sauce. It does have a little bit
of Worcestershire in it. It has some ketchup base to it, but, it's light and hot. And I say use it
at your own peril. It's basically like walking
into a sushi restaurant and saying you want soy sauce. They're gonna kick you out if it's any self-respecting joint. So, I'd say try to avoid
sauce when you're in Texas. So, that's just a quick overview of all the sauces that
exist, regionally, in the United States. Truthfully, a lot of
times, barbecue sauces are used to cover up mistakes. They should really just
augment the actual beef or pork flavors, and that's
what drives the sauces first. And it's what was
readily available, like in produce,
in your gardens, the savories, the vinegars,
those are the things that determine how sauces
really, really originated. And that's really
America in sauce. where the bar is a little lower, - That's i and I've won a
lot of awards. - That's why you
live up there. - I like to say I'm a
big fish in a puddle. And one of my
prized possessions is a first place
chicken trophy I
got in Connecticut. But, on the
trophy, they
misspelled chicken. And so, I got first
place to kickin'. That's how much
they love barbecue. - That's pretty awesome (electronic music) (bell sounds) (upbeat music)
