Posts Tagged ‘Chicken’

As I am prepping for the 2010 season to begin I have to start with where we really needed to improve from 2009. For the last years season I was really happy with our pork. Everything else needs a lot more work. Especially brisket. I have struggled with brisket. Brisket is my challenge above all challenges. Overall for the year we came in 241 out of 4716 on the Pickled Pig Rankings. I am proud and challenged by those results. Just shy of being in the top 5% overall we came in:

• 173 out of 4716  Pork
• 267 out of 4716 Chicken
• 331 out of 4716 Ribs
• 580 out of 4716 Brisket

For these rankings we had 6 competitions that were included:

We did however compete in additional competitions for the 2009 as well that were not included in those rankings:

Canada Southern BBQ Championships
Grand Champion

1st — Pork; 2nd — Ribs; 3rd — Brisket; 3rd —Chicken 1st—Anything  But

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“Smoke on the Water Barbecue Competition Saskatchewan”
Reserve Grand Champion

1st — Pork; 2nd — Ribs; 4th — Brisket; 4th—Chicken 1st—Anything But

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Canadian Pork BBQ Championships
Reserve Grand Champion

2nd—Chicken; 2nd — Pork; 4th — Brisket; 4th — Ribs

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National BBQ Festival “Best of the Best”

Invitational BBQ Cook-off
4th Overall

7th — Pork Shoulder; 6th — Chicken;

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National BBQ Festival “Best of the Best”
Open BBQ Cook-off

13th Overall

9th — Ribs
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BBQ on the Bow Calgary Alberta

4th Overall

1st — Brisket; 3rd — Ribs

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Crazy Canuck BBQ Championships Toronto Ontario

4th Overall

3rd—Chicken; 3rd — Pork; 4th — Ribs; 6th — Brisket

Overall we made improvements to our overall BBQ in my opinion. I am hoping to be able to attend more competitions this year however my schedule may have some interesting diversions this year. I can’t share them yet but I am really excited for 2010 overall. I have a lot of practice and work to do. LOL

Just an FYI we have announced two classes for 2010 with more dates being announced in the future. Please see our Classes tab for more information. Please note all of our past classes have sold out continuously so sign up soon.

For the next 4 weeks Ill be revisiting all of my competition notes, procedures and meat prep. Looking forward to the Little Rock competition I really want to just do better. Last year we came in 47 out of 129 teams. We got a 19th in chicken, 43rd in ribs, 55th in pork and a dismal 84th in brisket.

This year we are driving with all of our equipment to this comp. All 18 hours. Last year I used borrowed equipment that I had never used before and it really showed. My goal this year is to be in the top 20% or higher. I am going through my bx pictures form last year and the notes I made. I can really see lots of room for improvement.

This week I am focused on chicken. Just getting my timing down. I am still not sold on muffin pan chicken and I will stick to my own style of trimming. However I am going to modify my flavor profile.

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.

While in Memphis I had the distinct pleasure to finally have some AmberQue. What is AmberQue?? Well I think it will be the next big sauce on the market. I was happy that my friend Joe McManus of Joey Mac’s Smoke Stax came out with it. Joey’s team won the American Royal 2008 Invitational BBQ Competition.  I think a lot of people are looking for a different flavor other that the traditional tomato based sauces. I really wish mustard sauces were more popular on the competition circuit. I would be using this one in a heartbeat straight out of the bottle.

It has a great blend of tangy sweet and spice. There were a few of us that tried this sauce and all of us thought it was excellent. We tried it on sausage, pulled pork, brisket and pork loin. It rocked on everything. I can’t wait to try it on ribs next.  So this is my plug for it. This is not a paid endorsement at all. I just really really liked it a LOT. If you can get your hands on it you should. I mean seriously get to Hawgeyes and get some. you will not be disappointed at all.

We had a fun time going to a few restaurants here in Memphis and area.

The places we went were Germantown  Commissary, Central BBQ, Whole Hog Cafe, Old School Bar-B-Q

Each of the restaurants had some decent food however overall I would have to recommend the Germantown Commissary as my favorite hands down. They also had some of the very best pies I have ever eaten. If you are in the area make sure you stop in.

Today I am off to another bunch of BBQ restaurants. I am really looking forward to them!!