Wildside BBQ & Grille - Orlando, FL

Wildside BBQ & Grille feels more like a sports bar than a BBQ joint inside with TVs everywhere you look. But the BBQ I had was pretty tasty, so don't judge a book by its cover. Although anyone looking for good Q knows better than that.

I broke with first-time visit tradition and did not get a pulled pork sandwich. I went with the brisket plate instead.

I got BBQ beans and mac-n-cheese for my two sides. Don't usually do mac, but did tonight. Must be the humidity getting to me already (just flew in tonight).

I am sorry to say the meat was barely warm on my plate. I kept the sides (which were hot) and once I was able to find someone that would look up so I could catch their eye, I sent it back.

I am glad I did. Very tender and very tasty. I was disappointed when I added sauce - to me this meat is best as it comes (assuming it is hot...), don't kill the taste with extra sauce.

For my taste the beans were too sweet. Some had a bit too much tooth to them and could use a longer soak.

Not generally a big mac-n-cheese fan (other than my wife's of course!!), but I enjoyed this dish quite a bit.

We visited on a Monday evening - rainy too. Not that busy. If you visit on such a night sit front and center so you can get service if/when you want it.

I would come back here.
Lots of options on the menu too.

Wildside BBQ & Grille
700 E. Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801
407-872-8665
http://www.wildsidebbq.com/

Kinder's Meats Deli BBQ - Fairfield, CA

Two new BBQ joints in two nights, and two posts to match.

Tonight found me in Fairfield, CA. After a trying day with a critical computer failure I wandered into Best Buy to by a thumb drive in the hope that my computer awakes long enough for me to pull a bunch of data off the local drive. Curses for not backing up regularly and/or saving critical files to the cloud.

What does this have to do with BBQ? Well, I asked the guys at Best Buy for a BBQ recommendation. They both said to go to Kinder's. Bonus points for it being really close to my hotel.

Cut it close by getting there at 7:45 - they close at 8. They didn't have any issue with me ordering that close to closing and eating there.

Got the pulled pork of course. Their standard sando comes with mayo on the top bun. Never had that, but rolled with it. Added coleslaw and baked beans. Plus a beer and it only set me back $14.34.

Not my favorite coleslaw - but I am really picky - still ate most of it. Enjoyed it added to the sandwich. Beans were good and hearty.

They pork was tender and had a nice flavor. The Kinder sauce added a nice touch of flavor without overpowering he meat.

I would come here again for sure. Who knows, maybe I'll head back tomorrow to try the BBQ Beef sandwich. 

They actually have three locations - Fairfield, Danville and Pleasanton.

In Fairfield they are at:
1363 Oliver Road, Suite C
Fairfield, CA 94534

They even have an Android and iOS app. Looks like they are on Facebook & Twitter, but no account info is on the menu.

A New Joint - Dickey's Barbecue Pit (Lodi)

Mobile post.

Tonight I find myself in Lodi, CA on a business trip. Whenever I find myself overnight somewhere I seek out BBQ. Here I was only able to locate two locations, and one closed at 4 pm so that was out.

So I heard from a few people that Dickey's is the place to go for BBQ. I didn't think much about the name at the time. When I pulled up I recognized it as a chain because there is one about to open in San Marcos near us.

Truth be told I was disappointed because I really like to find those classic, single-location joints that do some catering on the weekends. But I was ready for BBQ so in I went.

I grabbed a menu and got in line. My go-to item for the first time at a location is the pulled pork sandwich. But I didn't see one on the menu. Well, turns out the "Big barbecue" is a sandwich with your choice of meats (not that you'd know that from the menu).

So I got that with pulled pork (which he pulled right there) with the Dickey's BBQ sauce. They also have a sweet sauce and a spicy sauce. And I got two sides - coleslaw to add to the sandwich and barbecue beans. Add a bottle of Coors Light and the total came to $14.26.

Well, short review - I am looking forward to stopping by the San Marcos location and eating at Dickey's again.

I don't care for most coleslaw. I like theirs. I might like it more with a few raisins and a few chopped nuts, but good just as it is. Just a little sweet.

Enjoyed the beans too. Lots of other sides to investigate during future visits.

The pork was nice and tender. Sauce has just a little spice. Good flavor. I did enjoy the sandwich more with the coleslaw on it.

If you ever find yourself in Lodi and wondering what to do for lunch or dinner, swing into Dickey's at 1379 S. Lower Sacramento in the Lowe's shopping center.

Famous Dave's BBQ for Family Dinner

We have almost always enjoyed our visits to Famous Dave's BBQ in Vista, CA. Tonight was no exception.

My brother-in-law Eric is in town and staying with us for a few days. After a day working in the yard we were treated to dinner out with mom and dad. We had all been to Dave's before, but it was Eric's first time. So we decided to go for it!

We had the...

ALL-AMERICAN FEAST
A full slab of St. Louis-Style Spareribs, a whole Country-Roasted Chicken, 1/2 lb. of either Texas Beef Brisket or Georgia Chopped Pork, Creamy Coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur Beans, six pieces of Fresh Sweet Corn (farm fresh when available) and four Corn Bread Muffins. Served family-style for 4-6 people.

Wow. That is a lot of food!



Mom had her usual pulled pork plate (we did the brisket on the trashcan lid, oh ya, it is served on a trashcan lid!) - so that left four of us to work on a meal that can feed six or more. We did OK, but we still left with three takeout boxes!

You have to give it to Dave's, they have a wide selection to pick from, and it is consistantly good. We never hesitate to go there because of worries about the food.

If you haven't been to a Famous Dave's BBQ, I recommend you get to one and see what you have been missing!

BBQ map (mostly San Diego)

Not only have I been bad about posts to my blogs, I have also failed to update my BBQ Joint Reviews map. You can also view on your iOS or Android device.

I will have to make some time for some reviews, photos and meal reports!

Let me know about any locations I should add to the map & review!

Dusting off the Smoker for July 4th

Can you guess what I am doing on July 4th?

The Butt is trimmed and rubbed

Like a ton of folks, I will be firing up the smoker tomorrow and slow cooking some pork butts.

I am trying a new flavor base this time. For years I have used molasses as my base, but from the start I have wanted to use honey. So in honor of the birthday of America I am trying honey.

Sticking with my old standby rub, Bad Byron's Butt Rub. Best to just mess with one thing at a time. I love Bad Byron's tagline - "A little Butt Rub makes everything better" - ain't that the truth!  =)

I picked up 14.84 pounds of Butt at Restaurant Depot in San Diego on Monday. It was hard to not get more Butt and toss in some Ribeye (on sale!) as well. But I was good. Lots of other supplies yet to get for the party on the 7th.

I trimmed up the two butts a bit. There was some serious fat on the larger of the two. Coated with honey. rubbed with Butt Rub, wrapped and back into the refrigerator.

On the 7th we are having family and friends over to hang out, eat, drink and spend some quality time together. Serving pulled pork sandwiches and hotdogs. If people know what's good for them we will have a lot of leftover hotdogs...

Well, now that I have that done, I'd better finish cleaning up the kitchen and get to bed.
After the butts are done tomorrow we are heading out for a date - San Diego County Fair or dinner and a movie. We shall see...

"Faux-be" Beef - Maybe You've Had This "Kobe Beef"

Thanks to Bigmista Neil Strawder for pointing out on his Facebook feed this article from Larry Olmsted in Forbes Lifestyle section.

From the article:

Despite the fact that Kobe Beef, as well as Kobe Meat and Kobe Cattle, are patented trademarks in Japan, these trademarks are neither recognized nor protected by U.S. law. As far as regulators here are concerned, Kobe beef, unlike say Florida Orange Juice, means almost nothing (the “beef” part should still come from cows). Like the recent surge in the use of the unregulated label term “natural,” it is an adjective used mainly to confuse consumers and profit from that confusion.

It's an interesting read, so take a few minutes to read it here. There is a lot of explanation of the real Kobe Beef process, rules and regulations that I found very interesting.

I like that Olmsted points out that there are many US based beef products that are of superb quality, some may be even better than true Kobe. Search these out next time you are going to a BBQ Competition or cooking something for a special gathering.

Bottom line, find the best product that you enjoy the most and can afford. And get that!


This is actually just part one in a series of three stories. Also take a look at:
Part 2: What about "Wagyu" and "Domestic Kobe beef"? Sorry, more meaningless labels.
and
Part 3: Why the U.S. Government wants you to eat fake foods.

From Part 3:

Twelve decades ago, the highest profile of the many foodstuffs to come out of the Treaty of Madrid protected was Champagne. Every major power in the world at the time elected to sign the treaty, with the exception of the United States. As a result, the term “Champagne” has been protected in almost every other first-world country since 1891. The Treaty has been revised many times, and in every case since, the U.S. has adamantly refused to sign. This is not an issue forgotten by the rest of the world. The European Union alone has a list of over 600 geographically designated products it protects under law, almost none of which the US agrees with. Despite repeated requests dating back more than a century from the French, and in recent decades the World Trade Organization and European Union, the U.S. has stubbornly and purposefully refused to become party to this treaty or dozens of others like it.

"Don't worry, I'm with the Government and I'm here to help." - Sure...

Just another example of how more government and more laws doesn't mean we citizens are better off.


Follow Larry Olmsted on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/TravelFoodGuy
and Bigmista at: http://twitter.com/bigmistasbbq and his website at: http://bigmista.com/

Way Too Long…

It has been way too long since I have fired up the smoker, and even longer since I have posted anything to this blog! I will take care of the first issue this weekend – going to clean out the pit Saturday, prep some ribs and a big pork butt, smoke them on Sunday and feed them to family on Monday – the Memorial Day holiday.

Posting to the blog is something I want to be better about too. I visited a number of local (San Diego area) BBQ joints last year, took photos in preparation of a post about the good, the bad & the ugly – and just never got too it. Always so much going on – you know the drill. But that’s no excuse. I have a number of blogs and they have all been suffering. I’ll try to be better about that.

So I will still post some thoughts on those BBQ restaurants (well, one has since folded – wonder if it was just the local one…). Why? Because. I think one was great, one mediocre and one just darn bad. And I think you have a right to know about that – heck, if I was trying to pick a place to eat I’d like to get some recommendations.

So I will work on being better about doing the Que (heck – it is fun and tastes great – why not do it!!??!!) and on the blog too. Wish me luck!  =)

First Smoke of 2009 – Pork Butt / Pulled Pork

We finally got our entry cards for Restaurant Depot so just had to wander around a bit. Hit heaven when we walked into the cooler – that’s a lot of meat in there! Pork Butt was on sale, OK, force me – I’ll grab 14 pounds and see if the smoking gods let me make some smoke this weekend. As you see below, it all worked out.

Got the smoker and all out in the open and ready to go…

Did not get the butts rubbed and in the refrigerator overnight since I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. So they got about an hour or so rubbed and wrapped. I used Bad Byron’s Butt Rub over my secret base again. Need to try some other rubs next time. Or better yet, make my own.

I wanted to try smoking at a bit higher heat this time to see if I could get the cook time down a bit while still keeping the end product moist and tasty. Ended up with about 8 hours for the bigger piece (smoked closer to the fire box) and 8 1/2 hours for the smaller part.

Here’s a peek after about two hours. This is my first time with boneless (I meant to grab the on sale bone-in, but didn’t read the label carefully!). Things look like they are progressing well.

After four hours things are really coming along. The bark is starting to firm up well. Looking pretty tasty.

The Five hour mark is where the bark really sets in. Man it was dark. Still chugging along with the Best of the West lump (a ton of shake in this bag – is that common?). First time with Best of the West – not sure how I feel about it. I know a lot of folks use it, so I think I’ll try it again and see if I feel better about it next time. Got it on sale at Smart & Final – so that was a bonus! OK, back to the meat – here we are at five hours…

I pulled the larger piece at 190* (foiled at 170*) and let rest for 15-20 minutes.

Then got pulling. Moist. Bark was a bit strong for my wife’s taste, but she loved the meat. It was nice to catch her sneaking some meat when I was in the other room. She really did like it!

The smaller piece was further from the fire box and went to about 193* in 8 1/2 hours (I also foiled this one at about 170*). Let it rest for about 20-25 minutes and started pulling.

Good results here too. Very moist. Nice and dark.

Got it bagged up and in the refrigerator. I think I know what’s for lunch today!

Need to spend some time with the vacuum packer today. Like many out there, I like to freeze it in single or double serving sizes and then reheat by boiling for 20 minutes or so before dropping on some bread for lunch.

I added some oak and a little avocado wood along the way on this cook. Need to resupply the cooking wood pile.

I was thinking about doing an apple juice injection, but since I got a late start on things I was just scrambling to get it going. Even had to fun to Smart & Final to get the charcoal since I was out and my oak supply has dwindled.

This should keep me set for pulled pork sammies for a bit! If I’m not careful my wife will start eating them too – I guess that’s OK. Just means I’ll have do cook more!

Two Pork Loin – 8 and 6.5 Pounders

We stopped by a Vons on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll tell you what – this is a good time to shop for meats, right after Thanksgiving. We picked up a 22 pound turkey for under $7 and about $100 worth of pork loin for about $30. Good prices!

The turkey is for a dog club holiday party in a few weeks. The pork loin for a Loin’s Club Christmas Party a week after Thanksgiving. The ‘best by’ dates were still far off, so the loin stayed in the refrigerator. There isn’t enough room for the bird, so it went into the freezer.

Jen asked to have one loin with a Chinese BBQ marinade that we have used before and really liked. Wasn’t sure how it would smoke up, but I said “sure!”. It was being smoked the day after her birthday after all… The other one I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. That is until I opened the cabinet to check out some rubs and saw the apple rub. For some reason that jumped out at me as a perfect flavor for the pork. It was D-Dog’s Apple rub.

Started off by marking the Chinese BBQ marinade. I multiplied the recipe by eight since the loin I was going to use was an 8 pound giant. After making it I knew it still wouldn’t cover it, but just couldn’t bring myself to make even more. So I figured I’d turn it as few times before bed and again in the AM.

Here is the finished marinade…

Here is the loin after sitting all night and being turned. It looked like it took on the marinade pretty well. There wasn’t enough room in the refrigerator for a pot or bowl big enough to fit the loin and marinade, so I coolered it on ice with a thermometer over night.

I’ll include the full recipe for the Chinese BBQ marinade at the end of this post. And yes – it does work well in the smoker.

The 6.5 pound loin got a mix of my secret sauce and a liberal rub down of the D-Dog’s Apple rub. It was plastic wrapped and put back in the refrigerator for the night. Sorry, I failed to get a photo here.

In the morning Mojo (one of “the” Big Dog’s) helped by testing out some of the oak I was going to use…

After the wood was declared ready for use I got a full chimney of lump charcoal going and got ready to go.

This is only my second time using this smoker. I know that it leaks air like crazy – need to work on that. I was also working with a new thermometer today. The temps were all over the place and finally settled down after nearly an hour.

One of these days I need to spend some time working on sealing up the doors on this smoker. Don’t really need to open the chimney much with all the leaks this guy has!

I figured what I would do is put on the larger loin for 60-90 minutes before putting on the smaller one. Hoping that they would finish about the same time. So I got some fresh oak on the fire to get the smoke going, and dropped in the Apple rubbed loin. If you caught my error here you were faster than I was. It wasn’t until I went to get the Chinese BBQ loin about an hour later that I realized I did them backwards! I dropped the 6.5 pound loin first! Oh well – that’s how it goes…

So the Apple rub went on first…

Temps were a little high for the first hour too – on top of my mistake! So it was crusin’ to temp a lot faster than I had expected. Maybe because for the first hour the temp was 25* higher on the grill than I thought it was! That could have just a little to do with it.

I pulled and foiled the Apple rub loin at about 145* F. Then I added the Chinese BBQ loin…

I worked to keep the temp in the middle of the smoker at grate level around 120* – 130*. My target of 125* was fairly steady. After the Chinese BBQ loin went in I added another little piece of oak to get some fresh smoke going. Also added a little fresh lump first to keep the temps going.

I used a lot less charcoal than on my last smoke (Pork Butt). I think there was less wind, and the lump burns a bit hotter, and I was using some whole oak wood too. I think it was a lot to do with the wind. Looking back at the photos for that last smoke I recall how windy it was – we had to wrap the smoker to keep the heat up!

The smaller loin came off the pit when it hit 160*. It would have to sit for a bit since it went on too early and cooked faster than I had expected. I decided then to not cut these till just before leaving – in the hope of keeping them as moist as possible.

I foiled the 8 pounder when it hit 150*. It came off at about 160*. It would have to sit a little over 90 minutes before I would be ready to cut.

Here’s the Chinese BBQ loin sliced and ready for the pan. This one was really nice when served. I foiled it and pulled it earlier than the smaller one. So it was REALLY juicy. Which was nice because it held up better to sitting in the oven for a bit – it was still nice and juicy when served.

And here’s the Apple rub loin all sliced up. This one turned out to be just a little dry, but not too bad. I cooked it a little too far, especially since it ended up sitting in the oven for awhile before being served.

Something must have gone right – I got lots of compliments on the pork throughout the night.

I would certainly do pork loin again. I think the key is to foil early, and cook to medium doneness (150*) and pull. It will continue to cook more, so if you go any further than that it will start to dry out.

OK – I promised to include the Chinese BBQ pork marinade at the end, and here we are…

Chinese BBQ Pork – from the “Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook” put out by the Editors of Consumer Guide back in 1980. This cookbook is dirty because we use it a lot, there are some good recipes in there.

[ Note: this recipe is really for an appetizer dish (for 2 pork tenderloins at 12 oz each) – so it doesn’t make a ton – but do the math and make what you need, it is an easy one. I made 8 times what it calls for and wasn’t able to submerge my 8 pound pork loin, but it was OK since I turned it and had it marinating for 10 hours. ]

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon we opened for cooking a few weeks ago]
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons red food coloring, if desired (I did not do this)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 clove garlic, crushed (I cut it up a little too)
1 green onion, cut in half (I cut it into about 4-inch pieces)

 

What is your favorite method or trick for pork loin in the smoker?

.

My First Pulled Pork

And the first time using the "new" smoker. Actually lugged it up to my friend Mike's place. Turn's out they had a family wedding the day before we planned to smoke, so we were going to be feeding about 17 family members.

 

I pulled two pork butts out of the freezer. They were just over 13 pounds together. Didn't get them out quite as soon as I had hoped, so turned to the CBBQA Forum to get some tips on faster defrost. In the end they were thawed late Saturday evening for a Sunday cook, so I rubbed them up with Bad Byron's Butt Rub and tossed them back in the refrigerator for morning.

We got a late start. Neither of us had done butt before. Mike had the coals going in the firebox before I got there, and we put the butts on just about 11:15 AM.

We added a small Tri-Tip and a sausage too. Also put a chicken on the rotisserie later too (used Butt Rub on it too, and it was tasty). The Tri-Tip and sausage went on about 2:15 PM. Pork butt was 131* internal temps at this time.

We added more soaked oak chips as we went along. We had the smoke box running with about a 10 degree difference from side to side. She was running about 210 at the hot side and 200 on the other.

We added a towel pretty quick - lots of air leaks. Going to have to work on that.  In the afternoon the winds picked up a little so we added the fancy brick mod to keep the towel on. It seemed to do pretty well keeping the drafts down. We took it off once to see what would happen - the temps shot up really fast. Was also glad to see it drop back down fast when the towel went back on. 

By 6 PM the natives were getting restless. So we decided to pop up the heat and get things moving along. We had already lost one family that didn't want to wait any longer and had a long drive home. So we tossed on a oak branch piece. That caught and the temps went right up - so turned down the air flow - kept her at about 250/260. At this point the pork was at 166 internal - as you can see in the photo to the left.

We wrapped in foil a little after 6. We pulled the meat before we really wanted to, but we were going to loose everyone, and the other meats were all done. We ended up pulling it at about 7 PM and the internal temp was at 174*.

Below you can see what I chopped for Mike's family to gobble up - yes chopped, I wanted to get it done fast at this point. On the cutting board are also the Tri-Tip and the sausage. That Tri-Tip was tasty. But so was the pork! Next to that is what I pulled after getting home that evening.

 

I pulled 1 1/2 butts and vacuum packed them up in 2 serving sizes. There was probably about 16 servings at least left there.

I'll be enjoying this meat for some time, and I learned a lot on the cook too. Not bad for my first run at pulled pork! I think we are going to try brisket. None of us have done a brisket before either. This is my kind of learnin'!

Review: BJ's Barbecue (Sparks, Nevada)

I happened to be in Reno at the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) annual conference a few weeks ago. Myself and two coworkers piled into a rental car with the Neverlost GPS system and took off for old Reno in search for food. We cruised the main drag a few times looking at the odd sights. I tossed out the idea of BBQ and Brent thought that was a great idea.

We tried a few variations on "BBQ" in the Neverlost and in the end it served us well by taking us to BJ's Barbeque in Sparks.

Sitting in the booth with a Newcastle on tap was a good start. I happened to mention that I am a member of the California BBQ Association and Brent was very interested to learn more - turns out he is a BBQ fan too. Kevin was quite interested to sit back and ask questions about this form of cooking that we seemed to be so excited about.

Looking over the menu Brent and I both settled on the 1/2 pound of pulled pork and we talked Kevin into the 7 ribs. I went with the coleslaw and dirty rice for sides. I had never actually had dirty rice before, so thought this would be a good time to go for it.

I wasn't thrilled by the coleslaw. It was OK, but not great. I didn't eat it all. The rice was dirty - a little spicy. I'm not that great with spicy, so that wasn't a plus for me. But it was pretty good. Better than the slaw.

Brent thought the corn bread was too sweet. I really liked it.

Brent and I both enjoyed the pulled pork. It wasn't fantastic, but it was quite good. I would get it again for sure. My plate didn't have any pork left on it, that's for sure.

The service was quick and friendly. Our waitress sat down in the booth and joked with us a bit and made suggestions when we asked. Friendly but not pushy.

We were there on a week night - I think it was a Monday evening. Two other booths had folks in them when we got there, so it was quiet.

Did I mention Newcastle on tap?  =)    
Sorry I didn't get any photos.

How to Pitch a BBQ Sponsor

This post comes from the BBQ Brethren forums where Ray Lampe (Dr BBQ) was kind enough to post this letter that he had recently used to pitch an event (in this case the American Royal) to a potential sponsor. Ray only asks that you don't use it word for word, but do feel free to borrow from the ideas it contains.

I certainly don't need this right now, but who knows, maybe down the road a bit! One can always hope...

 

Hi guys.
I just got done with this and thought I'd share. Here's a letter I just sent to a potential sponsor. I met a chef that works with Sponsor X and with his help I hope to get them on board for the American Royal. I omitted their name and some personal info but other than that this is what I sent. Notice that most of the document is about how great this will be for them and what we can do for them. We'll see how it works out. Feel free to use the ideas here, but please don't use this word for word.

 

March 27, 2007

Hi Todd,
It was great to see you at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Per our conversation last week I’m sending my thoughts about the possibility of cooking at The American Royal Barbecue this October in Kansas City representing Sponsor X. I think this would be a fun partnership and I’d look forward to working with you on a Sponsor X barbecue sauce as well as recipes featuring Sponsor X for all of our other dishes for the weekend.

The categories we’d be competing in over three days would be:
• Invitational Chicken
• Invitational Ribs
• Invitational Pork Shoulder
• Invitational Beef Brisket
• Barbecue Sauce
• Vegetable side dish
• Bean side dish
• Potato side dish
• Dessert
• Open Sausage
• Open Chicken
• Open Ribs
• Open Pork Shoulder
• Open Beef Brisket

With a little luck and some good cooking we could turn our creations into award winning recipes that many Sponsor X lovers could enjoy. The dates for the event are October 4th through the 7th and it’s held in Kansas City. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Ray Lampe

About the event
The American Royal is a month long livestock show and a 100 year old institution in Kansas City. The American Royal Barbecue was added in 1980 and it has since become the biggest barbecue contest in the world. The American Royal Barbecue is the opening event of the American Royal and the season finale for the competitive Barbecue circuit. “The World Series of Barbecue” is spread over 20 acres in Kansas City’s historic Stockyards District, and boasts nearly 500 teams. They’ll be competing in a highly regarded invitational barbecue cook-off, the world’s largest side dish and dessert cook-off and the open barbecue cook-off which draws all of the top competition teams from around the country. Combine this with a barbecue-related trade expo and this is truly a major foodie event. This year “The Royal” as the barbecue is known, expects 75,000 people to pass through the gates for the three day event. Barbecue teams and visitors came from 30 states and a few countries last year and they represented sponsors such as Bayer, Harrah’s, Royal Oak Charcoal, Coors, Budweiser, The Kansas City Board of Trade, Sam’s Club, UNB Bank, Cerner Corp, Sprint and Premium Standard Farms. The teams host big fun parties on Friday night and. a good time is had by all. www.americanroyal.com

About me
My name is Ray Lampe aka Dr. BBQ. I am a cookbook author and product demo chef. I write a monthly column for Fiery Foods Magazine and I am the company chef for the Big Green Egg grill company. My third cookbook will be out in June 2007 from St. Martin’s Press in NYC but my real background is as a Barbecue Champion. Among my many barbecue awards are a handful of top five finishes at The American Royal Barbecue. I am already qualified to cook in the invitational contest this year at the American Royal. You can learn a little more about me at www.drbbq.com and I can send a full bio if needed.

What we can do
Because of my experience and long relationship with the American Royal I’m confidant we can get a high profile location for our team this year. We would enter the contest under a blatantly plugging fun name such as The Sponsor X Guys or Sponsor X the Bar-B-Q! We can put up any signage we’d like and use our space to promote at will. I’d have to speak with them just in case there was a conflicting major sponsor but that seems highly unlikely. We could hand out samples and recipe cards and have a drawing to collect business cards and contact info. We can host spokespeople or characters or props of any kind as long as it fits within our space. We can also host any VIPs and business related guest for dinner and drinks on Friday and Saturday night. We will use Sponsor X in all of our dishes for all of the contests and with my background and Todd’s recipe skills we will do our best to bring home some awards for the team. The awards would be icing on the cake because we’d have already spent our days promoting Sponsor X to the huge crowd and the media in attendance. There is always a full slate of local and national television on site as well as print journalists. With good advance communication I’m confident The American Royal folks will give us a heads up to all of them and of course we could stir up some of our own with a press release from Sponsor X.

What we need
I’ve cooked at the American Royal many times and I can determine and supply everything we’ll need such as an enclosed tent, a mobile kitchen, fencing, tables, chairs and enough supplies to feed and water everyone in sight for three days. We could not be responsible for supplying the signage but will work with anyone to get the appropriate signs to the event and get them displayed at the site. Of course we’d have travel and lodging expenses for the week for Todd, myself and a few other workers as well as logo’d up shirts hats and aprons. A total budget of $00 would allow us to put on a great show in a first class fashion at The American Royal.

 

This is some very useful info for anyone working on a pitch to a potential sponsor. If that person is you - all the best!

March Meat Madness is Upon Us!

This Saturday is the first California BBQ Association event that I will be going to - it is called a Backyard Competition. It is a mock competition for teams to get in some realistic practice with judging and everything - but with a bit less pressure. A great place to try out a new rub or smoking technique.

I have signed up to be a judge. Since it isn't a real competition I can also spend time hanging out with the teams and trying to pick up some BBQ tips. This will be great - I can hang out at the pits, and then also learn some things about judging!

I am hoping to get to a Certified BBQ Judge class this year. Then I can get my CBJ title and go to other real events as a judge. There is class in Nevada in May. Jen will be taking the class as well.

This will be a long day, but one that will be a lot of fun and I hope one that will also help my smoking efforts.

Babeque Wood link

Ran across this page that discusses various woods used for BBQ and has a nice table detailing the flavor of the wood and what meats it is most typically used for. Not a complete list, but covers the most common ones from what I see there.

Take a look here.

I don't agree with his notes on the age of wood - I think it needs to age at least six months. One month is probably still too green. And it can be older, just not toooooo old.

The 2008 SAVEUR 100

Why yes, 2008 has just begun, but that hasn't kept the fine folks over at Saveur magazine from coming out with their Top 100 list for the year. This article never really explains what it is the Top 100 of. I will guess it's the Top 100 food related things. Generic enough for ya? =)

None the less, I'm posting about it here because of the number one slot...

1 Most Beloved National Pastime
The frenzied grilling, the enormous barrel smokers, the piles of tender ribs—is it any wonder that COMPETITION BARBECUE is our favorite sport? Pluck, hubris, and good humor are on display in equal measure at these open-to-the-public, juried events, as backyard hobbyists, brandishing team names like Partners in Swine and Dr. Porkenstein, vie for glory against barbecue-circuit legends like Paul Kirk, of Manhattan's RUB restaurant. We're not alone in our predilections: over the past five years, the number of official barbecue contests around the country has grown from about 200 to more than 600, says Carolyn Wells, cofounder of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, competitive barbecue's main governing body, which sets contest guidelines and trains and accredits judges (there are now more than 8,000 of them). The best part about the sport: the fans are as generously compensated as the players. Attendees get to eat to their hearts' content and bond with fellow 'cue fanatics amid a haze of fragrant wood smoke.

To see what the other 99 items on the list are, please take a look here.

The Must-Have Instant Read Thermometer

The Thermapen by ThermoWorks. This is the tool to have when cooking.

No, they aren't cheap. But if the popularity of these guys on the various BBQ forums is any indication, and the positive review by folks like Alton Brown - then this is the tool to have to check the doneness of your meats.

Lots of colors to choose from. "Free" carrying case when you buy multiple Thermapens at once, etc.

Check them out here.


I've decided I'm worth it and I'm buying myself one with my holiday bonus from work.

Smoked Turkey - My First Time

December 22, 2007

My first time smoking a turkey. I think it went pretty darn well overall. Got some tasty meat, and learned a few things along the way. Barbecue, like many other things, is something that you continually learn about - and the best way is to learn by doing.

In the end the meat was super moist, and had a nice light smoke flavor.

Lessons Learned:

• If possible, get a fresh turkey - no hassle with thawing, and it just has to be better.
  
• A 13 pound turkey is about the limit for my little Brinkmann smoker (this one is 12.71 pounds).
• Don't brine so long - it was a little too salty in some of the meat closer to the surface (I'll try about 10 hours next time).
• It is easier to deal with the cold when starting the cook - I had to wrap the smoker to get the meat up that last 8-10 degrees.
• Don't let your wife put a hat (especially one of hers!) on you - even if it does have ear flaps and it is cold out. I'll stick to the baseball cap I had on all day, thank you.
  
• The dogs know a good thing when they smell it - just don't turn your back on them!
  

The prep:

For this day I used a 12.71 pound frozen grocery store turkey.
Fully thawed bird and removed the neck and giblet bag.
At noon on the 21st I put the bird into a brine.

The morning of the 22nd I started up two chimney's of charcoal, and put a bunch of Oak chips into water to soak. Then I prep'd the rub, got my filler for filling the cavity and liquid for the injector all ready.

My rub this day was made up on the fly. I had been going back and forth on what to try, and in the end decided to go for simpler and made it up as I went along. This ended up being really ugly on the cold bird, but lovely after smoking for an hour.

The Brine:
1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water. I ended up needing about 3 1/2 gallons.

The Rub:
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 stick butter, melted

The Filler:
1 onion, quartered
2 pink lady apples, quartered
1 handful of dried cranberries

The Injector Liquid:
Apple Juice

First I tossed the cranberries on the bottom of the cavity, then alternated onion and apple till it was all stuffed.
I then injected with the apple juice. I have never done this before - not too hard to figure out.
Then I reheated the rub since the butter had hardened in the refrigerator and spread it over the bird. It wasn't quite enough to cover every part, but I did what I could. I also hardened as I put it on since the bird was still pretty cold. The bird sat for a bit to warm while I checked on the charcoal.

Here's the ugly bird with the rub on it just before going on the smoker (click image to enlarge):


It was sunny, but really cold (yes, really cold for a native Californian!), so I used both chimney's of charcoal, and thought I'd be smart and save myself some work later on and added some unlit charcoal on the edge of the pan on top of the lit stuff.

The theory was OK, but in reality it made the first hour hard. It was too darn hot. I opened the door, pulled the top off a lot - kept trying to let the heat out. Funny how when you need it hotter it won't happen, but when you don't need it hot, you can't cool it down. Finally I lifted the unit off the bottom and pulled a bunch of briquettes off. That did the trick!

At the one hour mark the internal temp was 250 F and the temp in the breast was 98 F.

Here's the bird at one hour (click to enlarge) - I was totally happy with the color on this. Looking good. At this point I thought I might actually pull this off.


At the two hour mark the internal temp was 225 F and the temp in the breast was 122 F.

At the two hour point the deep brown/caramel color really deepened (click to enlarge):


At the three hour mark the internal temp was 245 F and the temp in the breast was 137 F.

At three hours (click to enlarge) the color looked all set - now to slow cook and get the temperature up.


At the three and a half hour mark the breast temp was up to 140 F after having a drop in the smoker temp. Took a bit to get it back up.

Here (below, click to enlarge) I have covered the wings with foil because they were getting too brown.


At the four hour mark the shade was sneaking almost to the smoker and it was cooling off fast. The internal temp was 160 F and the temp in the breast was 141 F.

Tossed a little more smoke Oak just for fun (click to enlarge):


Things continued to cool, so I started some more charcoal - about 2/3 chimney. Put that in when it was ready, and the heat came up, but not enough to really hit deep in the bird. A slight breeze was blowing too.

So I got my really fancy wraps and draped them over the smoker - it isn't pretty, but it did the trick (see below, click to enlarge)!


With the smoker wrapped and some hot charcoal in the belly, the temp in the breast went from 171 to 181 in 45 minutes.


Pulled out the instant read to check a few other locations and I called this baby done!


Here's Mojo (one of our two Newfoundlands) with new found interest in what I am up to. Dontcha just love the hat? Jen was worried about me being cold so she pulled off my baseball hat and put this thing on me because it would cover my ears. Remind me to hide the camera next time...


Got the bird inside to carve up - yum!


Juicy and yummy. Everything just fell off the bones. Very tender, very juicy. Very happy. =)


We ate a bit to try it out. Not as much meat on a 12 pounder as I expected, but that's OK.

I bagged up some for each family to try out on Christmas day, and we will keep all the extra little tidbit for ourselves.


Jen thinks I should just do a number of breasts next time to get more meat for the work. Will have to try that sometime to see how it turns out.

So all in all a good day. I had my laptop out there with me so I could check the CBBQA forums and even make a few posts. The new thermometer worked out well. Only thing that would make it better is if it were dual probe. Got some yard work done and did lots of little things around the house - and ended up with some pretty darn good smoked turkey too.