Have never seen it.

I remember Ireland's BBQ. It was in a can and I believe it was made in Ft. Worth, TX. I was a Boy Scout in Houston in the early 1960's, and I remember taking Ireland's BBB on campouts. Did you or anyone else ever find out anything about it?

Yes, I remember it from the 1960's. I liked it, but haven't seen any of it in years.
Stan

It was still around in the early 70's because I used to fix it for my family. It was wonderful! Although it really didn't taste like BBQ, but had a great taste.

Ireland's Bar-B-Que came into tow kinds. One chip beef, the other sliced beef. One of the cans was red the other in a green label can. Love to eat it.

I sure do remember it. My Mom use to make our meals from scratch but when she had no time she'd pull out those
cans of BBQ. She was a great cook but we still looked
forward to Irelands.

I grew up in East Texas in the 50s and 60s, and remember it well. My mom would open a can, and we all really looked forward to it. Wish someone has the recipe and would share it.

To: zorro55555
From: mucho_hot
Yep I remember that stuff well. I remember it came in a green can. I remember that just before they went "kaput", they changed the recipe. I was still good but not like the old stuff. I didn't know it came from Texas. Ans yes, it didn't really taste like real bar b que, it had a taste of it's own. I don't know why it went defunct, maybe because of the price...it wasn't all that cheap. When I found this blog/thread, I thought I was the only person on Earth that remembered it and liked it. There has to be a way to find out who made it. It was GOOOOODD!!!

Yes, I remember it. I loved it. My mother always bought it. It came in chipped or large pieces. The sauce was out of this world delicious. I don't know who made it, but Would love to have it available again. I was a staple in our home and we had it served once a week.

They not only made the canned BBQ, but made the best canned chili around, named Iron Kettle chili. It was quite a bit more expensive than Hormel, Wolf Brand or the others but far better too. What the world needs most is a world class Texas chili in a can.

The closest to that is Chili Bowl chili out of Oklahoma found at some Sam's in the freezer dept. in 5lb. plastic containers. Damn good stuff. Thaw, put into throwdown size containers and refreeze for use. That company also makes chopped BBQ. in the same container in Sam's freezer and is pretty good too. Kind of like the old Ireland's canned BBQ. Recommended and cheap, cheap.

Marvin Cape: Long ago lived in Wichita Falls, Texas, now in Tennessee. I have thought of Ireland's Barbq many times. I also loved it and we ate it often. As someone stated it did not really taste like the barbq we eat today and it was not cheap. Many of the "old Foods" that we use to eat are gone now. What about Underwood's Barbq. They went out of business many long years ago but there was still a place on Northwest Highway near Garland rd that still served it for a long time after the Underwood's all went to jail, loved that Barbq!

Oct. 19,2015

yes....underwoods was good...so was freds bbq in richardson..irelands came in 2 or 3 cans??? 1 was chopped and one was sliced????...dreen can and a red can????

The green can was the one I remember about '53 or '54. Really good. Merry Christmas all.

I grew up in west Texas. (Lamesa)... And my Mom was still buying it in the late 50s. Not only did I love the unique taste but it smelled wonderful too!! (Very unique smell!) How I wish I had the recipe or at least a list of ingredients!

I lived in Lubbock,Meadow, Texarkana,Taylor,Boling,Houston,Tyler,Jacksonville,Troup,Van and Henderson. Got tired of the sand storms in Lubbock and went to Washington and stayed in Tacoma and still miss Irelands Pit Bar-B-Que

Irelands BBQ started in Wichita Falls,tx, they sold the recipe to wolf brand.

I loved Ireland’s pit cooked Barbque. Mamma bought 2 of the sliced beef green cans each week at Safeway. I could not wait for that quick meal. It was so good. The only thing better was chicken fried venison and white iron skillet gravy.

Wow now THAT^^ was a cool thread update!!

I remember Ireland’s Pit Barbecue in the green can. My dad carried it in his grocery store when I was growing up in the 50’s & 60’s in Houston, TX. We ate it all the time. It had a delicious sauce. I loved making a sandwich with it.

Just reading about Ireland's Pit Barbeque. iI can vividly recall the delicious, distinct taste. The red can might have been the chopped barbeque and the green can the sliced. Sure was the best and my mom fixed it perhaps once a week or every other week as in those days everyone cooked meals. Almost no one had to be called in from playing for supper time. Miss those days. Where may I ask was your dad’s grocery store in Houston? We stopped a small family owned grocery store and bought on credit by signing the grocery ticket and paying every two weeks I think, could have been once a month. Owner would send his personal car to pick up my mother, so she could do her grocery shopping, as she did not drive. Now that’s service. There was no charge for the special service either.

We used to eat it often. My mother was a good cook,but the Irelands BBQ was always my favorite. The taste and smell of the sauce will never leave you. I always wanted the recipe to try to duplicate it. I don't remember how I got the phone# but I called a restaurant in Burleson,Texas and saked about it and the lady that answered said I'll let you talk to the daughter of the man that started it. I asked if there was any way I could buy the sauce and she s as id I would have to go to Burleson to try it. If I remember correctly she said her Dad started it and some bean company bought him out and it went off the market. If you ever ate it you will always remeber it.

I remember well the delicious taste of Ireland's Pit Cooked BBQ in a can. I liked it so well that when I raised my 3 girls in the 70's, they also got to enjoy it as I did! I grew up in the Houston area and have actually been checking stores for this product for several years now. Just last week my wife and I stopped at a BBQ place in Hondo called Bill Miller's BBQ and it was very similar in taste to the Ireland's. It is a chain restaurant and I hope it comes to Houston soon.

Wow. Thanks for posting your experience at Bill Miller’s BBQ. I too grew up in the Houston area. At just the mention of Ireland’s Pit Barbeque my olfactory senses bring to memory the distinct taste of the most delicious Barbeque I have ever tasted.

Enjoyed eating Ireland's Barbecue along with my roommates while attending Texas A & I in Kingsville . Probably would buy it at Kroger's , H.E.B. ,and other local stores . We would add onions , tomato , lettuce and make a taco or envuelto on corn or flour tortillas . This was in the late sixties .

I remember the chili that came in a can still remember it had a dark green label, grew up in Wichita Falls they had a place they made it or could have been a warehouse

I sure do remember Iteland's BBQ. We did not eat it very often cause it was expensive. My Nanny would make toast & we would cover our toast with Ireland's & eat it as an open face sandwich. I NEVER knew they made chopped bbq & chili until reading the posts in this blog. It is a shame that we no longer have this product to eat. Folks, keep your eyes open & keep trying new & different products cause you never know when you may run across a product that tastes like Ireland's. Keep looking !!!

This remark/question is directed to Ollie Bear : In reference to your post from 6 years ago, regarding a brand of chili that you found @ Sam's, I am posting a pic of a container of chili. The brand name of the chili is Chili Bowl Homestyle Chili. In doing a search I found this item @ Amazon. Ollie Bear, I was merely sharing some info with you that I ran across. Thank you. Have a blessed day !!!

Ireland's Pit Barbeque came in two different cans. A red can and a green can, depending upon whether it was chipped or sliced. Both equally delicious. This barbeque originated in Wichita Falls, Texas. Wichita Falls had no “falls”, but was abundant in red dirt, cockle burrs, horny toads, and the most awful dreadful tasting tap water, all redeemable, yet all the while intolerable, because of this delicious barbeque.

jlevrier, I do not know when you were on Wichita Falls but I lived there for about 6 months when I was in 3rd grade. The rest of my life has been spent downriver to the East of WF in Denison. Denison probably has the same red sandy soil that will burn your feet in the Summer the soil gets so blamed hot !!!! I have had my share of horny toads as pets & our water that was drawn from Lake Texoma tasted horrible !!! Thank goodness we had well water for most of my life. I really liked Ireland's BBQ & I miss getting to enjoy the great taste of it. Maybe someday someone will come up with some bbq that is very reminiscent of Ireland's.

Unfortunately, sam’s no longer stocks or will order Original Homestyle Chile and Amazon’s is too big and expensive to order. i can find no source for this great chile, and can’t order direct from the manufacturer. Their local rep in my area refuses to answer my inquiries.

That is too bad that Sams no longer carries it. Amazon is surely proud of the chili they sell. They sell a case of 4~5 lb. buckets for $166. 40 which is $41.60 per bucket. What I saw on Amazon is that this chili is made by Windsor.

On another train of thought, I would like to make you aware of a great BBQ sauce named Little Pig. I can no longer find it in any stores. The maker of it, Clements Foods in Oklahoma City, will sell it to you but claim they make it only for instituional use. It is not very expensive but I learned that shipping on a case of 4~1 gallon jugs of Little Pig BBQ Sauce is more than the actual cost of the sauce. I live in North Texas, just a few miles from OK, so I am only a few hours away from OK City. One day I will make a road trip & go buy me some Little Pig. Have a great Saturday.l

Loved it. had sandwiches from it fior lunch at school. wish it could be brought back. the good things never are. was good cold too.

I was just telling my wife about this, and everything I said was repeated in these comments. The closest thing to this was a sandwich called the "Cowboy" at Jason's Deli. Some idiot changed the recipe to make it taste like real Bar B Que, and I have never found anything else to replicate it !

I was attending a course in San Angelo in the early 1980’s and the instructor hosted the class for a dinner at his house. i was amazed to see a table with a huge lump of BBQ on it! There was a waiter there with a big carving knife and a sign on the table that read: Ireland’s Pit Cooked BBQ! I stayed at that table for the rest of the evening! I remembered Ireland’s from growing up in San Antonio but had only experienced (and loved) the canned variety. I still dream about that experience!

i loved the canned kind as a kid in the late 50s early 60s. And the aroma was wonderful!

Can anyone describe the taste? I am going through some old camp recipes from my grandfather (southeast Texas). One of the recipes calls for a can of Ireland's bbq. I'm wondering what I could substitute. Apparently, this recipe was pretty popular and he gave it a crazy name. I would really like to try and make it if I can.

It is too difficult to remember the taste these many decades down the road to describe the taste now other than to say it was heavy on the sauce rather than predominately that of the meat flavor…definitely not a vinegar based or mustard based sauce though.

@jenniferbeaty I came across this thread because there's actually a discussion about it today in one of my Facebook groups. One of the members relayed the following though I'm beginning to doubt the correctness of her information: "i found this little note a few years back ... the daughter of the man who ran the Ireland's Chili and BBQ empire out of Wichita Falls has a family restaurant (Odom's Old Town Smokehouse BBQ) in Burleson, TX, where she cooks all of her Dad's old recipes. The website says that Ireland's sold out to Ranch Style Beans of Fort Worth. Looks like a very roadfood-worthy place to dine." I imagine @Carolyn Ireland could confirm or deny its veracity. Regardless, the place is no longer in business.

In regard to the flavor of Ireland's canned BBQ my memory is that it was quite unique and very smoky — almost addictive.

I called the resturant in Burleson one night years ago and got to talk to Carolyn about her Dads bbq. I told her when I was a kid my mom would open a can put it in a pot warm it and put it over bread. once you tasted and smelled it, it would stay with you the rest of your life. I saked if there was any way I could buy the sauce. She said she still has it in her resturant but i’d have to come to Burleson to eat it. I waited to long and they closed down. Every time I see a post from houzz Photo I think maybe some one found one that taste like it. Always turn out dissaponted.

I live in Texas where BBQ is quite popular but would still consider Ireland's canned BBQ to have the best flavor of all. I lived in Houston and ate it in the 50s and 60s. Very distinct and delectable flavor. If available today it would sell quite well. Not remotely like Bill Millers BBQ as mentioned, which I've eaten many times!!!!!

Yes, I loved it!

The closest thing I've found to Irelands BBQ in a van is Bob Miller's restaurant just east of San Antonio on I-10. It tastes nearly identical!