Posts Tagged ‘Canada BBQ’

Well I am curious to see this weeks episode from Season 2 BBQ Pitmasters.

I want to take a moment to post my thoughts on BBQ Pitmasters before our episode airs. I have read a lot of negative comments on various BBQ boards twitter and facebook. We knew there was a complete format change this year prior to going in. It was public knowledge so no secret about that.  In fact I looked forward to the opportunity to BBQ something other than the typical 4 meats.

I really do believe a pitmaster should be able to handle more than just those 4 meats ribs chicken pork and brisket. I think a pitmaster should handle the various obstacles thrown at them. No where did it say this was a typical MIM, KCBS, PNWBA, FBA etc contest. Its just bbq on tv. So maybe call it BBQ and grilling entertainment>??? People need to lighten up a bit.  Please note I also have no problem any more using the term BBQ to describe making hot dogs on a grill or even something like grilling asparagus. I used to cringe at it but over time I realized there were so many ppl using the term BBQ to describe something else that I figured it didn’t matter to me as long as people were getting together enjoying great food in the company of their loved ones and friends. For those of you that think this show was scripted let me tell you for sure 100% it wasn’t.  However I will tell you it was the biggest challenge of my bbq career to date and the hardest competition I have ever endured. It took real stamina, knowledge and quick thinking on the parts of all of the teams that went and did this show. Win or lose every single team that appears should be commended for taking on this competition.

We were in California in 110F or higher temps for the entire time. We spent the vast majority of our times standing up racing around or generally plotting our next move. Yes there were times when we did some BS smack talking (and seriously it was hard to keep a straight face on it LOL) but overall when you are BBQing among friends it really is just a bunch of posturing and BS  I love the guys we went up against.

What a fun time we all had Big Poppas Smokers, Big Mistas BBQ and the legendary Johnny Trigg. I absolutely 100% enjoyed myself with our team of my husband and my BBQ BFF Angie. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We had a lot of giggle times and a lot of stressful times but overall I am really happy with how it all went down.

Hope you watch the show. Just take it for what it is a whole lot of fun and entertainment.

Season Premiere August 12 10pm EST 9 C

Cool new contest!! If you would like to win a FREE “Gas Grill Oven Plate” from Gill Innovations all you need to do is post something you would like to have baked in a grill instead of your oven. The most creative recipe will not only win a FREE grill plate, but their recipe will be cooked by the owner himself (Ed Hamlin) and documented for web fame!! This contest is open for one week and there are no limit to entries!! GOOD LUCK!!

Here is the link to their Facebook Page

Also a reminder that every Tuesday night is the BBQ Central radio show. Make sure you listen in !

Finally. A new BBQ restaurant has opened in Barrie. I was looking forward to the opening of Big Chris’s Smokehouse since the last BBQ restaurant in Barrie –  Mike Love’s BBQ closed in 2008.

Big Chris’s has been open for less than 48 hours but I could not resist popping in to try some of their BBQ.

I asked what type of equipment they use and was told it is an electric Cookshack smoker with apple and hickory chips.

I ordered their half rack of ribs ($12.95) and their half bun Pulled Pork Sandwich ($5.50) both came with sides of beans coleslaw and fries.  I got both of these orders to go.

Ill start with their ribs. Currently they have only one sauce and they will be introducing more (Mustard, Texas spicy etc) in the future.

The half rack is generously portioned.  Very meaty rack.  The ribs did not fall off the bone and were cooked in my opinion properly. They had really good texture. The sauce was not overly sweet. Nice balance overall.  It was a decent rack of ribs with a very noticeable smoke taste.

Now something I wasn’t expecting was the goodness of the fries. It is really hard to get good fries. This place does them really well. While I personally prefer hushpuppies with my BBQ these fries are beautifully crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They remind me of old school fish and chip fries. Get some.

Next up would be my least favorite part of the meal – the beans. Seriously I expected much much better. They are not memorable. The texture is really mushy and bland. Theres just nothing there that would make you want their beans again. They could improve these greatly.   A little onion a little spice and a better bean would go a long way on improving them. Truly they tasted like a can of Heinz beans dumped into a container.   Take a pass on these.

The coleslaw was really good. You may want to get seconds.  Super crunchy tart and sweet at the same time and a perfect match for my favorite part of the meal the pulled pork sammie.

Now this in my opinion would be worth the drive from Toronto to come to Barrie to eat lunch or dinner.  This sandwich alone would be worth it. More often than not in restaurants these days pulled pork is over cooked mushy as heck and blander than anything. This sandwich is none of those things.

This is a really awesome Pulled Pork Sammie.

This is goodness on a bun. Please note this sammie must have weighed well over a pound and this was their half bun. The texture is what got me. The texture was great. The flavors came through a little smoke and a little sweet and all pork goodness. The pork pieces still have definition. Wonderful flavorful definition. I would go back for another.  There are still a lot of other items I would like to try on their menu.

There are still lots of quirks to be figured out and I have no doubt they will get there. For me I would definitely recommend this place as a real contender for some of the best BBQ in Ontario.  One of the key things I noticed was what I saw from other people – a whole lot of empty plates and happy looking folks.

They are open 7 days a week 11-11pm

110 Anne St. South

Barrie Ontario

705-721-RIBS (7427)

Gotta love this. I got a shout out on another teams Pitmasters tape. I thank them for that. Very cool!!! Hope they make it on the show. Good people. Great BBQ’ers!!! Paul Huff & Mike Galasso  (** Also best of luck to Fat Angel they are an awesome team as well!!! ***)

If you are in their area give them a shout for all your BBQ catering needs!!

Gone Hoggin BBQ Team !

I make thousands of ABT’s each year. Yes thousands for demonstrations family parties and well I just love them.
There are countless recipes for ABT’s all over the net. Everyone has their own variety whether they have lil smokies in them or leftover pulled pork. One of my favorite varieties is roasted garlic 3 cheese ABT’s.

I make roasted smoked garlic in batches of 36-48 at a time. I prep lots of them at a time to make it more convenient for myself later on. BBQ buddies from ALCAN work great for this. Their perforations allow lots of the smoke flavor to come through. Simply slice the top off sprinkle on some salt & pepper and drizzle with EVOO. I then use one of my Traegers or Charcoal grills and keep the temp at an even 350F (I do these indirect) for about an hour. I prefer to use hickory pellets or wood chunks for flavoring.  The garlic bulbs are done when the color turns a nice caramel and they can be easily squeezed out.

For more specific instructions check out this great tutorial on HOW to Roast Garlic.

Roasted Garlic bulbs freeze well. I freeze them individually for a multitude of uses from pasta to ABT’s and everything in between.

200 Roasted Garlic Cheesy ABT’s you will need:

• 2 onions finely minced
• 1/2 cup BBQ rub (use whichever is your favorite)
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup grated romano
• 1/4 cup dried chives
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh savory
• 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) cream cheese
• 100 jalapeños cleaned & seeded cut in half lengthwise
• 4 large bulbs of roasted garlic

I use a food processor to do this in two batches. Its really easy. Just dump half of everything in and pulse away until everything has mixed well. Pour into a large ziploc bag and then repeat with the other half of the ingredients. Please note you should taste test each batch to ensure the spice mixture is flavorful enough. As with all BBQ rubs the sodium levels vary greatly as does the sodium level in Parmesan cheese so adjust wherever necessary.

Then set up a station in the order you make them. For the jalapeños I always lay them cut side down while I prep the other ingredients. This helps to get as much water out of them prior to assembly.

I buy cases of bacon- not packages.  I buy Petit Goret Maple Smoked Bacon in a 5 kg (11lb) box.  If I can’t get this brand I look for any other food service box of bacon that has an 18/22 (slice count per pound) on it. I prefer using thinner bacon to wrap ABT’s.  For other applications I prefer my butchers bacon.

I do this whole procedure in batches of 50. I lay 50 jalapeños cut side up and fill with my cream cheese mixture using a ziploc bag with the corner cut off.

Then its just a matter of wrapping them and stacking them snugly into pans.

It takes me about an hour and a half to make 200.  I freeze them for up to one month. I don’t advise going over one month as I don’t like the texture of the cream cheese after that. The less time in the freezer the better. If you are doing a party or heading to a competition pot luck etc its really nice to have these ready well ahead of when you need them.

Just a reminder this weekend i’ll be here for 3 demonstrations daily in the Traeger Grill ZONE!

Ill be doing demonstrations on:

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs stuffed with cream cheese, pimento, onions, garlic, & spices all wrapped in Bacon!
• MOINK Balls (Bacon wrapped meatballs rubbed & sauced!)
• Cajun & Pineapple juice injected pork loin sandwich with caramelized onions and grilled pineapple

Hope to see you there!

Hi all just passing this on. I personally have signed it already.

To:  Kansas City BBQ Association

We, the undersigned KCBS members, formally petition the KCBS to allow members to have access to all non-executive session meetings via electronic media, including, but not limited to, pod-casts, web-casts and streaming audio. This is not to disparage the KCBS or any member of the Board of Directors, but to provide us, as members the fullest information on rules, standards and the agenda of the Board to make us more active participants and have a stronger and more informed participation in all KCBS related business and the promotion of BBQ throughout the world.

Sincerely,

The UNDERSIGNED

 

Well I recently had the opportunity to try Kosmo’s Q Chicken soak. I thought it would be best to do a simple test to see if the Chicken Soak made a substantial difference vs. regular brining. I consistently have been using a brine for turkey or chicken at home and also in competition.

 

I used 10 lbs of chicken pieces for each test. 10lbs for each application for a total of 20 pounds chicken pieces.

 

These two plates were for the Kosmo’s test. It was a mixture of chicken thighs legs and wings some with skin and some without.

 

The ingredients listed on the package are:

 

Salt, Brown Sugar, Worcestershire Powder, Dextrose, Hydrolyzed Soy & Corn Protein, Citric acid, Caramel Color, Natural Flavor

 

The package of chicken soak weighed 8.6 oz. Thats .6 oz. more than the listed weight.

 

 

In one bucket I used the Kosmo’s Q Chicken Soak 1/2 lb sample mix cost – $4.95 plus shipping- I mixed it according to the directions on the package (doubled for 10 lbs) – Mix 3/4 cup with 64oz (1/2) gallon of liquid. For this test I used plain old tap water for Kosmo’s and the standard brine.

 

 

 

 

* this was the color of the Kosmos at 5lbs then I added the remaining chicken and soak mix. It mixes up very easily as the particles are very small.

 

My Standard Brine

 

In the second bucket I mixed a standard brine I make for Chicken Brown Sugar, Kosher Salt, Peppercorns and All spice berries – cost $2.25 approx for enough brine for 10lbs chicken.

 

 

• Both sets of chicken were left in their mixtures for the recommended 4 hours.
• They were both rinsed thoroughly afterwards with tap water.
• They were both then rubbed with my own personal chicken rub.

 

**The only difference I noticed on the chicken when they came out of the brine was that the Kosmo’s chicken had some very fine red particles that adhered to the chicken. I could not rinse it off. I also could not get a clear picture of it. They were very tiny.

 

For this test I used my Traeger Texas Style with hickory pellets. The grill was set at 300F. All of the chicken parts were taken to 165F.

 

All of the pieces looked great. Nice color on both. They were glazed with my own competition sauce.

 

 

After the chicken came off I rested it on a plate uncovered for 10 minutes.

 

Here are two pieces the one on the right is from Kosmo’s and the one on the left is my own standard brine.

 

 

Now for the all important taste/tenderness test picture:

 

 

Picture of the chicken with standard brine (juices on the plate very moist and tender):

 

 

Picture of Kosmo’s Q Chicken(juices on the plate very moist and tender):

 

 

Even after an additional 15 minutes both chicken pieces were still tender and moist.

 

Conclusion:

 

Kosmo’s Q chicken soak works. So does regular brining.

 

I could not find any discernible difference between the two other than cost and convenience.  There was no taste difference whatsoever. Nothing stood out.  They were both tender and moist.

 

Personally I’ll be sticking with my own brine.




BBQ Pitmasters
10pm / 9c – SEASON FINALE!!
It’s a true Texas showdown when the Godfather of Ribs, Johnny Trigg, challenges his closest friends and fiercest rivals to compete in an all-rib Shootout. For the first time ever, the cookers watch the judges reactions, both good and shockingly bad.