Smoke Shack Pit Bar-B-Q

HAMILTON: Smoke Shack Pit Bar-B-Q
702 S Rice St.
Hamilton, TX 76531
254-386-5246
Open M-F 10-4, Sat 10-2

Many times I had passed this joint on a Sunday while tooling up state highway 281, but the Sohms only operate from Monday through Saturday. On a recent Saturday, I decided to take the long route down to Austin, and hit 'em up. A call on Friday revealed the opening hour as 10:00 am, and I followed the owner inside the door as he unlocked it precisely at the designated time.



Doris and Butch Sohm run this joint. Doris has worked there for 38 years and took over from the former owners. Her husband Butch came along in 1995, and is now the pitmaster. They lamented the scant availability of good help that can be found in the area which is why they split all the duties between the two of them. In general they seemed frustrated with the hours of work that they must put in for such tiny profit margins. I further understood their plight after paying $4.50 for 1/4 pound of brisket, two ribs and a coke. Let's just say they could stand to raise those prices.



Back in the car, I unwrapped the foil pouch and took a bite into the nicely sized rib. This was no giant spare rib, but it wasn't full of fat and gristle either. It was a 3 1/2 and down rib (from racks that weight less than 3 1/2 pounds total) that was perfectly cooked. The meat came away from the bone easily, had great moisture and was nicely seasoned. They needed a bit more smoke to get a good bark and smoky flavor, but these were good ribs. Brisket was nearly identical save it was a bit dry. Most all of the fat was trimmed off, but what remained was nicely rendered with good flavor. The tender slices had great beefy flavor and had good seasoning, but also needed more time (perhaps unwrapped time) in the smoker to get a nice crust and smokiness. Something tells me Doris and Butch aren't going to change a thing no matter what this review says, but they've been doing just fine over four decades doing things their own way. No matter, it's certainly worth a stop if you're headed through town on any day but Sunday.

Rating ***