2012 Des Plaines Winter Burnoff is in the books.

Well, our first effort of the year came with mixed results, but a lot of fun!

Between the last post and this one, I made up about 17 pounds of various sausage. We made Texas Hot links, mild Italian, and a bacon-cheddar-cheeseburger variety that wasn't bad either!
This would be the Hot Links

So, I spent Saturday packing up the truck with all our stuff, prepping meats, and making chili.(?)

Last week midweek, the organizers put out the word that they needed more entries for their chili contest, an alternate contest in addition to the 4 meats included in the BBQ comp. I figured I'd have a few pounds of rib trimmings to use up, so opted to make up a pork chili verde, with about 35 fire roasted tomatillos, 6 Anaheims, 3 poblanos, and 5 or 6 jalapenos, all fire charred and peeled.

There was no real recipe, just added those together with some sauteed onions, and garlic, seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, corriander, a beer, and a few other things.

At 04:10 Sunday morning the 12th, I finished the last of the packing, including the crock pot with the chili. We stopped for a little breakfast at the Dunkin' by our house, and headed up to the bowling alley. We arrived at about 6:40AM, and the temp was about 14. We'd had someone ask if they could assist/observe through this comp, and he was there right on time to help set up the canopy, and the canvas tarp walls, so we could get things nice and warm asap. To be honest, once the sun came out it wasn't nearly so cold, and it wasn't raining cats and dogs like last year!

The Rand-River Bowl in Des Plaines is generous enough every year to donate a days use of thier facility for this annual event, the Des Plaines Winter Burnoff. Besides being a huge load of fun, it is done to raise funds for a charity near and dear to the organizers, Keith and Rebecca Engstrom's hearts. It is all done to benefit NOAH, the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation.

Besides the bbq contest, there is, as I'd mentioned, an optional chili category, a number of lanes set aside for bowling for the charity, silent auctions, raffles, it's just a darn fun day! And I think this may have been the best attended in the seven years it's been done! (I believe we've been directly or indirectly involved with 5 of those)

So since bbq isn't really a safe, indoor activity, the bbq comp portion goes on in the parking lot, well, except for the judging.

Turn in times at this event were nowhere close to a regular KCBS. First was sausage, at 13:30. We turned in a bit of all 3 that I'd made, Italian on the left, bacon cheeseburger in the middle, and Hot Link on the right.There's a bit of sloppiness on the right, and I probably could have gotten a bit more in the box, but the sausage itself was delicious. At least we all thought so!

So at 14:00 - time for chicken turn in. We turned in some huge wings, glazed with a homemade cranberry habanero honey glaze (we used that glaze later for our pork entry as well)

If we'd gotten two more in there, it might have made up for the sauce on the greens in the rear middle. Diane gave one of the extras to someone organizing the auction packages, and having tasted it she spent seventy dollars on a basket full of our products! So I guess it was pretty good!

Next was ribs, at 14:30. I was pretty happy with these. We'd used a mop that was essentially leftover spicy pickle juice from our candied hot jalapeno slices, and then sauced with a sweet, slightly spicy glaze

And finally, pork loin/tenderloin. I went simple, with 4 tenderloins slow and low for about 30 minutes, to get a little smoke on them, and then finished on a hot grill to get some brown on the outside. Probably should have added 2-4 more slices now that I look at it. Or done 3 rows lengthwise instead of two widthwise? Oh well, too late now!

Now none of these have been my favorite boxes, but given that they were mostly put together in sub-freezing temps, which has a tendency to make lettuce and parsley go limp and brown, I'm not altogether unhappy with them either!

So with everything done now but the crying, we, with the help of our hugely helpful volunteers, tore down, and packed everything back in/onto the truck, and made ready for the awards presentations...

Which follow here...Des Plaines 7th Annual Winter Burnoff Pt 1 of 2 , here Des Plaines 7th Annual Winter Burnoff Pt 2 of 2, and finally, for the chili, Actually, that part of the video seems to be missing, if I locate I'll post here in an update. 

So our first competition comes with mixed results. Chicken and sausage weren't what we'd hoped, but we were 11 of 22 overall, 6th in pork, 3rd in ribs, 1st in chili, and came away with 2 trophies, and enough in winnings to cover our meat. We also donated a basket of home made goodies that fetched 70 bucks for the charity, and sold a little extra that helped cover our meat costs! And there were no leftover wings from the 34 I made, so while the judges might not have liked them, the crowd sure did!

We had a great time, saw some old freinds, and met some new ones! And now I'm looking forward to the Westmont event Memorial Day weekend!

Now all we need is a functional trailer, and the search starts tomorrow! We're heading out to Rosemont, IL for the 2012 RV & Camping show at the Rosemont Convention Center http://www.chicagorvshow.com/

We're hoping to find something in the 18-24 foot range that we can mount a hitch receiver to for a hitch mounted shelf/cabinet to hold our cookers. 

Let's try this again?

Well, after last years' never ending equipment malfunctions, it's almost time to try again. The pop-up camper will not be an issue this year. It's our intent to get a "real" trailer of some kind before May. In fact, not this coming weekend, but the following one, we'll be scoping out some at the Rosemont, IL RV show.

We don't want, or need a lot, just the basic necessities, fridge, decent bed, heater, AC, well, ok, maybe a few bells and whistles, we are after all, not spring chickens, and like our creature comforts!

Right now, we're preparing for the Des Plaines, IL Winter Burnoff on Sunday the 12th, at Rand/River Bowl (in the parking lot) It's an annual fund raiser held to benefit NOAH (www.albinism.org ), and always a great time! Given the weather conditions in February, rather than the usual 4 categories of chicken, ribs, pork butt, and brisket, the entries here are for chicken, ribs, pork tenderloin, and sausage.It now looks like there are 22 teams scheduled to participate, so it should be fun! I'll post photos, and hopefully some video when I have time available to do it.

Speaking of sausage, I'll be making ours this year, instead of buying it. I made some fresh polish sausage just before Christmas that turned out well, so this time will be trying a few more varieties, including one or two cured ones as well.

We did a few other canning projects over the winter. Made some pickeled jalapenos

And the store near us had cranberries on sale for 50 cents a bag after the holidays, so we made cranberry habanero jelly......

We also made a cranberry ketchup, and a grainy cranberry mustard that is absoulutely great on a turkey sandwich! ( sorry, no photos)

For now, I have the next 3 days (took some days off to use up my leftover vacation from last year)  including today, to prep, pack, and get ourselves together for our first comp of the season.

As always, thanks for looking, updates will follow soon!

Season is over, we missed Lambs Farm

Ugh!
Well we sort of went out with a whimper this year!

Everything was packed Friday morning. We had the truck and camper loaded up, lined up the neighbors to watch the "stay-home dog", all we needed to do was run to Jewel-Osco for a bag of ice and some beer. But on the way to the store...disaster!

About 6 or 7 blocks from the house, I rounded a corner, and stalled. Lost power, lost steering, everything. Got out and checked the alternator, belts, everything looked ok. Tried turning it over again, engine cranked, but closes it got to starting was catching and dying. Had to drop the trailer, call a tow truck for the truck, and get the next-door neighbor to come pick up the trailer and reeturn it to the driveway. (Thanks Joe!)

All in all, it's been a very tough season. Power loss (meaning also heat loss) at Westmont, not to mention the "radpidly swirling storm system" that delayed turn-in almost 3 hours, and left behind a field of mud, roof collapse at Willowbrook the very next week, and our first ever missed turn in at Kingsford! Needless to say, we were very dissappointed all weekend. Even though the weather was pretty awful Friday night, windy and cold, we'd rather have been at the comp and cold than home and warm, as odd as that might sound.

So for 2011, our season is done, except for a judges training class in November that we'll be helping out at. We hope to upgrade trailers between now and then, assuming we can sell our timeshare. If not, guess we'll have to live with this one a while longer. Either way, we'll see what happens come spring.
Other than that...time to tweak recipes and methods, try new things, and try to get through another Chicago winter!

Our next scheduled event will be in February, the annual Des Plaines "Winter Burnoff" at Rand/River Bowl. It's usually a great time, and benefits NOAH. (National Organization For Albinism and Hypopigmentation).

We're also scheduled to cater a wedding near Traverse City MI in July, for the son of my high school freinds and his wife-to-be. We are looking forward to working with them and making it the event they're hoping for.

Till next time

keep queuing!

A strange season winds down...and some fun stuff!

Well this has been an odd summer...
Our first contest, we lose power in the trailer, the next, the roof falls in....literally! The third, we miss our first turn in ever, and go off the rails so to speak. And in the end, with one more to go, we're back to 4 comps a season instead of 6, and feeling a lot like we're back in the tent!

But all is not lost. I've secured a new power center for the camper, and will be putting it in before our final comp in Libertyville. Also resecured the wardrobe/pantry in the camper with a new slide bracket, and with any luck might even get the roof cable fixed prior to the 10/14 comp!

We've been sort of non BBQ-centric of late, and celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last weekend by heading to Millennium Park in the city for the 4th annual Bon Appetit Chicago Gourmet event. We got the early bird discount on the tics back in the spring.  It was a great event this year, and all of the problems that plagued last years were taken care of. I was glad we went Saturday instead of Sunday, as the weather was far more comfortable and dry Saturday. As in past years, we got to chat with a lot of great chefs, see some great demos, (check this, as Stephanie Izards' butcher demos how they prep pig heads for The Girl and The Goats' pigs face dish...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yGib50K-sA    (WARNING!!! not for the squeamish) ate a lot of amazing food, and drank our fill of some fine potables!

Here are some other views of the event. I think our favorites were Chef Trevor Hoyte, of IPO Chicago's pork belly with crispy chicharone dish, and Chef Beverly Kim Clarks'  seafood panna cotta topped with mango gelee, mango relish and tiny chilled mussels. I had three they were so good! And she was awesome! Spent a lot of time with us explaining the dish. Diane went and grabbed her a plate of IPO's pork belly and she was most appreciative. We'll be rooting for her in Top Chef season 9! (starting Wednesday!) Best thing about both of these was you didn't have to wait in the tasting pavillion lines, though those were far faster and smoother than last years event, and the plates included in the swag bags, which featured a slot to hold your glass, were nothing short of genius!


Unfortunately, I didn't get as many good food shots as in years past, but I'm including a few of the event just to help give a feel for the environment.

In the first presentation of the day, Steve Dolinski of Chicago 7 news introduced Chef Rick Bayless, Beard award winner of Topolabampo and Frontera Grill in Chicago, who responded by snapping a photo of Dolinski, since everyone else was snapping photos of Bayless

Next came the dynamic duo of Jimmy Bannos Jr., of The Purple Pig Restauant, and Stephanie Izard, Top Chef Season 4 winner, and owner of The Girl and the Goat Restaurant, Chicago, doing "Beast Feast" Bannos made essentially a pork neckbone confit, while Izard made a take on head cheese with a whole pigs face (see video link above) herbs, and seasonings, and served with a fried egg on top as a VERY high end breakfast type plate! (you can view it here... http://www.stephanieizard.com/home/view/pig_head_and_veal_belly_rib_roasts_and_peter_piper_bread

I've included a few additional views below to just share the whole feel of the event. I would heartily recommend that anyone who loves great food and drink put this on their calendar for future years!
sign up at their web site to get on their email list here . It's likely your best opportunity to sample some of Chicago's best chefs' and restaurants' fare, without totally breaking the bank.

Yes, at 150.00 per ticket, it's pricey, but they offered an early bird discount that discounted that to barely over half price, AND unlike the Taste of Chicago event in the summer, you get high end food, unlimited quantity, and all the beer, wine and liquor you desire for 1 ultimately reasonable price. Along with great demos, hands-on seminars, and if you go "whole hog" and pay the extra for the Grand Cru feature, even more benefits!
  http://www.illinoisrestaurants.org/associations/2039/chicagogourmet/

Jimmy Banos Jr and Stephanie Izard with WXRT's Lin Brehmer at the "Beast Feast"

The Main stage

Chef Beverly of Aria coordinates their seafood pannacotta presentation

And finally, the sun sets on a great day!

So as the 2011 season winds down, we're prepping for our last event of the year, at Lamb's Farm in Libertyville, on 10/14. Hope to see many freinds there, as of today, looks like 55 teams are signed! Looks to be maybe the largest one yet!

We are team #2 in the Chile Pepper Magazine "Quest for the Perfect Ribs"!

How cool is this!?! REALLY!

So when the mail came today, we got something we've been waiting on for for almost 3 months! Why, you might ask? Well, because 2 Skinny Cooks is Chile Pepper Magazines 2nd entry in their "Quest For The Perfect Ribs"! Chile Pepper, for those unfamiliar, is a bi-monthly national publication dealing primarily all things hot and spicy.

This all came about in an odd sort of way. Back in late May, we were thumbing the June/July issue, and noticed a recipe that said it applied, ingredients, and cooking time, to back ribs, spare ribs, and country ribs. I balked a bit at that statement, and emailed the editor, explaining that since they were very dissimilar cuts, they all cooked in different times, and not long after, he contacted me and asked if we wanted to be team #2 in their challenge! At first, I balked, thinking "We're Not Worthy!" There are a long list of teams out there who've certainly won more than we have, especially when it comes to ribs (we did reletively well our second season, but have struggled lately). But when I ran it by the wife, she said "are you kidding?" national exposure? Of COURSE we want to do it!

So what happened next was possibly the most hectic 2 1/2 weeks I've had in a long time!

This all transpired right before the Memorial Day weekend comp in Westmont, IL. (One that I shall forever remember as Woodstock III)

The next weekend, we had Willowbrook, IL, and a 25th anniversary party to cater, and a few weeks down the road was Iron Mountain. The transformer in our pop up failed in Westmont, leaving us scrambling for power distribution, then at Willowbrook, we snapped a support cable for the roof, leaving us with one corner that wouldn't raise (we jerry-rigged it with a length of PVC for Willowbrook and Iron Mountain) Thanks to our good buddies Nick and Beth of Moose's BBQ for the assist!  And also, had to do my normal, "real job". In between, we had to cook at least 2 slabs of at least 2 types of pork ribs, and send them, the recipes, and recipes for at least 3 sides by 6/08! No pressure! Oh, and they wanted me to hire a professional photographer, to ensure the pics were publication ready. Oh yeah, forgot, they needed pics for the magazine Well, I was able to impress them enough with my shots that they didn't require a pro, but it was still a lot to get done!

When all was said and done, we finished everything, did two phone interviews with the editor/publisher, and sent off two slabs each baby backs and spares which they said they loved! In fact, one of the quotes they featured was " Only four years on the circuit? I don't believe that for a second!"

Seeing the actual magazine was sort of the final "pinch me I'm dreaming" moment! We have been keeping this mostly to ourselves for going on three months, because we didn't want to look like dopes if for some reason it didn't happen!

So, pick up a copy at your local newsstand! We're on pages 56-61!
Here are some of the pics...

Update: 9/02 - The online version is posted on Chile Pepper's site. In that version our piece starts on page 59   http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/cd3fc76e#/cd3fc76e/59

Midway through the season, and we get a spanking

Seems like Murphy's law caught up to us in Kingsford, MI.

We drove safely to Escanaba on Tuesday the 12, and got some quality visiting time with my high school freinds, Mary and Gary Rogers. Mid-day Thursday, we hauled the pop-up to Kingsford, and set up camp. I still hadn't had a chance to repair either the power issues, nor the cable that popped at our last outing in Willowbrook, IL, but we were able to get things set up with what has become our usual setup for this year. We were in the same spot as last year, close to the judges temt, adjacent to the security guys Winnebago, and away a bit from the rest of the teams.

Friday morning came, and we finished setting up our site, had meats inspected, and began doing all our trimming and prep. In short, everything was going well, and as expected. No real problems or surprises.

Went to the cooks meeting at 3, about 4 we put on some chow, and I got the butts into the cooker about 7 or 8, after which we began the shot fairy rounds. That lasted until about 2-2:30 AM, and after checking the temp and stoking the cooker, it was off to bed for 3 or 4 good hours of sleep.

Saturday dawned, and we could tell it was going to be a scorcher fairly early.  I checked the butts, not yet at the temp I'd have liked, but not too bad. Everything still seemed ok. Took Ember for a walk, went and got a few pasties (pronounced pass-tee for those of you who haven't enjoyed one) provided by The Pasty Oven http://www.pastys.com/ , and a cup of coffee.

Before I get to turn-ins and awards, I need to give a shout out to Tony and Anita, organizers of Poor-Que earlier this summer in Wisconsin, and co-facilitators of this event. Great folks who I'd be happy to see anywhere we go! They did a great job attending to everyone's needs, and making sure things went smoothly as possible. Also, a shout out to whomever booked Friday and Saturdays entertainment. Great bands!

OK, back to reality!

The reps came by around 11 AM in a golf cart with the official clock. (an atomic clock). I'd set our own to be a minute faster than the events, to avoid being late, and it was still running a minute fast when we checked against the official clock. Cool

Our freinds Mary and Gary from Escanaba, along with thier son, his fiancee, Gary's brother and sister and thier spouses all arrived just before chicken turn in. By that time the temp was way into the 80's, and the only shelter we had for our visitors was either in the pop up or under the EZ-up we were using to do our boxes.  I spoke with the security folks, and they graciously offered the shade and cooling of thier Winnebago! Thanks guys!!!

We were trying something with chicken that we'd only done once before. I won't go into the prep, as I'd prefer to keep it a secret for now, but we sent Diane to the judges tent with the box, thinking we had a minute or two to spare....
WRONG! - and for the first time in 4 years, we missed a turn in, guaranteeing us a DAL position in chicken.

Diane was devastated, and shaking the resulting funk proved all but impossible.

I thought our ribs looked and tasted great, and figured we might even get a call on them, but to my dismay, I found later that we scored dead last! I honestly didn't get it. They looked great. Texture was good as well, biting into the rib, meat came away easily in the shape of the bite, bone dried almost instantly, and the ribs were niether tough and chewy, nor mushy and fall-off-the-bone. All I can think of was they may have lacked some seasoning. And we didn't use a typical, cloying, rib-candy type sauce. Hmmmm, might have to rethink that next time!

Pork was a tad undercooked, got stuck in the "stall" longer than I'd anticipated. So pulling the entire butt was not quite possible. We were able to get a really nice sliced "money muscle" and some good meat from right by the bone however, and the box looked like it had promise. I didn't think it was going to be the 1st place we had last year, as the lettuce was struggling in the heat, but in the end, we came away with 17th.

Finally, our brisket came closest to a call at 11th.  Wow, disappointing day, to say the least!

But all wasn't lost.

First, after the ancillary and before the main awards, this event has a special award for 1 team, usually local, for best demonstrating the spirit of BBQ competition, and the fellowship and fun that go with it.
This years winner? 2 Skinny Cooks!!! Thanks to all the organizers and staff, who apparently voted on us unanimously. We are humbled, honored, and very appreciative! Second, we were also honored that our freinds son and his fiancee requested that we cook for thier wedding next August, to be held at a beautiful resort just outside Traverse City, MI, on the banks of the beautiful lake Leelenau!

All things considered, there is no doubt in my mind, we'll be back! This may be one of my favorite events all year, win or lose. Beautiful country, an event staff that all rock, and a great venue in Michigans' beautiful UP.

Big congrats to our neighbors, Foul Butt BBQ, who took Grand Champion! Bavarian Smoke for Reserve Grand, and to all those who took a walk!

We are now in a mid-season lull. Time hopefully to patch up the old trailer, if this god-awful heat wave ever breaks,  to make it easier to sell and make room for a new one, as well as to provide better heat, and easier setup for the 2-3 remaining events this summer.

And also time to enjoy something really cool coming up....more on that later!

2 Comps in 2 weeks, plus a little catering!

Well the week after Westmont flew by, and before we knew it, it was time for Willowbrook, IL. Another Saturday/Sunday event.. Hadn't really had a chance to look over the trailer since the weekend before, so we knew we'd be going in with no proper power, but figured it'd be ok.  What made it a bit more interesting was the fact that we had some freinds who asked us to provide some eats for thier anniversary party, which was also Saturday. 75-80 people, Pulled pork, brisket, beans, cole slaw, cucumber salad, tomato/mozzerella salad, and triple chocolate cherry brownies for dessert!

Plan was we'd drop the food off at about 2 PM, come home, hitch up the trailer and go. But nature loves to screw up a good plan! Shortly after I left to drop off the food, the sky opened up and the lightning that accompanied the rain was impressive, to say the least! I was on the phone with Diane most of the drive to the drop walking through closing the trailer as much as possible to avoid any flooding. She did a great job, and I came home to find the pop up raised, but she had dropped the pull outs and pulled in the canvas so we weren't in bad shape. But getting things ready took longer than we'd planned, and we ended up rolling in to the comp site about 6:30 in the evening.

Di went to the cooks meeting with our freind from Mooses BBQ Beth, while Beth's husband Nick and a group of other helpful folks helped me get our trailer into position and unhitched. A bit of help was needed as the ground was quite spongy from all the recent rain. So next was time to set about opening the trailer, and setting up our site...time for fate to strike again!

As I was cranking up the tent, I heard, and felt, a loud pop. Wasn't sure what it was at first, until I noticed that the back drivers side corner of the tent was not going up. Well...guess this happens with 20 year old campers! One of the support cables that connects to the winch that raises the unit had snapped. Fortunately, Nick and Beth once again came to our rescue with a length of PVC pipe the right size to hold up the roof. We duct taped it into place and viola! Temporary solution!

So now it's like 8:30, and I wanted to have my pork butts on at like 6...so I'm panicking a bit...but I was able to quickly set up the pork cooker and get it going, then set about organizing the rest of the site. By about 10:30 or so, we'd finished setup, and it was time for the "shot-fairy"rounds. We met a lot of the usual folks, and quite a few new ones this time. There were quite a few first time teams, which would sadly result in some DQ's for things like no meat inspection, pre-seasoned meats, etc...but I'm sure those who made those mistakes won't make them twice! Anyway, back to the rounds...normally, we share a small shot of an apple pie flavored beverage we make, the past two comps we've changed it up a bit, so it's about 50% the apple pie, and 50% bacon infused vodka...I'll tell you what...it's some tasty stuff! Anyway, I digress...

Of the 32 teams at the comp, I'd venture to say we talked with over 20, and by about 2 AM, we were ready to take a 4 hour or so nap before crunch time.

Sunday, I woke up somewhat alarmed that my watch said 7AM!. Yikes...forgot to set the alarm! Ah well, nothing too serious, just put me a little behind on getting brisket and ribs in. Pork butts were still cruising along nicely. Brisket had been injected the night before, so I put a little refresher coat of rub on, and into the cooker it went. Ribs right after that. Tossed the chicken in the brine, and started the timer...so now there was a bit of time to get a cup of coffee and a donut, kindly provided by the venue. Also enjoyed a wonderful bloody mary from our neighboring team "You Bacon Me Crazy" - Delicious! I assembled our turn in boxes, and except for one breif little rainshower, the weather proved to be much improved from the previous week in Westmont! So now it was about 9AM, and I had a few minutes before the (usually 9:22) 9:11 shot, provided this time by the fine folks of 4 Smokin' Butts, from Milstadt, IL...almost in MO. Very nice folks, who'd just taken Reserve Grand Champion at the Sams Club, Evergreen Pk. IL event the day before! Talk about a busy weekend!

So now it's getting towards crunch time. Double check all 5 boxes (4 categories + sausage) all good. Chicken out of brine, rinsed, and resting/drying. Pork and ribs seem to be going ok, brisket coming along nicely, ready for foiling. All things considered, including all the trailer issues, we're doing ok it seems. At about 10:30, the chicken went in, so now all 4 meats are looking good. By 11, when I checked the pork, it was just a little more done than I'd hoped, but quickly took it out of the cooker, let it cool/rest about 10-15 minutes, wrapped in foil,  and popped it into the Carlisle cooler till turn in time.  Time gets fuzzy between 9:30 and noon, when chicken is turned in, so I may be off a bit in the retelling.

Sausage was an alternate entry, and I got ours into the cooker too late to make the 11:30 turn in. Ah well, it was great in pasta sauce last week!

 Chicken was ready in time, looked good, but in retrospect the box could have looked better. Perfect bite through skin, done perfectly, but lacking just a bit in flavor. Dang...ah well...move on to ribs...

I'd done something a bit different, as we did fairly well 2 years ago with ribs, but since haven't seemed to be hitting. Well...this was another bad result...and I guess I'll have to do more practice cooks to get it down.
Texture was perfect, they looked nice, but there was a hammyness about them that I didn't care for, and as it turned out, neither did the judges!

After a short rest, it was time for pork. Well, this time it wasn't a total loss. I was correct in thinking it had gone just a tad longer than it should have...the money muscles were past being able to slice. But the overall flavor wasn't too bad, and we turned in a not so bad box.

Finally, we're down to brisket. This bad boy, which had started at 20 pounds, was about as spot on perfect as I could have hoped for! Beautiful bark, gorgeous smoke ring, even if judges aren't supposed to take that into account, and passed the "pull test" with flying colors. Only issue was some of the point wasn't rendered quite enough, so had to be a bit picky about picking burnt ends for the box.

So, big sigh....all the cooking was done. Time now to start cleaning up and getting ready for awards. We take a lot of flack from some folks about being over-prepared, taking too long to pack, etc. But we're there to have fun, and rushing around like a not is not fun in my book. What a lot of our fellow cookers also fail to realize is we are, on average, a bit longer in the tooth than most of them, and we like our creature comforts. So it was no surprise that, when it came time for awards, we weren't done packing up. But we'd made a good bit of progress!

In the end, we placed 21 of 32 overall. The chicken was, while not DAL, 24 of 30 (2 teams dq's)
Ribs, 23 of 32
Pork, 14th of 31 (another Dq or no turn in)
And Brisket....THIRD!!! So no going home empty handed from this one!!!

Given the lack of proper power, struggle with the pop-up tent, etc. We were pretty happy!

Congrats to all who walked! And we're looking forward to the next event, heading back up to the north woods to Iron Mountain MI in July! Hopefully, I can get a few of the issues with the trailer fixed before then!
Hopefully, our next post will include some photos!!!

One final note...it took a while to get this post up. A few days ago, I learned that one of our fellow competitors, Joe McManus, of Joey Mac's Smoke Stack, was taken ill with meningitis. The good news is that he was discharged Monday from the hospital, after over a week. Joe, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, and we look forward to seeing you back on the bbq trail.