Que'n for Kids 2010 California State BBQ Competition

Let's get this party started!!

Que'n for Kids 2010 California State BBQ Competition - Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, CA - June 12, 2010.

Meat, Inc BBQ Team just finished attending the OC BBQ Competition.

Team members for this competition were Aaron, Doug, Ryan and Strawberry. Also joining us were Ann and Dan - KCBS Certified Judges that cooked with us to check the box on their way to becoming MASTER JUDGES! Very impressive!

We also had some help from Mike and Wendy and some extra friends that dropped in!

Aaron singing Holy Diver to his meats so they could cook even better. Ann is in the background trying to remember the chorus (you can see his stripes so you know he's clean).




Mike and Doug prepping meats.




Doug and Mike tossing meats on the smoker.




The Meat, Inc, crew making the world famous ABT's (Atomic Buffalo Turds). We only made 20lbs of jalapenos. All sold out within 1 1/2 hours.




Dan and Doug checking on the Texas crutch. Looking good boys!




Strawberry manning the wet bar. Looking good with a shirt on finally.




Aaron explaining to Monkey (from Rancho Rocke BBQ) why we couldn't trade Strawberry for a 40oz of Mickeys until all the dishes were washed.




Mike - that's 2 tablespoons of CUMIN - sheesh!




Can Aaron be in charge for a minute?!?! Put your shirt on!




Aaron and Ann making turn in boxes. Such great fun. Ann needs to make our turn in boxes every time. Aaron sucks at it.



Aaron and Strawberry being interviewed by the Food Network about our History Of BBQ Display. Do you think this film has ANY chance making it to production? Me thinks not.




Mike and Ryan discussing Cumin.




Turn in Chicken - a VERY disappointing 48 / 57. Same recipe that we pulled a 2nd place at Stage Coach.




Ribs - an average 34 / 57. That pesky 6th bone killed us.




Pork Butt - 18 / 57 - not bad.




Brisket - 19 / 57 - Not bad.

We finished up 30 / 57 in the middle of the pack. If our chicken would have been scored higher, we would have had a top 20. What are you going to do?

Overall contest results found here:
http://www.cbbqa.org/wiki/index.php?title=Kristie%27s_Foundation_-_Orange_County_BBQ_Festival_2010




Vending was outstanding - the proceeds from the vending went to Kristie's Kids Foundation - a great cause - Meat, Inc. sold 1198 samples! We sold over 300lbs of meat in under 2 1/2 hours! The crowd really enjoyed the samples!

Here's a link to the foundation. Please visit - it is a GREAT cause!

http://www.kristies.org/




Wes taking a bite of award winning ribs!




Ryan and Doug pulling more meats for the crowd. Doug asked Ryan if he wanted front or back of the house and Ryan picked the "easy" one - back of the house. Ryan had to cook his a$$ off! I'm pretty sure he didn't get dehydrated though!




The line passes by the History of BBQ display.



Monkey shows his appreciation for Strawberry and the official "Mr. BBQ 2010" - Big Country.

A Meat, Inc. fan voting for crowd favorite. She voted 5 times. It's legal.

Strawberry was actually asked / volunteered by the team to announce the award ceremony. At least he's wearing a shirt!

Overall it was a very well run contest for a great cause. We had a great time but we were a bit disappointed in the overall results - particularly chicken. But what can you do? Get another beverage, cook some more meat, and try again next time!

Cooking Tools - Oven Thermometer

Cooking Tools - Oven Thermometer

Typically, people rely on the temp gauge in their BBQ / Smoker hood. This is WRONG - do NOT do this! Get yourself at least two oven thermometers and put one at each back corner of the cooking grate.

Why?

A few reasons:

1. The thermometer that came with your grill is probably low quality
2. The temperature at the hood of your grill is probably different than the temp at the grate
3. Your grill probably has a "hot side"
4. You want to be able to cook based on the recipes and if you use your hood gauge, your recipe will not turn out like they're supposed to.
5. Oven thermometers are inexpensive and will make you cook better!

Here is the gauge on a typical grill / smoker. It is low quality and was often over 100 degrees off from the grate temp. You cook at the grate - NOT at the hood.




Using an oven thermometer at the grate gives you an accurate picture of what the actual temperature you are cooking at - where the food is cooking.




Your food is cooking at the grate - NOT in the hood! The grate temperature can fluctuate from side to side, corner to corner of every BBQ. I have never seen a BBQ / Smoker that has even heat distribution - no matter what the reviews for that grill say.




When you follow a recipe or cook the same meal twice, you want consistency and accuracy. Knowing what the temperature is allows you to accomplish this!



Grate temperatures are NOT the same across the grill. You can see (if you zoom in) that even on this higher quality grill / smoker that there is a severe discrepancy in the grate temp. The far left back corner is at 175 F and the far right back corner is at 300 F. Not pictured is the hood gauge which was at 350 F and the digital temperature probe (thermocouple) which read 290 F. The difference in grate temp from left to right was over 120 F! This is really significant! Knowing how YOUR grill acts and where the "hot spots" are will allow you to fine tune your cooking technique and repeatably cook food better and more efficiently.

So - are you convinced? This is cheap right? RIGHT! I buy these oven gauges at Smart and Final for around $7.00 each. Get two - it will set you back $15 and it will look cool on your grill -making you look cool - particularly after you regurgitate this really important info. Here's a link (no affiliation to these companies - the first ones that showed up in a search):

http://www.chefsresource.com/proaccurate-oven-thermometer-cdn.html

http://www.amazon.com/MIU-90069-Commercial-Oven-Thermometer/dp/B000JO0AHU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1275882600&sr=8-1

Make sure that you purchase thermometers that have a temp range that goes down to 100F and not higher than 550 or 600 F so you have some accuracy in the sweet spot. You want the low range so when you are smoking - or using a gas grill with 1/2 turned off - you can try and hit the 200 F - 250 F zone and be able to determine that accurately.

Spare Ribs

This is the same recipe we use at competition.

WARNING: This is a two day recipe! You can cook ribs in one day but I think the flavor is better if you can plan for the two day cook.

I use this same recipe for Baby back Ribs but Spare Ribs are less expensive and seem to be on sale a lot.

DAY 1



The recipe is divided into two parts - rub and sauce. First we need to trim and prep the ribs:



Step 1: Cut the flap of meat off the rack.
Step 2: Trim the chime bone and excess meat off the rack. Try and shape the rack with your cuts to make it look as rectangular as possible.

I use a 8" heavy chef knife but a cleaver works well too. It isn't easy to chop through the bones but a heavy knife certainly helps.

Next we have to remove the membrane:




Use a butter knife and slide the blade under the membrane between the 3rd and 4th bone. Once the blade is under the membrane, slide it up the 3rd bone and then pry upward. I use a paper towel to get a grip on the membrane and remove it completely from the rack. If you don't remove the membrane, the rack will be tougher and you won't get as much flavor penetrating into the meat.


NOTE: Some stores (like Costco) remove the membrane for you - particularly on Baby Back Ribs.




Now you have a trimmed rack with the membrane removed.

Dry Rub:

Note - I spread 1 tbspn of Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce on each rack prior to adding he dry rub. This provides some heat to get cooked into the meats.

This recipe is per rack:

Black Pepper - 1 tbspn

Season Salt - 1 tbspn

Garlic Powder - 1 tbspn

Onion Powder - 1 tbspn

Chili Powder - 2 tbspn

Paprika - 1/2 tbspn

Cinnamon - a pinch

Rub down both sides of the rack with the dry rub.

Note: If you don't have Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce (and I'm guessing you don't and can't find it - hence the "secret weapon" - use green habanero sauce. Also if you don't have Sorghum Syrup (and I'm guessing you don't) you may be able to find it at Trader Joes OR you can substitute in molasses but use 1/2 as much molasses as sorghum syrup.

Here's the step where people will either like or dislike my recipe:

Wrap the rack in foil and pour about 1/2 cup of Dr. Pepper. Make sure the foil is wrapped so the liquid doesn't leak out. Basically we are going to braise the rack.

I set the smoker at about 250F and cook until the internal temp is at 160F. It usually takes about 2 hours to reach this internal temp.

These ribs are at temp. Once the ribs have reached temp, put them in the fridge overnight. Keep them wrapped up in the juices / Dr. Pepper! Make sure the foil is still water tight or you will get a nice sticky puddle.

DAY 2

Basically you have cooked ribs that need to be re-heated. The reason I like to cook the ribs this way is it gives you the ability to bring the ribs up to final temp and really control the final color of the rack. It also gives you the ability to have the ribs ready at a specific time. I think it also adds a really great flavor to the rack by letting it sit overnight.



I add brown sugar to the racks to add some sweetness as well as effect the color I want to obtain. I usually add about 1 cup per rack during this process. Depending on how they smell after they soak overnight, I might add a little more garlic and onion powder too.

Set the grill / smoker so the grate temp is around 250F. I start with meat side up and then flip once after 1/2 hour. I'll add a handful of brown sugar to each side. As soon as the brown sugar is melted when the meat side is down, I'll flip the rack back to meat side up.

As soon as the ribs reach internal temp of 180F, pull them and wrap them up in foil with the sauce. Please use the temperature as a reference only. The best way to tell if the ribs are done is the "bend test" Pick up the rack in the middle and the ends should bend down easily. Be careful - if the ribs are overdone or approaching overdone, the rack will break!

I NEVER put sauce on ribs while they are on the grill. I use a very sugary sauce and it will caramelize and alter the color of the rack - remember, I am doing this two day process to exactly control the color I want for my competition turn in ribs.

The Sauce (recipe is per rack):

Heat up in a saucepan about 15 minutes prior to the ribs being ready to pull:

Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce - 2 tblspn

Honey - 3 tblspn

Sorghum Syrup - 3 tblspn

Brown Sugar - 1 cup

Season Salt - 1/2 tblspn

BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays Original) - 1/2 cup

Place the rack in foil and pour the sauce over the rack and then wrap up tight and then wrap the foil pack in a towel. The great thing about wrapping the ribs in foil is the sauce magically coats the rack evenly and wrapping the foiled rack in a towel will let the meat rest. It will usually hold acceptable temp for an hour like this.

I slice meat side down so I can see the bone. This is typically a no no at competitions because the meat will tear on the cut edges. A very sharp knife helps.

The end of this rack got a little too much heat but it still turned out pretty good! You can also see the color (in the non burned area) is what I was looking for - the sauce is evenly coated without being excessive.

Time to eat!

Side Note: To make this recipe in one day, use the same dry rub and cook at 250 for approximately 3 hours. Internal temp should get to 180F for tender ribs. Don't use the brown sugar until the last hour - 1/2 hour per side - 1/2 cup of brown sugar per side. Start the ribs meat side down for 1 hour, meat side up for second hour, then 1/2 hour per side with the brown sugar IF internal temp is close to 160 after 2nd hour. You still need to wrap them in foil (and beach towel) with the sauce after they are done - for about 1/2 hour minimum.

Stagecoach 2010 - California State BBQ Chamionship

Meat, Inc. just finished attending Stagecoach 2010 - California State BBQ Championship in Indio, CA.

At this event the team consisted of Aaron, Noe, Joe, Dean, and joining for the first time, Colin, Strawberry, Josh, Doug, and Doug's Dad (Mike). We also had a bunch of our local friends hang out that were attending the music festival.

Dean in his ass-less chaps and the chair he held down all weekend!

This event was held at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival venue on the Indio, CA Polo Grounds. It was a three day event with live C & W music acts on Saturday and Sunday. The last figure I heard was 65,000 people per day attended!

You can always find Meat, Inc. flying the "Don't Tread On Me" Flag. You can't miss it!

Initially this was supposed to be a dual KCBS Sanctioned event but one of the contests was dropped and the Saturday contest was converted into a Kingsford Challenge event for Babyback Ribs and Spare Ribs. Sunday was a full KCBS event and State Championship.

Noe is sampling a Bloody Mary as he sets up camp.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and set up the trailer, BBQ's, and the site. All the BBQ teams were placed off the main area but within 100 yards of a secondary stage. We walked around on Friday night and realized how huge the place was. We got in a round of poker, had two or three beers, a few cool and delicious, and a cocktail or two.

Colin - the current President of Cool and Delicious prepping meat with Josh and Noe.

This was also a vending event so we got to sell our BBQ to the crowd. The really cool thing was we were not limited to the standard 4 KCBS meats during the vending. Meat, Inc. was prepared to vend our secret weapon - Atomic Buffalo Turds (ABT's). We brought 9 lbs of Jalapenos to make the ABT's and were hopeful we would sell out - along with the 150lbs of various pork, brisket, ribs, and chicken we also brought.

Colin getting some tips on how to prep pork butts from Aaron.

Saturday started up as usual with Noe's world famous 14 ingredient Bloody Mary's and the return of the smoked quiche. We smoked the ribs on the BBQ and at 11am turned in Babyback (sic) Ribs and at 1130 turned in Spare Ribs. We ended up taking 3rd place in Babyback and 15th in Spares closing us out for the day in 10th place overall in the Kingsford Challenge. The second part of the days events was the Best Booth Challenge. We decided to put on a History of BBQ display with 4 stations outlining the progression of BBQ and Smoking meats from the early 1500's to the modern day. The criteria included crowd interaction so we felt confident on our chances. We have no problem interacting with the crowd!

Smoked Quiche!

Vending day on Saturday was challenging. We use Traeger Pellet BBQs that require power. We lost power three times in the middle of the vending hours. This put a serious damper on our ability to cook our ABT's. Even with the power going out we sold out of ABT's by 3pm and all 150lbs of meat by 3:45 - right before the cut off of 4pm. We decided that since we blew through the ABT's AND we were out of meat, it was time for a trip into town. We purchased 20lbs of jalapenos - every single one they had at Smart & Final - along with another 100lbs of meats. We still had another 100lbs of meat left for our KCBS competition on Sunday. We scooted back and started prepping our meats for Sunday. At midnight we fired up the grills and started the brisket and pork butts.

Briskets are ON!

Sunday morning came way too early but we started the day off right with Bloody Mary's and another round of Carne Asada Chowder - and another standing ovation for this breakfast icon and now classic. We had all the teams within 30' "wandering" over to try some.

Assembly line of men - and Strawberry - making Atomic Buffalo Turds - Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and hard salami, then wrapped in maple bacon and smoked for 1 1/2 hours. Absolutely fantastic - and fat free! These guys stuffed 20lbs of jalapenos in under 45 minutes. It took the crowd 1 1/2 hours to eat them.

We got all the meats turned in without too much drama and Day 2 of vending commenced. The power and the grills stayed up this time and we went through 20lbs of ABT's within 1 hour and 45 minutes. It also helped that the local paper featured a picture of our team and the headline screamed out Buffalo Turds. We also sold out all of the rest of the 200lbs of meat by 3pm. It was awesome!

Here's a link to the local newspaper featuring our Team and our revered ABT's:

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100425/EVENTS24/4250303/Barbecue-and-buffalo-turds-complement-country-festival

Dean and his trusty side kick Strawberry. Strawberry's name was changed to Tinkerbell after he posed for these pictures. We attempted to trade Tinkerbell for 3 beers and a 1/2 lb of bacon but had zero takers.

Kelly - the KCBS Rep making sure Meat, Inc. was following all the rules. Let's just say we passed but I don't think he looked very hard.

Award Time! Meat, Inc. did very well in the final results racking up a 15th in Brisket, 11th in Pork Butt, 8th in Ribs, and a very satisfying 2nd in Chicken! This was enough for a fat 8th Place overall in the comp. We also pulled in a 5th in the Best Booth Competition.

As of this posting, Meat, Inc. is currently ranked 1st in Chicken and 4th overall - IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA!!!! Official results are found here:

http://www.cbbqa.org/wiki/index.php?title=4th_Annual_Stagecoach_Music_Festival

15th Place Brisket!

11th place Pork!

8th Place Ribs!

2nd Place Chicken!