The Art of the Reverse Sear.

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Ernie Rupp

Some times you try new cooking techniques because you want to make something better, or easier than before. Some times you do things out of necessity. Rarely do both occur on the same attempt. Last weekend my local grocery store, had Hereford Tri-Tip roasts and Duroc pork shoulders on sale for 50% off of regular price. This sale made the Tri-Tips $3.55 per lb (usually $7-8) and the shoulders $1.55 (usually over $3) per pound. Unheard of prices for these 2 items. I purchased about $200 worth of meat for $100. I had the desire to cook a Tri-Tip that night as I had not cooked one all winter. I have 2 sons with activities on the weekends and I really did not have time to tend a grill for 30 minutes to a hour and cook this wonderful piece of meat. I thought this would be a great chance to try out reverse searing this steak. I had heard of the reverse sear before and knew that a Tri-Tip would be the perfect cut of meat to use this technique on. I scoured the web for about 15 minutes and found some information on how to do the reverse sear with a Tri-Tip and I was ready to go.

Seasoned Tri-Tip on the smoker.

My son and I trimmed and seasoned the Tri-Tip. Nothing 2 complicated. It consisted of garlic salt, Western Sizzle steak seasoning and a BBQ rub that I will have a review on in a couple of weeks. I prepped the pellet cooker, set the temp for 275 degrees and I was ready to start cooking. I placed my thermometer probe in the thickest side of the meat. I wanted to reach an internal temperature of 130 degrees before I moved it over to the propane grill to finish it off. Once on the pellet grill, I left it in the hands of my wife to watch while my sonsand I ran an errand. The thermometer was set to sound and alarm at 120 and my wife called me home when it went off after about 45 minutes. When I arrived back home the steak was at 132 degrees and I moved it to my propane grill to finish off. After grilling (searing) for 15 to 20 minutes more the Tri-Tip was at the desired temp of 145 degrees. I took it off and waited for it to rest for 15 more minutes to slice it.

Reverse seared Tri-Tip ready for slicing.

Now that I have told my story let me explain want a reverse sear is. Normally when grilling you sear first and lock in the juices and form a crust on the meat then you cook the meat indirectly until you reach your desired temperature. With reverse searing, you indirect cook first until the meat reaches a desired temp then you sear at the end to for a crust and finish the meat off. What I got when I reversed seared was a tenderer steak, a juicier steak and a steak that had more flavor because I was allowed to add smoke into the cooking process. My meat had a more uniform temperature throughout giving it uniform color except at the ends where it was slightly less rare. Here is an infographic to explain.

If you added a smoke ring to the example on the right, this is what my steak looked like.

If you added a red smoke ring to the example on the right, this is what my steak looked like.

The reverse sear is not a hard technique to learn or accomplish. Cook low and slow first the finish hot and fast. If you watch your temps close nothing will go wrong and you will be rewarded with the juiciest, most flavorful Tri-Tip you have ever eaten.

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Boy Scout Feast – A Fish Story

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ernie Rupp

If you have read my posts in the past, you know that my son’s are both involved in scouting. My oldest son’s troop has an annual feast camp-out in the month of November every year. Last year, when we were considering joining Troop 10, we were guests at this camp-out. This year we were full fledged participants. I brought my GMG Daniel Boone and a salmon recipe given to me by Steven Hartsock of Sock’s Love Rubs prepared for a long day of work and long evening of feasting.

The Grub-master told me I would be cooking turkey breasts and salmon for the feast. I have done turkey several times before and think I make a really good smoked turkey. Salmon on the other hand scares the heck out of me. I really have never cooked a piece of salmon that I would be proud to serve to someone. I am not a big salmon fan in the first place so anything I am going to serve will have to knock my socks off. I asked a lot of BBQ friends what they did to salmon. I received a lot of different answers. Wet Brine? Dry Brine? 160 degrees? 225 degrees? What to do? I finally settled on a recipe that was given to me by Steven Harsock creator of Sock’s Love Rubs. It was a wet brine with some unique savory ingredients that just said “autumn season” to me. The recipe contained brown sugar, whole all spice, clove and peppercorns. These are things that I never would have thought to put into a brine for fish. After 2-3 hours in the brine we took the salmon out and rinsed it off making sure none of the brine ingredients clung to the fish. After rinsing the fish, we let it air dry for 1-2 hours. When the fish was dry I gave it a good sprinkle with some Drapers AP rub. I knew that the flavor profile of Shane’s rub would reinforce the flavor of the brine. I also gave the fish a good coating of brown sugar. The recipe also gave me instructions on how to make a baste, but I was so busy that I decided to go with just a heavy coating of brown sugar instead.

Salmon fillets after brining on the Green Mountain Grill

I had a little over 2 hours to smoke the 4 large pieces of salmon which was just enough time. I put them on and set the GMG at 225 degrees and let them sit in the smoker. Of course I had to open the GMG multiple times to show off the salmon, so it probably would take a little less time to make this at home when you are not looking so much. I cooked the salmon to a temperature of 140 degrees. Then placed the salmon in our hotbox for about 30 minutes before serving.

The buffet line was filled with a large variety of delicious meats and side dishes. We had chuck roast that was cooked all day in dutch ovens, tur-duck-ens that were flown in from Louisiana, sausages made from exotic game meats like deer and alligator, turkey breasts, brisket and 2 whole pigs roasted for us by a local meat market. It was really quite the spread. I was hoping my salmon would be a favorite of the crowd.

Salmon fillets after smoking and ready to be served.

As the people got in line and began to fill there plates you could hear comments about everything. The people loved everything we had on the table. I tend to go get my food last when I cook usually because I have sampled my product before it hits the table and am a little less hungry because of that. My buddies pushed me into the line and said I needed to eat with them after I had cooked all day. When we reached the salmon, only enough for 4 small portions remained. One serving for me and my 2 buddies and then 1 left for someone else. The line was only about halfway done. The Grub-master underestimated how popular the salmon would be. We went to our table and began to eat and a lot of people went out of their way to compliment me on how good the salmon was. I was really amazed as this was my first try at smoking salmon. The ultimate compliment came about an hour later. I was packing my spices back into the car and I overheard to men talking about how good the salmon was. It was an hour later and they were still talking about it. What a compliment!

I have never had a piece of salmon that I cared for very much. Most salmon I have had has been palatable, but the it never has been something that I crave or have to make. I find it is usually dry and very fishy tasting. It is not one of my favorite foods. That being said, this salmon was moist, savory, sweet and not fishy tasting at all. It was the best piece of salmon I ever had (sorry for the brag) and would actually request this again. I would like to thank Shane Draper and Steven Hartsock for all the help last week. Without those 2 men, I would not have received all the praise that I did.

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The BBQ Hall of Fame and Guy Fierri.

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Ernie Rupp

Guy Fierri and Johnny Trigg at the BBQ Hall of Fame Ceremony.

On Saturday night, in Kansas City, MO, Guy Fierri along with Johnny Trigg and Henry Ford were inducted into the BBQ Hall of Fame. Henry Ford was inducted for his work in the creation of the charcoal briquette. Johnny Trigg was inducted for the many years he has competed on the BBQ circuit and all the championships he has won. Guy Fierri was inducted for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Mr. Fierri is active in the world of BBQ. His team, Motley Que Crew, won the American Royal Open BBQ contest last year and he has been competing since before he was famous on Food Network. Second reason is that he has star power and the KCBS hoped it would add a little prestige to the first Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Mr Fierri’s history with the sport of competitive BBQ is not as long as Mr Trigg’s or some of the other inductees but I do believe that he has a passion for the sport of BBQ and enjoys the environment very much.

Mike Mills, Carolyn Wells and John Willingham at the BBQ Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Saturday’s induction ceremony was outside at the American Royal stage and it was pretty cold that night. Most of the inductees were at a black apron dinner that had ended right before the induction ceremony was about to begin. The inductees came out 1 by 1 onto the stage and were placed in there assigned spots. Most came out to little or no applause as I think most of the people there were not aware of the BBQ history that was sitting in front of them. When Guy Fierri came out to take his spot the crowd erupted with applause and the flash bulbs started popping as fans were anxious to get a picture of Mr Fierri. Mr. Fierry was very gracious with the fans taking time to talk to a few that spoke to him from the crowd and made a few special poses for the crowds pictures. Once the ceremony started, the host, Roger Twibell, said a little bit about every inductee saving Guy Fierri for last. After this, Guy Fierri was the only inductee to stand up and make a statement. This is what I give Mr Fierri most credit for. His speech was not about himself and how great he is. His speech wanted to recognize Henry Ford and most of all Johnny Trigg. It was a very nice gesture from a celebrity that could have taken the spotlight all to himself.

On Sunday, after the turn ins were done for the American Royal Open contest, Mr Fierry left his cook site and made his way to Johnny Trigg’s cook site about half way across the parking lot. There were no film crews, no newspaper writers just a few fans of Mr. Fierri that wanted to catch a glimpse of him this weekend. In a very touching moment, the two men, Guy Fierry and Johnny Trigg, spoke for a few minutes and gave each other a team shirt which each put on at that moment. Guy was wearing a Smokin’ Trigger’s polo and Johnny was in a Motley Que T-shirt. Guy also gave Mr. Trigg a photo that his photographer took Saturday night at the Hall of Fame ceremony framed and everything. As Mr. Fierri left Johnny Trigg’s cook site he took time to sign autographs for people as he made his way back to his own cook site.

Johnny Trigg and Guy Fierri after turn ins Sunday at The American Royal BBQ contest.

I would like to commend Guy Fierri for all that he did this weekend in Kansas City. Congratulations on your induction into the BBQ Hall of Fame and a huge thank you from all of Kansas City. Mr. Fierri you could have big timed this event and flew in the day of and out the night after but you did not. You spent 3 days in KC with your team, Motley Que Crew, made yourself available for your fans and paid homage to BBQ legends at the Hall of Fame Ceremony. I also might add that you stopped by the BBQ Pitmasters set Sunday to talk and to wish your friend ( I will not give away the name) good luck competing that day. You sir are a class act all the way around.

I would be remiss in my duties if I did not list all of the inductees in the BBQ Hall of Fame so here they are. Rich Davis creator of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, Fred Gould, Speed Herrig, Mike Mills of 17th St BBQ, Carolyn Wells creator KCBS, Gary Wells creator KCBS and John Willingham BBQ Legend, Henry Ford, Guy Fierri and Johnny Trigg congratulations on your inductions. It will be great to have you all in Kansas City forever.

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Introducing Sean Bardwell of Tatoos N Que

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Ernie Rupp

If you don’t “like” him on Facebook or follow @SBQue on Twitter you may not recognize this pitmaster. His name is Sean Bardwell and has a competition BBQ team called Tatoos N Que. I have been following Sean for most of this year and have been really impressed by some of Sean’s creations. He shows them regularly on Facebook and they all look very tasty. I had the pleasure of talking to Sean about his recent activities while he was doing a practice cook for an upcoming contest last week. Sean has big plans for the future and a game plan to get there.

Sean was raised on BBQ. His best childhood memories were being with his father cooking on an old Weber kettle grill. BBQ was a treat. Sean spent summers in Arkansas with grandparents who also fed his BBQ cravings. To this day, BBQ reminds him of his childhood. Currently, Sean is kitchen manager of a chain restaurant called Smokey Bones in York, Pennsylvania and has held this position for 4 years. He started as a line cook and has worked his way up the ladder. Sean wants to own his own BBQ restaurant one day and is working very hard to achieve that goal. His goal for the next year is to get a food truck to be used for a catering business and to take on the competition circuit.

Sean has many BBQ idols. He attended the NBBQA Convention in South Carolina last year and got to meet the likes of Ray Lampe, Chris Lilly and the person Sean states he owes the most to, Danielle Dimovski of DivaQ BBQ. He stays in touch with Danielle via twitter and says she gives him a lot of advice. He also credits ,Prince of Q, Jay Prince and Stephen Hartsock of Sock’s Love Rub with inspiring him as well. At the MBBQA Convention, everyone told Sean that if he wants to open a restaurant he needs to first compete and get your name out there. This inspired Sean and his Tattoos N Que BBQ team to enter the New Holland Summerfest BBQ contest last weekend. Tattoos n Que competed against 72 other BBQ teams. Tattoos N Que did not win any awards at New Holland but they did not finish last in any category they entered and met Myron Mixon and Tuffy Stone. Sean considers this a success.

Sean also has a variety of rubs for sale on his website, sbque.com His rubs come in Original flavor which is an all purpose rub, Savory which is used a lot on poultry, Sweet for ribs and pork and is developing one called Tattoos N Que which is a competition style rub. All the ingredients used in Sean’s rubs are also smoked before they are combined. This gives Sean’s food layers of smoke flavor. I found this to be very interesting and I cant wait for the sample Sean is going to send me. Sean also makes his competition sauce from scratch using all smoked ingredients. He joked that he can never do anything simple.

If all of this was not enough, Sean has published his very own e-cookbook. It contains 17 original recipes all created by Sean Bardwell. It is a free cookbook so feel free to download it here http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/296973-sbque-recipes . When you get done with the cookbook you will ask yourself, ” Is there any food Sean won’t smoke?”

Sean has a passion for BBQ. He shows this in all that he does. From rub creator, cookbook author, competition cook and his daily job they are all examples of how dedicated Sean is to perfecting his craft. Sean is a very goal driven individual and I have no doubt that he will leave his mark on the BBQ world. Check out his website, order some rub and get that cookbook. You will be glad you did.

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DBQ at the Ky State BBQ Festival

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Shane Draper

Hot off the presses from last night’s Getting’ Sauced with Draper’s BBQ and the Kentucky State BBQ Festival (so dubbed KSBF from here forward because that is a lot to read) webpage, I have been asked to do the cooking demonstrations for the 2^nd Ever Kentucky State BBQ Festival. I am both honored and humbled by being asked to do this by Brad Simmon’s and the organizers of the event.

For those that were not able to attend last year’s event and missed Brad and I talking about it last night on the radio show let me attempt to describe just what this festival is all about. The KSBF is loosely based on the Big Apple Block Party. The organizers invite the best of the best in the world of barbecue out to cook for thousands of new friends. In short, Joe Consumer can come out and eat the barbecue of world class pitmasters. The list of pitmasters for this event is impressive to say the least, a definite who’s who of Q. To get to share an event with the likes of Carey Bringle (Peg Leg Porker BBQ), Moe Cason (Ponderosa BBQ), Pete and Melissa Cookston (Yazoo’s Delta Q), Shelly Hunt (Desperados Barbecue) and Craig Kimmel (Firehouse BBQ) is an honor.

Add to that being asked to sit in for none other than Dr. BBQ, mister Ray Lampe is humbling to say the least. Ray did amazing cooking demonstrations last year and to say one could ever replace him would be a mistake. Ray is one of my personal bbq heroes, I got to tell him that at last years KSBF when were vending barbeque sauce and rub. Ray was such a great guy he even used our products during his demonstrations. The first barbecue related book I ever read was Ray’s Big Time Barbecue. Ray has had a great influence on not only me, but a whole generation of barbecue pitmasters and I will forever be in his debt. I can only do my best to live up to the excepti”onal standard that Ray set at last year’s KSBF.

So what can you expect from the demos this year? Great competition tips adapted for the backyard and awesome samples cooked on a pit that anyone can use. That’s right we will have a limited amount of samples during each class. Mike and I have been working on a curriculum for our classes that is based on our Salt, Smoke, Meat concept. I took this simplified concept and compressed it even further to work in a 30min demonstration.

On Saturday, September 8^th I will be doing the following demos:

12:30pm – Chicken – I will show you how to make competition lollipop chicken legs and let you taste them. You will also get recipes and instruction for whole and spatchcocked chicken as well.
2:30pm – Ribs – We will discuss baby backs vs spare ribs, go over how to properly trim ribs and I will give you instructions on how to cook 4hr ribs.
4:45pm – Pulled Pork – We will coverBoston butts vs whole shoulders, proper trimming, proper injection and how to cook including our competition timeline.
5:30pm – Brisket – I will cover picking a proper brisket, how to trim correctly, injection recommendations and of course how to cook a great brisket.

On Sunday, Sept 9^th I will be doing these:

11:15am – Tailgating – It’s all about easy and great entertaining with this demo. Moink balls, wings, bacon explosion I got it all covered.
1:30pm – Holiday on the Pit – Give the oven a break, I will show you how to great turkey and ham on your smoker.

We will be cooking all of this on Green Mountain Grill’s pellet grills. We are proud to be featuring the GMG as part of the cooking process because they are a very affordable, highly capable and easy to use barbecue pit. These pits with just a little bit of know how and anyone can be a super star in their backyard.

In addition to the demo’s we will also have our booth set up selling our sauce and rub. Danvillewas great to Draper’s BBQ last year and we sold out of sauce and rub. We are coming prepared this year and look forward to meeting even more new friends and visiting with the fans we made last year.

As you can see this year’s Kentucky State BBQ Festival is a big event for Draper’s BBQ and we have gone “all in” on it. We can’t wait to get there and are proud to be apart of this event! See you there!

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Draper’s BBQ and GMG

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Shane Draper

Some of you may have heard the rumors, so here is the confirmation. Draper’s BBQ is now officially sponsored by Green Mountain Grills. This cooperative agreement is a culmination of several projects where we got to work side-by-side with members of the GMG team. It became obvious to both us and the GMG leadership that working together on a more formal basis would greatly benefit both companies.

Draper’s up to this point has never accepted an endorsement deal or sponsorship of any kind for our competition team. We have and will continue to help all companies whose products we believe in and use but our competition focus, for the remainder of 2012 and beyond, will now reside primarily with GMG and the pellet grill market place.

As a part of this partnership we are now also a full GMG dealer and will become an active part of driving GMG to the forefront of the pellet grilling market. We will do everything we can as a company to support our partners in this endeavor and look forward to becoming West Kentucky’s premier full service pellet grill dealership. We are fully committed to GMG’s policy of service excellence before, during and after the sale and we will be bringing you a line of barbecue products and classes designed to help all barbecue enthusiast get the most out of their culinary adventures.

If you have any questions about Green Mountain Grills please contact Shane or Mike via email and they would both love to help you in making the right choice for your barbecue and grilling adventures.

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Vacation Grillin’

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Shane Draper

This past week my wife put her foot down and demanded a vacation. You know those weird things where people/families get time alone together minus distraction, work, phones, email, texts, Facebook…..needless to say I am one of those people who are not good at vacation. I am good at pretty much everything else, but too much down time with nothing productive to do and I start going crazy in a hurry.

So like a good husband who had been voluntold what to do, I of course packed the truck. I was told that there would be internet at this cabin, I realize now in retrospect this was a well played ruse to get me to go. I was fortunate to have cell signal, so internet was pushing it. I was also told there was a grill there, even though it was a gas grill I at least had something to cook on. I gave a few minutes of thought about taking a grill or barbecue pit with us, but I didn’t want to make the boss angry. So I opted for tossing some cherry Mojobricks, a pound of AP Rub and a bottle of Smokin’ Sauce in a bag and away we went to Lake Barkley and our little cabin in the hills.

I will forego the complete retelling of all the madness that was our time on Lake Barkley and instead concentrate on the first meal I had to cook on the grill our first night there.

I remind you I was indeed told that it was a gas grill so I knew going in I would be hampered. I know, I know I risk sounding like a barbecue snob but let’s be honest 90% of contraptions that are fired by gas and also sold at big box home improvement stores are terrible. As soon as I got out of my truck I was greeted with the site of what would become the bane of my culinary existence over the next few days, the Char-Broil Classic C-210L. I knew immediately my chances for turning out non-charred food was minimal. All I could think was that somehow I must be on a Twighlight Zone version of Chopped or something. To a grill lover this was the highest form of culinary handicap and unjust on many levels. Never the less a menu had to be made and food had to be cooked as I refused to cook any of the main dishes inside on the stove during the vacation.

We unpacked and I took a minute to take full stock of the kitchen utensils and the state of the grill. As you can see from the picture above the utensils were lacking severely and I also found that the ignitor on the grill was broken and I had nothing to start a fire with. So I did what any man would do, I turned the stove burner on high and lit a piece of cardboard on fire and carried it out to the grill to see if it would at least light. The burners on the grill at least seemed to be in good working order, it could use a solid cleaning but at least it made fire.

After the dry run it was time to make a grocery list and run out to the store to pick up food. I decided that everything that was to be cooked on the grill would have to be higher heat short cook time foods. I put chicken wings, pork steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs and things like that on my list and I knew my in-laws were coming to visit us and bringing ribeyes and all the sides one evening as well. I already hated the idea of cooking some nice hand cut steaks on this contraption, but it was a bridge I would have to cross later. Unfortunately, the store didn’t have wings at a reasonable price, rather at a price I was willing to pay for these particular wings anyway. So I opted for some nice sized chicken leg quarters that were on sale. I knew these would have to cook longer but decided the savings in the wallet were worth the risk.

Once home it was time to prep the chicken and get ready to start the meal. I tossed several Mojobricks in the grill around the burner. I knew they would burn up somewhat quickly but I needed to at least try to impart some resemblance of real smoke flavor into the chicken. In the pic below you can see the Mojobrick starting to catch fire. You will also notice the burnt cardboard ashes that were used to start the fire and just how dirty this pit was.

I gave the chicken a light coat of AP Rub and tossed them on the fire. As you can see these were pretty good sized leg quarters. I then closed the lid and it didn’t take very long at all for the Mojobricks to start filling the air with a great cherry smoke smell. The pic below gives you a good idea just how much smoke a few Mojo’s can put out.

It was about 20 seconds after the pic above was taken that I learned two things. First, just how fast a small grill comes up to temp. Second, how fast a small, dirty gas grill can turn into a bon fire. I ran and got a large cup of water and kept it on standby from that point on. It was typical to go through two to three glasses of water during each cook. Anything that hit the drip plate and rolled off dripped right onto the gas flame igniting a healthy flare up each time. I couldn’t ever get more than about an arms length away from this pit due to flare ups.

Toward end of this first cook I gave up and decided to put the chicken in a pan for it to finish. This actually worked quite well. I wish I had figured it out sooner and I’m sure the chicken would have been void of the few char spots it had. Truth be told though, I like a little bit of char so I wasn’t complaining that much.

I have to admit that I left my trusty Thermapen at home for this trip and it was sorely missed during this cook. With the flare ups and not knowing what temp the grill was actually cooking at I had no choice but to separate the leg quarter at the joint to get a look at if it was done or not. Thankfully it was indeed done, if not just a touch over done. That’s not to say the chicken was dry, but had I left it on for another 10 minutes it likely would have been.

Once I verified the chicken was done I gave it a nice slathering of Smokin’ Sauce and I shut off the gas to the grill and left the lid closed so the sauce could set.

As you can see it’s not the sexiest yardbird ever cooked, but you know what it was kind of nice to eat good ole “regular joe” barbecue. It had some char to it. It was just the slightest bit over cooked. It wasn’t evenly sauced. It was…..good. It was just good chicken. It was refreshing to be reminded what just good barbecued/grilled chicken tasted like. It didn’t require a muffin pan or a bottle of blue butter. It lacked pretentiousness and fussiness, but it didn’t lack flavor and in the end that is a destination that we should all travel to while on vacation.

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DBQ Atomic Bacon Explosion (ABT meets BE)

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Shane Draper

Last week I had to come up with a recipe for a “cooks choice” entry at a small unsanctioned barbecue competition. Truth be told I relish doing these smaller unsanctioned events since many of the larger, sanctioned events have lost their luster for me personally. I don’t know if it is the expense of the larger entry fees or the pressure to do well, but the larger events have just lost favor with me. I have come to love these smaller events because we can go out as a team, have a good time, experiment and typically we do pretty well. These events are refreshing and much needed.

After slogging through a few cook books and bouncing around the internet I had a few ideas in mind. It had been awhile since I had cooked a Bacon Explosion and I was craving one, so I figured that was a good place to start. I also hadn’t had a A.B.T. in well over a year. So that was the spark. I started trying to figure out how I could make this work. I knew there wouldn’t be any time to practice the dish before the competition so all the trial and error would have to be done in my head. This violates rule 1 of competition – don’t try new stuff at competitions. Of course that rule violates my number 1 rule….have fun no matter what. Give you one guess as to which one I went with.

So of course I cooked it and turned it in. Unfortunately I don’t think the judges knew what to make of it since we finished in the middle of the pack for that category. The people at the competition who were walking by loved it and raved about it, that was enough for me. So I figured why not post this for the world to see and make use of.

In the interest of full disclosure I am not trying to take credit for this mishmash of recipes, nor am I claiming I thought of it first. It was truly an original idea, in that I had no previous knowledge of existence of a bacon explosion with an A.B.T. in it. Given that the internet is filled with billions of talented chefs then I have to imagine somehow, somewhere, someone has done something similar before now. So before I get any hate mail about “hey you stole my idea,” congrats on thinking of it before me and shame on you for not calling and telling me about it!

Without further delay here it is. One part Bacon Explosion, one part A.B.T and two parts awesome that I like to call the DBQ ABE (Atomic Bacon Explosion).

Ingredients:
2 Packages of thick cut bacon
1 package of your favorite brats
1/4C Fromaggio blend cheese (Asiago, Parmesean, Romano)
3-6 Jalapenos (size dependent)
1 package cream cheese
1 bottle Draper’s Smokin’ Sauce
1 bottle Draper’s A.P. Rub

Step 1
Wash, cap and core your jalapenos. Using a tool such as the “Pepper Whipper” really speeds up this process. If you’ve never seen a Pepper Whipper it is the clear plastic tool on the cutting board. They are very inexpensive, simple and easy to use and if you do very many A.B.T.s then you need one.
Step 2
Place cream cheese in a bowl, either put in the microwave for a couple of seconds to soften or allow to sit out for 20-30min on your counter to aid in easier mixing. Add 1/4c of the mixed cheese, 1 ½ TBS of AP Rub and 3 TBS of Smokin Sauce to cream cheese and mix well. The mixing can of course take place in a stand mixer on the low setting. A note on the mixed cheese, you can use any cheese you wish, I have been a fan of the sharper, dry cheeses in my A.B.T.s so that is what I went with here. The Parmesan, Romano and Asiago blend works well.
Step 3
Place cheese mixture into a plastic ziptop bag. Remove one corner of bag and pipe cheese mixture into jalapenos. Make sure you get the cheese all the way to the bottom of each jalapeno.
Step 4
Lay bacon out on cutting board, making a bacon weave. Coat completed weave with AP Rub.
Step 4
Remove casings from brats, mix meat together and then spread into one even layer on the bacon weave. Dust sausage with AP Rub and then drizzle with Smokin’ Sauce.
Step 5
Cut the tip off of one jalapeno. Place it in the middle of weave / sausage canvas and then place a jalapeno on either side of it. This will create one long jalapeno.
Step 6
Roll weave and sausage around the jalapenos forming a roll. Dust with more AP Rub.
Step 7
Smoke on a 250 degree pit until internal temp reaches at least 145 degrees or until you achieve the firmness and color you are looking for. I like a more direct heat or cooking on the side of the pit with the most heat to ensure the bacon gets fully cooked. Brush with Smokin’ Sauce the last 15min of cook time and add a second coat just as you are removing from the pit.
Step 8
Let cool for at least 25min before slicing to allow the cream cheese to solidify again and enjoy.

Notes – There are a million and one changes that can easily be made to this recipe. That is the core of the genius of the basic Bacon Explosion that Jason Day came up with. If you don’t own the book he wrote with Aaron Chronister (BBQ Makes Everything Better) go check it out, its a great book full of ideas.

Additions I would consider to this recipe? Maybe adding chopped onion to the sausage layer or maybe even some bleu cheese. Adding a small piece of pineapple or other fruit inside the jalapeno before you pipe the cream cheese in. Using two jalapenos stacked on one another to form a “figure 8″ design in the middle of the roll. Or maybe even figuring how how to do 4 peppers stacked together to form something akin to a four leaf clover. Literally the options are endless, use your imagine, don’t be afraid to explore and for goodness sake have FUN with it.

-Until next time folks….Love Peace and Pork Grease!

Shane

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Father’s Day Gifts – 2012

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Shane Draper

Ok everyone one and their play cousin has published a Father’s Day Gift Guide already. In typical Draper’s fashion we are one of the last to post our recommendations. It’s ok to save the best and most comprehensive for last though. You would expect a barbecue company to give a Father’s Day Gift Guide chocked full of grilling related items, accessories and sauces. You will find some of those here, but being the renaissance men that we are, we wanted to provide you a list of items that addresses all the parts of good ole dad. Dad isn’t a one dimensional guy and while he may love barbecue and grilling the most we are betting he also has a humorous side and an intellectual side as well. So our gift guide was designed to address every side of your special guy’s persona and give you ideas in which we know he would love.

Idea 1 – T-Shirts

Before you think we’ve lost our marbles and have gone all cheap on dear ole dad hear us out. If your dad is stuck in khakis or slacks and a button down all day, at that 9 to 5 grind he calls a job to put you through school, then I can promise you one of his favorite things to do is put on a pair shorts, a t-shirt and some comfy shoes and chill out. To add to that putting on a funny t-shirt only makes it better. So check out some of our favorites from Tanga.com all of which are under $10!

Idea 2 – Bacon

Dad understands that bacon is not a food it’s a lifestyle and we believe it’s one that should be celebrated in every way possible. We firmly believe nothing says “I love you” quite like bacon. So here are just some accessories that will be sure to please the giver-o-the-allowance. If you want even more, even crazier gifts just Google “Bacon Gifts.”

Bacon Wallet – Because its cool! – $9

Bacon Hot Sauce – What’s better than bacon? HOT BACON! – $7

Bacon Bandages – Because sometimes dad’s Ninja impersonation ends badly. – $5

Bacon Wrapping Paper – Why? Because EVERYTHING should be wrapped in bacon. – $6

Baconnaise – Want the ultimate BLT? Then you need this! – $15

Idea 3 – Tech

Every dad is a tech dude to a certain extent, yes we know he still can’t program the correct time on the 15yr old VCR but we promise he will like these tech gifts.

Logitech Harmony 650 – Because he deserves the remote control at all times! – $60

Klipsch IMAGE S4 Ear buds – Because yes your mother does talk too much…. sometimes. shhh Dont tell! – $65

Roku LT – A Roku of his very own! He will love recording his favorite bbq shows on this! – $50

Idea 4 – Grilling

We know your dad is already the Greatest of the Grill Grates but just in case he isn’t or perhaps he just doesn’t have these items then you know what to do. HOOK HIM UP! These are the our personal favorite things from around the grill and we know your dad will love them as well.

Thermapen – Super fast and now even cooler! – $96

Firewire Flexible Skewers – These are awesome for those bbq grills that are tight on space! – $10

Victorinox Knife Set – If dad travels to bbq competitions this is a fantastic set of knives to have! – $130

Grill Grates – There arent many universal bbq tools that make everyone a better cook but this is one of them! – $55

MeatRakes – Help dad stop fingering his food and RAKE some MEAT. – $20

Draper’s BBQ Moo’d Enhancer with Shaker – No list would be complete without some Draper’s products. This package contains our super successful beef rub and the best shaker dad will ever have! – $20

Yoder YS-640 Smoker – This smoker got the most votes on our panel for its combination of cooking size, features, build quality and pricing. – Starting at $1300

Idea 5 – Books

Before you start saying “books??? LAME!” Just wait and hear us out. These aren’t regular books, they are reference/recipe books and are of course barbecue related. These books represent a mix of our personal favorites along with the best that has been released this year. I can promise dad will thumb through these books over and over again getting ideas and inspiration for his barbecue. What we love about books is that they work just as well in great weather as they do in bad. They are a year round gift that keeps us inspired and thinking about what we really love, barbecue. :) Oh don’t cry we still love you too.

Alright kids that pretty well covers it. If you can’t find something on this list for the older dude in your house you call dad, well you just aren’t looking very hard. We did our best to cover a wide price range and provide you with gifts that any dad would love to have. In the end though we dads would prefer spending the day just hanging out, manning the grill cooking up something for those that love us and call us dad. Of course doing that on a new pellet smoker, drinking a nice cold and frosty beverage, using new barbecue tools, to cooking up a new recipe from a book you got us wouldn’t be all that bad either.

Peace, Love and Pork Grease to all the men out there who go the extra mile to be involved in their families lives and earn the title Dad.

- Draper’s BBQ Staff

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Texas Jr Brush – Review

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Shane Draper

I always seem to be the last to be in the “know” or at least the last to actually review / get the latest and best in barbecue gear. My introduction the Texas Brush is no different. I have seen them around on the internet and I’ve even seen some of my good friends, like John Dawson of Patio Daddio BBQ and Robyn Lindars of Grill Grrrl review them.

So when Jay Prince asked me to try out the Texas Brush in the Jr size and write a review I of course accepted. Jay’s idea was that I have several different types and sizes of barbecue pits that might be more of a fit for this hulk of a grill cleaner. For this review I decided to try the Texas Brush (TB from here forward) on our Old Hickory CTO, Tucker Cooker and Grilla Pellet Grill.

About Texas Brush
On the TB website there is a great story about where and how TB got started. I don’t think it needs too much added to it, instead I’d prefer to quote it.

“Founded in 1996 in Beaumont, Texas, the Texas Brush was the brainchild of two retirees eager to make a little golf money. What started as a few brushes, has evolved into a full-scale manufacturer with distribution nationwide.

The Texas Brush is no ordinary brush. Each brush is hand-crafted to achieve consistency and durability. All of our component parts have been carefully chosen and manufactured to our strict standards.

Each wood block stabilizer is cut from an actual tree, chosen for us in Gadsden, Alabama. We discard any discolored or blemished wood, then dry, cut and sand each block. Creating both an attractive and functional brush, for our customers.

Our handles are cut thick, 1-1/4″ and over 4′ in length, for comfort and safety. And as you may guess the handles are also made in Texas.

The brushes we use are tempered carbon steel designed to take the heat.

Our goal is to offer innovtive and durable products that exceed the expectations of our customers.

Thanks for your support,”

EC Tuttle and Alvis Garretson
“The Brushmen”

Initial Impressions
The first thing you will notice when you get the TB is the size of the box. It’s a pretty good clue that this is NOT your average grill brush. The TB is large, heavy and almost menacing in its simplicity. I’m pretty sure the TB shares its DNA with some sort of medieval torture device. Essentially as you can see in the picture the TB consists of a couple of large wood blocks sporting two kinds of wire that is attached to a heavy broom handle.

There is nothing overly complicated about the TB but it is very, very well built. Holding this thing up is akin to raising Thor’s hammer to the sky and waiting for the God’s open the clouds in an attempt to get a glimpse of this mighty grime buster. Ok, so that might be over stating it, but you get the idea.

The delivery of the Texas Brush occurred just before my trip to compete at the World Barbecue Cooking Contest at Memphis in May. So I did some basic testing with it and figured what better place to complete the review than at the competition since there are typically 4-5 Tucker Cooker’s there that need cleaning and about 15 different Tucker owners there to provide feedback.

Upon completion of the competition I posted on Facebook asking those that got some time with the TB to post the comments. Again, I think they speak for themselves.

“Well, I have to say this is a very nice brush for gettin’ the crud off… I used it over the course of Memphis in May on some grills that just weren’t going to get clean with some ordinary backyard grill brush. When you take a first glance at the brush you know it means business. When you put this brush in your hand you know you have a brush to clean with and it will get the job done! It wasn’t too heavy in weight but I didn’t have to use much pressure due to it had just enough weight but not overly weighted. You also have a choice of two types of bristles which to choose from aggressive and damn aggressive! The one side has nice stiff bristles to get the grime and caked on matter of the expanded grates with out effort while the other side you could use to get down deep and scrape off paint and rust if you needed too but your grill & grate would have to be a total train wreck if you need to use the side which these grates where almost to that point. It only took me a few minutes to knock out my job and got those cruddy grates nice and ready for the food to be cooked. When I get a chance one of the babies will be in my possession and you should get one too.” - Capt Ron Worby

“I didn’t use it, but I have to say that thing was MASSIVE!” – Wayne Brown

“I used the brush at the site and ordered one on Monday– delivered yesterday.” – Jim Loggins

“I liked it and plan on ordering one.” – Hoyt E. Liggins Jr

My Thoughts
After Memphis in May and getting the chance to use the TB on a couple of our other pits I really like this brush. In fact it lives inside our Tucker Cooker now as part of our standard load out for cooking. The ultra stiff, thicker bristles will blast though any crud and took my grates down to bare steel with just a couple of passes. The finer, slightly less stiff bristles are prefect for every day clean up and are the side 98% of users will typically use.

The TB is large, that is true. Most who don’t have pro sized cookers will find it to be too big. For those of us though that have had to literally crawl inside of our cookers to clean them properly will love the size and reach of the TB.

The weight of the TB will turn off some, but while it is weighted I don’t find it overly heavy to use. That might not be the case for a petite woman, but I don’t think it would be that big of deal even then. The weight once you get the momentum going works in your favor and helps break up the crud even faster.

Texas is at the heart of the TB when you look at build quality. It is genuinely something you will pass down to your children and you can even order replacement heads and parts if you should ever need them. Seriously though I cant think of a way to use this thing enough to damage it though.

Some will balk at the price. I would equate the TB to the Thermapen. It’s just one of those things that until you use it or been around it you can’t understand how it’s worth the money. Once you have though, you get it and you order one without delay. When I consider that I have probably spent $100 in my life time on several other grill brushes, well the TB starts making a whole lot of sense. This is the last grill brush I will ever use or buy.

What I Like
- The TB just works. Simple as that. It does the job advertised with no fuss.
- Build quality – It’s built for a lifetime, literally. I will be passing this down to my children.
- Design – Simple, effective, heavy enough to be useful but not too heavy that its too big for larger pits.
- Modular Parts – If you ever some how managed to wear out a part of your TB you can order replacement parts, which is awesome.
- Made here – More things should be made in the USA, this is and I appreciate that.
- Options – You can work with the fine folks at TB and basically custom design and personalize your own brush.

What May Bother Some
- Size – Make no bones this thing is big. If you have a Weber Kettle this likely isn’t for you. This is for big pits weighing 100lbs or more. Otherwise I could imagine you could knock them over operating the TB.
- Price – It does have a high price of entry, but dare I say it’s the last brush you will ever buy. Try that with something you can get at Wal-Mart.

All in all the Texas Jr. Brush is a great product. It is well made in the USA and is exactly what you would expect from something that carries Texas as part of it’s name. Go buy you one, its the last grill brush you will ever need.

Shane

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Father’s Day Gifts – 2012

Idea 1 – T-Shirts

Idea 2 – Bacon

Idea 3 – Tech

Idea 4 – Grilling

Idea 5 – Books

Texas Jr Brush – Review