The Big Harvest BBQ of 2011

Although it was a cloudy, kinda chilly November day, a ton of friends and family came out for the barbeque.  We were prepared for it though,  there were 3 propane heaters and 2 fires to gather together around and socialize.  Prayers were answered with some sunshine in the afternoon.

Timm, the boys, and my dad started prepping the whole hog about 1:00am.  This was our first one and it went faster and smoother than expected.  Chris was funny with the whole CSI investigation analysis bit during the process. 

The hog was injected with almost 2 gallons of a vinegar based blend of ingredients, a blend of spices was generously applied and then she was wrapped up in foil and placed in the pit for the next 8-10 hours to cook up to a delicious piece of heaven.

Chris helped get the firebox ready.

Scott stayed up to watch the pit (since he works a graveyard shift anyway).

Both pits were cruising right along all day with no issues.

This makes Timm one happy pitmaster.

 Scott and Chris were in charge of chicken...all 40 pounds of it.   

 

You gotta have ribs (18 racks of them) and brisket at the BBQ too.

Oh...I know you wanna know about the pig...

 It turned out to be a gorgeous color, well cooked, and oh so tasty piece of work that everyone couldn't get enough of.  Timm served it right off the pit and people were facinated by the whole process.

 The boys did an awesome job making sure the meat was cut, put into pans for serving and kept warm in the Cambro.  Tasty sides were also on the menu, including homemade baked beans, cole slaw, pasta salad, tuna salad, tater salad and more.

  Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy. 

We would like to especially thank Shawn from Advanced Pro for sponsoring the whole hog for the this event and once again to Shawn, and Eric with Mold Sniffers Evironmental for sponsoring and attending the Myron Mixon BBQ class in Georgia with Timm in September.  You guys are awesome!  Thanks also goes out to my family...all the help and support you all help with is amazing.  We love you.  Thanks to all of the folks that came out for the afternoon, amazing large amounts of BBQ, spent time together laughing and enjoying each other's company.  We hope all of you enjoyed the take home boxes and we'll see you all in the spring.

Happy Halloween

Wishing all of you a Happy Halloween1

Harvest-Thyme BBQ

Are you coming?  If so please let us know by November 1.  We'd love to have you join us.

Pictures from Mesquite

A few pics to share from Smokin' in Mesquite. 

Smokin' in Mesquite

Another year of Smokin' in Mesquite BBW Championship is in the books.  No storms that brought rain, hail, or strong winds, no excessive heat warning, just calm, really warm...ok, hot weather this year.  This was our first time to compete here, we could've last year but writing the check for the entry fee was just too hard.  Yes, you have to put out money to get money, but we had that whole transmission thing happening last year too. 
Friday, we checked in, got the toy hauler set up with water and power.  Dad hauled the pit out for us.  Seriously, I think it made his day.  After all that, we had lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants before Dad and Nelson went home.  We met up with other BBQ teams to catch up on the latest.  Congrats to Little Miss BBQ...they're pregnant!  The 'Jack' draw was announced and several teams we know will be making the trek, including R&R, Rythym & Que, Smoked to the Bone, Whiskey Ranch and more.  I think there were 12-13 teams competing here that are going to the Jack.  We had dinner with Little Miss and Rod from R&R Friday night...it was a hoot.
I have to say, this was a very relaxed cook for us.  The pit was maintaining temperatures really well, there was no wind to contend with, it was really warm but tolerable, the meats were cooking right along.  We were really pleased with all the entries we turned in.  The chicken and ribs were incredible...not to brag, but they were really good.  The ribs probably could have cooked 15 minutes longer to tenderize a tiny bit more.  Pork tasted good, but presentation is still difficult.  Brisket was delicious.  Nelson and Chris ran turn-in boxes for us.
After turn-ins, clean up seems to be quick.  I try to clean all the way thru instead of having a huge mess at the end.  Thanks to Mom, Dad, Nelson and Chris for helping out.  We really apreciate it. 
Timm had a few co-workers stop by to show support.  We always appreciate our friends coming out to see us.  In fact, Ray and Dan stayed for the awards.
We got a 5th place chicken call....WooHoo!!!  Totally excited about that one.  Ribs tanked at 40th...at least we had a few teams behind us on that one.  They were really good too!!!  Seriously...I think we got a bad table of judges.  Pork received 28th, and brisket got a 22nd spot.  Overall, we ranked 26th...dang ribs. Congrats to Smoke on Wheels for Grand Champion and Rythym & Que for Reserve Grand Champion.   Little Miss BBQ took first in ribs...way to go!!!!!  We're so excited for you.
Oh, we finished 7th in the Nevada State Championship.  It's an accumulation of the two events held in Nevada.  Congrats to All Sauced Up for taking that one. 

Tommy VS Jen

Here is an article about Tommy and Jennifer Duncan, their BBQ teams and Jen coming back to defend last year's win at Smokin' in Mesquite.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/19/prweb8727452.DTL

Mesquite Newspaper Write-Up

We are so pleased to have a feature on our little BBQ team in the Mesquite newspaper today.  They are featuring several teams I understand as a way to promote Smokin' in Mesquite over Labor Day weekend.  Today was our write-up.  Please check it out and we hope to see you in Mesquite to root us on to victory.  You can view the official website http://www.mesquitebbqchampionship.com/ for event details.  NOTE:  The big day for teams competing is Sunday...that's when we will all be cooking, turning in boxes and attending the awards ceremony.  We hope to see many of our family and friends out there. 

Que'ing Shindig at the House

Smoke on the River Review

What a fun week we had while at the River's Edge RV Resort in Heber, Utah.  The BBQ contest was held in the campground, this was a first for us.  I have to admit it worked out pretty well.  We were pleased with what we turned in to the judges.  Our best scores were 6th in chicken and 3rd in ribs.  The pork was not cooked hot enough to pull, but sliced nicely.  Congrats to R&R...they cleaned up at this one.  They finished 1st in 3 categories and ended up with the Grand Champion award. 

They held a concert Friday and Saturday nights at the stage area, we were beat and listened from our reclining chairs and dozed off.    After the contest we stayed around a few extra days to enjoy the area.  We drove through Park City...it's not a place that is very accomodating to a truck our size.  We did enjoy lunch in Deer Valley, there Cassy swam in their lake, played fetch and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome.   

All our leftover BBQ we offered up to the staff of the RV park.  We even cooked up the rib tips another night to have a potluck dinner with them.  They made us feel really welcome and we'll definitely return to stay there again. 

We explored the area and enjoyed the beauty.  There was still a lot of snow on the upper portions of the mountains, rivers were running fast and full.  Cassy had several chances to swim and play in a couple of snowdrifts even. 

Our next contest...

We are heading to northern Utah Friday for this event.  It's in Heber, Utah...we haven't been up there since Chris was 2 or 3 years old.  I'm sure many things have changed since then.  We're excited to be cooking in Utah and we hope to carry our momentum from the last two events with us. 

We'll even be spending a few extra days to enjoy the area for a short vacation.  Plenty of extra towels are on the list for Cassy since we'll be near water.  You know labs love water!

Please send postive thoughts and prayers our way for great contest results.  We'll keep you posted. 



Top Ten Finish for Trailhound Smokers

It was another great weekend for us.  First of all, it was close to home, just 30 miles to Boulder City.  Second, temperatures were delightful.  Chris and Scott were both able to come help and participate.  We had great neighbors on either side of us...thanks for feeding Timm on Friday by the way.  We enjoyed a great dinner at Sin City Smokers site with many of the other teams.  Friendships with other teams continue to grow.  Hey, we finally met Hoochie-Q...what a great guy, along with his family.

Our cook turned out really well.  We really thought we nailed the chicken, but apparently so did many other teams.  On a great note, we brought our ribs way up in the scores from last week. 

Friends and family came out to visit and support us...thanks Mom and Dad, Nelson, Bill, Eric and kids, Kim, Craig and Cindy, Ron and his wife as well. Thanks to Kim for running interferance for me on the way to turn ins. Winds really picked up Saturday afternoon, thankfully they waited until after turn-ins for the most part. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so there aren't many pictures.  I'll need to snag some from my dad. 

There are several new teams, along with seasoned veterans of the bbq circuit.  When it was time for awards it was cool to hear new names in the line up next to big names.    Congrats to the local teams to got to walk to the stage including Satisfied Hogs (we'll be seeing you in Williams!), BBQ Junkies, Tobias Pigs, The Smokin' B.A.R., Squat & Gobble, Pork Butt Pirates, Great Basin Cooking Company, Floyd's Q School, Smokin' in Mesquite, BBQ Nerds, and Sin City Smokers...it was pretty cool to hear our name as well, not to mention the cheering squad of Whiskey Ranch, Smoked to the Bone and Rythym & Que and the other side of the crowd.  Y'all really know how to make us feel special.  (blush).

Congrats to all the teams that competed.  We were pleased with our finishes...

Chicken    12th

Ribs            5th

Pork           9th

Brisket      17th

Overall      10th

Trailhound Smokers does well at USA BBQ Challenge

What a great weekend it was for us...a long weekend...but a great one for sure.  Some of the best teams in America were there competing for their share of $125,000.  I even got to meet Myron Mixon of Jack's Old South from Georgia.

Here is a rare shot with both of us in the picture, thanks Kim for taking a some photos for us.

We're wrapping ribs.

Timm prepping chicken.  Some award winning chicken but we didn't know it at the time.

Chris and Timm at the pit.

Timm had a great time at this event...one of his most relaxed ever.  We want to thank all the friends, family, and co-workers that came out to show their support for us.  In return, many of them feasted on chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. 

Crowds were big for awards.  Congrats to McFrankenboo BBQ for winning 1st place in chicken.  WOW...that is so awesome!!!  

We were very pleased with our product for turn-ins.  We were astounded and shocked when we heard our name called to get a check...we took 6th place in chicken and 9th in brisket!!! Holy Moly!!!  This event had cream of the crop teams from all over and little ol' Trailhound Smokers picked up two top ten awards.  Who da thunk it.  I wish I had video of Timm's face...priceless. 

Again, thanks for all the support.  We would especially lke to thank Shawn from Advance Pro for sponsoring our meat for the event.  He is one totally awesome guy!!! 

You can see more pictures of the event at the promoters link.  There are some great shots of team sites with their pits and more. 

Best Dam BBQ in Boulder

Are you looking for something to do on this weekend?  Come out to Boulder City Friday and Saturday for a great day of BBQ, cars, antiques and more.  That's right....the Best Dam BBQ Challenge is this weekend in Boulder City!   There's even a KidsQue contest Friday evening.  Some great BBQ vendors will be there as well serving up some of their finest 'que just for you. 
We'll be out there competing this weekend so be sure to look for Trailhound Smokers, come by and say 'hi' and show your support for one of the local teams. 
Here is a link to the Best Dam BBQ to get all the information...we hope to see you there!

USA BBQ Challenge this weekend

This is huge, folks!!!  The USA BBQ Challenge will be held this weekend at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.  There are a ton of activities to enjoy, food to eat, music to listen too and more.  There will be an ametuer contest on Saturday, and the professional contest on Sunday.  Teams from all over the US will be there...including us!  We'll be a tiny little fish in a big BBQ ocean but we're geared up to do our best!  We'd love to have you come by, show your support and cheer us on.  Click on the link below for all the information on activities and times.  We look forward to seeing you!


http://www.orleanscasino.com/event-calendar/$125000-las-vegas-barbecue-championship?smid=oa_at_21185_1_1

1st Annual YCCA BBQ Cook-Off

Precott Valley hosted it's 33rd Home and Garden Show May 13-15, along with the 1st Annual YCCA BBQ Cook-Off in conjuntion with it.  Tommy Duncan's Whiskey Ranch Pro BBQ Series hosted the event and they did a fabulous job.  We arrived Friday morning, meeting with Tommy to pick our location, and getting set up. 

KCBS inspectors came in to inspect meat, only then did we realize we forgot our chicken at home...fortunately there was a grocery store accross the street.  We got our meats prepped and back in the coolers and took time to relax and meet with BBQ friends and make some new ones. 

Scott and Christy came in mid afternoon to help with the event.  They jumped right in helping with what ever needed to be done, from prepping people's choice meat to making a run to pick up some things forgotten or needed.

People's Choice tasting samples started off a little slow but by 11:30 was in full swing.  Scott and Christy were in charge of this portion and did a great job.  We received rave reviews, with many folks saying they were to told to come to our booth for some of the best ribs and brisket at the event.  What a great feeling it is to hear such words from folks you don't even know.

Awards were held right on time and went quickly and smoothly.  We were very pleased with our results, receiving 6th in chicken, 11th in ribs (missed it by that much), 8th in pork, 9th in brisket with a 7th overall finish. 

It was a good time for all of us.  We got to see an old co-worker of Timm's, Jennifer and her family.  They live in Cottonwood now and love it.  We also spent time with Crystal's cousin and family, Karen and Dave.  We're thankful for the comfy bed Saturday night you guys. 

We look forward to this event again next year.  Here's a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.