The City of Lockhart has built a reputation as the barbecue capital of the state.
"When you come here to eat barbecue you know why," Wayne Bock, with the Lockhart Chamber of Commerce, said.
The town has about 13,000 people and four world-class barbecue joints that attract visitors from around the world. About a million people eat barbecue in the city each year.
"I'd say probably 95 percent of our business is out of town," Keith Schmidt, with Kreuz Market, said
It takes a lot of work to prepare the thousands of pounds of meat that Kruez Market sells each week.
"Lockhart's not really on the way to anything, so we are a destination and people come here specifically for it," Schmidt said.
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BBQ Biz
In his ongoing look at barbecue in Texas, News 8's Russell Wilde gives us a closer look at the business of barbecue.
 
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As their reputation spread beyond Central Texas, their online business took off. Kruez Market even supplies area restaurants with famous links.
In Elgin, Southside Market ships their links around the country. The business started as a meat market in the 1880's, now their sausage is available in area super markets, for customers to prepare at home.
"People are wanting the simpler things and cooking in the backyard is certainly a simple thing," Bob Carroll, with BBQ Outfitters, said. BBQ Outfitters is a one-stop-shop for outdoor cooking equipment.
In the world of barbecue the quest for the perfect pit is never ending. Bill Karau used his engineering background and four years of trial and error to develop what he considers a fool proof smoker, the Karubecue.
"All you have to do to make great barbecue with this pit is keep the fire box full of wood. That's it," Karau said.
For now barbecue is Karau's passion and time will tell if his invention will allow him to make barbecue his career.
"I'm on the front end of that process. It's going to come down to customers," he said. "Does it make a good product? I think it does, but you never know what the market wants and what it doesn't want and we'll see shortly."
