Those of you looking for gifts for residents of barbecue country can stop reading right here. For the rest of you, we offer what, in our experience, is the mail-order barbecue that comes closest to the real thing: Black’s Barbecue of Lockhart, Texas (see the Roadfood.com review). If you’re a veteran of barbecue-by-mail you know that it’s a compromise; the smoked meats are better than anything you can find locally, or turn out of your oven, but they’re really only a shadow of what you can find on-site. Black’s is better than that. If you take a whole Black’s smoked brisket, and heat it low and slow in your oven, your house will smell like a Texas pit, and the beef will be smoky and juicy and full-flavored. Don’t ignore the house-made sausage, either. Even the pork ribs, here in Texas beef country, are good.
 
If you were to order a la carte we’d definitely recommend going with the brisket, but our choice is the package known as Edgar Black’s Favorites: a whole six-pound brisket, a two-pound rack of pork ribs, and four rings each of their regular, jalapeno and cheese, and garlic sausages. The package will cost you $129.99 plus shipping. This is a gift for someone you like very, very much (and who enjoys good Texas barbecue!).