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...

Impulse Buy...

Impulse buy at Costco.
Been thinking about trying this for some time. Imagine my (happy) surprise when Jen walked over and put it in the cart!

Will let you know what I think!

"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/

Spring is here, Summer is on its way!

The clocks have been changed, the days are longer. It is warming up. You know what this means...it's time to get outside!

This includes more grilling at home, or at the beach, or wherever you may go. But it also means it is better weather for sitting out by the smoker while your meats cook low and slow in the smoker.

Time to stop going to the local BBQ joints. Why do that when YOU can do it better, and enjoy the whole experience?

It's a good day when you can keep watch over the smoker while getting all those little jobs done around the yard that have been nagging at you. Need a break? Check on the smoker for a bit.
And the best part? At the end of a productive multitasking day you get to relax with a beer and your freshly smoked BBQ! Oh ya, now that's a good day.

Here's to you and your BBQing passion.
 I am looking forward to BBQing some pork butts, and my first brisket this year. I'll share notes and photos as I go. Hope you enjoy learning some from my mistakes and testing.

What I got (or didn't get) for Christmas 2011

Well, truth be told I didn't get anything for BBQ for Christmas, at least not directly. But I did get some cold hard cash from the in-laws (Thanks!!). Always a welcome gift.

I have purchased a few items so far. I got a nice carving knife at the Costco Business Center. Have never had one - big gap in my knife collection. Haven't BBQ'd anything to try it out with yet, so I totally used the wrong tool for the job and used it to slice pepperoni for pizza the other night. Yeah, a bit like taking a tank to a duel, but I tell you what - I've never been able to slice pepperoni so thin and clean ever before!

A bit more was spent at the "regular" Costco on some Single Malt Scotch Whisky that I haven't tried before. I've been moving in the single malt direction in my drinking preferences - a wee dram (OK, a bit larger than that) or two are quite welcomed in the evening.

I'd say that's a good start!

Quick thoughts:

• Knife is great
• Oban 14 year old is on the stronger side, but not too strong
• Singleton 12 year old is mild, maybe too mild. But good. Hoped for more after memories of first tasting this at a distillery in Scotland (not the distillery this bottle came from)
• Lagavulin 16 year old is too strong and peaty for my tastes. But great for others from what I've read

Check back here for reviews of various bottles (full disclosure - I'm no expert!) as I build up, and then drink down, my collection.

And hopefully I'll get that smoker fired up here again real soon as well!

New BBQ Joint - Mike's BBQ in Escondido (mobile)

Grabbed a quick full rack of baby back ribs to go after an afternoon with friends at Stone Brewery & some shopping.

Will report back later with a mini-review.

Will go back again later (unless this rack totally sucks) for a more traditional meal & full review.

I can report that this place is huge. Plus a bar where you can eat off the full menu while watching the 15 foot (yes, 15 foot - this is a big TV) tele.

Visit Mike's BBQ on the web.

Map the BBQ

I'm going to play around with adding a map to this blog. Figure I will include locations of all the BBQ joints I know, links to my reviews, etc.

Hopefully this will be useful for folks looking for a place to eat some good Q.

I was going to focus just on San Diego. But decided to go further since I am lucky enough to travel a bit too.

Phil's BBQ - San Marcos, Our First Time

OK, so Phil's BBQ has been open in San Marcos for a number of months now. Finally had a chance to get in there and check it out a bit. Was returning home from running some errands with Jen, and decided it was time.

My standby, go-to meal at any new BBQ joint is the Pulled Pork Sandwich. It is what I judge a BBQ restaurant by. I have loved the BBQ Broham pulled pork from Phil's since the first time I've had it. That is one huge sandwhich. That being said, the last two times I've had it at the Sports Arena location I have been less that overwhelmed. Chucks of fat big enough that they should have been pulled once. And the other I think it was some just nasty hard edge meat that shouldn't have made it to a sandwich - it was pretty big.

So, today it was ribs. We decided to split a full rack of baby backs and get two sides. I wanted the beans and Jen wanted some french fries. We ordered the fried well-done, and were glad we did. Jen had seen someone's fried on the way in and she described them as "anemic". The 'well done' ones were just perfect!

The ribs. Cooked very well. Close to over cooked, but not quite. I jumped for the ones with little to no sauce on them. Why? Two reasons. I'm not a huge fan of vinegar based sauces - Phil's are. Also, I want to taste the meat and the Q, not just a bunch of sauce. So what's the verdict? Tasty ribs those are!

I motored through 3 then remembered the beans. I forgot that his bean has a bit-o-spice to them. Not much, but I don't do heat that well, so I noticed it. Good though. And we thoroughly enjoyed the fries.

Would I get them again - oh ya. Maybe I'll remember on of these days to ask for the sauce on the side...

It was also fun to try to remember the way the restaurant used to look. We had eaten there twice when it was an Italian place (can't recall the name). Was that area expanded? Etc. I can tell you for sure that I am much happier having that location be a Phil's!

Visit Phil's in San Marcos at 579 Grand Ave, San Marcos, CA 92078.
And if you are in the San Diego area hit the Sports Arena location at 3750 Sports Arena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110.   Both are close on Monday's.
Be forewarned - there can be LONG lines at Phil's. I am looking at the Point Loma (Sports Arena) location live cam right now - it's packed! Check out the BBQueue Cam (cute play on words guys) if you are in a hurry.
It's hard to beat Phil's for BBQ - well, unless you come to my place...

Oh ya - here's a pic of the ribs plate. Totally sorry about the picture - I only thought to snap a quick one for Foursquare before I got lost in eating. Plus I didn't even realize we were sitting under a neon light - that's why the color is so odd!

Check this out too. First Time I've seen this - what a simple, but useful idea. Just hook your arm under this and pull - door opens and you don't loose the work you just put into cleaning your hands. Now then - go get them dirty again with Que!!

It Has Been WAY Too Long - Time to Smoke

Well, we are in the new house. Still have a bunch of boxes to empty. Still trying to figure out just where it makes the most sense to put things. Still trying to pick which painting/photo to put on which wall. Still trying to figure out the irrigation system and fix broken PVC pipes. Good thing we have many years left to figure this all out!

Have been doing a fair amount of grilling - mainly for dinners for the two of us. So a ribeye or two, burgers, more rirbeyes... We almost never grill any steak but a ribeye. Nothing else comes close, and with the good prices at Costco or Restaurant Depot why not really enjoy your steak!

But what has been missing? Smoking! I haven't put a darn thing in my lonely little smoker in forever.

Well the July 4th weekend is coming and that is all about to change! We have invited friends and family over to hang out, enjoy the pool, the company of other folks and a few adult beverages. And dinner of course. And what's the main course - pulled pork sandwiches!

I'll be making a quick run to RD this week to pick up a 2-pack of pork butt and will cook those up, pull um, and be ready to go for the next day. Jen is considering making the rolls herself. We shall see, I think we have enough to do between now and then that we don't need to worry about that.

It was great the other day when we were talking with a friend and asked her if she can join us for the 4th. She was hemming and hawing a bit - then Jen said - "and Tim will be smoking...". Our friend instantly said, "oh ya, I'll be there!".

Love it. Guess I'd better make some good food!  =)