Franklin Barbecue Book

victor1

Curious, has anyone purchased or looked through the Franklin BBQ "Manifesto" cook book?  thanks in advance

lousubcap

Try the search function here with "barbeque with Franklin book" as the topic.  You will get plenty of hits.  It's been out for a couple of years.
Short answer to your question-yes.  

bgebrent

No.  But he knows his shid based on his cooker.  Different set up from an egg.

lousubcap

@bgebrent- you can answer "No" from your personal perspective but that is not the question that was asked...  

bgebrent

lousubcap said:

@bgebrent- you can answer "No" from your personal perspective but that is not the question that was asked...  

Yes, yes I can Cap.

RajunCajun

It's an interesting read.

kl8ton

victor1 said:

Curious, has anyone purchased or looked through the Franklin BBQ "Manifesto" cook book?  thanks in advance

Yes
Read it cover to cover.  I liked it.

bgebrent

RajunCajun said:

It's an interesting read.

Worthy of Louisiana-Lafayette?

SoCalTim

I really enjoyed his story, he actually is no different that you or me. Just a normal guy - i thoroughly enjoyed hearing how he got started, his mistakes and triumphs. 

On a SoCalTim scale of 1 to 5 stars ... I give it 5 stars.

HeavyG

I enjoyed it and am glad to have added it to the collection.

RajunCajun

bgebrent said:

RajunCajun said:

It's an interesting read.

Worthy of Louisiana-Lafayette?

Yes sir...close enough to have learned how to peel crawfish at the age of 2.

whldch

Read it, liked it. Went back over parts of it for a few cooks.

Teefus

I bought it for my Son in Law. A cursory reviews suggests it's more a narrative on his development in BBQ and Smoking, but it does have some interesting "how do" included.

HendersonTRKing

Received as a holiday gift and read it cover to cover.  It's chock full of interesting info on approach and process, in an Aaron Franklin Humble Zen Master sort of way -- not so much a "how to" or usable recipes.  I'm not about to follow his instructions to build a stick burner, but I found myself totally engrossed in how he does it.  And I'm sure I'm a better egger/bbq'er for having read the book.  That could be a function of how much room I have to grow.  But the book rocked and I'd recommend it to anyone who eggs.  Also makes an awesome gift.  

blasting

Yes, excellent read, but not what many were expecting.  It's not a cookbook. 

westernbbq

Yep, got it for  Christmas.   Love the guy's passion and obsession with Q

Salmonegg

Yep.  One of the rare cookbooks I've read cover to cover.

GoooDawgs

Excellent book.  The only annoying part of it is that now everybody says you have to cook a brisket until it's 203 internal temp!  They skip over the "probes like buttah" part... 

DoubleEgger

To say its a cook book is a stretch. More of a biography than anything else in my opinion. 

SoCalTim

I think what I want to know, what i've always wondered is, how or what does he do to make the best brisket on the planet?

Serious question, does he buy beef no one else is able to buy? Does he use pits no one else has access to? Does he use a secret technique no one else knows about?

There are quite a few seasoned experienced pitmaster's who run their own restaurants in Central Tx, how is he better than them?

Hopefully someday I'll take the trek to Austin to find out for myself.

EggMcMic

Yep, I enjoyed it, but like others it is more of a story of his life than a 'how-to'. Regardless, it is a good read and there are some things to be learned from it.

lousubcap

@SoCalTim - Disclaimer-not from or live in Central Texas so this is just a collection of a few thoughts and observations.  Let me say that I did make a pilgrimage to the Austin in Dec 2016 just to experience the brisket and see some of the processes at play.
If you are not a true brisket aficionado (or even if you are...) then you would be hard pressed to tell the difference in the briskets I had at Franklin's, Valentina's or La barbeque (unless it was a side-by-side happening).  They are all top tier. I did try a few others but there was a drop-off IMO. 
The texture was great, with the only taste difference the bark.  The level of pepper to salt ratio was the main bark discriminator.  I preferred the bark at Valentina's. 
Post oak for the fire in the off-set is the standard wood so that's effectively the same.  The pits look about the same size and design, as well.  He is open about where he sources his beef-I can't speak for the other operations.  
He does use quite a hold process with the butcher paper that guarantees the served product is moist but I found moist briskets at the other places as well.  
What Franklin has achieved is a level of consistency across a high volume (100+ briskets/day) along with some great self-promotion.  He is down to earth and connects with the public.  He was the "first to market" and has done extremely well maintaining his position.  
I didn't find "the holy grail" other than practice, practice, practice (edit: with quality beef).  
I am glad I made the trip and will do so again.  FWIW-

SoCalTim

@lousubcap - thank you for your comment(s), very insightful. One day I'll make it out there!

DMW

No input on the book, as I haven't read it. But just got confirmation I'll be in Austin for a conference next month and I'm a bit bummed I won't be able to visit Brisket Mecca while I'm there. I guess I'll just break in to @The Cen-Tex Smoker 's place and fire up his dishwasher...

lousubcap

@DMW - given your cooking prowess I would give serious thought as to how to at least get a day in brisket paradise.  Even if Franklin's isn't back up due to the fire, there are enough other places to appreciate and enjoy.  You never know when you will be back but I'm sure you have looked at this from every angle.  Next time...

DMW

lousubcap said:

@DMW - given your cooking prowess I would give serious thought as to how to at least get a day in brisket paradise.  Even if Franklin's isn't back up due to the fire, there are enough other places to appreciate and enjoy.  You never know when you will be back but I'm sure you have looked at this from every angle.  Next time...

@lousubcap I'm well aware of the other fine establishments around the area to visit. I just think it would be really fun to break into CenTex's place and play with his smoker.

lousubcap

@DMW - I'm not sure I would alert him here.  But if you can make it happen then go for it.  He may have a dog...

Botch

SoCalTim said:

I think what I want to know, what i've always wondered is, how or what does he do to make the best brisket on the planet?

Serious question, does he buy beef no one else is able to buy? Does he use pits no one else has access to? Does he use a secret technique no one else knows about?

There are quite a few seasoned experienced pitmaster's who run their own restaurants in Central Tx, how is he better than them?

Hopefully someday I'll take the trek to Austin to find out for myself.

I've tweaked my own brisket technique over the years, but I learned this lesson almost ten years ago, before I even became an Egger:
There are variations in cows, in beef, that you have no control over.  Even if you buy all your beef from XYZ farm!
I cooked two briskets, that I bought at the same time, side-by-side in the cooler, at the same time in my old water smoker.  One was my usual "damn good" level, the other sucked!  They were rotated during cooking, the ONLY difference between them must've been the cow they came from.  
You, me, everyone else, even Mr. Franklin, have no control over that.  I cannot accept that any one restaurant can have a consistently "better than" product than anyone else.  I really have to believe its a result of Marketing, and "mostly good" product over the years.  
My two-scent's, for what its worth.  

GoooDawgs

I have a last minute business trip to Austin tomorrow.   First time in that part of TX, I plan on checking out Valentinas for lunch and might load up a few HEB  briskets for the flight back to Atlanta. 

Kent8621

GoooDawgs said:

I have a last minute business trip to Austin tomorrow.   First time in that part of TX, I plan on checking out Valentinas for lunch and might load up a few HEB  briskets for the flight back to Atlanta. 

pick up some of the HEB fajitas also, they are very good.  I have a guy that travels from texas to here in north Alabama every few months and he is nice enough to bring me brisket and fajitas each time.

Thatgrimguy

He sure knows how to run an offset!! But he don’t know jack about an egg!!!

the book is fantastic and I read it cover to cover twice. But I also own an offset.