How To Get The Freshest Beef Brisket Every Time At Buc-Ee's

Buc-ee's is a Southern chain of gas stations perhaps best known for three defining characteristics: Its often enormous numbers of gas pumps (sometimes over 100 per location), its remarkably clean bathrooms, and its beef brisket.

Buc-ee's brisket is historically well-regarded, and it's a major part of the hot food menu. Stores are open 24/7, and various brisket menu items are available from 11:30 a.m. to at least midnight, per the company's FAQ. Depending on the store, some fans have reported being able to get fresh brisket as late as 3 a.m., but when is the freshest brisket on deck?

Just keep an ear out for an employee shouting something like "Fresh, hot brisket on deck" (via Southern Living), or "Fresh brisket on the board" (via The News & Observer). And if you're not sure that you heard it, other workers at the Texas Roundup barbecue counter should shout it back to complete the call-and-response. This announces to customers that a newly warmed brisket is about to be chopped up.

Buc-ee's barbecue counters regularly chop brisket for sandwiches, breakfast tacos, and more using a large blade similar to a two-handed meat cleaver. A meat cleaver is always the best way to chop brisket thanks to the quick cuts the sharp, heavy blade makes through the tender beef.

To maintain nearly 24 hours of brisket availability without compromising consistency or quality, Buc-ee's smokes all of its briskets at a centralized location for 14 to 18 hours each. Cooked briskets are then packaged and delivered daily to Buc-ee's stores, which warm and chop them as needed.

If you want to get the famous brisket for an event, Buc-ee's doesn't exactly do catering, but its large volume of hot food sales has the company confident that any store can handle large orders, even if customers have to pick it up themselves. While you're there, consider checking out the most unique snack at Buc-ee's, savory (or sweet) stuffed Czech pastries known as kolaches.