Good Friends getting press always makes me smile. I was really thrilled to see Julie & Skip from Swamp Pit BBQ getting some press from Albany Alive at the Troy Pig out where they took a 2nd in pork and a 10th overall.

If you have ever been to a contest where they are at you probably met them. Socializing at BBQ comps is something they specialize in.

Team Swamp Pit : Skip, Robert, Julie, Lizzie, Mikey(Todd in Blue)

Additionally they are more often than not showing a new team how to make a parsley box, organize their camp or just in general helping out wherever they can!! I have witnessed their kindness and generosity to so many people on many an occasion and have been the recipient of it as well.

They also always have some seriously good tequila always served ice cold from one of their many cocktail shakers.

Photo Credit : Albany Alive

Once again they like many others show why Competition BBQ is such a great “sport” to get involved in. Its not always about the meat and the turn ins – its more often than not about the awesome people you meet.

This past weekend we traveled to Kettering Ohio for the first time. It was a really challenging competition as our son ended up getting sick on the way and we spent a lot of time during the competition cleaning up his vomit.  It was coming out of all ends of him and it was a hard battle to try to stay dually focused for the weekend. We did our best. We came in 7th overall with the only call of the weekend being Chicken (7th) out of 51 teams. It was a really nice location under some trees and we were well taken care of. we never experienced any issues with power, ice or having our questions answered. The organizers did a really good job!!!Also the breakfast was terrific from the Vets. They are an incredibly special bunch at this competition. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to go.

One of the highlights of the weekend had to be meeting with Curt McAdams from www.Livefireonline.com He is an incredibly accomplished photographer, bbq’er and all around a generally wonderfully thoughtful person. His blog is impressive and it has been given an accolade from Saveur as one of the sites they love.

Previously we had met Curt a few years ago at a Dr. BBQ class in Dettroit. It wasn’t until we were chatting that we realized we had both attended the same class. Curt also made the first BBQ fatty I ever tried. It was a moment I will never forget.

Curt took some pictures and captured some moments at the competition here are a few of them to share.

All images copyright 2010 Livefire Photography.

He took others as well but these are just a few. Thank you Curt for capturing some of our competition moments and thank you for the Killer brownies from Dorothy Lane Market. Wow. They were awesome.

Figuring out what you need ahead of time and what tips and tricks you can use are a great time saver. Setting up your site is an important part of the whole process.  Each of these sites has helped me a lot.

Here are some great tips and checklists to make your life easier:

Virginia Pirates Website

*Getting Started

*Tips

*Timelines

*Checklists

Smoking Guns Website

*Competition Checklists

BBQ-Brethren Website

Excellent resource for tips on all things competition and backyard BBQ.

The Pickled Pig Forum

*Excellent resource for competition and backyard BBQ.

Well you can never ever have enough BBQ’s I don’t believe that anyone should only have one bbq or grill. There are so many different types and they are all different with great capabilities.
Thanks to the folks at BGE Canada John & Brian who came by tonight with my newest addition the Big Green Egg.
I am sure to have fun playing on it.

Found these interesting auditions on youtube & Vimeo for BBQ Pitmasters Season 2

And also on Vimeo

Submission Video from Ryan McLain on Vimeo.

Every Tuesday you can listen in on the BBQ Central Radio show part of the BCRN (BBQ Central Radio Network) . This weeks episode is a round table discussion with three of the top Chicken Cooks on the KCBS circuit:

Kelly Wertz – 4 Legs Up BBQ, previous winner of the Jack Daniels Invitational and in 2009 ranked #4 overall in Chicken and #6 Overall on the KCBS TOY Listings.

Joe Amore – Smokey Mountain Smokers, ranked #5 overall in Chicken and # 19 overall in the KCBS TOY listings. They also manufacture one of my favorite products disposable cutting boards.

Troy Black - Learn2Q.com, ranked #7 overall in Chicken and #15 overall in the KCBS TOY Listings. He also has a brand new DVD out Real BBQ Know How

Also tonight on the BBQ Central Show Mike Lake President of KCBS will be on at approx 10:05pm EST on the after dark segment of the show

It should be a great show! Make sure you tune in tonight at 9pm EST.

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

After reading Startin the Fire last night I decided this year I am going to try to eliminate as much prep as possible on Thursdays/Fridays before a competition.

I started with my brines. I have portioned them all for as many contests I believe we are going to be doing for the year. additionally I then portioned out my injections into baggies as well. I am too cheap to use a foodsaver for this. SO baggies it is.

I am going to try to work through and prep as many of these types of items as I can over the next couple of weeks in prep for the season.

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.

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