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Hot Links™
Wha-bam!
Wednesday.
Meet up with a friend from Wisconsin and tried a new BBQ joint. The meat was good, the sides were ok.
Pittsburg Hot Links has been a popular attraction in Pittsburg, Texas, for a long time. We decided to try their namesake links for lunch today. This was to be our first time to have hot links, and we were ready for an adventure!
Hot links are natural sausage casings stuffed with ground beef that’s been complimented with just a whisper of seasoning. They come from the kitchen in a large serving pan, all linked together like a long chain. They’re priced by the link, so you just tell the nice lady at the counter how many you want and she’ll count them out and snip off your lunch with a pair of scissors. You can order as many as you want; from one to dozens. They’re served in the traditional way, just like they have been for decades, heaped on a piece of butcher paper accompanied by some Saltine crackers. Order them to go, and they’ll wrap them up in the butcher paper for you.
No matter that they’re called “hot” links; they’re not spicy at all. That’s not a problem. Every table has a bottle of their special hot sauce sitting there ready for you to add to the links as you’re eating, if you want to. The sauce is just vinegar, red pepper, and water; and it’s delicious. And yes; it’ll definitely turn your links into “hot” links.
They have lots of other main courses you can order; and a whole bunch of side dishes as well. Navigator loved her potato salad, and I thought the coleslaw was some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
By the way, hot links are very good. This time I only had 6 because I was just trying them to see if I liked them. I did. The next time we go I’ll probably order a dozen!
It’s an understatement to say there’s a competition in the area over who makes the best hot links. Both Doc’s and Pittsburg have been making hot links for many years; and both have a loyal following.
Since Doc’s is in Gilmer, and Pittsburg is about 20 miles away in Pittsburg, geography can have a lot to do with which one some people like more. We’ve had folks in each town recommend both of them about equally.
Since today was our first time to try hot links, and since we were driving through Gilmer after we ate at Pittsburg, I decided to make a quick stop at Doc’s and try their links too. It was sort of a “taste test” by comparison. After all, who could make a more fair choice of the best link than someone who doesn’t have any preference based on the restaurant’s location; and who has no preconceived notions since he was trying hot links for the very first time.
First, some ground rules: I’m comparing the links, and the links only. To compare the “atmosphere” in the restaurant, or the number of side dishes, or the type of seating available just wouldn’t be fair. In those ways, both restaurants are entirely different. It would be like comparing apples to oranges. I’m just comparing the links themselves.
Here goes: Doc’s hot links VS Pittsburg hot links.
Flavor: Both places have delicious hot links. The real deal is that taste-wise, they’re virtually identical. In fact, if I’d been blindfolded and took a bite of one of each, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which one came from Doc’s and which one came from Pittsburg based only on taste. They tasted the same.
Consistency: The stuffing in the links at Pittsburg seems much more finely ground than at Doc’s. Personally, I liked the coarser meat inside the links at Doc’s much better than the more smoothly blended filler in Pittsburg’s links. This was how I probably could have told the difference in the blindfolded test.
Casings: Both places had casings that were still a little tough. Again, they were both the same. I’m reasonably sure, though, that they do that on purpose to keep from drying the links out by cooking them longer. That juiciness was worth it.
Grease content: I’ve seen some comments going around that one place or the other had “greasy” links. Neither Doc’s nor Pittsburg served up greasy links today. Both were juicy but not greasy. They were wonderful.
Bang for the buck: Here’s the clincher. The hot links at Doc’s were much larger than the hot links at Pittsburg. And since both places priced their links individually, and since the prices were within a few cents of each other at both places; cost-wise, the hot links at Doc’s were the better buy.
The bottom line: With flavor, casings, and non-greasiness being the same at either place; but with consistency and serving size being noticeably better at Doc’s, I’ll put forth that Doc’s makes better hot links.
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