It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and it’s Time To Cook!

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Kick-off is in a few hours, and I have been busy getting things ready.

My guests will not be here for a few hours but on todays menu will be as follows;

St Louis Spares, and there is only one way to cook those, and tht is with HomeBBQ.com World Famous Rib Rub! They are already on the cooker. Next we will be cooing wings, brine is ready to go, and we will be making them with 3 different rubs today. For the sides, its Baked beans, and potatoes, both our cooking class classic recipes.

Clara is getting in the act as well, she is cooking her classic Bannana Cake, and there are many who have tasted that and know what that is all about.  I know we can’t be the only one cooking today

I actually don’t really care who wins, since the Dolphins didn’t even make the playoffs, so I want to say good luck to both the colts and the Saints, may the best team win!

Chicken Grillables from Barber Foods

Clara and I started a diet, and of course a diet is an absolute curse to someone that enjoys cooking, and eating as much as I do.

The folks at Barber Foods ironically sent me a brand new product to try, they call them Chicken Grillables. This is a bun size 4 oz patty of breast meat, that can easily substitute for a hamburger, for those times you would just prefer to have chicken.

At only 140 calories and 5 grams of fat this is a perfect choice for those watching what they are eating. They come pre-seasoned, so all you have to do is pull from the package and cook. I have to say, as easy as these are, good tasting, this is definately staying on the menu during our diet.

For those that may not recognize the Barber Foods name, they are the ones who sell the stuffed chicken breasts, in the frozen foods section of your grocery store.

If you want something convenient for the bun, or on its own for those watching their carbs, this is a vey good choice. Look for Chicken Grillables in the frozen food section of your grocery store.

HomeBBQ.com Backyard BBQ and Grilling Classes Start Tonight!

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 Oviedo, FL – 5 Time FBA Team of the Year Champion, and the 2008 FBA Triple Crown Champion, Kevin Bevington, of HomeBBQ.com begins his first in a series of Backyard Barbecue and Grilling classes at All About Grills in Oviedo, FL, tonight at 6:30pm.

The first class will be “Basics on the Grill”, in this class he will cover easy to prepare dishes on the grill, including a side dishes and desert.

Every wednesday will be a class which includes recipes from the DVD’s from HomeBBQ.com, “Grilling with HomeBBQ.com” and “Backyard Barbecue with HomeBBQ.com”. Class details are below;

 January 14th - 6:30 pm       Basics on the grill

January 21st  -  6:30 pm     Classic Steak House

January 28th  -  6:30 pm     Beef on the Grill

 

February 4th  -  6:30 pm     Seafood on the Grill

February 18th  -  6:30 pm   All About Ribs

February 25th  -  6:30 pm  Barbeque Beef

March 4th  -  6:30 pm - Seafood

March 11th  -  6:30 pm – All About Pork

March 18th  -  6:30 pm – All About Chicken

Early Bird Registration – $45 per person, or $75 per couple

For more Information, Contact All About Grills at the contact info below;

 

 

All About Grills Oviedo
71 Geneva Drive
Oviedo, FL 32765
407-366-7301 

HomeBBQ.com Wins FBA Triple Crown Championship

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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

 

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Carne Adovada — A Taste of Heaven

CARNE ADOVADA

RED CHILE PUREE

1-2 cups water 8-10 dried red New Mexico chile pods

(Hot) – (get Hatch Valley if you can)

Tear tops off of chile pods and use knife or finger (use plastic food preparation gloves to protect your fingers as they will start to sting a bit — do not touch your eyes with your fingers until you’ve washed them) to clean out seeds and veins inside of each one. Place pods in medium sized pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling on high heat. Boil several minutes until pods are soft stirring occasionally to make sure they boil evenly. Place drained pods (save liquid) in blender container, then pour 1/2 of liquid into blender (keep the rest in the pot and add more water for the next batch) and blend until smooth, add 1-2 cloves garlic if desired. Add more water if needed, but keep in mind this is a puree, thicker than sauce or juice. When pureed, pour into a large stock pot. Sometimes you might need to pour thru a mesh sieve to remove any skins that did not blend up in the blender. NOTE: You will want to make several batches of puree.

CHILE COLORADO (Basic Red Chile Sauce)

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

2 C. red chile puree (see below)

2 C. chicken broth

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

Dash oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can get it)

Heat butter in medium-size saucepan on medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1minute. Add red chile puree and cook for about another minute. Gradually add broth and stir, making sure there are no lumps, a whisk works best. Add seasoning to sauce and simmer at low heat for 10-15 minutes.

THE MARINATED PORK:

4 cloves garlic

1 T. salt

1 T. oregano

2 recipes or more of the Red Chile Puree (above)

3-5 lbs. (approx.) pork tenderloin roast

Add garlic, salt and oregano to chile puree. Cut pork loin into four large pieces (slice in half once horizontally and once vertically) and put them in a large, glass baking dish (even better, a stainless steel stock pot) and pour chile puree over to cover — turn meat to cover completely. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours (36-72 hours or more is even better — I like to marinate mine for a week). It is a good idea to stir it around once a day or so to make sure that every part of the pork soaks in the marinade.

FINAL ASSEMBLY AND COOKING:

Place marinated pork pieces in smoker or barbeque and cook using the indirect method to keep the marinade from burning(for best results, use some pecan wood chunks or chips for smoke flavor — pecan smoke is incredible with this dish but be careful not to over smoke) and cook until internal temp reaches around 150 (use a meat thermometer).

Remove pork from smoker and cut into cubes ½” to 1″ square and put into baking pan/dish about 3″-4″ deep. Pour chili colorado over pork cubes (the pork should be “swimming in it”) and put baking pan/dish into smoker – crank up the temp to around 325 (you can do this part in the oven inside if you want) and let it simmer (for best results, seal tightly with foil so the sauce doesn’t boil off and get too thick) for at least an hour – 2 or even 3 hours would be even better (if you simmer longer than an hour you must seal with foil or the sauce will boil off).

About 5 minutes before removing from smoker, remove the foil and layer on top (fairly thickly) a good amount of pre-shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese. When the cheese melts (about 5 minutes) remove from smoker, let it cool for 5 minutes or so and serve with rice and beans and warmed flour tortillas.

NOTE: This recipe can be cooked in a regular oven (use a baking pan) instead of a smoker – you lose the pecan wood flavor but it is still incredibly delicious.

Big Dan

 

 

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Barbecue Surprises

A few years ago while competing in a barbecue event in Arcadia, Florida the unthinkable happened while preparing our chicken turn-in box.  We prepared fantastic turn-in samples and were sure we had a good chance to win, but after placing the samples in the box and closing it I discovered that our box had been damaged.

I froze for a few seconds and wasn’t sure what to do next. Should I turn in the sample anyway and take a chance that the box would be disqualified? Should I throw in the towel for the chicken category and start preparing for the rib turn-in?

It was only a few minutes before turn-in time and I decided to take the box to the turn-in table. Once there I approached the official at the table and showed her the damaged box. I asked if the damaged box would be a problem, assuming it would, and she agreed. She gave me an ultimatum. Turn-in the box and be disqualified or put the chicken samples into a new box within the next two minutes and turn it in before the cut-off time.

She handed me a new box. I didn’t have any of the usual tools we use to prepare our boxes, but I transferred the chicken into the new box and turned it in.

The new box was not well prepared and was not nearly as “put together” as the original. The chicken wasn’t perfectly straight. We use a very sticky barbecue sauce for chicken and transferring it left a lot of smudges and smears on the sides of the box. The sauce wasn’t evenly distributed on the individual pieces of chicken any longer either. I figured it was at best a 10^th place chicken entry.

Later on at the awards ceremony we were pleasantly surprised with a 5^th place finish in the chicken category. I was convinced more than ever that if we finished 5^th with a mediocre box, we were a shoe-in to win with the original box, but we were thrilled with 5^th considering the circumstances we had to overcome. The entire episode might have been avoidable if we’d only looked at the boxes earlier in the day.

We’ve learned many lessons about barbecue competitions. Anything can and will happen when you least expect it. At another event, a strong gust of wind blew the canopy completely off the cooking site of our neighboring competitor just as he was preparing to slice his ribs for turn-in. It didn’t faze him. He went right along slicing the ribs and ended up with a top three finish in the rib category.

The moral of this story? Never give up. Keep on trucking full steam ahead. In the end, the outcome just might surprise you.

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.

BBQ Contest Cooking Schedule

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For those that aren’t familar with the level detail that goes into preparing for a bbq contest, I wanted to share the schedule we use to ensure that our contest entries are ready for the judges on time. The schedule below is a guideline we use at KCBS contests. Like any schedule, it’s a guideline and not necessarily the exact step-by-step method we might use, but it’s very close.

Friday

8:00 Arrive
9:00 Set-up
12:00 Prep Meat
2:00 Purchase Ice
4:00 Attend Cook’s Meeting
5:00 Eat Supper
6:00 Get some rest
10:30 Start cooker

MIDNIGHT

Saturday

12:15 Begin Cooking Briskets
1:15 Begin Cooking Pork Butts
3:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
4:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
5:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
6:45 Light Fire for Backwoods to Cook Chicken
6:00 Wrap Butts at 160-165 degrees (5 hours max)
6:15 Wrap Brisket at 165-170 degrees (6 hours max)
7:40 Begin Cooking Ribs
8:30 Prepare Lettuce and Parsley for Turn-in Boxes
9:10 Foil ribs (w/juice, meat side down)
9:15 Begin Cooking 12 chicken Thighs (biggest)
9:30 Begin Cooking 12 chicken Thighs (smallest)
10:15 Turn ribs meat side up, add dark brown sugar in foil
11:00 Sauce Chicken Thighs (target temp is 150 degrees)
11:10 Check ribs for doneness
11:15 Heat Rib Sauce
11:30 Unfoil ribs and sauce, low heat
11:45 Prep Chicken Turn-in Box
11:50 Sauce Ribs
12:00 Turn-in Chicken
12:10 Heat Brisket Sauce
12:15 Slice Ribs and Prepare Rib Turn-in Box
12:20 Make Pork Butt Sauce
12:30 Turn-in Ribs
12:45 Prep Pork Butt Turn-in Box
1:00 Turn-in Pork Butts
1:15 Prep Brisket Turn-in Box
1:30 Turn-in Brisket
2:00 Pack and Load to prepare for returning home

Woods for Smoking

Decisions on smoking woods used are usually based on regional availability and preference. In fact, there are more woods used then what I have listed. As I come across more I will add them.

Well Known Smoking Woods

Hickory - Said to be the King of Smoking woods. I would have to agree. Hickory produces a strong sweet hearty taste. Hickory, in my opinion was made for pork. However, it works well with chicken and beef also.

Pecan- Being in the same family as hickory, pecan has a similar flavor but not quite as strong as hickory. It is great on all meats.

Apple – While Apple is an excellent Wood for smoking red meat; it does an exceptional job on poultry. I like to use Apple on chicken and turkey with a little bit of cherry.

Cherry – Can be a difficult wood to come by, Cherry produces a delicately sweet flavor. Great for poultry, beef, fish and pork.

Mesquite – Great tasting but strong. This uniquely flavored wood is as potent as it is tasty. Mesquite is actually used more for direct cooking than smoking. Be careful, too much or too long can produce a bitter flavor.

Oak – Most versatile of the hardwoods blending well with most meat. Oak is a milder smoke than hickory, works well with pork, chicken, or beef.

Maple – Produces a light sweet taste recommended for poultry and ham.

Alder – Native to the Pacific Northwest, alder is a mild sweet wood. Great for almost all meats, used mostly for smoking fish (salmon in particular).

Not So Well Known Smoking Woods (and other things)

Peach – Another sweet wood, good to use with other woods such as oak or hickory. Works well mixed with Alder when cooking salmon.

Plum – Similar to Peach, but make sure to use only the fruit bearing varieties.

Pear – Slightly sweet, woodsy flavor. Good with pork and chicken.

Walnut – A very heavy smoke, best when used with milder woods. Good with beef.

Almond – A nutty and sweet flavor, and fairly mild. Good with most meat.

Acacia – From the same family as mesquite, but a bit milder. Good with most meat.

Ash – Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.

Grapevines – Becoming increasingly popular in California, does well on fish and poultry.

Citrus – Becoming increasingly popular especially in Florida, is the use of the wood from Orange trees, Grapefruit trees, and Lemon trees. Citrus wood imparts a mild fruity smoke, which works pretty well on almost all meats.

Australian Pine – The folks in South Florida are starting to use a wood called the Australian Pine. This tree is not from the Pine family but gets its name more so from its needle like leaves. I believe this tree is taking over South Florida and they are finding whatever use they can for it. However, its been reported to me to be a decent smoking wood. Could this be the next mesquite? I don’t know, but I will wait to hear more before trying myself.

Onion Skins and Garlic Skins – I have never tried this myself, but I was told to wrap in foil and let smolder rather than direct contact with the flame.

Herbs – Makes sense to use aromatics such as Rosemary, Thyme, and Basil. Make sure to soak them first.

How the Internet Changed the BBQ Culture

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The secrets to juicy and tender barbecue have been closely guarded for many, many years and the art of barbecue has been handed down from father to son and treated as family heirlooms. The rising popularity of the Internet during the past decade has changed the culture of barbecue forever.

In the southeastern region of the country, barbecue usually referred to whole hogs cooked slowly over a fire of coals. Families often had their own recipes for rubs and sauces to go along with their favorite woods for smoking. Gaining access to these secrets wasn’t always easy. Good barbecue recipes were a source of family pride.

When I moved to Dickson, TN from Missouri in 1992, I was invited to help out with a family barbecue. I arrived at about 6 p.m. on Friday evening to find a hog roasting on chicken wire stretched over a metal bed frame. The cooks took turns roasting various meats including ducks, rabbits, and chickens throughout most of the night. There was a lot of conversation, some beer drinking, and a lot of work tending the fire. Periodically they would dab a vinegar marinade mixture on the hog.

After relocating to Florida in 2001, I rediscovered barbecue again. While searching the Internet for grilling tips and a recipe for pulled pork, I found Barbecuen.com and TheBBQForum.com. These websites reopened my eyes and ears to barbecue. About this same time, Food Network started airing various programs featuring barbecue restaurants, festivals, and contests.

A couple of years later, I discovered HomeBBQ.com and met up with Kevin. After a sharing a few e-mails and a couple of cell phone conversations, I drove to Kevin’s to help him break in a brand new Lang reverse flow offset smoker. I attended KCBS events with Kevin and Clara in Brooksville and Lakeland, FL and a few FBA events including the big contest in Sebring, FL. I struck out on my own at the Okeechobee, FL contest and got my first category win at the FBA event in Arcadia, FL in the chicken category. I’ve been preparing my own style of barbecue ever since.

I’ve cooked in KCBS events in Florida, Tennessee, Michigan, and Indiana since those early contest days and I’ve have competed against some of the best teams in the country holding my own with consistent top five overall finishes and several category wins. I’ve started my own web blog about barbecue to help others get started in the hobby and started selling my own spice rub on my personal web site.

Before the Internet Age, my learning curve would have been much, much steeper. However, for those seeking how-to barbecue information these days, championship recipes and techniques are only a few mouse clicks away. For $240, you can order a Weber Smokey Mountain from Amazon.com and have it delivered to your door step. You can spend some time reading the articles and forums and watching videos at VirtualWeberBullet.com or YouTube.com and learn how to use it effectively. There are numerous discussion groups and Forums that will answer any questions you have about specific cuts of meat or specific recipes you want to try out.

HomeBBQ.com is just another example of the vast amount of information provided on the World Wide Web for those that seek it out. I’m honored to have been invited to contribute to the collection of articles and discussions on this site. If you have questions about barbecue or suggestions for future articles, please let me know.

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