Master Hamburger Seminar at RUB BBQ

There's still a few spots left - Care to join me in what looks to be one of the premier seminars in NYC?

From A Hamburger Today...
Master Hamburger Seminar at RUB BBQ - Tuesday, February 9

Tuesday, February 9, RUB BBQ will hold a Master Hamburger Seminar hosted by James Beard Award-winning burger expert Josh Ozersky, author of The Hamburger: A History.

The seminar will include a regional burger tasting—featuring a Mississippi Meatball burger, a North Jersey-style onion slider, and a Wisconsin-style butter burger—and "delve into the tastes of different beef blends, look at cooking methods, and offer tales and insights on the advanced frontier of hamburger experimentation." Beer is included in the ticket price.

Master Hamburger Seminar at RUB BBQ

Tuesday, February 9, 6 p.m.
$30/person
208 West 23rd Street, New York NY 10011 (b/n 7th and 8th; map)
RSVPs are required: 212-524-4300; rubburger@yahoo.com

Photo of RUB courtesy of PigTrip.

BBQ Class: Bodacious Barbeque Bonanza

Here's a new twist on barbecue classes. I've never heard of one being held at a bed and breakfast where sleep is actually part of the class! How novel. This is being held at Hamanassett Bed & Breakfast in Chester Heights, Pennsylvania.

Bodacious Barbeque Bonanza

August 2-3, 2009

The ultimate barbeque hands on cooking experience with instruction, tips, techniques and coaching provided by professional barbeque masters from the Free Range Barbeque Team and The Barbeque Guru.

These folks have garnered numerous awards in various competitions throughout the country and are experts in the preparation and cooking of barbeque.

Equipment designed and manufactured by the Barbeque Guru was just used by Sweet Swine O'Mine to take the 2009 Grand Champion title at the prestigious Memphis in May Barbeque competition.

Class participants will go "low and slow" in preparing everything from ribs to brisket, along with appropriate accompaniments, culminating in a delicious "pig out" to be enjoyed by all. There might even be a little competition to see whose barbeque is the best! Wood, smoke, spice, sauce - barbeque - and fun!

This Bodacious Barbeque Bonanza features two nights' accommodations, breakfast each morning, welcoming reception, all the barbeque you can eat, class materials and a tote bag with a Brandywine Country Cooking School apron.

Class is limited to twelve participants so reserve your space at once.

$700.00 per couple/double occupancy

$600.00 Single

$200.00 person for class only (space permitting)

Photo of Brett and Hillard from The Free Range BBQ Team courtesy of The Dizzy Pig Barbecue Company, which you should check out. They make some outstanding rubs.

BBQ Events: Pitmaster Training Class

Wanna learn how to Que? Ya do? Fuhgeddaboutit! Check this out!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

At Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island, New York

Take a one-day classes to learn the techniques of authentic wood-smoked barbecue. Complete BBQ meal is included (Slow Smoked Beef Brisket, BBQ Pulled Port Shoulder, Spare Ribs, Slaw, Pit Baked Beans and Cornbread).
Participants receive an authentic “Pitmaster Diploma” and go home with your own “BBQ Bible”. Download the syllabus. Class begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m.; Smokin’ Joe Mizrahi, proprietor of the 20-year-old critically acclaimed Smokin’ Joe’s True-Blue Texas Barbecue Inc. will be joined by Stephen Harkavy, his long-time BBQ buddy and fellow Pitmaster on the grounds of Staten Island’s bucolic Historic Richmond Town to teach the secrets of being a “BBQ Pitmaster.” Both Joe and Steve are accomplished Pitmasters and Memphis in May (MIM) Certified Barbecue Judges. Each has judged at both the MIM World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the prestigious Jack Daniels Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest. In addition, Steve is a Kansas City Barbecue Society Certified Judge and Pitmaster for the award winning “Fuhgeddaboutit” BBQ Cooking Team.
$80 per person, Staten Island Historical Society members $75. Class size is limited. Reservations are required – (718) 351-1611, ext. 236. Or click here.

School's In Session

The New England Barbecue Society will be hosting an overnight hands on BBQ competition class May 9th and 10th, 2009 at the Maynard Rod and Gun Club in Maynard Massachusetts. The cost of the class is $130 for NEBS members and $165 for non members. Please contact Jed Lebonte This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.

Wait A Minute...

I thought I was barbecue in New York City. I started the contests.* I brought Paul Kirk to NYC to teach.* What's going on here? How did this get started? Can I go?

Smokin’ Joe’s True-Blue Texas Barbecue, Inc.

In cooperation with
the Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond Town

Presents
BBQ Pitmaster University

The craving for truly great Barbecue has hit a fevered pitch in New York City. This culinary sensation, a staple of the South and the West for years has finally worked its way north of the Mason Dixon Line and the NJ Turnpike, replete with new BBQ “Joints” popping up every day, all over the city. Why travel to them, look for parking and wait on long lines (if the food is any good) when you can now learn the secrets that will make YOU an expert and culinary “Master of the Pit?”

Come spend the day at Staten Island’s Historic Richmond Town, learn the art and the secrets for cooking authentic wood-smoked Barbecue from expert Pitmasters; and, as a bonus, you will enjoy a great meal of True-Blue Texas Barbecue with all the fixin’s! Smokin’ Joe Mizrahi proprietor of the 20 year old, critically acclaimed, Staten Island based Smokin’ Joe’s True-Blue Texas Barbecue, Inc. will be joined by Stephen Harkavy long time BBQ buddy and Pitmaster on the grounds of the bucolic Staten Island Richmondtown Restoration to teach the secrets of a “BBQ Pitmaster”.

Both Joe and Steve are accomplished Pitmasters and Memphis in May (MIM) Certified Barbecue Judges; having judged at both the MIM World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the prestigious Jack Daniels Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest. In addition, Steve is a Kansas City Barbecue Society Certified Judge and Pitmaster for the award winning “Fuhgeddaboutit” BBQ Cooking Team.

Come early to explore the Restoration’s buildings and grounds then settle in for your training, loaded with practical demonstrations and some hands-on experience. All of which will culminate with a full BBQ Dinner, served family-style by period dressed interpreters. Dinner will include Slow Smoked Beef Brisket, BBQ Pulled Pork Shoulder, Spare Ribs, Slaw, Pit Baked Beans, Cornbread and a specially prepared Dessert baked on the open hearth in a reflector oven made at the historic village.

Get more information from their website here.

*Please know that I am joking. Take these comments in the spirit in which they were intended. I am not barbecue in NY. I didn't accomplish anything on my own. I've had help. Believe me. The contests and class would not have been possible without the help of Matt Fisher, Robbie Richter, Andrew of Rub BBQ and many many others.

BBQ Events: I Smell Smoke Cooking Class

The folks over at the I Smell Smoke BBQ (many many award winning) team are holding a competition barbecue cooking class out in Warminster PA. If you're thinking about competing this is a great way to learn what you'll need to win. Check it out.

Competition Cooking Class Warminster Pennsylvania

The weekend of June 28th I Smell Smoke and the folks at BBQ Guru are teaming up to bring you the ultimate competition barbecue cooking class. This class will be an overnight hands on class just like a competition. Everything from meat selection to final presentation will be covered.

The folks from BBQ Guru will be providing specific instructions and techniques on their cookers and controllers. The class is being held at The BBQ Guru World Headquarters in Warminster Pennsylvania.

Sign up now space is limited. Click Here for more information.

BBQ Camp

I found this today in my RSS feeds. It's a very interesting story about Elizabeth Karmel and BBQ summer camps. I've known about these camps for years, and from what I hear, they are worth every penny.

But, buried deep in the story I found a very surprising tid-bit of information;Ms. Karmel is executive chef at Hill Country. Hill Country is NYC's new BBQ restaurant that will soon be opening on 26th street. Hill Country, your pitt-master is very good at keeping secrets.

High-brow meets low-brow on BBQ tour

When it comes to camping, Greensboro native Elizabeth Karmel has come a long way from her summers at Camp Seafarer in Pamlico County.

The latest project from the cooking instructor, cookbook author and creator of www.girlsatthegrill.com is a series of summer "camps" focused on barbecue in North Carolina (April 22-26), Memphis (Sept. 18-23) and Texas (Nov. 4-8). The trips cost $3,750 per person, excluding airfare. And there's not a pup tent in sight.

"With the luxury accommodations, it combines the highbrow and the lowbrow," said Karmel, author of "Taming the Flame." "That way you get the best of what the area has to offer."

To add to the atmosphere, the trips include such camp staples as making s'mores and giving out prizes to the campers.

"Everybody loves camp, right?" Karmel said.

The Camp BBQ tours are glorified field trips that grew out of Karmel's monthly Southern barbecue class at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City -- so popular that it has a year-long waiting list. Participation in each trip is limited to 20 campers.

First on the agenda, and in Karmel's heart, is the trip here to introduce campers to the glory of pulled pork. Based in the luxurious Fearrington House south of Chapel Hill, the campers will make forays east to Wilson, where pitmaster Ed Mitchell will serve up whole hog barbecue with a vinegar-based sauce, and west to Greensboro and Lexington for pulled pork with ketchup-based sauce at Stamey's and Lexington No. 1. In between, they'll dine at such local institutions as Allen & Sons, Crook's Corner, Mama Dip's and Magnolia Grill.

"People are always asking me, 'What's your favorite place?' so I thought it would be fun to take people down there to introduce them to my barbecue buddies," she said.

But over the years and the miles, Karmel said she has become an "equal opportunity barbecuer." Her second trip focuses on the ribs of Memphis, Tenn., and Murphysboro, Ill. As an added bonus, her campers will form a team with barbecue expert Mike Mills (co-author of "Peace, Love and Barbecue") to compete in the 20th annual Murphysboro Barbecue Contest.

The year's last stop is in central Texas and the Hill Country for beef, brisket and sausage. The area in and around Austin is known for barbecue that has been influenced by immigrants from Mexico and Germany, Karmel said, bringing together jalapeños and sausage.

"I love that sort of cultural mesh," she said.

Hill Country is also the name of the new Texas-style barbecue restaurant where Karmel is developing dishes as executive chef. The restaurant, on 26th Street in New York, will open in May.

Eventually, Karmel would like to add even more regions to Camp BBQ. "I would love to do Kansas City or California during the wine harvest."

BBQ Class: I Smell Smoke

Are you looking to learn how to win at competition barbecue? Well, I have a tip for you. The boys over at I Smell Smoke are about to unleash their secrets on the world. From their website...

"I Smell Smoke will be teaching an advanced competition bbq class on April 14th, 2007 at the American Legion post 77 in Ashland, MA. This is the real deal folks! We will show you how we prepare Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket for KCBS competitions. The class is intended for people with at least some competition experience. Class size will be limited so sign up early."

But why would you want to take a class from the I Smell Smoke team? Well, here's why.....

• New England Barbecue Society Team of the Year
• NEBS Rib Team of the Year
• NEBS Pork Team of the Year
• NEBS Brisket Team of the Year

Plus this team is a bunch of great guys. I promise you'll have fun in this class. I'm hoping to raise the money to go. This is $200 very well spent.