The article defends gassers to a certain extent but ends on the point that still, smoking over a wood fire is preferable. Where it gets interesting is in the shots fired at Daniel Vaughn (TMBBQ editor) and to a certain extent Aaron Franklin on both this article on TMBBQ and a duplicate post on Texas Monthly, the parent site (the dual posting with separate comments seems peculiar to me).
Finally, Daniel, I’m a bit skeptical about your ability to tell the difference, a) because having someone use a tool new to them is no kind of basis for comparison, and b) because Franklin wraps their BBQ which itself is going to make it soggy. I asked for untrimmed brisket (which, annoyingly, ended up being a shock and ordeal for them to go get a fresh brisket) and it had a lot of caramely bark. Was it comparable to a place like Black’s or Kreuz? No. But it was comparable to other good BBQ joints that use all wood.
At this point, you’re really making pains to say something is true because you want it to be true more than because it is true, I think. I understand the nostalgia and the aesthetic, but even you and Aaron, who are both obviously quite prejudiced, are having to stretch the bounds of rationality to separate the two in substantive ways.
Another one:
Good gosh, Mr. Vaughn, you ought to do a little research before you post whatever the young Mr. Franklin tells you. He is a purist and he obviously knows a great deal about cooking good barbecue with indirect smoke. He does not know all there is to know about gas assisted units.
I’ll be interested to see if there is a direct response from Vaughn.
-Monk