A long over due post update

Holy cow!  I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything on this blog.  It's not like we've been up to nothing...we've been busy.

In August, we participated in a Kid's Que burger contest at St. Jude's Ranch for Kids in Boulder City.  The kids were so excited to team up with our BBQ teams to cook the best burgers they could.  They all had a great time.  Thankfully, we had an overcast, cool day for August which we were all grateful for.  

There have been several practice cooks. 

We both took a BBQ class from Jennifer Duncan (Smoked to the Bone).

We know Tommy and Jen and it was a pleasure to take the class and spend time with them.  Timm got to be her assistant for much of the class.  

Timm organized and ran the Thrill of the Grill contest in November.  It was held at Bass Pro Shops once again.  They have been really good to us, giving us prime space, ads on the marquee and more. 

The team's entries were creative and tasty.  

Timm inputs all the scores.

In December, NVBBQA hosted the Downtown Throw Down on Fremont Street.  It was a fabulous success with teams representing 6 states.  Steve did most of the organizing for this event.  On the grounds of the event Doug, Timm, and Paul, along with Steve pulled it off.  It was a ton of work, we learned a bunch and look forward to doing it again.

In October, I had both my knees replaced.  It's been a long time coming...a 15 year process for me.  This kept me down so there were no contests for us the last part of the year.  

We did however cater several events including a 50th anniversary, a HOA community barbecue, a topping off party for Martin Harris...we fed almost 400 construction workers and staff for that one.  

Holbrook Recap

We've been back from Holbrook a while now and realized I've not updated my blog.  For shame.  ;)

For those that aren't aware of where Holbrook is...it sits on I-40 on the eastern side of Arizona in the midst of the Navajo Nation, lots of red dirt, petrified trees and all sorts of vintage/funky interstate highway memorabilia kind of things.  

Interstate 40 is heavily traveled and a major road of choice for semi trucks traversing this great land of ours.  With that being said...the road can be pretty rough in many places.  I'm pleased to tell you it is finally being replaced in long sections and is getting much better   

We arrived in Holbrook before lunch, set up our site, and settled in for another contest.  Last year, this was what I considered a local contest with many of the teams we often compete against.  But this year there were many well known and highly successful teams from around the country.    Johnny Triggs was our neighbor on one side and Left Coast Q on the other.  Big Poppa Smokers and several of his Elite Teams were there including Iowa's Smokey D's and others.  Smoking Hills, Little Miss BBQ,  The Cowboy Way, Karnivorous, Loot & Booty, Ranch 13, Lucky 13, Sin City Smokers and more lined the streets around the haunted courthouse.  Sorry, no ghost tour this year.  :(  At the judges meeting the KCBS reps announced they were running with the new scoring system.  There are just a minor changes in weighting of scores but the information on the score sheets was quite interesting.  You can see who was on the same table with you, how your box scored against the judges avg score and more.  

We set about the tasks of prepping, cooking, boxing and more as usual.  I thought we overcooked the chicken since the pit hit about 350 at that point.  Turned out that one of the pieces was still slightly pink at the bone...bummer.  It was considered undercooked and scored very poorly.  We still managed a mid pack score on chicken though.  I don't what happened to our pork...it wasn't spectacular like the pork in Boulder City, but I didn't consider it bad either.  I am embarrassed to say it came in "Dead Ass Last".  Please Lord, never let that happen again.  However, we redeemed ourselves in brisket and took 3rd brisket.  In that highly successful crowd of teams I was really pleased to hear our name...especially for brisket.  

One little Indian boy came around by our booth looking really concerned.  He came back with his mom a bit later.  He was afraid we were going to cook the dog for the contest since he saw her on the logo.  I have to admit that was a first to hear or even imagine.  We assured him she was not going into the pit and was our mascot.  We introduced Cassy to him and he went away felling much better about the whole thing.

Once again, we donated our prepared meats to the local food bank along with many other teams.  There is a great need in the area that we have the honor of helping to fulfill with something we are passionate about. It's a good feeling to know that so many will benefit from it. 

We finished 15th overall.  I can't help to think where we could have been without the problems we encountered with chicken and pork.  Congrats to all the teams, it was great to see so many of them again.  Thanks to Tommy and Jennifer Duncan.  They put on a top notch contest every time.  Till next time...keep on smoking that meat. 

BBQ Class with Jen Duncan

Timm and I had the pleasure to take a BBQ class from Jennifer Duncan of Smoked to the Bone over the weekend.  She and her hubby, Tommy (Whiskey Ranch BBQ) came up from Phoenix and taught at Galaxy Outdoor here in Vegas.  

We've had the honor of knowing these two for a while now.  In fact, we met them at our first contest we ever participated in.  They were extremely helpful and kind to our tiny first time team.  They made us feel welcome and helped us tremendously.  

When we all arrived on Friday evening, they had been cooking all day so we could taste several types of meats including brisket, prime rib roast, and even a ham.  Everything was tasty.

This class was geared towards competition so we reviewed all four categories and the began trimming process.  She also explained what we should be looking for.  We learned something new in each category. 

Saturday morning we dove right back in at 6am.  It was a great opportunity for all of us.  We got to be hands on, trying every aspect of the process. 

 

We cooked on the Kamado Rockets and Jen's Jambo pit.  

Normally, Jen has her assisitant, Chuck to help out on many things.  He was busy with Tommy's grilling class so Timm got to step in throughout the day...it made his day for sure. 

Tommy's class was something I'd like to take as well.  These guys got to do grilling and the food was delicious and overwhelming with the variety they whipped up...from appetizer, main course, pizza, dessert.  You name it, I think they cooked it. 

We learned so much, I can't wait to try my hand at what I learned. It was worth every penny for sure. 

I look forward to their next class I attend.