The American Royal

This weekend is the Superbowl of barbecue contests, the American Royal.

Sure wish I was there. But, I'm not going until I get an invitation!

The Story of Kingsford

Henry Ford was a damn good entrepreneur. One of the by-products of making Model Ts was a lot of scrap wood. Now good ol' Henry said to himself - how can I make a dollar out of that scrap wood? How about making charcoal? Yeah - that's it - charcoal. And that's how Kingsford Charcoal was born.

Read about it here. Kingsford Charcoal

Amateur Barbeque League

As promised dear readers, I investigated the Amateur Barbeque League. I sent a message to Mike at ABL and this is what he said...

"The Amateur Barbeque League was recently formed with the intention of having a place where people can have a chance at a good prize pool and hone their skills. We will be donating to several children charities. There are 6 of us on the board of directors and then there is myself who is putting it all together and managing the business.

The site wasn't supposed to be seen yet. Guess I made a mistake by joining smoke ring early. We have 42 cities lined up and will have 60 total for 2006. The dates will be posted in the next few weeks. The dates posted now are just to fill in space."

So it looks like the ABL is legit. I'm still not joining in until I see some more progress on its site and contests, but I look forward to their expansion into the world of competitive BBQ.

A new barbeque league?

I just came across the Amateur Barbeque League on the internet. It appears to be a new league for amateur cooks only. For only $25 a year, you can enter the ABL and cook in as many contests you like, until the championship where you compete for either $25,000 or $50,000. There is a $30 entry fee for each contest. Sounds like a great idea, but I don't know if it's feasible. There's no way a contest organizer would recoup his investment with only a $30 entry fee.

Besides the grand prize amount, there are a few other inconsistencies on their website, most of the contest locations take place at 111 Main St - whatever town. They don't talk about who is involved and I would think a new league would mention some of the old pros to show that it's legitimate. And finally, the only pages that seem to work properly are the home page and any page where you can send money.

Now I don't know anything about this league. No one I know in the BBQ world has ever heard of it. I'm not saying that this is a scam, but I'm not sending any money yet. I do hope that I'm wrong and this turns out to be a legitimate organization. I've sent them an e-mail asking for more information. I'll keep you posted.

Smoked Turkey

I don't have much to say today - so here's a picture of a smoked turkey I found on the internet. I smoked a couple of birds for a friend recently, and when I gave them to her she said that I saved her alot of money. I didn't know that smoked turkey was expensive, but looking around the internet a 10-12lb bird goes for $34 to $75. Looks like there's some money to be made there.

Lang 2

Picking up where we left off:

When I got to the Grill Kings contest in Long Island, I was glad to see that the contest had improved dramatically from the previous year. Not only was it now a sanctioned state championship, but some of the big bad boys of BBQ were there. To name a few, there was Dr. BBQ, Dirty Dick's and the Legless Wonders, Daisy May's BBQ, and the Philly Pigs. In my mind, the two teams to beat were Dr. BBQ and Daisy May's. I don't know exactly why I was fixated on them, but Dr. BBQ was easily the biggest name there and had just published a cook book. And Adam Perry Lang, Adam was the big city celebrity professionally trained chef who was living my dream. I'd show him!

If you've ever been to a barbecue contest, right about 1:00 am things start to settle down. Everyone's got their meat in the cookers, or in the marinades and rubs. Most people are settling in for a few hours sleep, the partiers have just about left and the pit bitches are watching the fires.

Me, I don't sleep. So with beer in hand I went a wondering. I watched some of the poker being played and said hello to the other pit bitches as they tended their fires. I was a bit surprised to find Adam up and working on his briskets. He had the greatest setup; very minimalist, sparse, clean and efficient. I wanted to check it out, but was a bit leery based on our first meeting. Adam noticed me and called me over.

I was really surprised with our conversation. Instead of a know it all celebrity cook, I found a genuinely nice guy. We talked about the contests, his equipment (easy now this is a family blog!) his setup and his restaurant. He even offered me a tour of the restaurant when we got back to the city. He asked me all sorts of questions about why I was into BBQ, about my experiences, recipes and cooking methods. I asked him about financing and how I could put my dream into reality.

The next day at the award ceremony, Daisy May'’s went home empty handed. We took first in pork and fourth overall. Dr. BBQ took the grand championship.

The next weekend, when I arrived late at the Hudson Valley Rib Fest, Adam came over and brought me some of his steak to try out. I was really touched by this gesture. As I mentioned earlier the steak was damn good. But I was late and had to get to work with my Brothers in Smoke.

That night, in the twilight of the pit bitch, Adam and I spent more time talking. We went over a lot of the same things, and I gave him an idea for a recipe that he used on BBQ with Bobby Flay. And he offered me what ever assistance he could with building my own place. I am very impressed by that. And very grateful. One of these days, I'm going to take him up on it.

And at the Hudson Valley Rib Fest it was our turn to watch Adam walk with some prizes. Daisy May's BBQ came in third overall, while we had our worst showing yet with 11th place.

So dear readers, if you haven't been to Daisy May'’s in awhile, head on over to the corner of Eleventh Avenue and West 46th Street and support a genuinely nice guy who makes some pretty damn good Q. You won'’t be sorry.

Adam Perry Lang

I mentioned earlier that one of the highlights of the Hudson Valley Ribs Festival was that I got to spend more time with Adam Perry Lang of Daisy May's BBQ. I promised to write a little more about my experience with him.

A little background.....

I've been thinking and toying with opening a BBQ restaurant for about 5 years. Friends and family have all said that I am nuts. I've never worked in the restaurant business. I've never cooked for large crowds. Yeah, I can make some kick ass Q, but that's a long way from running a successful BBQ business. And where would I get the money to do it?

Another argument I head over and over again was that New York doesn't have any BBQ restaurants. They wouldn't do well here. Well, there was Tennessee Mountain, Pearson's, Virgil's and Brother Jimmy's. All of them successful but none really great. None of them were exactly what I wanted to do.

Then, there was Blue Smoke. Finally New York had a New York style Barbeque restaurant. I looked around. I was intimidated. I couldn't run a place like that. I'd want to do a BBQ joint like they had in Texas. A place where you got your meat at the counter and found an open table to eat at. More scoffing from the friends and family. That would never fly in NYC.

Then Daisy May's opened up. This was almost exactly what I wanted to build. A small take out restaurant with a limited menu that featured great BBQ with some upscale sides. As readers of this blog know, I've reviewed Daisy May's many times over the years, and not always favorably, but Adam was doing exactly what I wanted to do. He was/is living my dream.

Adam Perry Lang was a CIA trained chef who is creating his own road by taking on the lowly art of barbecue and brought it to New York City with some style and flair. He worked in the kitchens of Le Cirque, Daniel and Chanterelle. The boy can cook.

I fist met Adam in Daisy May's one late evening. (Well late for Daisy May's - it closes at 8:00pm) He didn't strike me as particularly friendly or nice. I got the distinct feeling that he was pissed off at something. I just assumed that he was another celebrity with a celebrity attitude. Boy was I wrong.

In my next post, I talk about what it was like spending time with Adam at the Grill Kings and at the Hudson Valley Rib Fest. This post has gotten much too long!

Pulled Pork

We made the pulled pork and it turned out pretty damn good. I'm sorry we didn't get any pictures. Chris Lilly's recipe is pretty tasty, but there were a few flavors missing as far as I am concerned. I'd add another 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and switch the plain sugar to turbinado sugar. There's still a flavor missing but I haven't put my finger on it yet.

As for the cooking method, here’s what I did. I cooked the pork over a fire off charcoal, hickory and cherry wood. Make sure when you light your fire, don't use any lighter fluid or artificial accelerants. You will taste them in the meat.

Keep the fire at a temperature of 220 degrees. Pork is a pretty forgiving piece of meat, so temperature swings won’t affect it too badly, but try and keep a steady temperature. After about 3 hours in the fire, after the bark has set, spray or mop the meat. I prefer to mop the meat using a combination of apple juice, sugar, butter and the rub. Some people add bourbon or other liquors. After that mop about once every 45 minutes or so.

Once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees, wrap the meat in a layer of saran wrap to which some mop has been added. Then wrap it in a few layers of tinfoil and return it to the cooker.

For some reason, which I know others can explain, the internal temperature of the meat often will get stuck at 160 degrees for a couple of hours. Once the meat reaches 170 degrees you will see the temperature begin to rise very quickly. Once the meat reaches 190 – 195 degrees, remove it from the cooker. This is for pulled pork only. If you want to slice your pork, the temperatures are much lower.

Prepare a cooler by filling it with hot water, empting and drying it thoroughly. Place the meat in the cooler, using towels to fill any empty spaces. Let the meat rest for at least 2 hours. It will continue to cook in the cooler and the collagen in the meat will continue to break down.

Un-wrap the meat, making sure you save all the juices that have accumulated in the foil. Using your hands, remove all the exterior fat and rip apart the meat. If you have cooked it properly it will be very moist and falling apart in your hands. You can also use two forks or bear paws to help shred the meat.

Pulled Pork

Today, I'm cooking for tomorrow. We're celebrating my daughter's 12th birthday a few days late. Right now, as I type, there is 15lbs of Pork Butt cooking on my Weber Smokey Mountain. I used a modified Minion Method for the fire and the meat should be ready around midnight tonight.

Last night my daughter and I rubbed and injected the butts using Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's fame "Grand World Championship Pork Shoulder" recipe as published in Peace, Love and Barbecue, by Mike Mills. We let the butts sit in the refrigerator over night and got them on the fire at about noon today.

Big Bob Gibson's Grand World Championship Pork Shoulder.

1 Pork Butt or Shoulder (18 to 20 lbs) Mine is 15lbs because it is boneless.

Dry Rub
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/3 cup garlic salt (I used garlic powder)
1/3 cup kosher salt, finely ground
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder (I used ancho chili powder)
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Injection Baste
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. (I use Lea & Perrins)

Make the dry rub. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a shaker. Store leftover rub in an air tight container. To better mix the rub ingredients, I mixed it in a covered container and shook the rub well. Then I ran the rub through a screen mesh which worked out all the lumps and blended the rub further.

Make the baste. Whisk together the apple juice, water, sugar, salt and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Keep mixing until all dry ingredients are dissolved. Fill a basting syringe and begin injecting the meat. You'll want to use about 1/2 oz per pound of shoulder. Coat the butt well with the dry rub and refrigerate overnight.

Cook on a pit or smoker for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour per pound or to an internal temperature of 195 degrees. Pull or chop the meat. Pole the meat onto buns for sandwiches. Leftovers can be frozen for up to one month.

Well, that's the recipe. But I know there are major differences between that method of cooking and how you do butt for competition. I'll talk about that in a post later this week.

Blogging

Well, it's been three days since my last post. I'm working on getting a schedule set so that I post every other day. Yesterday I spent an hour composing a chart on cooking times and temperatures for the most common bbq foods. But I was unable to post it. The chart was created in Excel. I couldn't get it to keep its format when posting.

Can anyone recommend a good software for blogging? I'd like to be able to post items and store them in categories. I'd like to be able to post spreadsheets and word documents easily. And, one last requirement, it should be free, just like the software blogger provides.

Thanks.

Charcoal

I've always heard that great minds think alike....

Well, me and my friend over at the BBQ Junkie are thinking alike. I've been meaning to post this link for a long time.

Charcoal. Ever wonder which is best? Which burns cleanest? Which tastes best? Well, there's a whole website devoted to just that; the testing of charcoal.

Check out the Naked Whiz. They've forgotten more about charcoal than I ever knew.

Book review: Peace, Love and Barbecue

Peace, Love and Barbecue
By: Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe
Rodale Books

I just finished reading this incredible book by Mike Mills, three times Grand Champion for Memphis In May. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

If you want award winning barbeque recipes, they're here. If you need a travel guide to the great BBQ restaurants all across the US, this is the book. If you want to know what it's like to be a competitor at local and major barbeque contests throughout the United States,just read this book. Need to know how to run and open a BBQ restaurant, this is your guide.

Reading Mike's stories and tall tales remind me of the stories told during late night cooks at the competitions. This book really captures the essence of BBQ. Go buy it!

September 11

Please take a moment today to remember all who were lost in the terrorist attacks 4 years ago today. Take a moment to remember all the brave men and women who have been lost in the war on terror. Take a moment to remember all the children who lost their parents. Take a moment to remember what America was like before the terrorist attacks.

I'm still here

Sorry for the lack of posts. Life is been very strange lately. I will post more over the weekend and will be getting on a regular posting schedule.

We left off with me traveling to the Hudson Valley Rib Fest in New Paltz. Well we got our clock cleaned. We came in 11th overall. Not a bad finish, but the food was, in our opinion, the best we've ever cooked. Oh well. The more experienced teams have said that if your happy, it's the sign of death. Guess they were right!

Congratulations to Rob Richter and Big Island BBQ for their first place finish. I didn't taste any of their food, but they are a great team and deserve to win.

One great experience at New Paltz was getting to spend some more time with Adam Perry Lang of Daisy May's BBQ. We had met at Grill Kings earlier in the summer, and when I got to New Paltz, he came over with some steak for me to try out. It was damn good. I'll talk more about my impressions of Adam in a later post.

On a more personal note, I hope you are all checking out The Hampton Smoker's Blog. He just got some great, well deserved press in the New York Daily News.