South Texas seems to cultivate outstanding BBQ cooks
By Carlene Phelps
It's always exciting to return to South Texas and visit with the barbecue elite. You'll find them in some of the top rated smoke houses in the country and at barbecue cook-offs. One of these teams hail from Weslaco, Tx., and is known on the IBCA circuit by the name of Smokin' Lone Star. Another highlight of these South Texas trips is the ability to take advantage of the delicious Tex-Mex recipes. This team includes the best of both worlds and delight in producing great food for family and friends.
 It all began when Chief BBQ Cook Arnie Segovia of Edinburg, TX, visited a cook-off and judged a Bobby's On The Bayou event. He admits to judging some pretty good barbecue, but once the event was finished, he thought to himself, “I can cook better barbecue than this!” Alas, another competition barbecue cook was born.
Arnie teamed up with some family members and entered another contest held at the same location and he was right about cooking better barbecue than most. The team won second overall and first in ribs. Team members today include some 25 members (official and un-official) and include Arnie, brother “Peewee” Segovia, Chuck Sellman and Marshall Lott. When we caught up with them recently in Corpus Christi, many of the members were on hand for this great event. Members of the team were cooking trail bread and a pie in dutch ovens during the visit and we enjoyed the sampling. Regardless of what you think about barbecue cooks, their diet includes many items as most are simply excellence cooks.
When asked about his method for cooking award-winning brisket Arnie shared, “We use a basic recipe but it's all about the time and the fire. A 10-12 lb. brisket is cooked for eight hours at 250 degrees and then wrapped. When judging time comes, we just slice and send it up to find out what the judges think.” He admits to using mesquite, oak, hickory or pecan wood when cooking because they all render a good flavor for the meat.
This large group of family and friends get together about once a month and enjoy all the benefits of delicious food and excellent company.
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