Chicken Time

For last nights dinner I wanted to cook a chicken on the smoker, I haven't done that in a while, and yesterday was a real nice day to cook outside. I started with about a 6 lb bird and liberally coated it with the Smokin' Hoggz chicken rub and a little drizzle of olive oil. Started the coals for the smoker, with a full chimney of unlit Humphrey's hard wood lump charcoal and then a half of chimney of lit coals, I also added couple of pieces of black cherry and oak as well. I cooked it at about 250 degrees for the first hour (applied a thin glaze of sauce after first hr)  and 300 degrees for the rest of the cook (1 1/2 hrs). Total cook time was about 2 1/2 hrs. After it was done I let it rest for about 15 min. The chicken came out awesome, I couldn't believe how tender and juicy the white meat was. I tell you if I could get this to work for competition, watch out. until next time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Practice Brisket

Here is a brisket I cooked today. I've been thinking about some different combinations of marinades,rubs, and injections and decided on one to try. This one came out very good, the meat had very good flavors and was very moist, but just a little on the overcooked side. I think I need  to work on the the timing a little bit, but hey, that's what practice is for.

Pics from BBQ Brethren

6th Place Chicken

4th Place Pork

Meat @ Slims wins Battle of the BBQ Brethren

Well we just got back from the Battle of the BBQ Bethren and had a real good time despite almost getting carried off by the Nor'easter that came through on Saturday night. First off I would like to congratulate  the Meat @ Slims BBQ team for winning Grand Champion, they got calls in chicken(4th), ribs(1st), and brisket(7th) Awesome job guys!!!!! With that win they get an invitation to the 2010 American Royal and get put into the draw for the 2010 Jack Daniels.

We also had a very good weekend, we finished 16th overall out of 45 teams, and got two calls also, chicken(6th), and pork(4th). Pork has been one of our worst categories all year long, no matter what we did nothing worked. Looks like all of that practicing the past few weeks has payed off.

We didn't feel like driving down the NYC and dealing with all of the city traffic, especially on a Friday afternoon. So we drove to New London CT and took the ferry over to Orient Point, from there we had about an hour and a half drive to Sayville. I never realized there were so many vineyards on Long Island, it was a very scenic drive to Sayville, and I would definately go that way again.

Anyway, we got there around 2:45PM and there was one other team there waiting, I talked to Eric Devlin, one of the organizers, he said it would be about another hour until they would be ready for the teams to start setting up, that was fine because I still had to go out and buy the pork butts for the contest. Come to find out there was a Restaurant Depot about three mile down the road, and also if you are a KCBS member you can shop there(they are not open to the public) All I have to say about Restaurant Depot is AWESOME!!!!!!

We got back to the site and we set up. It pretty much rained on and off all night until the morning, then it cleared up and it was pretty good all day until about 8 PM, when all hell  broke loose. There was so much rain and wind, half of our site was under water. Poor Shaune thought we were going to be sucked up in a twister like in the Wizard of Oz, she was holding on for dear life while Al and myself sat there drinking beer. It was amazing that there was not any damage, except for one EZup from one of the vendors. Thankfully we got through it without a scratch.

All in all it was a great weekend. We definatley ended the season on high note.

Battle of the BBQ Brethren

Well it has been about 4 weeks since my last post. I needed to take a break and regroup from the last couple of contests in which we did not do so well in. We have been able to do a few practice sessions to try and work out some of our problems, and it seems to be going in the right direction. We have one more practice session this week as we prepare for the our next contest. We are going to Sayville NY, to participate in the Battle of the BBQ Brethren, this will be our first time competing in this event, and we are very excited. There are about 44 teams signed up for this event. Time to put on our game faces and bring home the money.

Harvard Fall Festival

GC - Ique
RGC - I Smell Smoke
3rd -Lakeside Smokers
4th -Uncle Jed's BBQ
5th - Mighty Swine Dining

Congratulations to Ique for winning GC and I smell smoke for RGC at the Havard Fall Festival, also congratulations goes out to the boys over at Mighty Swine Dining for placing 5th overall in a very strong field of 40 teams, and also getting a 2nd in Saturdays peoples choice (Chicken Wings) and a 1st on Sundays Peoples choice (Pulled Pork), great job guys you deserve it.
We on the other hand, did not fair so well, a very disappointing weekend for the Smokin' Hoggz BBQ team (35th out of 40). We tried a couple of new things that didn't go over very well with the judges. Looks like it is back to the practice kitchen for us. Although we didn't do well, we had a great time hanging out with good friends and meeting new teams competing for the first time. You know it is really good to see new teams competing at all the events, it just shows how big competition BBQ is getting.

Oysterfest, Norwalk CT

Congratulations goes out Mike and Kris from Lakeside Smokers for their win at the Oysterfest, this makes 3 GC's (Grand Champion) this year for them. Keep up the great work. Also congrats goes out to Ocean County Pig Assassins for their RGC (Reserve Grand Champion).

Busy couple of weeks ahead

The next few weeks are jam packed with stuff going on. This weekend we are getting ready for the Oysterfest in CT, hopefully we do better than we did in Maine. We have been working on a couple a new things with pork, and I think I finally have something good enough to compete with, all year my pork has been average at best, so it would be awesome if it does well.
After this weeknd I have the Pats game monday night, which I can't wait for. I can't believe football season is upon us, I think the Pats are going to do very well this season, especially with Brady back in the drivers seat.
After the Pats game, the following weekend is the Harvard Fall Fest. Last year we had a great time, it was the first contest we did with the new team. I can't believe that it has been a year already, how time flies. The Harvard Fall Fest will be our 6th contest this year with one more to do at the end of October (The Battle of the BBQ Brethren), so seven in all for this year. Next year I hope to do about 10, we'll see what happens.

2009 Jack Daniels

Congratulations to all the teams from New England who are going to the 2009 Jack Daniels World BBQ Championships:

Mass/Vermont - I Smell Smoke,
New Hampshire - Lakeside Smokers,
Connecticut - R2-BQ,
Maine - Ique,
New York - lunchmeat,
New York Rep - Mr. Bobo,
New Hampshire Rep - Yabba Dabba Q.

Good luck, and kick some Butt!!!!!!!!!

Mixed results from the Maine Grillin and Chillin Contest

Just got back from the Maine Grilling and Chillin Contest. We had a great time, but didn't do so well in the competition. We ended up finishing 20th overall out of 29 team, not our best showing by any means. We got 8th in chicken, 11 in brisket, the other two, ribs and pork didn't do so well. The ribs were over cooked and a little on the dry side, but they tasted good. The pork I think was a little under cooked(too tough) but also tasted good. We have been really struggling with our pork, and can't seem to get it consistent. We will have about three weeks before the next contest to try out a couple of new ideas, we'll see what happens. Overall it wasn't a bad event. Also Congratulations to the IQUE BBQ team for winning Grand Champion.

Competition Check list- a must have

When I first started competing, I didn't have a lot of equipment. All I had was a brinkman bullet, chimney starter and a cooler for beer. I didn't have to worry about bringing any of the supplies, becsause all the other guys on the team had everything we needed, it was kind of nice because I all I had to do was just show up. As time moved on, so did team members and I found myself buying more and more equipment, not just for the BBQ contest, but stuff I would need for tailgating at the Pats games as well(Tables, more coolers, EZUPs, etc...). It wasn't until last year, when I decided to start my own team, I realized I only had about 25% of the equipment I would need to compete with, I still neded to get cleaning supplies, more tables, paper goods, storage bins etc.. I was thinking that someone on line has to have some sort of an eqiupment/supply check list that I can use as a starting point. Well I came across a couple of different checklists that I was able use and finally came up with my own checklist, and I have to tell you, without that checklist I would be totally and completely lost. If I have any advise to give to a team starting out, is to have some sort of checklist to go by, trust me on this it will make your life a whole lot easier and the competition will be far more enjoyable. Here is a link to a couple of checklists that have been very helpful to me http://www.smokingunsbbq.com/docs/Contest_Check_List.pdf and http://www.smokingunsbbq.com/docs/checklist.pdf

Finally a free weekend

I have been going non-stop every weekend for the past 2 months, not that I am complaining, because that is what the summer is all about, but it is nice to have nothing on the schedule where I don't have to do anything, but drink a few beers and sit out by the pool and listen to satellite radio, the 80's channel, Oh Yeah!! . I am not even going to start up the smoker this weekend, although I will definately be grilling something, I am thinking of something seafood, I love grilling seafood, Mussels, Shrimp, and Scallops and some summer squash, zuchinni, and tomatoes in a nice white wine sauce serve over some linguine. Any way back to the sun and fun, catch you later. Have a great rest of the weekend.

A Great Weekend

Second Place Chefs Choice: Peach Cobbler
First Place Fish: Salmon

It's Harpoon Time!!!!!!!!

Wow I can't believe it has been this long since I last posted, Sorry to all of my beloved fans. LOL. Well only two more days until Harpoon. I am very excited to do this one, this competition has to be my most favorite one to do.

There are going to be about 42 teams competing this weekend. All the top teams from New England will be there, so there will be some great competition.

Saturday will be the BBQ part of the contest and Sunday will be Grilling, I have decided to let the team do the grilling event, that way I can just sit back and relax. I am going to try and focus just on the BBQ part. Making her debut this weekend during the grilling event is my lovely girlfriend Shaune. She is going to be doing the chefs choice category, she has been working on it all week and I think it will be great. I will have to admit that it will be tough for me not help out and put in my 2 cents, but I have all the confidence in world that she will do a great job.

I would like to congratulate Mike and his wife Kris from Lakeside Smokers on getting Grand Champion for the Troy Pig Out contest in NY this past weekend, Great Job!!!!!!

Well off to do all the last minute stuff before we leave on Friday, Hopefully I will have good news when we return.

Merrimack

Just got back from our first Competition of the year. What a great time!! We got there around 11:30 Friday, it was drizzling a little, and after about an hour or it stopped and cleared up. After all the talk of the weather being crappy the whole weekend, it turned out great, no rain until Sunday afternoon.

I must say I am very happy with how well we did this past weekend, out of a field of 37 teams we finished 9th overall, 19th in chicken, 15th in ribs, 13th in pork, and 8th in brisket.

The next Competition is in two weeks out in Lake Placid NY. I am very exited about this one, seeing as that I have never been there before. The contest is being held inside the Olympic Speedskating oval.

I have to also give out a big congratulations to Mike from Lakeside Smokers for getting Grand Champion this past weekend. Mike and his wife Kris are great people and are very deserving of this. Along with getting Grand champion, they also earn an invite to the prestigious Jack Daniel's World BBQ championships this year at the end of October. Again congratulations Mike and Kris.

Ok here it goes!!

Alright here it is my first blog ever, why? you ask. Well, why not. Basically this Blog was created to keep track of all my BBQ experience this year, and to share them with anyone who wants to read my ramblings. So here it goes!!

Ah!! The first Competition of the year ( Rockin Ribfest in Merrimack, NH ) I have been practicing for this competition all winter and spring. I think, I have something that will allow me to compete against some of the best teams New England. I am totally psyched for this year, as this will be my first year with my new team, hence the name of this Blog. We did one event last year ( Harvard Fall Festival ) in which we got a call in Brisket ( 5Th ), we were all very pleased with how we did ( 18Th ) overall, despite the awful weather on Sunday morning.

I think we are ready for this event, I am feeling confident that we can do well. All that is left to do is pack the truck and hope we don't forget anything, ya right. Anyway, wish us luck, and we'll see you on the flip side.