BBQ Craft

Last weekends beer can chicken. Simple but tasty classic.

Burn box for making smoker coals. We cooked over 8000lbs of food in less than 24hrs!

We are packed and ready to go! Tomorrow morning we will be heading to the National BBQ Festival in Douglas, Georgia.  We are competing in the “Best of the Best” invitational and the Open on the Wiley’s Championship BBQ team.

Hope to see you there!

Smoked a couple racks of ribs today. Very tasty.

Well, I have seen it all now. For the BBQ geek that has everything and needs nothing, I present to you… the Sauce Pistol!

Your BBQ will shoot holes in the competition!

Fired up the smoker last night around midnight and hooked up the stoker. Here is a screen shot of the log this morning when I got up. Click the image for the full sized version. The stoker makes BBQ life easy.

Yes, I know it wasnt smoked. But it was so delicious…

Teaser for the upcoming review

Received my stoker from Rock’s Bar-B-Que. Ordered on Monday and received Wednesday! Great service. It looks like a very solid device. Will post my review soon.

Chimney starter at night. Very hot. During the day the flames are almost invisible. Now you know why you should always wear good gloves! The curls in the picture are the pops you always hear as it burns. The charcoal is Publix Greenwise Hardwood Lump. Good stuff.

I remember my first real pit barbecue sandwich. My grandfather grew tobacco on a small farm in Cobb, Kentucky. Every year on the way home from the tobacco auction, he would stop at Rip’s Barbecue in Gracey, Kentucky. I remember the sandwich very well. Nothing really special. Plain white hamburger bun, sweet spicy sauce, and smoked pulled pork. It was good but it represented much more than just a sandwich. It was a special event, a celebration, a good time. To me this is what barbecue represents almost everywhere I go.

Fast forward a few years…

My wife, the gourmet cook, frequently attends and assists chefs, in cooking classes at our local kitchenware store. A little over a year ago she came home from a barbecue class taught by Wiley and Janet McCrary. She brought home leftovers and was very excited about her discovery. Little did I know what was about to happen. “You have to try this brisket” she said. I dug right in. I don’t want to get all cheesy and say I had an epiphany or anything like that, but it was good. Amazingly good. Slightly sweet, spicy, tender, juicy, beautifully sliced brisket. And then she hit me with the next surprise- ribs. I could go on and on with the description but let’s just say it was better than any I had ever tasted. Where did this food come from? Why had I been deprived of this incredible BBQ my entire life? This was my first taste of competition BBQ.

Wiley’s Championship BBQ Opens

During my wife’s BBQ class the McCrary’s mentioned that they were opening a restaurant. Would it be the same amazing brisket I had sampled that night after the cooking class?

September 2008. Wiley’s Championship Barbecue opens in Savannah, Ga. Now my favorite restaurant. We started eating there at least once a week for lunch. I think I hold the record. Four lunches and one dinner in one week. We talk with the McCrarys about their BBQ career, the daily specials and even trade BBQ for computer services a few times. Trading something I love to do for something they love to do. How great is that! And yes, their brisket was still delicious.

My Turn at the Cooking Class

April 2009. My wife receives an email with a list of upcoming cooking classes. She notices that the McCrary’s are back on the list. Now it’s my turn. The classes fill up very quickly. The day they open the classes I was second in line to sign up. I bought four seats to bring along three of my Wiley’s BBQ addicted friends. The class was very insightful. Lots of emphasis on meat preparation, consistency and temperature. Wiley didn’t hold back and shared his secrets with everyone. That’s all I will tell you. If you want a few of Wiley’s secrets you will have to attend the class yourself. After it was over I thought to myself “This isn’t that hard, why isn’t everyone doing it?” I would soon learn how hard it can be. I started barbecuing every weekend after the class testing everything I had learned. My course was set with a stuck rudder. BBQ. Full speed ahead.

My First Competition- Dillard, Georgia

Dillard is now a memory, but it was a blast! Before the competition we had meetings, created spreadsheets, practiced recipes and none of it really prepared us for the actual event. Luckily we had a seasoned veteran for a captain- Janet McCrary. Wiley had to stay home and mind the restaurant. Would we let him down? Expectations were very high and we didn’t want to disappoint. Our team consisted of Janet, “Buckhead Janet” (another seasoned vet) ,a local attorney, my wife, the restaurant pitmaster and me (names withheld to protect the guilty). Most of us were rookies in the world of competition barbecue except Janet & Janet. Pork was my responsibility. I had been cooking butts almost every weekend for two months testing recipes that my BBQ mentor, Wiley McCrary, tossed at me over and over again. I ate more pulled pork in that two month period than I think I had in the previous five years. We finally settled on the recipe. An injection, two different rubs and a mop. We would cook six butts with the two different rubs and choose before turn in. Two days before the competition I made the injection and mop. I felt more like a chemist than a cook. Meticulously measuring the ingredients, careful to recreate what we had chosen as our recipe. All the time thinking “don’t screw this up”.

When we arrived at Dillard, setting up our site was controlled chaos at best. We had planned this to the nth degree. Three different vehicles converging on one spot assembling a puzzle that had never been put together. It was ugly, but we made it work. Who the hell brought the mini convection oven? What recipe called for that? It was never used…

Our spirits were high. Meat inspection was over so we dove right in. Trim, inject, rub, rub some more, check temp, add wood, adjust damper, mop, mop some more, is it time for chicken? We worked through the night tending a smoker that was difficult, to say the least. Its name was Bertha. Bertha ate around 150lbs of wood during cooking. And temperature control… let’s just say there wasn’t any. It really was like battling a beast. The ladies went back to the hotel that night. The guys didn’t manage to get any sleep. We took turns going to our hotel room to grab a shower. And we waited. I learned quickly that a BBQ competition was a lot like being in the military- moments of terror followed by hours of waiting around for the next big thing.

Next big thing- 30 minutes to turn in. What? IS the chicken ready?

Turn in after turn in we cranked it out. Our captain maintained a cool head and kept us on course. Chicken, done. Ribs, “I want another rack more done than this one in thirty seconds!” commands Janet. Pork, done. Brisket, done! Take a deep breath, relax, have a beer. Everyone grabs a chair and pretends to relax. Then we wait. Secretly we are all still going a hundred miles an hour in our heads. We start reviewing our turn ins over and over analyzing every little detail. Was that too much sauce? Was that the right rack of ribs? We start optimizing, without even thinking about it, what we will do next time. Next time? Wait! Who said there would be a next time?

Five P.M. We start walking toward the presentation area. A hundred or so people are already there. Fifty seven teams all gathered to hear their name called. First category chicken. As they get closer to the top spot your mind races. Is it possible? Did we place that high? It’s like a mental roller coaster of emotion each time they climb toward the winner. No joy on the chicken. Ribs. To be honest we didn’t think our ribs were our best product but Wiley had taught us well. The announcer starts, 10 nope, 9 nada, 8 – Bingo! We get called! 8th place ribs. The hook is now set. I will spare you the suspense. We didn’t get top ten in pork or brisket. We came close in pork, 11th place. Not bad for a team filled with rookies. We were extremely happy. We also had two top tens in the ancillaries. Grits and cabbage.

Yes, there will be a next time. And sadly, Bertha will not be attending. She has been retired.

Wiley and Janet McCrary are BBQ ambassadors. They put out incredible food and it speaks for itself. This blog isn’t big enough to recap their list of wins, accolades and accomplishments, so instead I will point you to their website www.wileyschampionshipbbq.com. If you ever get to Savannah, Georgia, stop by and try their barbecue. I am confident you will enjoy their restaurant. I am also glad to call them friends.

See you all in Douglas, Ga. Best of the Best and the Open.

It’s been a slow week for BBQ in our house. We were going to test a brisket recipe this weekend but our supplier ran out. So, my better half is in control of the recipes today. No competition recipes. That’s right, we’re cooking food we are going to eat as a meal! None of this- it needs more salt, the sauce should be sweeter, etc. She loves Adam Perry Lang’s book and found a fairly quick and easy recipe. We’re going old school- Beer Can Chicken!

Update:

Finished product. Cut the back out and crisped the skin in a convection oven. Was quite yummy.

How many ingredients or portions of ingredients do you have to change in a recipe to make it your own? I have modified a mustard sauce recipe and combined it with my habanero hot sauce to create an altogether original. I am unashamedly partial to mustard and vinegar sauces. This sauce would never fly in a KCBS competition, but you mustard and vinegar lovers might enjoy this original.

I believe in keeping it as simple as possible using the freshest ingredients you can find. If you know anything about chillies you know that the habanero is extremely hot. It also has a very nice sweet, fruity flavor that is often overlooked because people cant get past the heat. To help get to that flavor and reduce the heat, be sure to remove the white membrane and seeds. The habanero sauce is an ingredient in the BBQ sauce. The amount you add should be based on your personal preference. Enjoy!

BBQ Craft Habanero Sauce

6 fresh habanero peppers
.5 cup chopped carrots
.5 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves minced
.5 cup white vinegar
.25 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
.5 tbsp olive oil

Saute the onion in the oil until soft. Add the carrots, garlic  and  about 1/8 cup water. Simmer until the carrots are soft adding a little water if needed. While the carrots are simmering, cut your habaneros in half removing the white membranes, seeds and stems. Be sure to wear gloves! Rough chop the remaining pieces. Once the carrots are soft add the habaneros, vinegar and lime juice. Using a blender or if you have a stick blender, blend until you have a smooth consistency with no noticeable bits. I like the stick blender as you can keep it all in one pan. Pour in to a sanitized jar.

BBQ Craft BBQ Sauce

1.5 cups yellow mustard (I like French’s)
8 tbsp tomato paste
6 tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp BBQ Craft Habanero Sauce (adjust to your taste)
1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
.75 tsp fresh ground black pepper
.5 tsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp water

Stir all ingredients together in a saucepan, medium heat, until sugar is disolved. Do not boil. Pour in to a sanitized jar.

So what do you do with leftover pulled pork? Not wanting to waste delicious Q and being hungry, I improvised a little.

Baked Potato
Salt
Your favorite BBQ sauce
Shredded cheddar cheese
Pulled pork

Cut a baked potato in half. Scoop out the middle. Salt the potato and stuff with the leftover pulled pork. Heat in a 400 degree oven to get the pork hot and crisp the potato edges a little. Top with BBQ sauce and shredded cheddar cheese.

What 4th of July wouldnt be complete without a little Q? I was just going through some of our 4th pictures and figured I would share a few that sum it up.

Adam Perry Lang’s Serious Barbecue potato recipe (highly recommended), our rib recipe, Wiley McCrary’s chicken recipe and on the lower grate, APL’s “Get a book” pork shoulder recipe.

We spent last weekend in Greenwood, SC sampling the Q and visiting some of the teams. It was a great event. Not too hot and plenty of interesting BBQ folk. While taking pictures of some of the teams during turn in prep, we were treated to a few samples of their turn in Q.  Based on those samples I am sure the judges had a great day tasting some really good Q. There was one slightly annoying aspect of the entire event- Food Network. They had at least six full camera crews setup and roaming around at the event. They were from the Food Network Challenge TV series. They had trip hazards everywhere. Between Bub-Ba-Q and Checkered Pig it was like a full TV studio setup (see pictures below). I guess that’s the price you pay for BBQ fame.

Google map of the teams: LINK

Competition results: LINK

All of our pictures from the contest: LINK

First habanero pick of the season from our mini garden. Time to make some sauce!

Welcome to my world of the “Q”. Hang on tight it might get a little smokey along the way.