Before I ever smoked any hunk of meat I read Aaron Franklin’s BBQ book cover to cover. The day before I first lit up my kettle I watched all his BBQ by Franklin videos on PBS multiple times. Pretty much everything I do as far as smoking meat has a foundation on the principles and methods Aaron Franklin has learned over the years at his very popular Franklin Barbecue restaurant in Austin, TX.
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When I first heard Aaron Franklin was doing a MasterClass I was very excited. I had already learned a ton from him but knew there was more he could share, more details he could dig into, and more hands-on demonstrations he could do. The format of a MasterClass is perfect for this type of instruction.
MasterClass, if you aren’t familiar with it, is a platform with a number of different video courses from experts in many different fields. Aaron Franklin, of course, has one on cooking Texas barbecue, and there are other MasterClasses from guys like Thomas Keller, Dominique Ansel, and Wolfgang Puck teaching different cooking techniques. Phil Ivey and Daniel Negranu have classes on poker, Steph Curry has one on ball handling, Steve Martin teaches comedy, Aaron Sorkin teaches screenwriting, you can even learn acting from Samuel L. Jackson.
I signed up for the Aaron Franklin MasterClass and over the course of a few days I worked my way through all 16 of the lessons. The lessons are:
- Introduction 2:57
- Fire and Smoke 28:30
- Smoke: Pork Butt 25:33
- Smoke: Pork Ribs 34:10
- Wood 8:23
- Grill: Steak and Broccolini 21:31
- Beef: Quality and Selection 8:37
- Prep: Brisket Trim 34:19
- Smoke: Brisket Part 1 20:13
- Smoke: Brisket Part 2 17:01
- Smoke: Brisket Part 3 18:36
- Finish: Brisket Slice 17:20
- Prepare: Sauce 10:54
- Offset Smokers 4:33
- Aaron’s Journey to Pitmaster 15:54
- Bonus Chapter: How Brisket Became King: The History of Texas Barbecue 7:46
Overall Aaron Franklin pretty much covers everything you need to know to cook some great food. He is most know for his brisket and the course is mostly focused on that (and with him cooking over 100 briskets a day at his restaurant you would expect that) but there is plenty of other information in there. When someone spends over 34 minutes talking about just trimming the brisket and over 17 minutes talking about how to slice it you know there are some great details contained in these lessons.
Some decent time is spent talking about wood, fire, and offset cookers. And let’s be honest – most of us don’t have offset cookers. We are cooking on Weber Kettles, pellet smokers, electric smokers or something else you can pick up at the local hardware store. One of these days I hope to have a nice offset smoker but for now I will keep cranking out stuff on my kettle. But that information about offset cookers and wood can be adapted and applied to other types of cookers as well. Airflow, clean smoke, temperature control and info like that is important regardless of what you are cooking on.
For most of us it will be hard to follow some of his instructions step by step. A lot of how he does briskets he does by feel but when you cook dozens and dozens of briskets a day for years you can rely on that. I will probably keep using my Thermoworks Smoke to keep track of my temperatures but one of these days I will try going by feel just to see if I can do it. But the theory and thought behind what he teaches is spot on and can easily be adapted to be relevant to you.
Another thing to keep in mind, and he reminds us many times throughout the course, is that every brisket and every cook is different. So trimming your brisket will look different every time and there is no real step by step method that will turn out great every time. But the general principles can be applied. Sometimes my briskets look like I trimmed them with a weed whacker and other times they look beautiful so that is a chapter I will go back and watch multiple times.
Keep in mind this is primarily about how to cook Texas style barbecue. So you won’t see any Carolina whole hog, Memphis dry ribs, or KC style burnt ends. You can apply a lot of the thoughts and processes to other types of barbecue though so even if you aren’t a brisket person it will still be relevant.
I am a big fan of Aaron’s teaching style and personality. He doesn’t take things too seriously and he does all at the same time. Aaron comes across as very friendly and helpful and from what I have seen he isn’t arrogant like many other teachers can be. When I was at his restaurant last fall I got a quick chance to meet him and even though he was in a hurry and in the middle of a lunch rush he took the time to say hi and chat for a couple minutes.
All in all I was very pleased with the content of this course. At $90 for this course I think it is well worth the money. A brisket costs at least $50 for a prime brisket at Costco and up to $200+ for a an American Wagyu brisket from Snake River Farms. If $90 will help me save a couple briskets from disaster it can make it well worth the cost.
Along with the video lessons there is a course workbook that goes along with the videos that would be great to print out and take notes on. You will also have access to a community of others who have taken the course to ask questions, share ideas, and share your experiences.
If you are at all interested in barbecue, specifically Texas style barbecue, this is a great course I would highly recommend. Following the instructions and adapting them to your situation will definitely help to to make a better brisket and better barbecue overall.
Sign up for the Aaron Franklin MasterClass today and get learning. The single class is $90 and access to all the courses available will run you $180. Watch as much as you want and if you aren’t happy there is a 30 day refund policy. But you won’t want to do that because you will love going back and rewatching these lessons.
Here are some other items you might want to get that will help you cook like Aaron Franklin does:
- Peach Butcher Paper
- Adjustable Spray Bottle
- Rub Shakers
- A good probe thermometer
- A good smoking thermometer that can measure the temperature in your smoker and the meat (he doesn’t use one but it will really, really help)
- 16 Mesh Black Pepper
- Dexter Slicing Knife
