HomeBBQ.com Passes on the FBA TOTY Cup

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

 Jan 3, 2009 Ormond Beach, FL - After originally being presented the FBA Team Of The Year Cup after the 2003 season, by the Sorry Boys, the FBA TOTY winner from 2002. HomeBBQ.com managed to hold on to the cup for 5 consecutive years.

On this night, the FBA TOTY Trophy was presented to Rob (RUB) Bagby of Swamp Boys BBQ. Rub had an outstanding season which included 8 Grand Champion wins. Congratulations goes out to Swamp Boys BBQ, and good luck for the 2009 Season.

The FBA TOTY Cup was donated by the Sorry Boys BBQ Team (Chip Faul and Gary Lehman).

More information can be found at - The Florida Barbecue Association

 

�

HomeBBQ.com Wins FBA Triple Crown Championship

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Perry, FL - The FBA Triple Crown Championship

 

HomeBBQ.com wins Grand Champion in this  first ever Invitational event for the Florida Barbeque Association, that hosted 10 teams from each of the qualifying states of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

Contest Results are as follows;

 

 

Rank Overall
1 HomeBBQ.com 758.96666
2 Jus-Fer-Fun 758.84999
3 Bub-Ba-Q 755.95001
4 HoocheeQue 751.33336
5 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company
6 Forrest’s Fine Foods 747.90001
7 Munchees Smokehouse 747.83333
8 Jacks Old South 746.35001
9 Swamp Boys 743.46665
10 Pork Avenue BBQ 743.13333
11 J & J ’s southern smokers 742.33335
12 Uncle Kenny’s BBQ 738.78335
13 GB’s BBQ 738.39999
14 Bubba Chuck 738.31667
15 Team Bobby-Q 737.28333
16 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 735.95000
17 Tiger Creek BBQ 734.95001
18 Fine’ly Ready BBQ 732.59999
19 Red Baron BBQ 728.98333
20 This Butt’s For You 728.08334
21 Big Daddy Q 727.93335
22 The Ross Team 726.41666
23 Kick the Tire, Light the Fire 725.11666
24 Barbeque Crew 723.78334
25 Flirtin’ with Disaster 721.38332
26 DW’s Kountry Cookers 720.46669
27 Mr. Cook’s Portable Smokehouse 710.39998
28 Bethel Smokers 697.54997
29 Kinfolks BBQ 676.69999
Chicken
1 Bubba Chuck 194.54999
2 Team Bobby-Q 194.28333
3 HoocheeQue 192.56668
4 Bub-Ba-Q 192.43334
5 RED BARON BBQ 191.36666
6 Tiger Creek BBQ 190.21668
7 Mr. Cook’s Portable Smokehouse 188.86667
8 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.41667
9 HomeBBQ.com 187.65000
10 Munchees Smokehouse 187.06666
Ribs
1 HomeBBQ.com 191.66667
2 Jus-Fer-Fun 191.43334
3 Forrest’s Fine Foods 191.43332
4 HoocheeQue 190.50000
5 Kick the Tire, Light the Fire 189.79999
6 Bub-Ba-Q 189.24999
7 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.53333
8 J & J ’s southern smokers 187.81667
9 Tiger Creek BBQ 187.00000
10 Fine’ly Ready BBQ 186.96666
Pork
1 Jus-Fer-Fun 194.49999
2 Jacks Old South 192.65001
3 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 190.00000
4 Bub-Ba-Q 188.65001
5 Pork Avenue BBQ 187.40000
6 Munchees Smokehouse 187.26667
7 This Butt’s For You 186.93334
8 HomeBBQ.com 186.49999
9 J & J ’s southern smokers 186.23333
10 Team Bobby-Q 185.75000

Brisket
1 HomeBBQ.com 193.15000
2 Jacks Old South 192.16668
3 Jus-Fer-Fun 191.44999
4 Swamp Boys 190.56666
5 Pork Avenue BBQ 190.11666
6 Forrest’s Fine Foods 189.50001
7 Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Company 188.61666
8 Big Papa’s Country Kitchen 188.58334
9 Munchees Smokehouse 187.94999
10 GB’s BBQ 187.41666

 

�

Smoking a Turkey for Thanksgiving?

It seems that fried Turkey may not be as popular as it once was, and turkey on a smoker may be coming back for some, and the usual way to cook Thanksgiving dinner for others.

A few imortant things to keep in mind when cooking a turkey in the smoker;

1. The best size to smoke is no larger than 14 lbs, above that, depending on the type of smoker you have, airflow, and consistent temp may be an issue.

2. If your cooking your bird on an offset cooker, consider putting cheese cloth over top of the turkey while it cooks. This will prevent ash and creosote from ruining your Thanksgiving Turkey.

3. Last, but certainly not least, be very careful with the smoke. Turkey is a very mild flavor, so a very light smoke is all it needs.

Below is a segment from my DVD “Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com”, this segment is fixing Turkey. The video itself is from my channel on YouTube.. Enjoy!

�

The HomeBBQ.com DVD’s can be purchased through www.homebbqvideo.com or Amazon.com

Getting Ready for Grant, and a Few Other Things

As I try to shake the rust off, get the cookers cleaned, the trailer ready, meats lined up.  We are cooking  next weekend (9-27-08) at the Grant BBQ Fest in Grant, FL.  If you are anywhere within driving distance to Grant Florida next weekend. This is one contest, you really should not miss.  This is the same organizers of the famous Seafood Fest that is put on every year in Grant.

As always there will be a very strong lineup of teams trying to win this contest, and the chance to get invited to the Jack Daniels Invitational.

 This contest also benifits a great cause, and that is Toys For Kids. There will be plenty of activities for kids, live music, and lots of BBQ to eat, as in this event many teams will be selling their BBQ, and the proceeds goes to this great cause.

 As I said before. If your anywhere within driving distance to this contest, come over next weekend and check it out, and make sure you stop by us and say hi. You can find out more information about this event here http://www.grantbbqfest.com/

Not too often will you see me discuss outside of the realm of BBQ, but today you will. Those that know me, know that music is and always has been a big part of my life. And, for those that have known me for a long time know, that several years back (in the late 70’s, and early 80’s) a friend of mine named Al Brodie and myself, ran a small sound and lighting company, and in doing the sound and lighting for some small, and and even a couple of very well known groups. We also spent much time trying to promote local talent, and it was always exciting when you came accross an individual that you knew was something special.

But, back then was nothing like today, many very special talents went undiscovered. Where today, we have the internet, and something called reality TV shows.

There are 2 in particular that have really stepped into the forefront, and those shows are American Idol, and America’s Got Talent. I really enjoy these shows, because it really allows you to see some real raw talent, develop into stars.  America’s Got Talent will be showcasing their Final’s for 2008 next week, and they have the strongest top 5 field they have had since the show started. There are at least 3 (and maybe 4) of the top 5 that have the potential to become superstars.

There are 2 acts I believe, have separated themselves from a very talented top 5, and in my opinion they are Nuttin’ But Strings, who bring incredible originality, and entertainment value to their act.

And my favorite in this competition is a young man by the name of Eli Mattson. Eli is truelly something special, a cross somewhere between Billy Joel, Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, and some Eddie Vedder mixed in, has shown he can take you on a journey into a song, like very few can. Good luck next week Eli, its time to become a champion, and good luck as well to the rest of the top 5 in this competition.

I will leave you with a very special performance given by Eli, on America’s Got Talent.

BBQ Restaurant Consultant

I was looking through some old papers today and came across some notes I had taken in 2002 while talking to a restaurant consultant from Texas who claimed to have been in the bbq business for the past 10-years.

As I recall it, the gentleman and his wife opened a 30-seat restaurant in a portable building in a town of 7,000 people. He explained that he had an electric smoker that used wood chips for smoke generation/flavor, a couple of steam tables and a soda fountain. The business was basically a two person operation with a drive-thru window and consisted largely of carry-out orders from working families on their way home from work in a larger community nearby.

He said that the bbq restaurant generated gross revenues of $100,000+ per year and a 70% profit margin. I am guessing that he owned the land previously or at least wasn’t paying much rent for the land, although he did not clarify that point.

As a part of his services, he would offer bbq consulting in starting a restaurant for anyone willing to enter into a consulting agreement with him in return for $25,000. The $25,000 purchased three weeks of on-site start-up consulting and 12-months of telephone consultation.

I did not take him up on the offer, but I often wished I lived a little closer to Texas so that I could visit his restaurant and check it out. It sounds like a barbecuer’s “dream” situation.

The cynic in me though, wonders if this story is true or not. Funny thing…I wasn’t willing to risk $25,000 to find out.

“Real Wood Smoke Flavor” from a gas grill

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

I am one of the guys who loves my gas grill, and I really do not care what others say.

I like the ease of use, predicable performance, easy of cleaning, and all of that.  But, it took me awhile to learn how to get “real wood smoke flavor” from my gasser.

 When using my smoker, I have learned to love certain smoke flavors with certain types of meat. For example, I like fruit woods such as Cherry, Apple, and Peach on poultry and pork. For beef (primarily Brisket Burgers on the gasser), I like a touch of Mesquite.

I have also played with specialty chips such as the Jack Daniels barrel chips and such with mixed results. To get the smoke flavor, I use a “Smoke Bomb” loaded with chips or pellets of the desired flavor.

A Smoke Bomb is basically a closed container with only a couple of air holes to allow smoke to escape.

A Smoke Bomb can be made that lasts a long time, even to an hour or more if needed. It works so well because it restricts the oxygen to the chips or pellets, producing a longer and smoldering burn that reduces flare ups and quick burning.

 I started with the most simple of Smoke Bombs, just heavy duty aluminum foil. I made a double layer big enough to resemble a small grapefruit with chips or pellets inside. Sealed it up good and poked one or two tiny holes in the top with a tooth pick or my trusty Thermopen. Place it on a burner and when smoke starts emitting from the holes, it is time to cook.

 The next step up for me was one of those stamped and bent sheet metal boxes sold by Home Depot with “smoking chips” in them. They are about 5-6 inches long, 3 inches wide, and an inch deep. The first thing is to throw away the “smoking chips” unless you really know what they are. If you try to use these open boxes with chips, you will need to soak them first or they will just ignite and last a minute or two. Not even long enough to do a smoked hot dog. So, I wrapped the box with good ole HD aluminum foil and poked a couple of small holes in the top to restrict combustion air. Worked like a charm. Biggest benefit was that the box gave some form to the Smoke Bomb when compared to HD foil only. Worked well.

My final evolutionary step was a cast iron skillet to hold the chips and pellets. I found an old 7 Inch skillet at a garage sale for $2. I cover it with HD foil with a couple of teeny -tiny holes again. One quarter to one half a cup of pellets or chips produces plenty of smoke for a good steak cook. Because of it’s mass, I put the skillet on my side burner to get the heat up and start the smoke. Then, the skillet fits perfectly on the two left hand burners on my five burner gas grill.

I defy anyone to tell that my steak cooked with a Mesquite Smoke Bomb came off a gasser! Outstanding wood smoke flavor, and that is what BBQ is all about.

Chips a pellets are available at many places, including WalMart if you watch the BBQ area closely. Small quantities of pellets are available on-line in many flavors. I tequires so few pellets or chips per cook that they are really cost effective when used only for flavor.

Happy Cooking.

TIM

“Green Up” The Competition Scene…

I was talking with someone about competition barbecue the other day.  The person I was talking too took a particular interest in what kind of containers were used for the turn ins.  I told her they were Styrofoam…she cringed!  Then she asked me if that was the standard at comps across the country.  I told her, from what I have seen, that her suspicion was correct.

She asked me a number of questions that I didn’t have an answer for…but after talking with her for a while, I began to see a new mission for me.  That being to convince bbq sanctioning bodies to “Go Green” at their competitions…I know…a long shot, but I think it is worth pursuing if for nothing else then to educate people on what they use and how it affects everything around us.

I will be having this Green Expert on my radio show in a few weeks to let her speak on the subject.  I hope you will follow my developments on this and if you have any suggestions please let me know!

BUILDING A FIRE USING THE MINION METHOD IN AN OFFSET SMOKER

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Sometime back in 1999 or thereabouts Jim Minion was participating in a regional barbeque championship in the Pacific Northwest. His cooker of choice was a Weber Smokey Mountain.

However, following the manufacturer’s instructions on building a fire in this otherwise wonderful smoker proved useless as the fire would quickly shoot up to well over 325 degrees. What to do, what to do?

 Jim Minion, a fleet manager for an auto sales company, tried something different - he spread a layer of lighted briquettes over a pile of unlit briquettes and he found that he could maintain a steady fire for as long as 22 hours in his Weber Smokey Mountain. He took a first and a second in two categories that day and the Minion Method was born.

About that same time I was having incredible difficulty holding a steady temp for any decent length of time in my Hondo offset. I came across a description of the Minion Method on the Internet and decided to give it a try. I filled the firebox with Kingsford briquettes as recommended, lit a Weber chimney filled with briquettes, dumped them on top and for the very first time I held a rock steady 220 for four hours, but then the fire choked itself out from all the ash produced by the briquettes. But heck, that was a whole lot better than before.

My wife’s uncle, one of the most fun individuals I have every had the pleasure of knowing (he was one of those people who, from the moment they walk into the room you know you are about to have a great time), and a true lover of ‘que was visiting and he wanted me to fire up the barbeque. As an incentive he brought me a bag of lump charcoal. Not wanting to insult a guest, I fired up my Hondo using the Minion Method with the ump charcoal.

I fully expected a disaster as everything I read about the Minion Method said to use briquettes. Instead I was stunned - I quickly got the fire settled down to 220 and it stayed there - and held - and held - and 8 hours later the temp was still reading 220! By then I was done and removed the meat from the smoker

but it was another two hours before the temp dropped.

A convert was born! 

That was several years ago and I’ve learned a lot since then. Most important is that not all lump charcoals are the same. Some will only hold a steady fire for about 4 hours. The average lump will give you about 6 hours. The best lumps will hold 220 for 10 hours or more. Other things that will affect the burn time are outdoor weather conditions, the make/model of smoker you have, and the temp at which you are cooking. I have also learned that once you learn the individual quirks of your smoker you can “dial in” any temp you want by making small adjustments to the chimney damper and/or the air intake control.

For the longest, steadiest burn times I recommend you get the best quality hardwood lump charcoal you can find. Briquettes will work, however they produce so much ash that the fire chokes itself out within about 4 hours. High quality hardwood lump charcoal burns hotter produces very little ash resulting in a much longer burn time.

If you don’t use a charcoal basket, you need to find a way to keep the charcoal away from the air intake. Here is a good way; 

Fill the firebox with charcoal all the way to the lip of the opening between the firebox and the cooking chamber then hollow out ever so slightly — about an inch or so — just enough to make the pile slightly concave — a small area in the middle by pushing the charcoal up around the sides a little. 

Fill a Weber chimney with charcoal and light it. When it is going real good (all coals glowing) then pour it all on top of the charcoal in the firebox, keeping it centered as much as possible.

Close the lids but leave all the vents (air intake and chimney) wide open. When the temp reaches 275 - 300 degrees, begin closing the air intake. Close the air intake half way then check the temp in 15 minutes. If it is too high, close the intake half way again and check in 15 minutes. If still too high, close the air intake all the way. Check again in 15 minutes. If the temp is still too high and ALL VISIBLE SMOKE DISAPPEARS, begin closing the chimney — you guessed it - half way. Check again in 15 minutes, etc. At some point the temp will stabilize — check the vents and remember where they were as that will be your starting point next time — in other words, after the initial temp has reached 275-300, then you can close the vents down to your starting point rather than repeating the entire procedure again. The fire will slowly burn down through the pile of charcoal providing a nice, long, steady burn.

So, all of us backyard pitmasters owe Jim Minion a huge thumbs up for daring to try something different and making top notch barbeque a breeze.

Til next time, keep on cookin’!

Big Dan

What Appeared to be Becoming Fiction, is Now Reality

For over a year I have been talking about it, and almost 9 month’s ago, they were filmed, and now they are a reality. As of today, Grilling With HomeBBQ.com and Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com are officially available for sale, and shipment.

At the begining of January, I sent out a notice to all of my loyal customers letting them know they could purchase the DVD’s, pre-release at a substancial discount. Many purchased them, the unfortunate thing was, they were not ready until now. I deeply apologize to those who have been waiting patiently for these, this is something I am brand new to, and had no idea what obstacles I was about to face. I have lots of boxes outside my front door right now waiting for USPS to pick up, and they are finally on their way to you.

The DVDs are initially being made available through CreateSpace.com’s on Demand program, and are now also available through Amazon.com, the product ASIN’s at Amazon are as follows;
Grilling With HomeBBQ.com - B001DKY3H2
Backyard Barbecue with HomeBBQ.com - B001DL1DKG

You can purchase them directly through CreateSpace.com here;
Grilling with HomeBBQ.com - http://www.createspace.com/252519
Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com - http://www.createspace.com/252518 

In about 3 to 4 weeks, they will also be available through Amazon’s Unbox. This is an exiting time for us, and hope you thouroughly enjoy these DVDs.

HomeBBQ.com releases 2 New DVD’s

HomeBBQ.com has released 2 DVD’s for the backyard cook. “Grilling with HomeBBQ.com” and “Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com”.

In “Grilling with HomeBBQ.com”, Kevin Bevington (5 time FBA Team of the Year Champion) demonstrates cooking on gas and charcoal grills. He starts with the basics and then goes into some great food, including full recipes, and preparation. This DVD will include; Hamburgers, Steak, Chicken, Tri-Tip Roast, Pork Chops, Grilled Salmon, Shrimp, Stuffed Flank Steak, Baltimore Pit Beef, Pork Loin, and much more..

In “Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com” Kevin Bevington (5 time FBA Team of the Year Champion) demonstrates cooking low and slow on a small offset cooker, and a bullet style water pan smoker. He starts with the basics on how to start your cookers, maintaining even temp, goes through full meat prep, and the process of cooking and finishing these meats. This DVD includes full recipes, and preparation. Included are the following; Boston Butt (pulled pork), Beef Brisket, St Louis Style Ribs, Baby Back Ribs, Country Style Ribs, Standing Rib Roast, Turkey, and much more.

These DVD’s can be purchased now via CreateSpace.com through the links below.

Grilling with HomeBBQ.com - http://www.createspace.com/252519

Backyard BBQ with HomeBBQ.com - http://www.createspace.com/252518

We will make these available as packages on HomeBBQ.com online store soon.

Next Page »