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Gargantuan Garlic Greatness in a Bottle

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Every so often I come across a product that I think “nice idea, but I bet the final delivery is lacking.”  That happens to me a lot especially with hot sauces and rubs.  Everyone is trying so hard to just put out products that so many times the final delivery is something muddled and less than awesome.  This phenomenon evidently does not affect the fine folks at Intensity Academy.

I was first introduced to their line at the Houston Hot Sauce Festival in September, but more importantly I met Tom Was co-founder and co-creator of this line of products.  Tom told me how he and his amazing wife Michele started Intensity Academy as a part of their love for all things spicy.  I sampled a couple of products and quickly nabbed a couple of hot sauces (Hot Squared and Hot Cubed) and some of their Chai Thai Teriyaki.  Unfortunately I only had a couple of minutes to sample just a few products before having to run back to our tent since we were cooking ribs for the rib cook off we were competing in for Chile Pepper Magazine.

Later that night I was blessed with getting to sit down and really talk business with Tom and Tracy Carter (JAC’s Tailgaters) and some of their friends.  It was there that I really got to understand more about Intensity Academy.  If Tom, Michele and crew were a recipe for success in a cook book it would read:

  • 4 parts Passion
  • 3 parts No Comprised Ingredients
  • 2 parts Commitment
  • 1 part Perseverance
  • Combined for a perfect 10 of flavor

This recipe is the same one followed by every sauce, rub and bbq company I know of that are doing it right.  Tom and Michele really have crafted, what is in my opinion, one of the most comprehensive and different line of products available out there today.

Fast forward a couple of months to mid January, I was rifling through my cabinet and literally “clanked” into a bottle and looked to see what it was to find it was that bottle of Chai Thai Teriyaki that I bought back in Houston.  I was making some ribs and thought to myself “hmm I bet I could make some pretty bangin’ ribs with that.”  So I raided the pantry and pulled out some ingredients to make an impromptu rub with Asian flair to complement the Teriyaki.  Long story short those ribs were the hit of the night.  They got as much rave review as the Angus ribeye’s I did and that is saying something because those were some of the best steaks I had ever cooked….ever.  They were so good I dreamt about them that night and got up at 2 in the morning to raid the fridge for a couple of those ribs.  They were GOOD.  Stay tuned for more on those ribs in a minute.

Fast forward again about a month and Scott Roberts, blogger extraordinaire of ScottRobertsWeb.com asked me to do an interview with him as part of his Weekly Firecast Series.  I agreed and during the interview happened to mention some of personal favorite products that included Intensity Academy and JAC’s Tailgaters.    Tom happened to listen to this podcast and messaged me on Facebook wanting the recipe to the ribs.  I told him I would have to order more of the Chai Thai Teriyaki so I could formally write it up since I winged it and wanted to do it write if he was going to publish it.  I was planning on ordering more of IA’s products anyway since I had been really wanting to try some of their Chai Chipotle ‘Chup and Green Tea Gourmet ever since I saw them in Houston.

Well yesterday I get home to find a HUGE box sitting on my doorstep.  I was really taken back by it because I didn’t remember ordering anything that would be in a box that size.  So I glanced at the label and saw it was from Tampa, so I knew it had to be from Tom.  I wasted no time in ripping into it like a fat kid into a box Duncan doughnuts.  I found bottle after bottle of awesomeness and thought to myself that I might as well do a full review series of the product line since, well…I had pretty much the whole line right there.

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Being a Friday night it happened to be pizza night at our house.  Mike and Debra brought over some thin crust pie from one of more favorite joints, J. Bella’s.  As I was putting up the bounty of bottles from IA I spied with my little eye the bottle of Garlic Goodness and thought, “I bet that would work on pizza so let’s give a try.”  I was a little bit apprehensive I must admit.  Garlic is not one of my favorite flavors.  I am pretty sensitive to it and can pick it out a mile away typically and I personally think that it get’s used with a bit of a heavy hand by most.  Then I remember Tom mentioning something about there being like 100lbs of garlic in every 50gal batch of this sauce.  So now I was flat out worried that I would not like it, but knew I just had to try it because where others fail someone has to succeed and if anyone could pull it off Tom and Michele hopefully could.

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So I uncapped the bottle and give the sniff test.  All I can say is HOOOOOOOOOOOOLY COW the garlic was so stout smelling that it took my breath.  This stuff is so stout I swear you could just wave some french bread over the bottle and have instant garlic bread lol!  It is strong, it is pungent, it is GARLIC.  You can smell every ounce of the 100lbs of garlic they use in each batch.  It so fresh smelling it’s almost dumbfounding.  So then a small voice in the back of my head whispered “oh yeah fat boy I bet this gives you some wicked heartburn later.”  Irregardless I had to try it.  I just had to know did this taste of dark, murky, dank garlic or did IA manage some sort of culinary miracle and balance this into a great sauce?

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Next came the plate test.  So I poured a nice glob on a white paper plate.  A couple of things hit you right off.  Firstly the chunks of garlic in there.  Second is that this sauce has a enough body not to ooze all over the plate.  It expanded a little bit but held the shape you see in the picture.  The last thing you notice is what is not as over the top…the intense garlic smell.  Out of the bottle the garlic smell is tamed, it is not shocking, it becomes instead pleasant.  It smells like you chopped up a fresh clove only it smells even better.  If you keep sniffing you can pick up on the vinegar that is in the sauce.  Once I smelled this I had to check the label because it wasn’t just plain old vinegar it had something else going on.

2013-02-23 09.19.26Yup, it was Red Wine Vinegar, my personal favorite vinegar next to balsamic vinegar.  The ingredients on the list are as straight forward as they come.  Nothing you can’t spell, nothing unnatural.

Now came the time of reckoning….the taste test.  As always I started with it raw on my finger.  No, its not as sanitary or “pure” as tasting from a spoon, but I’m not a hot sauce purist, I’m a realist.  I’m real in that I don’t like hot for hot’s sake.  I NEVER like heat without flavor and you will never hear me say “the hotter the better” unless we are talking about swim suit models.  With the sauce raw on my finger I got an immediate garlic hit and it was a very solid hit, but not in any way dark or murky as I thought it might be.  The red wine vinegar does something amazing with this sauce, it allows the garlic to be pungent without being over powering.  It is the horn section to the garlic’s p-funk base line…it is the yin to the garlic’s yang.  Next you get hit with this sense of freshness and then finally some heat.  That freshness note I am betting is from the mix of the red bell pepper, onion and vinegar again.  It really makes the sauce have this lighter note in the middle which is great.  The heat is all habanero and black pepper.  On a heat scale I would say this is about a 3.2 on my scale of 5.  5 being too hot for me.  This is a solid heat that bites quickly and dissipates almost as quickly.  Overall this sauce is surprisingly good, even for someone who admittedly isn’t overly fond of garlic.

Finally was the food test on cheese pizza.  I loaded a fair amount on my slice and man oh man it was good.  It was VERY garlic but it was refreshing and unexpected.  I didn’t really any intense “heat” notes when I added it to the pizza.  So the heat while definitely present when tasted alone, tempers very nicely when added to food.

So where would I use this sauce?  Granted I have only tried Garlic Goodness on pizza so far but I can see this being a staple around my house.  I could see reworking something like 40 Clove Chicken with it or doing some over the top garlic bread by mixing the sauce with some butter.  It could easily be added to ANY soup that calls for garlic.  It would go a very long way on virtually any seafood.  That hit of garlic with a touch of vinegar would be a welcome addition in something like Shrimp Scampi (great recipe that Michele did).  You could very easily make a garlic aioli by replacing the garlic with this sauce and adjusting the amount of lemon juice to compensate for the red wine vinegar.  This sauce would be right at home in pretty much any adobo recipe.  Something like Garlic Chicken Adobo would be greatly helped out with Garlic Goodness.  This sauce in short is at home in ANY recipe that calls for minced garlic.  I plan on amping up some stir fry and some Italian dishes we are cooking this next week.

I can’t say enough how impressed I am by the entire Intensity Academy line, but also Tom and Michele as people and business owners.  Each product is a jewel on it’s own and needs to be tried.  So hit up their site or drop Tom and Michele a note on Facebook and tell them Shane at Draper’s BBQ sent you and you are ready to take some classes at the Academy.

Love, Peace and Pork Grease folks….until next time.

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Ranking the BBQ Meats

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pig parts

I visit many internet sites during the day and one of my favorites is Deadspin.  It is basically a sports website for people with little time to read or short attention spans.  They throw some humor in there as well and break stories about imaginary girlfriends and stuff like that.  Last week Deadspin had an article which ranked the best flavors of doughnuts.  It is not sports related, but I am a fan of doughnuts so I read to find out  if my favorite was near the top.  Vital information that I could not live without.  Little did I know that if this article was a BBQ contest I would be ostrasized for shiggin.  Yeah I am stealing the idea ( thanks Drew Magary ) and writing my own article ranking the BBQ meats.  I will list the meat first then give my reasoning as to why it is superior to the meats beneath it.

1.  Burnt Ends  (Brisket point)- This is my favorite thing to order at any BBQ restaurant.  I am from KC what do you expect.  Tiny little fatty morsels of beefy goodness.  If they were smaller I would swear this is what the fairies used for fairy dust. They are sooooo good.  Smothered in sauce with extra bark.  You just can’t beat them.

2. Brisket  (flat) -  If burnt ends were Miss America then brisket is a close runner up.  When done right it is better than prime rib to me.  The fat just melts in your mouth like butter.  Most people will have a brisket sandwich.  My question is,  Why do you need the bread?

3.  Spare Ribs (St Louis Cut) -  I specify the St. Louis cut because I do not like eating the rib tips.  Too much work for me.  I like the extra flavor these ribs provide in comparison to the baby back ribs.  Ribs are very versatile.  You can have them from spicy to sweet and they are always good.

4.  Turkey -  I already hear the gasps from the audience.  Yes smoked turkey.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I could eat turkey any day of the year.  Brine it, inject it, rub it and smoke it.  Always good.

5.  Pork Shoulder (Boston Butt) -  I had never had pulled pork till about 6 years ago.  My mom always called it a pork roast and roasted it in the oven seasoned with salt, pepper and caraway seeds.  Served with dumplings and brown pork gravy.  Wow it was good!  When I made my first shoulder I was amazed how much more flavor this cut of meat had when cooked in a smoker.  This cut of meat is literally a sponge for flavor.

6.  Pork Belly/Bacon -  Now this ranks this high on the list because of one thing BACON!  When I was five years old,  I ate a whole pound of bacon for lunch while my mom was visiting with my dad and his golfing buddy.  Kind of a badge of honor I think.  I have never had the rest of the belly, but hope to remedy that soon.

7.  Tri-Tip -  This is a nod to all my California buddies I met at the American Royal last fall.  This piece of meat is rapidly gaining popularity across the US.  It tastes like the best steak at about half the price.  My thanks to El Fuego Fiasco BBQ Team for the Santa Maria spice.  I have not forgotten that I owe you some Drapers AP Rub.

8.  Babyback Ribs – See spare ribs above.  These little guys have just a little less flavor than spares or they would be higher on the list.

beef

9.  Beef Ribs – Like brisket on a stick.  They are juicy and delicious and we fight over them at Christmas after the prime rib is carved.  Smoked on the BBQ they are even better.

10.  Chicken -  White meat or dark meat everyone loves chicken.  The trick is to keep it moist and get some flavor into that meat.  It rounds out the top 10.

11.  Pork Loin -  Living high on the hog as they say.  You can roast it whole or divide into chops.  Stuff it with apples or wrap it in bacon this makes a great dinner.

12.  Ham -  Most BBQ joints around KC do not cook a whole bone in ham.  They cook the processed ham loaf that you can get in any grocery store deli around town.  The process of making your own ham is very long.  It takes weeks and even months to get the ham cured and smoked.   That being said, it would be nice to have bone in smoked ham at a local BBQ restaurant.

13.  Pork Picnic -  Incomplete.  I have never had a pork picnic.  Hopefully some day I will travel down south and have some but until then we will have to rate it an incomplete.

Now, this list is not all encompassing.  I intentionally left off sausage and went with the cuts of meat vs combined elements of sausage.  If I had put it on the list,  it would have been pretty high on the list.  It is not good for me and I love it.  This is my opinion only and does not represent the views of Drapers BBQ ( with the exception of leaving mutton off the list).  You know what opinions are like…everyone’s got one.  So give them to me.  This post is meant to start a discussion.  Please post at the bottom of the article and tell me why you agree or disagree with me.  Use our new share buttons and get your friends to sound off on the subject or post it to your favorite Facebook group.  Lets discuss this cause I am sure pork picnic is too good to be left in the south and burnt ends are too good to be left to KC.

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My thoughts about The American Royal.

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The greatest weekend of BBQ in Kansas City is now done for another year.  Congratulations to Shiggin and Grinning for winning the American Royal Open contest on Sunday and to Big Poppa Smokers for winning the American Royal Invitational on Saturday.  They had lots of great competition but came out on top.  They also went up against some classic Missouri weather.  Lows at night were in the low 30′s and highs during the day were only in the 40′s until Sunday when the sun finally came out in time to warm everyone up for turn ins and the taping of BBQ Pitmasters.

For those of you that have never made it to KC for the American Royal here is how the schedule works.  Teams arrive early in the week, usually before Friday.  They get there spot set up and see the town.  Friday is party night at The Royal.  Some teams are hired by companies to cater large parties with music and drinks.  There is even an award for best party.  This is the day with the largest attendance numbers.  The parties end around 11 or so and the invited teams (all previous grand champions this year)  get ready to begin cooking for Saturdays Invitational contest.  After turn ins on Saturday, the teams must again begin to get ready to cook for Sunday’s Open contest.  Most teams invitational teams do compete in the open although some with longer trips home chose to leave before the open contest.  All in all this makes The American Royal (in my opinion) the toughest BBQ contest in the world.

This year was a little different .  Usually, Saturday night’s entertainment is some local band playing country music to a much smaller crowd that Friday night.  This year in addition to the band, KCBS had the first ever BBQ Hall of Fame inductions.  The Hall of Fame has been around for a few years now but KCBS purchased the rights to the Hall of Fame and hope to make it a grand occasion every year at The American Royal.  The KCBS invited the previous seven inductees which included the likes of MIke Mills, Dr. Rich Davis, Carolyn Wells and John Willingham along with the 3 new inductees Henry Ford (representative), Johnny Trigg and celebrity chef Guy Fierri.  It was a nice ceremony that honored all that attended.

For the first time ever, The American Royal had a Sunday event.  The Destination America show BBQ Pitmasters was taping an episode in Kansas City.  John Markus, Myron Mixon, Tuffy Stone and Aaron Franklin were all on hand for the season 4 taping.  I got to speak with all of 4 of them personally and talk about this season and BBQ in General.

For the BBQ fan this had to be the ultimate weekend event.  So many big names were in Kansas City, Mo that you would have trouble listing them all off the top of your head.  Let me tell you some if my impressions of the event.  First off, the contests, I have no idea how much organization it takes to put this on but the American Royal staff did a heck of a job.  I heard no complaints from any cooker I spoke with about how the event was run.  I have never had this kind of access to the Royal and was really impressed with the organization of it all.  Awards were late (they always are at any contest) and the Hall of Fame Ceremony was a little late due to set up issues with the stage.  Really neither was a big deal at all.  Second, the Hall of Fame Ceremony was well thought out.  The KCBS gave credit to all the previous inductees who were not privileged enough to have a ceremony when they were inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Nice touch KCBS!  Attendance at the ceremony was very sparse.  Saturday night never has the attendance that Friday does, but some huge BBQ names were up on stage being honored.  I did not see that many BBQ teams up by the stage area watching as ,The Godfather, Johnny Trigg was inducted.  At 7pm that night at least some of the cookers should have shown up for the people that have paved the way for them to do what they do.  The KCBS could have promoted it better than they did as well but there were over 500 teams at the Royal and I do not think there were 500 people at the ceremony.  Hopefully Kansas City can do a little better next year.  Sunday was BBQ Pitmasters Day with free admission to all.  Once again not really advertised very well.  The Pitmasters started at 7:30am and announced the winners at 6pm.  Do not ask me for spoilers I purposely did not stay until the end so I would not have to keep a secret.  I would have thought a lot a backyard cookers would have come down to watch that event and the crowd was small.  I enjoyed talking to all the judges and creator John Markus.  They were more than nice and obliging for my son Tanner and I.  Overall a great weekend.

My final thoughts about The American Royal are this.  This is the best contest in the US because of the setup and level of competition.  I am a little biased, being from KC, and I have not been to Memphis in May or The Jack yet.  Second, when KCBS and The American Royal have special events on Saturday and Sunday for the public they should do a better job of letting the public know of them.  I wish more people could have been there for the Hall of Fame ceremony.  The amount of BBQ knowledge on that stage that night was astounding.  Third and last, if Destination America want to really push the BBQ Pitmasters show then they should promote the tapings on the network.  Let people know why you are showing the previous episodes that a taping is coming up and where people can go to see it.

I will have more articles later in the weeks to come about some great experiences I had this weekend.  Let me congratulate both Grand Champions crowned this weekend and thank everyone who I got to speak with this weekend.

 

 

 

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Eating out of the Box.

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We all seem to find ourselves in a rut sometimes. Whether it is the clothes we wear, the work we do or the places we go out to eat.  Living in Kansas City gives us numerous opportunities to go out for really great BBQ.  Literally hundreds of BBQ restaurants are located in the KC metropolitan area.  Why is it that we tend to migrate to only 2 of them?  When my family goes out for BBQ we tend to go to 2 of the biggest names in KC BBQ Oklahoma Joe’s and Fiorella’s Jacks Stack.  We love them both, get great service and terrific food, but what about all of the others?  Through Facebook, I got back in touch with a friend from high school.  He noticed some of (most of) my posts are related to BBQ.  We wanted to meet up for dinner and he suggested a BBQ joint that I had never been to.  I did not even know it existed and I drive by the area every day on my way to work.  This is not a review of the restaurant, as I did not sample enough off of the menu to give a full review.  This is just about the experience of going to a new place and having things that you would normally not have.  Eating out of the box and getting out of my rut.

My friend, Mike Anani, and I had been trying to meet up for dinner for well over a month and something always seemed to come up.  Finally we found a clear Saturday and made plans.  He knew I really liked BBQ and so did he.  He actually eats at a lot more BBQ restaurants than I do.  He said he had been coming to a new place for a few months and really liked it and wanted to share it with me.  Brobeck’s BBQ is the name of the place. Mike said it was in my neck of the woods.  My neck of the woods?  I had never heard of the place and was very sceptical if I would like it.  How could it be any good if I had not heard of it?

Saturday came and I managed to find Brobeck’s.  It is not really off the beaten path but is tucked away in the back of a strip mall, hidden from the major road I use to get to work.  The parking lot was full.  That’s a good sign that the food is good.  Mike and I walked in and got one of the last tables available and Mike began to tell me about a Ham Salad appetizer they had there.  Ham Salad I thought?  Yuck!  That sounds like something old people eat.  I had never had it before.  We ordered some.  The waitress who was very very sweet, brought it to the table in a bowl about the size you would use for cereal in the morning.  It was a huge portion.  The Ham Salad was served with crackers and Brobeck’s very own potato chips that they make at the restaurant.  It looked good. So I spread some on the crackers and dove right it.  It was fantastic!  I did not ask but I think they used BBQ smoked ham in it.  It was so good if I could get the recipe, I would make it at home and have it every day for lunch.  This was very unexpected.  I never wood have thought that I would have liked that.

After the appetizer, the waitress came over to take our dinner order.  She explained that they were famous for there ribs.  Famous I thought?  I have never heard of you but if it is the best thing you make I am all in.  I ordered a half slab of spare ribs with beans and fries.  The waitress explained that the ribs will come out dry (with no sauce at all) because they are so good you do not need the sauce.  This showed me the pitmaster is very proud of his ribs.  The waitress stated they had 2 sauces on the table Brobeck’s original which is sweet and tomato based and also Brobeck’s mustard sauce if we chose to use sauce.  She continued to say that they had a BBQ sauce bar.  Yes a BBQ sauce bar.  Brilliant idea.  This was a table next to the kitchen loaded with a number of sauces from KC Masterpiece to sauces from many local restaurants including Oklahoma Joe’s and Jack’s Stack.  Honestly, even though it is a great idea and I would like to get Draper’s Smokin Sauce on that table, I did not use it because I wanted to try Brobeck’s Original sauce.  It was tangy, and sweet with good flavor.  Good sauce overall.

Our meals came and my plate was overflowing.  Six meaty spare ribs with a serving of beans and a side dish of steak fries.  Outstanding.  I tried the ribs dry first and the waitress was right, they stood on their own with no sauce.  You could taste the smoke and the rub as very mild.  Not a lot of heat in the rub.  A good solid rib.  I tried it with the original sauce and the sauce  enhanced the flavor slightly but I preferred the dry rib.  What really made the dinner was the amount of meat and the flavor of the rib.  Out of the six ribs I could only eat three and took the rest home for lunch the next day. Overall it was an excellent experience for me and I would not hesitate to go back and try other things off of the menu.  The Ham Salad was fantastic and I would go there just for that item alone.  Maybe get a to go order for lunch during the week.  It is really addictive.

I know everyone has a favorite BBQ joint to go to but with all of the great ones out there you may be missing something special just down the road.  Something you drive by everyday and would never know it was there if someone would not have told you about it.  Look around, slow down and stop and smell the smoke once in a while.  Get out of your BBQ rut and try someplace new.  You may find a hidden gem or a diamond in the rough.

I would be neglecting my duty if I did not give you some info for Brobeck’s BBQ.  Their website address is http://www.brobecksbbq.com/.  Their address is 4615 Indian Creek Parkway Overland Park, KS 66207.  If you are in KC, check them out.

 

 

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Introducing Sean Bardwell of Tatoos N Que

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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

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 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 2nd 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 8th 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 9th 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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Vacation Grillin’

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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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Brisket with Butcher BBQ products

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Injecting meat to add flavor for BBQ is all the rage on the BBQ circuit.  Almost everyone (except Johnny Trigg) on BBQ Pitmasters was injecting some kind of meat .  I personally have used injections on turkeys and pork shoulders.  Some injections I have made myself and some I have purchased.  I had never, ever injected a brisket.  I wanted to try this out so I emailed the man that I knew could steer me in the right direction.  David Bouska from Butcher BBQ was the man to help me.  David is the owner of David’s Processing in Chandler, OK, Pitmaster of the Butcher BBQ cooking team and creator of Butcher BBQ rubs, injections, sauces and marinades.  I have seen Butcher BBQ at many of the contests I have competed in and he has always had good showings.  Infact he just won Grand Champion in Liberal, KS this past weekend.  When I emailed David and asked if I could have some products to review for Drapers, he was more than willing to oblige.  I asked David for all the ingredients necessary to cook a competition brisket.  What I received was a bag of Butcher BBQ Brisket injection, a bottle of Butcher BBQ Premium BBQ rub and a bottle of Butcher BBQ sweet BBQ sauce.  Here are my impressions of each.

Butcher BBQ Bricket Injection

I mixed the injection according to the directions on the package.  I whisked the mixture until I could see no lumps.  It did not take long at all. The powder went into solution well and did not clog my injector needle.  The aroma from the injection was not what I had imagined it would be.  I expected to smell spices and a strong beef aroma and that is not what I received.  It was not a bad smell just not what I expected.  I went ahead and injected my brisket in a grid pattern all over the meat and let it rest overnight.  The package of injection stated to let it sit a minimum of four hours.  My brisket sat for about seven hours.  Overall it was a very easy to use product and any BBQ’r should have no problem including this in a competition or home cook.  I will give you my overall flavor review at the end of the article.  This is my brisket after it was injected.

 

Butcher BBQ Premium BBQ Rub

 

I was very anxious to use this rub.  It had sat in my pantry for most of the summer while I was at Boy Scout camp and on vacation.  I did not want to use it until I had time to cook a brisket.  This rub has a great color and added a beautiful bark to the brisket that I cooked that day.  It is a salty and sweet rub.  Salty at the beginning and sweet at the end.  No heat at all.  It was well balanced and I could see it complimenting  the meat not covering it up.  I gave the brisket a good coating of rub (I used almost half the 12 oz bottle) after I had finished injecting the brisket.  Place foil over the top of the aluminum pan and placed it in the refrigerator overnight (about 7 hours).  When I pulled the brisket out in the morning, I  re-coated lightly with more rub and on to the the pellet grill it went.

Butcher BBQ Sweet BBQ Sauce

I usually do not sauce the briskets I cook.  I just prefer to have my sauce on the side when eating brisket.  I used Butcher’s sauce the same way, on the side.  Butcher’s is a dark, rich looking and semi-thick BBQ sauce.  I do believe that it could be used in competitions and at home. I tasted it straight out of the bottle first.  The first taste I detected was the vinegar in the sauce.  The sweet came through next and the finish tasted like raisins.  I know that sounds a little funny to some people but it did give me that impression.  It was sweet with no heat at all.  The vinegar gave it a little bite but was not overpowering the sauce.  The color and the thickness would give a nice competition presentation.

Overall Impressions

The injection worked wonders for my brisket. I cooked it for 7 and 1/2 hours on the GMG Daniel Boone  untill it reached 204 degrees.  I cooked at 225 degrees the entire cook and wrapped when the meat reached 140 degrees.  I used BBQr’s Delight Apple pellets during this cook. The meat was very tender and juicy.  It would have been considered mushy for a contest but that is the way my wife and kids like it.  It had big beef flavor.  I do not think it would have been that beefy and flavorful without the injection.  I loved the rub.  The brisket had a nice bark that tasted great and I think the rub would go equally good on pork or chicken.  Now on to the sauce.  While it is not something I would dip my french fries in, it did taste great on the brisket.  Remember, I dunked mine as I ate and did not coat the brisket in it.  I tasted the sweet of the sauce first then the beef flavor of the meat came through second. Butcher BBQ has a full line of rubs, marinades, sauces and injections for you to try out.  I can attest they make one fine brisket.  This is my finished product.

 

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Drapers Smokin Maple Glaze

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Holidays that fall on Wednesday are the worst.  No long weekend and having to go back to work the next day make it tough to fit in a BBQ.  I had relatives in town who always like me to BBQ for them, so we cooked a bacon explosion for breakfast on the 4th of July.  Now a lot has been made of bacon explosions at Draper’s recently.  Congratulations to Shane and Mike for being selected to participate in the Chile Pepper Magazine Perfect Rib Challenge in Houston, TX and for there ABT stuffed bacon explosion making it into Chile Pepper Magazine in the near future.

I love bacon explosions.  We usually have them with eggs on biscuits as part of a breakfast sandwich but most of my family did not want just BBQ sauce to top it off.  I had to come up with something different but somehing that still said breakfast.  I took a chance and mixed 2 tablespoons of Drapers Smokin Sauce with 2 tablespoons of maple (flavored) syrup (this is all I needed to glaze but you could make more for dipping if you want).  I used this to glaze my bacon explosion the last 5 minutes of cooking.  It took this bacon explosion to the next level.  The syrup really complimented the Draper’s Smokin Sauce.  The maple flavor of the syrup combined well with some of the unique ingredients and flavors that are in the BBQ sauce.  It was sweet. It was salty. It was savory.  It was everything you ever wanted for breakfast.

After breakfast, I thought about what else I could use this glaze on.  It would be great on a pork chop or pork loin.  I think my kids would like to dunk chicken nuggets in it.  I would put it on grilled pineapple and serve over ice cream for dessert.  I think it would be fantastic with Moink Balls.  Just use Draper’s Smokin sauce for the BBQ sauce and replace the grape jelly with the syrup.  The possibilities with this are endless.

I talked to Shane about what I had done and he confirmed that in competition many teams using Draper’s Smokin’ Sauce are cutting it with agave or honey in order to achieve a glazing affect.  The portions Shane mentioned were a 2 to 1 mix of sauce to agave and that he really likes to add some extra spice to it for a nice sweet heat.  Shane also let the cat out of the bag that the next sauce (currently in testing now at the production facility) will be this sweeter competition glaze.

I would love to get some feedback on this and see if anyone else likes the idea.  If  you make and use the glaze let me know what you used it on and if it was good.  I will tweet out the best ones and give you credit if you leave a twitter handle.  You can always tweet directly to me @qsyourdaddy.  I would love to hear from some Draper’s fans.  Get creative folks.  Talk to ya soon.

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Sauce Review: Cook N Shoupe Hillbilly Zen BBQ Sauce

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While taste testing the bottle of CDubs Original BBQ Rub, I also had the opportunity to test a sauce from a sauce company called Cook N Shoupe.  This sauce is manufactured in Denver, Colorado in small batches.  They call themselves the micro brew of BBQ.  Cook N Shoupe have a line of 4 BBQ sauces that cover a wide spectrum of tastes.  From mustard sauce, tropical sauce, sweet and tangy sauce to the fiery Angry Poltergeist sauce.  The good folks at Cook N Shoupe were kind enough to send me bottles of the sweet and tangy Hillbilly Zen and the Angry Poltergeist sauce I mentioned above.  Since they are so different, I want to give them separate reviews.  Angry Poltergeist will come a little later.  Right now lets concentrate on the Hillbilly Zen.

Cook N Shoupe describe there sauce as, “Our blend of hickory smoke, chipotle peppers and other zesty spices provides a fiery finish.  You will find a perfect balance of sweet and heat to liven any party.”   I hope they do not disappoint.

Appearence

First thing you notice is the type of bottle they use. It is a long-neck beer bottle.  It is even capped like a beer with a pop top.  It really looks very cool.  The only disadvantage I can think of is that you must reseal it with something else.  A wine cork, foil or some plastic wrap would work well for this purpose.  Cook N Shoupe are developing a special cork to be sold with the sauce at a future date. Next here is how the sauce looks.

Hillbilly Zen is a thinner sauce with a wonderful red color and great aroma.  You can smell the vinegar and liquid smoke slightly.  There are 2 types of vinegar used in this sauce, white wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar.

 Ingredients

Cook N Shoupe is an all natural sauce as shown by the label to the left. No corn syrup in this sauce.  It is sweetened by brown sugar, beet sugar and molasses.  The sauce is also gluten free for those with dietary restrictions on gluten.

In this day and age of taking short cuts and using corn syrup and preservatives, it is nice to see a sauce company do it the right way.

Taste

When I tasted the sauce straight out of the bottle, the first taste out of the bottle is the vinegar.  Not heavy on the vinegar but you sure know it is in there.  Secondly the sweet hits you along with a little bit of smoke flavor.  Very pleasant tasting, not syrupy and not overly smokey.  At the finish, you get that little bit of heat that rounds out all the flavors perfectly.  That was the out of the bottle taste, but who eats sauce right out of the bottle.  You have to put it on some meat to get the real taste of the sauce.  I was cooking boneless skinless chicken breasts that night to test a rub out so I used the Hillbilly Zen on that chicken as well.  I was impressed with how it bathed the chicken.  It covered really well and clung to the meat.  After coating both sides of the chicken, I let the sauce caramelize on the meat before i took it off.  This is just the way I always cook it.  I could also see taking it right off and having a wet look to the chicken.  I think it would be great that way as well.

I told this story in my review for CDubs Original BBQ Rub, but I need to share it here as well because this is the sauce I used that night.  My 7 yr old son is a very picky eater.  He prefers his chicken in nugget form as most 7 year olds do.  I had made him a plain chicken breast with just salt on it for him to eat.  Upon seeing my chicken, he asked for a bite…and loved it.  He then asked to replace his chicken with my chicken and I obliged.  I had cooked and extra breast that night to try the rub alone so this was no problem.  He ate all my chicken.  That never happens.  I ate the rubbed chicken breast and dipped it into the Hillbilly Zen sauce and it was outstanding.  I still tasted all the flavors I tasted sampling straight out of the bottle just mellower and the vinegar taste was more of a compliment then the first thing you taste.

Conclusion

Cook N Shoupe’s Hillbilly Zen BBQ Sauce is a fantastic sauce.  It has great taste with lots of balance.  It was named perfectly.  I highly recommend this and cant wait to try the Angry Poltergeist Sauce.  I might have to do that alone because my family might be to scared.  If you are in Colorado, Cook N Shoupe’s sauce can be found in stores or check them out on the web to purchase at cooknshoupe.com

If you have a sauce, rub or bbq product you would like reviewed here at Drapersbbq.com drop me a line at ernierupp@drapersbbq.com or sent me a tweet @qsyourdaddy.

 

 

 

 

 

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