Davey Griffin talking about beef carcasses in the Rosenthal Meat Center

The Texas Barbecue Town Hall Meeting, a one-day event dedicated to those involved in the commercial barbecue business, will be held at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas on Monday, January 24, 2022. This meeting will be hosted by the Meat Science program of the Department of Animal Science and will be held in the The Shirley & Joe Swinbank ’74 AgriLife Center and the Rosenthal Meat Center.

Texas Barbecue Town Hall Meeting participants

“We have had six town hall meetings with great turnouts, and we look forward to this year’s event,” according to Jeff Savell, one of the leaders of the Texas Barbecue program at Texas A&M University.

Three speakers have been confirmed for this year’s town hall meeting: David Anderson, economist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, will be back again to give an update on the livestock and meat markets, Brandon Hurtado, Hurtado Barbecue, Arlington, Texas will discuss the role of social media in growing your business, and Homer Robertson, Deputy Fire Chief, City of Fort Worth and World Champion Chuck Wagon Competitor on how to fireproof your business. In addition, participants will get a chance to see view beef carcasses and meat cuts at the Rosenthal Center in the afternoon.

Rachel Cutrer speaking at the Texas Barbecue Town Hall Meeting

The meeting will begin at 10 AM (coffee and kolaches at 9:30 AM) and end around 3 PM and will involve both lectures and hands-on demonstrations. “We choose Mondays for these meetings knowing that many restaurants are closed that day, which may allow for some operators to bring key in-house staff with them,” said Savell. “Hopefully, people can drive in, attend the meeting and be back home later that night without having to spend too much time away.”

Davey Griffin with beef carcasses and cuts

The Texas Barbecue program at Texas A&M University is coordinated by Davey Griffin, Ray Riley, and Jeff Savell, and it includes the first-year seminar, ANSC 117, Texas Barbecue; Barbecue Summer Camp and Camp Brisket, conducted with Foodways Texas; and the Barbecue Genius Counter.

Jeff Savell, Davey Griffin, and Ray Riley (photo courtesy of Kelly Yandell)

The Texas Barbecue Town Hall Meeting is sponsored by the E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair in Animal Science. To register for the meeting, email Jeff Savell at j-savell@tamu.edu or call at 979-845-3992 (office) or 979-255-6676 (mobile), or contact Davey Griffin at dgriff@tamu.edu or call at 979-229-0273. Details about parking, meeting locations, appropriate dress for the refrigerated meat coolers, etc., will be sent to the attendees before the meeting.