BBQ Hall of Fame

Ray Basso, well-known publisher of TheBBQForum.com and several other bbq websites, designed another website that features bbq -- The Barbecue Hall of Fame.

From the website:

"The Barbeque Hall of Fame is a project to designed to preserve the contributions of some of the most important people in barbeque. In order to be listed in this web page, all nominees have to go through a process before being accepted to the BBQHOF."

This project is sponsored by Hawgeyes.com and is just getting started, but one of the first honorees is Arthur Bryant, Kansas City BBQ restauranteur. Arthur Bryant is honored in the businessess category and in the cooks category.

ProQ Water Smoker

There's a new bullet smoker in town folks. It's called the ProQ and is brought to you by Pro BBQ LTD.

I haven't seen one up close yet, but based on the pictures and brochure on the website they look promising. Their modular construction offers the flexibility to grill, roast, and smoke with the same basic unit.

The basic unit comes with a bottom section for the charcoal grate, middle section for the cooking grates, and top lid. You can add additional capacity by adding the optional "stacker" section.

Models available include the Amigo, Buckaroo, and Frontier, with the Stacker option to add additional capacity.

Atlanta BBQ Club

Some guys in Atlanta have organized a bbq club that celebrates the barbecue artform. Membership has it's perks too. For $25 members receive discounts at popular bbq restaurants, a bbq map that identifies bbq restaurants in the Atlanta area, invitations to a once per month "meating", and tips about cooking bbq; among many others.

Now why didn't I think of that?

The website features links to Thompson Brothers BBQ, Hambones, and Fat Matts Rib Shack in the greater Atlanta area.

Bloody BBQ Chicken

It's almost painful to type the title to this article and I realize it's not very appetizing, but this topic is gaining more and more press in bbq circles.

We've had a good amount of success cooking bbq chicken in FBA and KCBS sanctioned contests. We've always cooked our chicken thighs "low and slow" to an internal temperature of 170 degrees. To this point we've never had an issue with the judges and I hate to jinx it by talking about it, but it's a topic worth exploring.

There's a discussion at HomeBBQ.com that talks about removing the veins in chicken thighs to help reduce the effect from "clotting" that even can cause blood to appear in chicken cooked to a conservatively high 180 degrees.

It sounds like I need to start paying more attention to my chicken thighs and try to "devein" them before my next cook. It can't hurt.

Competition BBQ Secrets

Veranda Smoker Cover

If you own a "bullet" smoker like the Weber Smokey Mountain, as known as a WSM, the Veranda Smoker Cover is a nice addition to your bbq collection.

Although the WSM is very hardy and can be left outside for short periods, prolonged exposure will corrode the air vents and the door latch mechanism. A smoker cover like this one available on Amazon.com, will protect your bbq investment.

BBQ Contest in Panama?

The Florida BBQ Association is scheduled to sanction a bbq contest in the country of Panama next year. I checked the list of contests on their website, and it's not yet listed, but Chuck Ray of the FBA confirmed theses plans during a recent judges meeting at Pig in the Park.

The FBA currently has more than 300 members and is adding 6 new contests to their schedule in 2008. They've sponsored contests in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee during the past seven years and now they've scheduled their first international event.

Panama Canal anyone?

Hot Chili Pepper

There's a new hot pepper on the scene. Previously, the Red Savina was considered the hottest chili pepper on the planet, but researchers at New Mexico State have crowned a new "world's hottest pepper" -- the Bhut Jolokia, twice as hot as the Red Savina.

To determine the level of heat in peppers, scientists measure the amount of capsaicin.

Competition BBQ Secrets

Pig in the Park - Florida Barbeque Association

I spent the day at Pig in the Park in Kissimmee, FL. This bbq contest sanctioned by the Florida Barbeque Association, was held at the Osceola Heritage Park. The event had 25 professional and 8 backyard cook teams.

The event also featured a monster truck show, a motorcycle daredevil demonstration, a classic car show, local vendors, and displays from non-profit organizations.

I haven't judged an FBA event for a 2 1/2 years and I'm surprised at the dramatic increase in the overall quality of the judges' samples.

I took these pictures of these nice looking concession trailers just prior to leaving the event.

Congratulations to Swamp Boys -- Grand Champions.

Competition BBQ Secrets

Jon El's BBQ - Boonville Missouri

Linda and I visited my parents, sisters, and brothers in Boonville, MO last week. There's a new bbq restaurant that opened this year on Route B near the I-70 overpass and we stopped by for lunch on Thursday.

It's kind of funny now that I've become a bbq afficianado, because growing up in Missouri I never ate bbq in a restaurant. I didn't know there was such a thing.

The location is great and decor is about what you'd expect from a small town restaurant or cafe. The restaurant has seating for about 30 people and plenty of parking.

I had beef brisket and several in our group had the bbq pork. For $7.95 the portion sizes are good. The marcaroni and cheese and the french fries were popular side items, but the bbq was dissapointing.

How to BBQ

For those new to cooking barbecue, or new to competing; I've posted these how-to BBQ tips over at TheBBQGuy.com and thought I'd share them here as well.

How to keep BBQ hot if you're not quite ready to eat it...

use an ice chest/ice cooler. Put some hot water in an empty ice chest, close the lid and let it set for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain the hot water and you've got yourself a portable BBQ warmer. We've kept pork butts warm this way for 6 or 7 hours.

How to keep your hands clean when cooking BBQ...

use powder free latex gloves. They come in packs of 100 at the local Sam's and will keep your hands clean. You'll maintain good sanitary practices too.

How to keep your spouse interested in the BBQ hobby...

get him/her involved in it with you. It's a lot of fun. You meet nice people and it's something you can do together.

How to keep your BBQ expenses in line with your budget...

research all your purchases thoroughly. Make sure your purchase will do what you want it to do BEFORE you purchase it. For example, if you want to learn to cook whole hogs, you probably need to consider a big cooker or if you want to cook 10-15 racks spare ribs every weekend you're going to need something bigger than a WSM.

How to continually improve your BBQ recipes...keep records of your cooking efforts including cook times, prepping techniques used and especially measurements for sauces or rubs and spices used. When you tweak the recipe for taste, only change one thing at a time--change the cook time, change the rub, change the sauce, but try to avoid completely changing everything all at once. Small changes to your technique and recipes will help you focus on the effects better and you'll be able to fine tune the product quality more efficiently.

Competition BBQ Secrets

Sarasota Ribfest

Linda and I attended the ribfest in Sarasota yesterday and learned a lot about how not to organize a bbq festival.

It was the first "ribfest" we've attended in person and we were excited about the experience. The ones I've read about and seen on television were boisterous affairs and well promoted with large crowds of spectators. Unfortunately, we left festival sorely dissapointed.

The event was held at the old Sarasota fairgrounds and admission was $7 per person. We paid our money and entered the event. They only had three vendors cooking bbq to go along with a beverage vendor, a hot tub distributor, and someone giving camel rides. The bbq was terrible, but you could eat it in an air conditioned building while listening to live entertainment.

Competition BBQ Secrets

We watched many, many dissapointed faces enter the event, hopeful for a real "ribfest", but almost angry to find a hodge podge festival that appeared "slapped" together at the last minute.

Next year, if there is another year for this event, they need to add 10-15 more rib vendors and promote the event better on television, in the newspaper, and on radio. It was so poorly attended that at one point I counted more police at the event than people eating bbq.

I applaud the air conditioned facility, but give a big thumbs down for the event overall. We should have saved the $35 we spent at the event and $25 we spent for gasoline and stayed home.

BBQ Restaurant Menu

If a fellow was to purchase a bbq restaurant and the menu included Philly cheese steaks and traditional hamburgers, I'm thinking the first step to improving the business foot print and credibility would be to get rid of the Philly cheese steaks and hamburgers from the menu.

Do you agree?

Also, I'm thinking that if the restaurant is closed on Sundays, the second step to improve profits would be to open on Sundays.

Am I on the right track here?

The business was established in early 2007 and is apparently not meeting the owner's expectations. I've not eaten at the restaurant yet at this point, but I'm thinking that part of the problem is that they serve a lot of non-bbq items. The owner is also talking about adding breakfast to the menu.

From my personal viewpoint, a bbq restaurant should serve bbq and only bbq. I can see hotdogs for the children's menu or possibly fried chicken, but not Philly cheese steaks.

If a guy just had to have hamburgers on the menu, I'd prefer a "bbq hamburger" and not the traditional McDonald's variety burger.

Here's some more details about the business I'm referring to:

Asking Price: $62,000 (cash, no terms offered)
Gross Revenue: $172,784 (annualized)
Cash Flow: $31,460
Inventory: $2,000 (Included in Asking Price)
FF&E: $15,000 (Included in Asking Price)
Rent: $1,700 per month and 1,100 sq feet with parking

Competition BBQ Secrets

American Royal Invitational

Congratulations to Great Grills of Fire and Jiggy Piggy for their respective, grand champion and reserve grand champion, victories this weekend at the Invitational American Royal bbq contest in Kansas City. For anyone that is not familar with the Royal, it's the grand daddy of them all for bbq contests.

Congratulations are also in order for Lutz's Famous BBQ for Chicken, Smokin Triggers for Ribs, Pork Me Purple for Pork, and Grillas BBQ Team for Brisket.

I also applaud the recent redesign of the KCBS website at KCBS.us.

Click here for results from the open event held on Sunday.

Competition BBQ Secrets

Memphis BBQ Network

A group of contest judges and long-time bbq enthusiasts have banded together to form a new bbq sanctioning body known as Memphis Barbecue Network.

A recent edition of the Barbecue News announced that the Memphis in May organization is changing their methods of operation and strategy for bbq contest promotion. A letter was mailed to cook teams announcing the changes.

I don't compete in MIM contests, but I found it unusual that they chose to announce the changes without specifically explaining how they plan to "expand the scope" of their organization. I also wonder if the changes they announced has anything to do with the changes the KCBS announced earlier this year.

Sunshine State Chili Pod

I received an e-mail this afternoon announcing the Sunshine State Chili Pod. I thought I'd include some contact information here for anyone interested. It's chili contest information, but I consider chili cook-offs close cousins of bbq cook-offs.

Here's some history of the organization from the website:

"The Sunshine State Pod was seeded in 2001 by a vote of the Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) Great Peppers. We are the sponsoring body for CASI cook-offs within the state of Florida. The pod was started up by Bill Garbutt, Tom Ince, Myrna Ince, and Ken Rodd. The Pod's mission is to promote chili and raise money for charitable organizations thru chili cook-offs."

For information contact Candi at farevelo@bellsouth.net. The website provides more information and pictures about chili cook-offs in Florida with pictures and a membership form.

Link to membership form.

Shane's Rib Shack

Linda and I had lunch at Shane's Rib Shack yesterday. We ordered the large sampler platter, which included a 1/3 rack of ribs, about a 1/2 pound of chopped pork, and 6 fried chicken fingers. The large platter also comes with a choice of two side orders. We chose the fried okra and baked beans for our lunch.

Before I describe our impressions of the meal, I'd like to give you some background on Shane's. According to the website, Shane is a real person that used to have a corporate job. He took an old family recipe for bbq sauce and created a chain of bbq restaurants that is spreading it's influence across the country.

Getting back to our lunch yesterday...it was dissapointing.

The bbq sauce was good, but the ribs weren't much more than luke warm. They were charred with some type of black substance that reminded me of steaks that I used to cook on the grill when I was about 13 years old. The ribs were on the dry side and absent of any smoke flavor or smoke ring. The chopped pork wasn't warm at all--actually c0ld--but it did have a nice hint of vinegar flavor. The chicken fingers don't belong on the menu at a bbq restaurant, but I realize that kids like chicken so that probably explains why they are included on the "bbq sampler" platter. When I was a kid, I'd have rather eaten bbq, but I realize most kids like chicken tenders. The fried okra and baked beans were the best part of our lunch. I recommend the fried okra. It wasn't as good as home cooked, but it was close.

I realize that my experience is based upon one single restaurant on one single day, so I'll probably give them another chance sometime, but our lunch experience yesterday was a huge dissapointment.

Famous Dave's Barbecue

CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch featured Dave Anderson, founder of Famous Dave's, on tonight's program. His company has expanded from one restaurant in a town of 1,800 people and today it's expanded across the country and reported sales of $400,000 million last year.

The decor reminds me a lot of Logan's Road House and even Cracker Barrel in certain aspects, but it's hard to argue with Mr. Anderson's success in the bbq world.

BBQ Smoker Surprise

A man purchased a second hand bbq smoker and found a human leg inside. This article explains the details regarding the unusual discovery.

Backwoods Smoker

I spent some time visiting the Backwoods Smoker website today.

The Backwoods Smoker "Party" was my first real smoker. I paid $700 for it five-years ago. They've added some newer models in the last few years including the Jr. Pro, Piglet, Chubby and Fat Boy. The Party has been reformulated to include the previously optional upgraded stainless steel door and upgraded charcoal grate as standard options.

The web site has been redesigned too and now includes an owners gallery.

Virginia Barbecue, in Florida?

While riding my motorcycle near Ellenton, FL this afternoon I drove by Hickory Hollow BBQ on Highway 301 and couldn't help but notice the description on the sign proclaiming something about serving authentic Virgina barbecue. I'm not familar with exactly what makes bbq in Virginia different than bbq in other states, but I couldn't wait to get home and "google it" to see if I could figure it out.

A search for Virginia BBQ returned information about a Virginia bbq restaurant franchise opportunity. For a $20,000 franchise fee they will sell you a franchise for their bbq concept. The Washington Post wrote an article about one of the first franchisees recently.

I found web sites about authentic Virginia hams from the Edwards family and a link to Alicia's Recipes, which has a recipe specifically for West Virginia barbeque. I've got to tell you that if Virginia bbq is like the western variety talked about at Alicia's, I'm not sure I want any because Alicia likes to cover her bbq meat with water, bring it to a boil, and simmer it until tender. Par boiling isn't my idea of authentic anything.

I also discovered the online home for the Silver Pig Barbeque, which has an interesting logo on their web page that reminds me of life on the family pig farm dating back about 25 years.

I tried and tried, but apparently Google hasn't discovered authentic Virginia barbecue yet, because after 30 minutes of searching, I did not find the essence of what makes Virginia so much different than Florida bar-be-que.

I think the folks at Hickory Hollow Barbecue need to review their marketing techniques. I wonder how many others like me don't really know Virginia bbq from any other 'ole bbq sold on the side of the road. Other than the owner being from Virginia, I haven't the slightest idea what it really means.

Can you help a BBQ guy out, and help me understand?