West Texas BBQ - History

A Bit of West Texas History

Dan Huntoon, owner & operator of West Texas Barbeque makes the
best Texas barbequed brisket this side of the Rio Grande. Huntoon has a couple of nicknames, and he comes by both honestly. “Big’Un” was bestowed upon him by a guy named Ernest Decker down in Roanoke, Texas, as a friendly commentary on Huntoon’s size. But it’s the second handle that Huntoon wears even better – “Barbeque Man.”

And by barbeque we don’t mean slapping some meat on a grill and calling it “que.” True barbeque, as practiced in Texas and the American South is a low-heat, indirect method that uses lots of wood smoke to cook and flavor the food. And that’s what the Big’Un is talking’ about – “pit” barbeque that’s cooked over a slow burning hardwood fire.

Huntoon may hail from Jackson, but he got his barbeque degree in Roanoke, Texas, as a ranch hand on Jay Rodgers’ dude ranch, Ranchland. After learning the tricks of the brisket trade from the “Denton County boys,” Huntoon returned home to Jackson to enlighten us poor Yankees.

When Huntoon returned from Texas in the early ‘80s, he tried a couple of different business ventures, but barbeque was in his blood. “I built my first pit in my dad’s garage,” Huntoon says. “My dad pulled in the driveway, got a look at what I was doing in the garage, shook his head, and told me I was crazy.”

In 1986, Huntoon hauled out his newly built pit and some 300 pounds of brisket and started selling sandwiches on the corner of Francis and High Streets in downtown Jackson. “I had a lot of $1,000 Saturdays,” says Huntoon.

Huntoon doesn’t have to sell barbeque on the street corner anymore. In fact, he’s gotten so good at bringing barbeque to the masses that he and his experienced crew, served barbeque and all the trimmings, including beans, salads and dessert, to 5,000 people at a University of Michigan Medical Center event. “We got ‘em served in 3 ½ hours,” Huntoon boasts.

For larger events, Huntoon hauls his handmade pits to the location, loaded down with smoked brisket, pork and turkey and sometimes some smoked sausage or even prime rib. The largest pit is 6 feet wide, 5 feet tall and 12 feet long and can cook 3,000 pounds of brisket at a time.

“What I do is an art. It takes patience, understanding and a slow-burning hardwood fire,” Huntoon explains.

An old Texas cowboy said it best, “good barbeque is cooked the same way that a cowboy dances – slow, easy and often,” muses the Big’Un. “It’s as tender as a lady’s heart, as moist as her . . . goodnight kiss and as lean as a cowboy’s wallet.”