25th Annual PBC Grillin and Chillin for Charity

Of all the cook-offs I have ever been to this one probably was more work than all the ones I have ever done combined. This year being one of the directors of this cook-off I had the opportunity to help plan and learn a few things about what all is involved in putting a cook-off together. Aside from the director duties I also had a few other things going on such as a catering event Friday night for the Young Professionals of Midland. I had planned to cater for about 120 of our members but due to the weather and a few other things we only had about 61 show up. We also entered up a team to cook in the contest which is the very first time I have ever cooked under a different name.





Friday morning was very challenging. I arrived early to set up and start cooking and about 15 minutes after I put the food on I watched the wind pick my canopy up off the ground and carry it away. After I was able to retrieve it the wind continued to blow pretty much throughout the day. After I got back from Century Graphics to pick up the director shirts and apron's a few members of my team began to arrive and started to help put getting everything set up for our guests. We had water trucks in the arena but the dust still continued to blow most of the day. That was something I was not prepared for but it finally began to slow down about the time people started showing up. Friday night was a lot of fun but as soon as everyone began to disperse the real work began. It was time to start getting everything prepared for the contest and my team one by one began to call it a night and go home. After everyone had left I saw an ambulance arrive. I found out later that a couple of the camp's had gotten into a bad fight and one of the team members had seriously been hurt. It's sad things like this happen in an event that's put together as a fundraiser for charity.



Saturday everything seemed to be going our way for the most part. We entered up in Brisket, Ribs, Chicken, Fajitas, and Chili and most everything we had entered was really good. Out of about 50 teams competing we took 6th in Chicken but did not get a call in any of the other categories. I was disappointed our brisket did not place. We had a great brisket but the competition in this cook-off is really big. Most of the teams had sponsors and many of the Oil companies had their company's cooks competing. I think if many of them were to hit the circuit they would do very well. At least they did at this contest.

Roberts Ranch Smokin Red Dirt Championship

This past weekend was our first KCBS contest. It was the 4th annual Roberts Ranch Smokin Red Dirt State Championship held in Enid, OK. I decided to enter this contest for a couple of reasons. One was that at roughly 9 hours from home this is one of the closest KCBS contests to where we live in West Texas so it just seemed like the right thing to do. Another reason is that I really wanted to get out of Texas to do some contests this year. I do not agree with how some of them are ran. I also have been blessed to have had an opportunity to see how different KCBS contests are vs what we normally cook in Texas. It's a whole new ballgame and ready or not we came to play.

I did not want to take this contest on alone so with the help of a great friend of mine and teammate Chris Canon we decided to head out for Enid, OK Thursday after work. We stopped in Albany, TX on the way up to dine at Texas's # 4 ranked Steakhouse the Fort Griffin General Mercantile. This is one of the best steakhouses I have ever eaten at. It's well known for attracting a few celebrities and Robert Duvall has even made a replica in his own home of their bar, The Bee Hive, when he was down in Texas working on Lonesome Dove. We each had a Ribeye cooked medium rare. They are cooked directly over mesquite coals which is a staple of Ranch Style Cuisine. After we finished our dinner we took a look in the kitchen and chatted with the owner about some of the history of this wonderful place. We headed out shortly after that and arrived in Wichita Falls relatively late.

Friday morning after some coffee and a short nights rest we headed up to Enid and arrived shortly after lunch, got unloaded and visited with a few of the other teams. The weather had called for some wind and about three inches of rain, however we lucked out and just caught a small sprinkle Friday afternoon. We had some time to make some new friends but were not used to being assigned a cooking space and being told where to cook. That's a lot different from what were used to so getting set up took a little more effort than usual.



The contest was a great learning experience for us. With the help of Kelly Wertz of 4 Legs Up BBQ we learned how to prepare a garnished turn in box which we had never had to do before. Texas contests only allow for foil so it was a lot different than what we are used to doing. Once we had an idea how to do a box it was time to start getting ready to prep the meat to put on the cooker. We worked throughout the night and by the time the sun had come up we were tired and ready for some breakfast. After breakfast we went over to the 4 Leg's Up camp at 10:30 and enjoyed a double shot of some get you ready for the chaos whiskey and made a good luck toast to all who could partake.



One thing I really enjoyed about this contest was the fact that we were able to see how we faired overall against the other teams. Although I am not proud of a few of our showings I think we did what we could with what we had and that's really all you can do. Here's how we did.

Chicken 8th of 47
Ribs 44 of 47
Pork 38 of 46
Brisket 13th of 47

I will post our turn in pictures and would be open to any criticism or compliments. I already got enough from the judges but you can never learn enough of what looks good or what doesnt. I have done much better in ribs back home but here's how we ended up for this contest. The ribs were in a triple pack and had some extremely slanted bones which we couldn't see so it made them very hard to cut which is part of the reason we did so poorly in that category. One rack even had to be thrown away. The rest though is just something that will take a little work and a little practice.

The Brethren of the Q......

I have decided that not blogging for awhile has really made me think about a few things that have been on my mind lately. Even though I have some great things going on this year I would have to say really that anything great that happens with barbecue would be pointless if it were not for the great people in this world and the relationships I have made along the way. That being said I would like to dedicate this blog to Daniel Hogan and to all the others whom have recently come into my life, and have shown me what truly lies behind just the meat and sauce of Barbecue. I will admit that good barbecue is part of it, however relationships you would not have had, friendships you would not have formed, and miles you would not have traveled are what makes barbecue so special. In the past if you would have told me I would be driving 9 hours to compete against some of the best cook's in the nation I would have laughed. If you would have told me I would have met some of the finest people BBQ has to offer in Austin, TX I would have looked you in the eye and called you a liar. If you had told me that they were from states other than TX I might have taken offense. All of these things are now real and true and just as the day is long more and more opportunities such as these are unfolding every day.

This year I was asked to be one of the director's for the Permian Basin Cookoff. This just so happens to be one of those opportunities. To me it's an honor to be a part of this group and allows me to give back to my community doing something I truly love and enjoy. It's one of the biggest cook-offs in West Texas and pay's not one red penny to the winner. The irony of this cook-off is that people will probably spend more money here than they will vs any other cook-off they go to this year. This cook off benefits two wonderful charities in our community and 100% of the proceeds will go to them as they receive no State or Federal funding. At our past board meeting I had the opportunity to have met and sat by Dan Hogan. Although I did not know Dan very well one of the first things I noticed about Dan was that he was a giver and because of him someone will have a chance at a much better life that they had not had before. BBQ played a major role in that and it's unfortunate he will not be here with us to share in it as he tragically lost his life two days later in a car accident. There are so many people in this world I would not have had the opportunity to have met if it were not related to BBQ in some form or fashion. I would have to say that my passion for barbecue is not what I had once thought it to be, but more of something that happens along the way.

To Be Continued........

Texas BBQ......

I think that anyone who has ever had real Texas BBQ would really enjoy this book. It has just been released and for me was well worth the wait. I picked my copy up from University of Texas Press. To some I think that this book would be something of a decoration for someones coffee table, however for those who have a passion for barbecue or have been to a few of the places it talks about I think you will have a much deeper appreciation for what the book is really about. There are no recipes in this book and really only a few pictures of the great barbecue that these places are so well known for. Instead you will find random photographs taken at each joint as well as some pictures and a few kind words about the pitmasters who keep these places going. I think that this book is a tribute to the many true authentic BBQ joints we are so fortunate to have in Texas and I hope to see in the future more and more people carrying on these traditions. This is a great book for the BBQ enthuasist and anyone who enjoys reading about Texas and it's BBQ. Mom and Pop joints are the best there is and my hats off to anyone going out on their own to fulfill their barbecue dreams.

Welcome to the neighborhood......

This weekend I had the pleasure of cooking for a wonderful family here in Midland. They are great friends of ours and just recently moved into our neighborhood. They decided to have a birthday party/housewarming party and invited over about 40 of their closest friends and family. I volunteered to do all the cooking so we decided on a menu of a couple of pork butts, two whole chickens, three sausage links, three racks of pork spare ribs, some BBQ beans and about 20 chicken breasts. It was devoured in about 45 minutes, however the overall process to make it happen took most of the day. Overall it turned out to be a great success and an opportunity for some great things in the future.



The chickens turned out great. They were left intact for the guests to cut off thier own pieces. The ribs turned out fine but were not my typical competition ribs that I like to cook. I made the rub and sauce for the ribs from a book entitled Championship BBQ Secrets for Real Smoked Food by Karen Putman. The sauce was a variation of the Cherry Chipotle BBQ sauce that I was able to use on just about everything. The beans turned out great as well as the pork butt's. I was disappointed in the first one however the second one that we pulled later in the night was by far on of the better butt's I have cooked. It had a great bark and a nice smoky flavor from being left on the pit.

Sweetwater Rattle Snake Roundup and BBQ Cookoff.....

This past weekend was our first contest of the year. It was the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up and BBQ Cook-Off held in Sweetwater, TX. One of my team members and I headed out Thursday after work and made the drive over to San Angelo to pick up an RV. This contest was special because several of my friends from Houston came down as well as some of my friends from Midland. We arrived in San Angelo at about 8:00, picked up the RV and were off to Sweetwater. We pulled into Sweetwater at about 11:30 PM and went to McDonalds for a late night snack. To our surprise there were about 30 little kids eating there and were having a birthday party for one of their friends. We went over to Walmart and did some last minute shopping and pulled into Newman Park by the Coliseum around 12:30 AM. It had rained all day and the entrance into the park was basically undriveable even with a 4x4. We parked the RV by the colisuem and settled in for the night. The next day we found a spot in the park, made it in and set up camp. We wound up having to park the RV outside of the park right by the edge and I had to bring the cooker inside the park by the RV. All morning we watched people coming in and getting stuck. It was almost like watching a Tractor Pull with obstacles. This year they added an award for the guy who pulled out the most people.
Our friends began to arrive Friday after lunch. By the time they had showed up water had began to overtake our campsite so we had to buy sandbags and a broom to push it out off of the grass. It rained most all of Friday and never got over 36 degrees. Saturday it drizzled most of the morning and finally cleared up about the time judging took place. Patty and the kids drove up on Saturday morning and went over to the coliseum to see all of the Rattlesnake demonstrations. There were about 97 teams entered up this year and the competition was tough. Overall it was a great time with the exception of the weather. The weather was about as bad as you can expect but we had a lot of fun. The judging at this contest is different than most and is something I do not agree with. The judges are served as much free alcohol as possible and the local radio station advertises live from the cook-off all the turn in times and encourages listeners to come out and judge. You basically have judges that come in off the street or from cooking teams and get drunk and walk around after the judging. This year we did not make the top 10. If you don't make the top 10 you really don't know where you wound up in the contest. You could have been 11th or 97th and not really know where you stood. Last year we placed 8th in Chicken out of about 137 teams. We were not as successful this year. Our Chicken did not hit. We did a practice run Friday and it turned out just like I wanted but Saturday it overcooked. The ribs had a little to much pepper and did not turn the color they usually do but they tasted wonderful. I was very dissapointed to not have made it in Brisket. I had numerous compliments on my brisket and it turned out exceptionally well. We had another team that came up who had tried it and said they were very surprised it didn't hit. I guess you cant win them all but you might as well have fun while you try.

My thoughts on Brisket......

I have a few thoughts on Brisket that I would like to share. I have probably more experience with Brisket than any other meat category out there that we as competition cookers are familiar with cooking. In Texas Beef is a very huge industry and is primarily what Texans are known for raising and cooking. In barbecue Brisket is the primary staple. It's not barbacoa that Lolis Eric Elie talks about in his DVD Smokestack Lightning. It's a good DVD and a great book in which I own, however I do not think he portrayed Texas accurately vs the other BBQ regions of the US. My introduction to brisket truthfully did not come to me when I first started getting into barbecue. It came from my upbringing and being a part of a Ranching family. I was not raised in the city so I have a hard time dealing with living in one. I was raised in the country and with that comes freedom to own and raise livestock. We had cattle on our ranch in Central TX and we also had show cattle at home. There is a very distinct difference in how ones meat will look and taste VS the other. Cattle that are fed grass and hay will mostly have a greenish, yellowish or grayish tint on the fat cap of their Brisket. This is due to their diet, protein, etc. In my opinion I think there is also a difference in taste, tenderness, and quality of the meat. Cattle that are grain fed however will have a hard white fat cap on their briskets and in my opinion will be more tender, taste better, and just overall be a better quality brisket. If your brisket selection does not allow you to cook Angus beef then I would suggest picking two briskets and cooking them side by side. One with dark yellow fat and one with hard white fat. You should see a difference and if this if something you struggle with I hope this tip will help. Something else most people do not know is that when cattle are slaughtered the butcher will use a saw or sometimes even a chain saw to cut the brisket out of the animal. When he does this he has to steam the meat at a very high temperature where it touched the saw to prevent E-Coli from spreading and to kill any germs. The brown edges around the Brisket you see in the cryovack packaging was where it was steamed while processing. It's important to always cut them off if possible around the edges of your Brisket. One last thing about Brisket I think is important to know is that many people get discouraged because they go by time vs actual temp of the Brisket while cooking. Around 160 - 165 briskets will plateau for a while meaning all the collagen, fat, and connective tissues will start to break down. This is where the Brisket will start to tenderize so it's important to be sure and not pull it to early because this process is different for each individual brisket. Some take a couple of hours and some take more. I think foil can speed the time up a little, however I tend to like a little bit of bark on my Brisket. When I foil it though sometimes the top of the Brisket will have sort of a wet steamed look to it and not the bark I tend to look for. If anyone has a tip on foiling briskets without loosing all the bark please let me know.