Dog

Giant dog takes over
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Chien chaud! Perro caliente! Rouchang! Red Hot! Weenie! Frank!

Got plans for the weekend? No? Well, here's something unique to try out. On Sunday, May 3rd, the Astor Center in New York City is hosting The 2009 Hot Dog Hootenanny! with Ed Levine, Bruce Kraig, and the Kelso Brewery.

You can taste a dog from each of the participating hot dog shops and wash them down with beer or prosecco before heading into a hot dog seminar and guided tasting, should you want to take your hot dog appreciation to the next level. The man who wrote the book on hot dogs, Bruce Kraig, and Serious Eats' Top Dog Ed Levine will talk through the history and culture of the dog as well as where to find the best dogs in America. You're even invited to submit a "hot dog haiku"; the winning entry (as judged by the world's foremost hot dog haiku experts) will be posted on Serious Eats the next day!

Dogs included in this event: Carolina Red Hots, Hofmann, Koegel, Oscar Meyer, Sabrett, Thumann, Usinger and Vienna.

Lump

Another store taken over by Royal Oak lump. Silly store owner is pissed that I took this picture. Fool! Think of all the free publicity he could have gotten.
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Not Loving The Big Apple BBQ Block Party or Robert Sietsema Either

The Annual Big Apple Barbeque Block Party line up has been announced and the pit masters selected and The Village Voice gets all snarky. Don't you just love it?

Robert Sietsema takes the time to rate the barbecue as presented by the various pitmasters and frankly, he doesn't have much love in his heart. According to Mr. Sietsema, the Que at the BABBP is second rate at best. Only NY's own Hill Country gets any respect which isn't too surprising as Mr. Sietsema claims."Texas barbecue is my benchmark."

It's an interesting look at the BABBP, but I feel Mr. Sietsema misses the point entirely. There's more to barbecue than "Texas." Ribs, pork shoulder, whole hog, sausage, and the lofty beef brisket, all represent barbecue and all deserve a place at any barbecue party. Kudos for Danny Meyer and Blue Smoke, who organize the event, for recognizing that. They bring in some of the legends of the barbecue world and give them the chance to strut in NYC.

Unfortunately, Mr. Sietsema is partially right, much of the que at the block party is second rate, but it's not the fault of the pitmasters. Frankly, the BABBP has grown too large for its own good. Too many people attend. There is no possible way that the pitmasters can keep up with the crowds and produce the quality barbecue for which they are rightly famous. Trust me, I've been on both sides on the lines.

So would I stay home? Well, yes and no. If you've never been, go. It's much like Times Square on New Year's Eve; every New Yorker should do it once. It's an experience unto itself. But if you're looking for some really good barbecue that day, go to RUB. It's nearby and you can experience the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, but eat like a king.

One last thing, in his snarky post, Mr. Sietsema takes a shot at the competition cooks. He states, "I remain unimpressed by barbecue competition champions, who win by slipping some blackberry jam into their marinade, or by relying on gloppy sauces." Damn - Bobby, when's the last time you came out to a competition barbecue? I used to trust your opinion on food, but this uneducated statement makes me wonder. Blackberry jam and relying on gloppy sauces went out with bell bottoms. "I'm a barbecue traditionalist, and prefer old-fashioned places using time-honored barbecue styles" as well, but get your head out of your ass and wake up and smell the smoke, there's more to barbecue than Texas style brisket.

Get Outta Here

And give me some money too...

Sale In Aisle Five

This just in from the folks at Bubba Keg ...

The Home Depot has decided to reset the price of the grill to $599. This change should be in effect in the next three to five days. This was a collaborative effort to get the Bubba Keg Convection grill to a more affordable price. This is great news as it will make this new grilling product more competitive in the marketplace and more attractive to passionate backyard chefs.

Also, Sam's Club has now started selling the Bubba Keg Convection Grill in about 30 stores throughout Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The retail price at Sam's Club is also $599.

Ribs

1st cook of ribs on the Bubba Keg. I gotta learn temp control. Had it at 230 to 250 for about 2 hours. Then temp dropped real fast - fire was out. Next fire I couldn't get temp below 300
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Ribs on the Bubba Keg

Holding at 230
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Recipes: Mount Olympus Meatball Kabobs

This just in from Weber...

Mount Olympus Meatball Kabobs
Serves: 4 to 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Marinating time: 2 to 8 hours
Grilling time: 8 to 10 minutes

Meatballs

• 2 medium garlic cloves
• 1 small red onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 pound ground lamb
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  

Sauce

• 4 ounces English cucumber
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco® sauce
• Extra-virgin olive oil
  

1. In a food processor finely chop the garlic, onion, and mint. In a medium bowl
combine the contents of the food processor with the remaining meatball ingredients.
Blend and squeeze the mixture with your hands until it is well combined. Lightly wet
your hands with cold water, then shape the mixture into meatballs about 1-1/2
inches in diameter (you should have 20 to 25 meatballs). Thread long, wide skewers
through the center of the meatballs, about 4 to 5 meatballs per skewer, leaving a
little room between each meatball. Place the kabobs on a sheet pan, cover, and
refrigerate for 2 hours, or as long as 8 hours.

2. Grate the cucumber. Drain in a colander and squeeze out most of the moisture. In
a medium bowl whisk the cucumber with the remaining sauce ingredients. Cover and
refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Lightly brush or spray the kabobs on all sides with oil. Grill over direct medium
heat (350° to 450°F), with the lid closed as much as possible, until fully cooked, 8
to 10 minutes, gently rotating meatballs 2 or 3 times during grilling. Serve warm
with the sauce.

© 2005 Weber-Stephen Products Co. Recipe from Weber’s Real Grilling™ by Jamie Purviance. All rights reserved.

More breaking news....

IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing giant, is running a Wednesday night food special; BBQ ribs! They'll serve you 1/2 rack of BBQ ribs with fries and a piece of cornbread all for $7.99. There's no information on their website about how long this special will run, so take advantage while you can.

Now I'm pretty sure that each IKEA doesn't have a smoker or a pitmaster working in the back, but a while back I had their BBQ Brisket special. While it was a far cry from the real thing, it was still pretty tasty. Go ahead, try the ribs out. Where else can you get 1/2 rack of ribs for $7.99?

This Just In...

The King's County BBQ Truck is currently homeless, but will still be making Sunday appearances in DUMBO. Hopefully this is a temporary situation as a message on their answering machine sates they think they'll be back home by tomorrow.

Hey if it doesn't work out on Quincy Street guys, c'mon out to Sheepshead Bay. I'm sure we could find you a spot!

FYI - King's County is one of the titles of Brooklyn. Long Island is comprised of four counties; King's, Queen's, Nassau and Suffolk. New York City is comprised of five boroughs; Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan. So, if my daughter is reading this, yes my dear - Brooklyn is on Long Island!

KCBS Reps Respond - KC Bull Shit Part Two

A while back I posted that Ken and Kathie Dakai were removed from their position as KCBS reps for reasons know only to the Kansas City BBQ Society Board of directors. This action by KCBS caused a huge outcry of well deserved support for Ken and Kathy over at the New England BBQ Society web board. This still hasn't been resolved, but here's Ken and Kathie's statement.

"Kathie and I would like to thank all of you for your support. We have spent the past week trying to make sense of the this whole thing. We want you all to know Kathie or I did nothing wrong. The charge of "conduct unbecoming the interests of KCBS by contest official " is false.

Kathie and I have always worked to do our best to run Fair , Honest, and Fun contests for Organizers, Cooking Teams, Judges and KCBS.

We will appeal this decision by the KCBS BOD.

Ken Dakai"

If you'd like to add your voice to the growing chorus of people demanding that Ken and Kathie be reinstated, please send an email to each member of the KCBS Board of Directors stating your support. You can email the entire KCBS board by clicking here!

Lump

Royal Oak Lump has taken over Brooklyn! It's everywhere!
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Cooking On The Bubba Keg

Well, I promised you guys some pictures and I put a couple up over the weekend. I'm sorry I didn't take more photos. They'll come in future cooks.

On Saturday I lit the fire in the Bubba Keg, oiled the grates and the dome's vents, burned off any miscellaneous packing materials and played with the fire. Dinner on Saturday was some chicken legs and grilled asparagus and Sunday was grilled rib eye with homemade potato au gratin.

Man, cooking on the Bubba Keg is intense. Cooking on this is very different from the other cookers I ever used. Here's some random thoughts...

• This thing is extremely effiecent with its use of fuel. A very small amount of lump provides a very hot fire. Two handfuls of lump maintained a 500 degree fire for over 2 hours. Three handfuls brought the temp to 800 degrees!
• Once this thing gets hot, it's almost impossible to cool it down. Opening the dome didn't seem to have much affect on the interior temperature. I had the cooker at 800 degrees and opened the dome for about 10 minutes. When I closed it, the dome temperature read 275, but returned to 750 degrees within one minute.
  
• I've got to close down the air dampers as soon as the cooker gets anywhere near the temperature I want. So far I haven't been able to get anywhere near the 225-275 degree temps I use for barbecue. I'll get there. I'm learning.
• The Bubba Keg is amazingly well insulated. Even with the fire raging at 800 degrees the outside of the cooker was still cool enough to touch. Yes, it was hot, but not hot enough to burn. At 500 degrees, it was completely cool.
• This thing is efficient! I lit the fire at 6:30 pm with three handfuls of lump and at 1:00am the interior temperature of the Bubba Keg still held at 250 degrees! Amazing.
• Living on a corner property on a well traveled street, the Bubba Keg attracted a lot of attention. I think I made a couple of sales over the weekend. Hmm, maybe I should become a distributor.

So, after playing with this puppy for a couple of days, I have to say I'm loving it! As a grill the Bubba Keg has been amazing. I've never cooked on any thing anywhere near as efficient. But now comes the fun part, mastering fire control on the Keg so that I'll be able to get into some low and slow barbeque. Stay tuned.

BTW - Just so everyone is clear, the people at Bubba Keg provided me and a bunch of other food bloggers with a free Bubba Keg for review, good or bad. I am not in any way affliated with the folks who manufacture, market or distribute the Bubba Keg.

Caution.

I found a new blog today. It's a comic strip blog called Obscene Cuisine. I've been reading if for a while now and have been ROLF and LOL and LMAO! Old school boy! I wouldn't exactly call it family friendly, but it is funny.

Here's a sample....Be sure to check them out. Obscene Cuisine. Tell them WhiteTrash sent ya! Ya all come back now ya hear?

Not A Virgin Anymore

First cook on the Bubba Keg. A bunch of drum sticks. Asparagus later.
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Fire!

Two handfuls of lump maintains a 500 degree fire on the Bubba Keg
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Bubba Keg Assembled.

Wow. That was fun. Putting the Bubba Keg together is pretty simple, once I downloaded the assembly instructions. Why aren't they included in the box? Also, I was missing two screws. Not a good sign of quality control boys.

It took about 20 minutes to assemble the beast; almost as long as it does to unpack it! Be warned though, this is a two man job. Putting the keg on the stand is almost impossible for you to do alone. It can be done, but it's not pretty. Trust me.

Here's a picture of the lid opened up. You can see the upper chrome cooking grate and the lower cast iron grate.

The interior of the Bubba Keg is finished in the same enameled steel as the Weber Kettles and Smokey Mountain cookers. This is a great choice as it never wears out and is very easy to clean.

The top grate pivots out to allow access to food on the lower grate. This is a nice feature. When I first saw this in a video I was concerned that the upper cooking grate would bend with any weight on it. I tested it using a brick and the grate remained steady and strong.

The top lid can be closed and secured and latched closed. The latch is a cheap plastic tab that I don't see lasting very long. Poor choice of materials here Bubba Keg.

The top lid also includes a nice easy to read thermometer. Unfortunately, you can't calibrate the thermometer, but it's a nice feature none the less. I've always wondered why the Big Green Egg and the Weber Smokey Mountain or Kettles don't include at thermometer. They should.

At the bottom of the Bubba Keg, there is a screened air vent. It's interesting that they have calibrated the vent opening with numbers from one to five which match the calibration system on the lid. I guess I'm not anal enough but this seems a bit of overkill to me. I don't think I'll be tracking by number how closed or open I keep the bottom vent. Unlike the Weber Smokey Mountain which has three, there is only one vent in the bottom of the Keg. I wonder if this will affect how evenly the fire burns and there's only one way to find out. The screen on the vent slides back to allow cleaning and ash removal.

And finally here's a picture of the top vents. This is made of cast iron and is an interesting choice. I'm a bit surprised as cast iron rusts easily and quickly if it is not seasoned properly. This is going to be a pain to maintain.

Putting this guy together was simple. The packaging efficient and overall the Bubba Keg seems to be a quality product. There's a couple of things I'd like to change. I'd like to be able to fold down the side tables. I'd like a place on the base to store the Bubba Keg multi tool as well as the trailer hitch and associated hardware.

This weekend comes the real test... Cooking!

Monday I'll have some pictures from my first cook on the Bubba Keg. I'm excited to use this beast. Stay tuned.

Another Bus Stop

Another example of how Royal Oak has taken over as the lump of choice in Brooklyn.
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Bubba Keg Archeology

I still haven't had time to cook on this beast, and it calls to me constantly, but here's some pictures of un-boxing and assembling.

On the left, here it is as delivered. Looking at the box, it's not much smaller than an 18 1/2" Weber Smokey Mountain.

This is a big box, if you're picking one up from the store, I hope you have a van or a pickup truck. I can't imagine trying to get that into a car trunk or back seat!

The shipping label claimed that the box weighed 235 lbs, but from the packing list it's only 135 lbs. I wonder what the Bubba Keg people paid for shipping.

Let's see what it's like when it's opened up. The outer layer of cardboard has been removed. It's very Nicely packed. That's the base placed on top of the keg. Lots of Styrofoam and packing materials in this box. It's not very environmentally friendly.

Removing the base and it's surrounding packing materials I open the lid and find a box and more packing materials.

This box is heavy. Below the box I find the handles, the snap on tables, the cooking tool (more about that later) and the two cooking grates.

Carefully removing all of that, I find.... Another box! This one is much lighter than the first. I feel like I'm excavating King Tut's tomb here. Every layer produces something new and exciting.

And what is in these boxes? One contains the wheels and the various hardware. The other? It's empty. Carefully emulating Howard Carter, I dutifully document my find but wonder, "Has this keg been violated by keg robbers earlier in the century?" I'm stumped.

All the various pieces of this bad boy are now scattered around my garage floor. I'm ready to begin. I open up the operation handbook and check out the schematic, read the cooking and operating instructions and glance over the instructions for attaching my Bubba Keg to my non-existent pickup truck and it dawns on me. There's no assembly instructions! I think I've solved the mystery of the empty box.

To the internet! More tomorrow.

Our 80lb Lap Dog

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Now This is Truly Disgusting

The latest news from my buddy, Matt Timms...

Tofu Takedown!!! Finally!!!!

You begged for it!!! For too long, vegetarians have been unhappily doggy paddling in a sea of comfort food. NO MORE.The most audacious takedown to date features TOFU, meat of the soy gods.

Some may interpret this as a BRUTAL answer to the bacon takedown!!! All it is, is another takedown!!! We expect to see brilliant and innovative renditions of this malleable fruit! Tofu chili! Tofu brownies! Tofu ice cream!

Email Matt Timms to enter!!!! We need cooks to sign up now!!!!

May 10th at Highline Ballroom!!! 4PM!!!

Photo of the lovely little tofu with attitude courtesy of Button Arcade

Kansas City Bull Shit - Part One

The KCBS Board of Directors made the determination to remove Ken and Kathy Dakai as KCBS Reps and Ken as a CBJ instructor. The reason was listed on the KCBS Quick Notes from the Board 4/8/09 and was stated as: involved for conduct unbecoming the best interest of KCBS. This cryptic infomation can be found on the KCBS web site. Hopefully the upcoming minutes from that meeting will shed more light on the situation. Because, for the moment, it's a decision that is leaving many in the dark.

I'll have more on this in the near future, but trust me, I'm not happy.

Death and Taxes

Doing my taxes and wondering why I got's to pay so much when I got's to keep so little.

It got's me thinking about ways to keep what little I's got's so I been looking for cheap foods.

WhiteTrash foods you might say.

Here's a great recipe that might just revolutionize my life. Poor Man's Barbeque Sauce.

Life in Brooklyn

View from the bus stop. Lump charcoal and fresh bread. It's a good day.
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BBQ Contest: Good Morning America

Here's a unique barbecue contest, Good Morning America Weekend is looking for the best barbeque joint in your neighborhood. They're looking for "The one place that captures the flavor and uniqueness of your town, but more importantly, has barbecue (ribs, chicken, beef, pork, etc.) that everyone lines up around the block for."

All you need to do is, "Send an essay of 300 words or less telling GMA about your favorite local restaurant and why its signature barbecue dish makes eating there such a memorable experience (what makes it so delicious and why it's a local favorite)"

"If your entry gets the most votes from our panel of judges and viewers across America, the restaurant that you entered may be featured on national television, and you could win a free trip to New York and a chance to eat at a famous New York City restaurant"

You can enter here. Good Luck!

The RUB Rapid Fire Challenge

A couple of days before the event, our sponsor RUB BBQ with Pat LaFrieda Meats put together a new challenge for the teams; The Rub Rapid Fire Challenge. At the last turn in for Grilin' On The Bay, the chef's choice category, the cooks were given a mystery protein to cook and submit to a new team of judges.

It was indeed a challenge as our cooks were presented with an untrimmed prime hangar steak for the protein and judged by Andrew Fischel, Scott Smith, both of RUB BBQ, Nick Solares of Serious Eats and Gary Goldblatt of Pigtrip.

The Rub Rapid Fire Challenge Top 10 Results:
10. Josh Ozersky
9. Ma's Cue Crew
8. Smoke On The Water
7. Eat A Donut
6. Ribs Within
5. Purple Turtle Caterers
4. Wildwood BBQ
3. Porkaholics
2. Smoke In Da Eye
1. iQue

Grillin On The Bay - The Results

Thanks to everyone for coming out. It was a hell of wicked windy day down by the bay. These are the top 10 results in the grilling competition. I'll post the rest in the next couple of days.

Grillin On The Bay: Chicken
10.Smoke In Da Eye
9. Smoke On The Water
8. Eat A Donut
7. Purple Turtle Caterers
6. Transformer BBQ
5. Porkaholics
4. Ma' Cue Crew
3. Wildwood BBQ
2. iQue
1. Ribs Within

Grilin' On The Bay: Fish
10. Eat A Donut
9. Team Agave
8. Smoke On The Water
7. Porkaholics
6. Purple Turtle Caterers
5. Pearl Lee Q's
4. Wildwood BBQ
3. Transformer BBQ
2. iQUe
1. Ribs Within

Grillin' On The Bay: Pork
10. Wildwood BBQ
9. Beer Belly Porkers
8. Eat A Donut
7. Pearl Lee Q's
6. iQue
5. Smoke In Da Eye
4. Purple Turtle Caterers
3. Ribs Within
2. Team Agave
1. Transformer BBQ

Grillin' On The Bay: Chef's Choice
10. Ribs Within
9. Smoke In Da Eye
8. Ma's Que Crew
7. Pearl Lee Q's
6. Smoke On The Water
5. Beer Belly Porkers
4. Team Agave
3. Porkaholics
2. Transformer BBQ
1. Wildwood BBQ

Grillin' On The Bay Overall
10. Ma's Cue Crew
9. Porkaholics
8. Pearl Lee Q's
7. Team Agave
6. Smoke On The Water
5. Purple Turtle
4. IQue
3. Ribs Within
2. Wildwood BBQ
1. Transformer BBQ

Grillin' On The Bay

Grillin' On The Bay and The Brooklyn Chili Smack Down

Sponsored by RUB BBQ and Butternuts Beer and Ale with

The RUB Rapid Fire Challenge
Sponsored by Pat LeFrieda Meat and RUB BBQ

Saturday, April 4th, 20009
Corner of East 18th Street and Ave Z Brooklyn, NY
11:00 AM to 4:30 PM

Free Admission. $10 for all the chili you can eat.
BBQ, Beer and other food items for sale.

It's an incredible line up of cooks this year.

• Smoke In Da Eye - Defending Champion!
• Purple Turtle Caterers - Returning Champions from the first Grillin' On The Bay.
• Beer Belly Porkers
• iQue featuring Andy O. C. Husbands of the award winning Tremont647
• Ribs Within
• King's County BBQ Truck
• Josh Ozersky of the Feedbag formerly of Grub Street with Shane McBride of Craft Steak
  
• Wildwood BBQ featuring Big Lou Elrose with Robbie Richter, former Pitmaster of Hill Country
  
• Moose's Mayhem
• Atom's Ribs featuring Matt Fisher, former Pitmaster of Wildwood BBQ NYC
• Team Agave
• Ma's Cue Crew
• Transformer BBQ
• Smoke On The Water
• Porkaholics
• Rb's BBQ
• Pearl Lee Q's
• Eat A Donut

And some wild entertainment from Cirque Du Soleil. I don't know what they've got planned, but I'm sure it will be fun. The New England Barbecue Society is sanctioning this event.

Additional sponsors include Grill Charms, The Waterfront Ale House, Andrews McMeel Publishing and Carrie Bachman Public Relations

This going to be a great day. I hope to see all of you there.