Buc-ee's pitmaster reveals secret of Texas BBQ he'd bring to new location in Fort Pierce

Randy Pauly loves barbecue. The 50-year-old Buc-ee’s pitmaster lives on a ranch south of Houston, Texas, and has an office and test kitchen in nearby Lake Jackson, but he spends most of his time at new store openings.

“I’m not your average employee,” Pauly told TCPalm. “I’ve been known to pop into a store at 3 a.m. and watch the first briskets come out.”

Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based national chain of mega-travel centers renowned for its barbecue, plans to open its first Treasure Coast location on the southeast corner of Indrio Road and Interstate 95 in northern St. Lucie County between Fort Pierce and Vero Beach, according to county documents.

Pauly said he'd be there, arriving 30 days in advance and staying at least through the first week.

“I love these store openings,” Pauly said. “That’s where the magic happens.”

Buc-ee's Texas barbecue

In 2017, Buc-ee’s wanted to revamp its barbecue to "bring competition barbecue to the consumer," Pauly said. The eight-time world barbecue champion was hired as director of barbecue operations and "Texas Round Up," which is the barbecue counter in Buc-ee's stores that serves brisket, pulled pork, turkey and sausage.

Pauly’s grandfather was a butcher and his father was in the meat business until he died in a car crash when Pauly was 15.

“My dad and I’s thing was cooking,” Pauly said. “We would go to the store with no recipe in hand and create meals.”

After a neighbor introduced Pauly to barbecue competitions, he started participating in county cookoffs, which occur weekly in Texas. He enjoyed the cowboy environment, the food and the ladies. His mother wasn't the biggest fan, making him put his smoky-smelling clothes in the washing machine immediately when he got home.

“Being a young kid, it was the perfect thing to do,” Pauly said. “I fell in love with the competition side and the craft — and I wanted to be the best at it.”

Food Network made barbecue cool

When Pauly began competing, barbecue wasn’t cool. But everything changed thanks to the Food Network, which shows how difficult it is to smoke a brisket and showcases pitmasters like they are rock stars.

“That brisket is one of the hardest proteins you can cook,” Pauly said. “It’s got grain going separate ways. It’s a tough piece of meat that you have to go low and slow to make it tender.”

Featured Texas pitmasters like Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue and Ronnie Killen of Killen’s Barbecue made it trendy to stand in line for hours for barbecue — and even made it trendy to run out.

But not at Buc-ee’s, where the barbecue is in stock around the clock and available without a wait, Pauly said.

Because Buc-ee's stores are on highways and cater to travelers, they don't compete with in-town barbecue joints, Pauly said, encouraging people to patronize both types of restaurants when it makes sense.

“The food and the quality are extremely comparable,” Pauly said. “The experiences are completely different.”

Buc-ee's brings competition barbecue to the masses

Pauly has traveled all over the world for barbecue competitions, including Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Aruba, Jamaica and Mexico. But that was on a small scale.

“Now I’m bringing Texas brisket across the U.S.,” Pauly said. “It’s the coolest thing being at a Buc-ee’s grand opening. Seeing somebody taste brisket for the first time is really exciting. And knowing I hooked them is even better.”

Despite Buc-ee's large-scale operation, Pauly said he maintains quality by training staff and not taking shortcuts. He teaches employees how to separate the brisket, remove the fat from the pork shoulder and slice turkey to the proper thickness. For the brisket, he uses certified Angus beef, which he trims — leaving just a little fat for flavor —then seasons with two coats and injects with liquids, just like in competition.

“These recipes are very much similar to our competition,” Pauly said. “You need a base coat, and you need a top coat.”

Smoking Texas-style brisket

Pauly smokes Buc-ee's brisket low and slow on hard wood for 14- to 18-hour cook cycles per day in old-school smokehouses. Buc-ee’s wants to keep their locations and logistics a secret.

Pauly shared one Buc-ee’s secret that Texans probably know by now, but Floridians likely don’t.

“Our brisket and turkey and pork are sold by the pound. Most people think they can only get a sandwich," he said, "but the kicker is we also will sell the whole protein to you.”

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Customers can walk into any Buc-ee’s and order a whole brisket, as long as they give at least one day’s notice, Pauly said. Instead of calling ahead, they should go into the store and talk to the deli manager or general manager.

When customers take a bite of Buc-ee's brisket, they’re not going to taste just one flavor sensation. They’re going to taste multiple layers of sweet, smoke, pepper, salt, paprika and garlic, Pauly said.

“In competition, I get one bite" to win over the judges, Pauly said. "To make you a fan of Buc-ee’s, I feel like I got just one bite too, because if that first bite’s just OK, I’m not going to build an addiction with you.”

Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Buc-ee's pitmaster Randy Pauly brings Texas BBQ brisket to Fort Pierce