Anatomy of a Fattie

Timm's itching to get out the and use his pit so he decided to smoke some tri-tip and make a fattie.  He used his best weaving skills from elementary school for bacon. 

Next, he made a huge pattie of Italian sausage and laid it over the bacon weave.

Then he stuffed it with yellow, orange, and red peppers, provolone cheese, and onions along with some seasoning.

He rolled it up in the flexible cutting board, added some zip ties to keep it rolled up, and now it's in the fridge for tomorrow's smoke. 

HavaBBQ 2011...Part One

We had a great weekend that started by taking off on Thursday afternoon.  We realized we wouldn't make early check-in but we would be there first thing Friday morning.  We met up of friends from R&R, McFrankenboo, and IAB30 at Barley's, wanted something to eat but the kitchen closed at 9pm.  Toto, we're not in Las Vegas anymore.  lol  We ended up at Denny's. 

Early check in got off to a slightly late start but we found our spot and set up quickly.  The event was held at a great location at a park right on the water.  Grass area was level and easy to get into.  There were ten teams from Nevada and 4 of them were on our row. 

Friday was really enjoyable and relaxed.  We visited with other teams, met new people, Timm enjoys talking with people about BBQ and the axe handles on the pit are great conversation starters. 

We even hooked up with one of Crystal's craft friends, Kathy and her hubby, David that moved to Havasu a few years ago.  We enjoyed the music of Chuck E Bumps for a while as well.  The boys drove in after work Friday night to help with this event.  We really enjoyed having them there and the extra hands were welcomed.  We did manage to get a couple of hours sleep before starting about 3am. 

Rock Springs AZ Competition

Trailhound Smokers decided to compete in the Rock Springs BBQ competition at the last minute...well 4 days. That's last minute for us around here, our events are normally more planned out than that. However, IMBBQA.com offered up half the entry fee to the first team to respond and we took advantage of it.

This time around Cassy, our mascot and my dad came with us. It was really nice to spend some quality time with Dad...and he enjoys BBQ and intrigued by the whole competition thing. After a couple of stops, we were the last team to arrive. We set up next to our friends with R&R BBQ, got meat inspected, hit the cook's meeting, and got our site set up. Timm was itching to get things going.

Plans called for the pits to fire up at 3am with meat going on shortly after for the long cooks of brisket and pork. Although the weather was pleasant, the night was chilly. We can't wait till it warms up a bit more for contests...it will make night shifts and make-shift sleeping much more comfortable. The newly insulated firebox on the pit worked really well as was much more efficient, using less wood than before.

This was the first sanctioned contest for the Barbeque Championship Series, although Mike and his crew are experts at hosting BBQ events. They did a fabulous job...as always. This contest also featured a Tailgate Contest to see who's booth had the best food, theme, and spirit. Congrats to McFrankenboo for winning 1st place in the Tailgate portion of the contest! Erin is a spunky, spirited and enthusiastic person...of course, Shamus helps too.

Our goal was to place mid-pack in the list of 27 teams. We were shocked and astounded when we received 3 calls...4th in chicken, 5th in pork, and 7th in ribs. We were even more excited and shocked when we place 3rd overall! WOW! Who da thunk it?! Holy cow, that's a big trophy. There was even prize money to boot. Big thanks to R&R BBQ for their guidance and friendship. With their help, they really need to take credit for the pork entry.  P.S....We love our East Texas Smoker.

Thanks goes out to my Dad for selling taster's choice. He really seemed to enjoy chatting with folks and several people came back for 2nd and 3rds. Fortunately, we recovered out meat costs with this which was a goal of ours.

There are folks we'd like to thank and give credit. Mike and the AZBBQ team for another great event. Rock Springs Cafe for hosting the event. Intermountain BBQ Association (IMBBQA) for offering up 50% of entry fees. R&R BBQ (Rod and Roger) for their friendship, mentoring, and guidance. My dad for coming with us, selling taster's choice, and for being an all around great guy. My cousin, Karen and her family in Chino Valley for letting us crash at their place on Saturday night.

Tom's Farms Wild West BBQ Showdown

We kicked off our year with smoke...BBQ smoke!  We traveled across the border into California to attend the Wild West BBQ Showdown in WIldomar, CA.  Now for any of you that know Timm, know that California is not his favorite place by any means.  It was a back to back contest...the last one of 2010, and the first one of 2011.  Most teams competed in both events, a handful...like us, competed in just one.  Teams came from as far as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois to compete.  Many big name teams were there including the Godfather of BBQ, Johnny Triggs (He's such a neat guy), All Sauced Up, Rhythm & Que, and Slap Yo' Daddy. 

We drove down and set up on Friday for the first event of 2011.  It was a much easier drive than expected...but we did re-route our trip and stay off of I-15 for the holiday weekend.  It was our first competition by ourselves, our boys nor my parents were there to help and give moral support.  We were on our own.  I have to admit its easier with a 3rd person.  We enjoyed pleasant days but oh so chilly night temperatures, 26 was the low temp I believe. 

Timm did an excellent job with our new pit,  and many folks stop to look at and talk to Timm about the axe handles, etc.   It was a busy place both days.  We were placed next to Pork U from St. Goerge and it was nice to get to know them better.  The folks from Rib Ticklers had the place to be to party.  They had laser lights, music, dancing and more.  We tried to sleep a bit New Year's Eve but there really wasn't much of that happening.  The seats of the truck are not nearly as comfortable to sleep in as they are to sit in. 

We encountered a few difficulties.  Our cook schedule was off by 1/2 hour.  We started our cook a 1/2 hour early due to cold weather.  Meats cooked faster than expected so they were done quicker.  All of these things made for our stuff being done way ahead of time.  The turn-in in boxes were larger than normal and I think we cut our brisket just a bit to narrow. 

We want to thanks the guys from R&R BBQ, Roger ended up visiting the event so we got to see him Friday before we began our cook.  Rod gave us lots of input and advice via cellphone.  They have been really good to us and we bought out new pit from Rod.  

Here is Timm and the guys from Pork U...representing IMBBQA.  We ended up finishing 36th overall with our best showing in pork of 27th.  Not bad for our 2nd KCBS contest. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Las Vegas!  Fireworks will explode over the Las Vegas Strip to the amazement of tens of thousands of people.  We will be celebrating in a different manner...at a BBQ competition in Wildomar, CA.  I think it's a great way to kick off 2011, don't you.

How ever you are celebrating the new year, enjoy and be safe. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all you BBQ lovin', meat eating, smoker obsessed, competition loving people out there.  We hope you get every BBQ gadget you wished for. 

Best wishes for a great competition season.

Fall BBQ at Home

Requests were made and we held a Fall BBQ before the holiday hustle got too crazy for everyone.   It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for a gathering of friends and family.

This time around about 40-45 people showed up for the feast.  Many who missed the last one.

We were super pleased to see all of Timm's brothers and sister, as spouses show up.  We just had to get a picture of all of us. 

Thanks to all who came.  No one went home hungry.  The new smoker worked beautifully.  Barely any food left after some take out boxes...just the way it should be.

Next event...spring.