Windy Washington

With the exception of enough wind to sail the seven seas, we had a great time at the Washington BBQ and Blues fest this past weekend.

You might be interested in what some of the creative chefs at this event were cooking on Friday night:

Sam's Club National BBQ Tour

Sam's Club, the leading wholesale club in the country, has issued a press release providing an overview of the Inaugural National BBQ Tour. This tournament-style series of bbq competitions will offer the largest prize purse in this history of competition bbq.

We are excited to have an opportunity to compete in this series this year and are looking forward to going up against the best BBQ cooks in the country.

Places we are cooking this year

Each Lightning strike represents a location that we will likely be cooking a contest at some point this year.

I'm debating whether this is a lame way of representing this information or a novel, trendy way to represent it.

Gnocchi, Hot Sauce and Hysteria

Came across this short video of this guy who attempted to merge Italian Gnocchi dough, hot oil and Frank's hot sauce . . . . with some rather comical results. Thought you might enjoy this.

Spring Cleaning Time

March is finally here. After a winter that seemed to burp out snow at every opportunity, it's time to go find that old brush with the worn bristles and clean up the grill and start a fire!

RubberMaid #G100-12 BBQ Grill Brush

BBQ Planning 2011

So the whole gang got together last Saturday night to plan for the BBQ Contest schedule 2011 and celebrate Jesse's 39th birthday. Happy Birthday! We got him a little brown jug of corn whiskey from McCormicks in Weston. It was surprisingly smooth. I grilled beef tenderloin and baked potato. I think everyone enjoyed the steak. My cheesecake experiment did not quite come out right, but it tasted pretty good. I'll keep trying.

We came up with 9 contests for this year. Washington MO., Lawrence, KS., West Des Moines, IA., (a saturday/sunday contest, awesome), Lenexa, KS., (defending Reserve Grand, hoping fro Grand this time!), Fort Smith, AR., (Reserve Grand 2 years ago), El Dorado or Olathe KS., Omaha, NE., (also a saturday/sunday contest), Springfield, MO., and The American Royal. 5 states and 2,600 miles. Pretty ambitious. Should be great fun. Now, if only we could get a Grand Champion in each state, we would have 5 draws for the Jack.

Farmland Foods is back on board to supply Pork and Ribs. Big thanks to Jesse for that! I found 2 Ninety pound angus brisket cases at Restaurant depot, so they should all weigh about 14 lbs. This is the same product we got First place in Springfield with last year. I think we are ready for a great year!
John

Looking for Park Avenue BBQ & Grille ?

Recently, a few of you have stopped by our blog looking for a BBQ Restaurant in Florida. If you live along the coastal side of Florida, and came by here lookin' for Park Avenue BBQ & Grille, you should probably click here to check out their web site or here to check out there blog.

We aren't affiliated with Park Avenue BBQ & Grille, nor have we had a chance to eat at their restaurant, but the next time we get to Florida, we may just check it out.

Whole Hog !

After more than 3 years of competition BBQ, we finally entered our first Whole Hog cooking event this past weekend in Springfield. Our newest team member Jesse led the charge on the Whole Hog entry, and so we feature him with the finished product, which was good for a 2nd Place ribbon, in the photo above.

Cookin' the Whole Hog is a lot of fun, but something we definitely will need some additional practice at in order to perfect. This little guy (about 35 pounds) was supplied to us by the contest, but he was bone chillin' cold when we first picked him up so we had to get him thawed a little before we could season him and get him into the cooker.

The Springfield contest was organized well, and other than sweltering heat, there wasn't a single thing to complain about at this event, definitely one we'll be looking to do again next year.

For those that might have often wondered how a Whole Hog ends up as bacon, ribs, pork chops, etc, this video from Protein University does a pretty good, albeit dramatic, job of showing how it's done.

Special Thanks to Midwest Scuba Q

BBQ Folks are truly a sharing and helpful bunch. We knew we were going to be without electricity at the upcoming Lenexa contest, and thought we might need to use a generator for an hour here or there over the coming weekend.

Not finding a decent rate on a weekend rental, we put some feelers out, and Ryan from the Midwest Scuba Q team came through for us even though he had never even met us. As a matter of fact, due to schedules that we couldn't get to line up (and a major wreck on I-435 that tied traffic up for 45 minutes), I ended up getting the generator from him, filling it with gas, and returning it to him without ever even meeting him myself.

Regardless, a big shout out to Ryan and the Midwest Scuba Q team, hope to run into you at a contest sometime soon.

Thanks!

Cooking BBQ in a Wooden House

We just finished the Platte City BBQ contest put on by the Basswoods Resort folks. This was a good event, and the cookers are nestled in amongst weekend campers, along with a series of small lakes and fishing ponds.

In addition, these small wooden cabins are availalbe for rent. This made for an interesting set up, as we were able to take many of our normal prep activities and move them into the cabin. A dessert entry being prepared in the cabin is shown in the photo.

The cabin set up also allowed for some extra free time between the last turn in and the awards ceremony since there wasn't as much set up and tear down. So we grabbed the fishing poles and headed for the fishing lake. Although it sounds like a fish story, I had a catfish about the size of the one in photo on the line, managed to get it all the way to the bank, and it found a way to get loose. No really - ask Peyton, she saw it!


We also ended up camping next to some folks who had caught 4 or 5 pretty good size catfish. They decided to eat them for dinner, but didn't really have a place to clean them. So they tossed them into the dirt next to a tree and bludgeoned them and started to fillet them right there in the dirt. After a few minutes of watching these guys hack away at these fish with a dull knife, I had seen enough and loaned these guys a sharp knife and a disposabe cutting board. I think it was too little too late though, as these mangled catfish fillets were covered in dirt and grass already.

For those that are always looking for something novel to add to your collection of BBQ related gadgets, check out this Bacon card holder. You can use it to hold business cards, credit cards or just a plain old deck of cards.

Click here to get the cooked bacon version or here to get the raw bacon version.

October is Here!

It's the 1st of October, and that mean's one thing in Kansas City. The 2008 American Royal BBQ Contest is finally here. Again this year, the Park Avenue Pork team will be in space 317 (some maps show this as space 321) in Lot A (yes, this is the CRAZY lot) for the entire weekend. Regardless of what your map shows, this is the space directly under the overpass on the end of the row, just next to the Missouri Warthog Ranchers Association space.

A rough outline of the schedule of activities for our space is as follows:

THURSDAY
- Set up day
- Poker Tournament in evening

FRIDAY
- Friday night is the big party night, of course
- 6:30 PM - The first ever WEDDING at the American Royal BBQ in our space!
- 7:30 PM - BBQ and Brew reception
- 8:00 PM - Party

SATURDAY
- The Team is competing in the Open Side Dish Contests
- Beans, Potatoes, Vegetables and Desert Competitions
- Saturday evening - mellow (as mellow as the A/R gets anyway) friends gathering

SUNDAY
- The Team is competing in the Open Meat Competitions
- Beef Brisket, Pork Shoulder, Sausage, Ribs and Chicken

HELPFUL LINKS (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)
Click these links and print the maps and guides. They will help you navigate your way around the American Royal Complex.

1. Parking, Shuttle and Live Concert Brochure
2. Big Map of the American Royal Complex (large file!)
3. Schedule of Events
4. Zoom In Map showing Park Avenue Pork location
5. Printable list of 2008 Compeititon Teams
6. Link to list of Family Day Activiites on Saturday, October 4th

Hope to see ya there! As always, if you have trouble finding us or have questions, call one of the Porkers on our mobile.

Update on KC BBQ Store Season Long Contest

We are currently setting in 39th place (out of 631 teams) in the KC BBQ Store's 2008 BBQ Campaign Team of the Year Cook-Off Contest. Any chance we fly up 40 spots in the last month of the season? Doesn't seem likely, but good to know we are in the Top 40! Looks like only the American Royal left on the calendar for us before this contest wraps up. Rob and the Munchin' Hogs at the Hilton team is deservedly leading this contest and looks to be the odds-on favorite to get the $500 gift certificate.

Hit this link to see the full team of the year contest rankings

Competing without even knowing it

Apparently, we are now in 23rd place in a contest we didn't even realize we were competing in! The Kansas City BBQ Store is conducting a season-long contest called the BBQ Campaign 2008. based upon how Competition BBQ teams place in a select number of contests throughout the year. Points are earned towards prizes to be awarded in November based upon how the teams finish in their best 5 contests out of 16 possible events.

At the halfway point, with 8 of the identified 16 contests complete for '08, we are in 23rd place, chasing the Rabbit Gulch Farm Cookers, who are currently ahead of us by 6 points. This scoring appears to use a modified KCBS team of the year scoring format.

The winner of this thing will get $500 cash, so we'll keep a cookin' and see what happens.

The Patron Saint of BBQ

Taking the week off because after experiencing the Great Lenexa BBQ, (where else can you beat 180 other compeitors and your prize is an honorable mention ribbon) we needed a week off.

A portion of the team is currently in the San Francisco bay area for a few days to attend a wedding this weekend. Yesterday was spent in China Town looking at all the valuable items in the markets and on the streets. While digging through one such store, we stumbled upon what could be the missing link to BBQ success: The Patron Saint of Butchers, Saint Adrian, in mini figurine form with prayer card. (Picture to the right).

"Most holy St. Adrian, I ask that you guide my knife as I deftly cut the tender flesh of animals that have been sacrificed to provide sustanance for mankind. I also ask that you bless all of my meat with superior flavor and texture and protect it from disease and contamination. Amen"I am sure this will put us over the top in the next contest.

Great Lenexa BBQ Battle

We will be smokin' away this coming weekend at the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle. Stop by and see us at space #311, on the west side of the lake.

The Blues will be playing, and we will be honored to have both a guest smokee (Sam) and a guest smoker (Bruce Cook - could this be him?) joining us for the cook.

Stop by to find out.

Contest Schedule Updated

For those who have been paying close attention, you'll see that the contest schedule has been updated.

Yes, even the Porkers have been affected by the price of gas this summer, and we have removed some contests that we were considering doing this year from the schedule.

See ya in Lenexa!

BBQ enthusiasts can hardly go a month without adding at least one new book to their shelf.



This recently released book from Beard award winner Steven Raichlen has received a lot of good reviews, and has over 500 recipes developed by Raichlen as the result of his traveling over 150,000 miles in America assembling the best BBQ and Grilling recipes in the land.

2008 Great American BBQ Directions

For those heading out to help out or join at the 2008 Great American BBQ Contest, you can use the map to the left to guide you in.

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See ya this weekend!

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Just click the map for a larger version, then print it out.

Party Night!

Not sure any amount of preparation can really get one ready for the Party Night at the American Royal BBQ. Consider for a moment that these guys were probably the most sober group wandering around the entire grounds on Friday night.

Wow!

So, here, in no particular order, are the Top 10 lessons learned about hosting a party at the Royal:

10. Lock the door to the port-a-potty

9. Be sure and have a camera ready when Janet starts to jump up on stage to dance

8. With 3 bands within 50 feet of your space, playing 3 different kinds of music, there is no point in even turning on the sound system

7. Lock the door to the port-a-potty

6. Cut Robert off after two dozen ABT's

5. Warn guests about bringing children under 18. Then warn them again.

4. Bring a Taser

3. Make special wristbands for invited guests, and make everyone wanting a rib or a beer to show it!

2. Be ready to barter with the wandering drunks, as they might have something you can use! (or drive)

1. Lock the door to the port-a-potty

Seriously, hope everyone had a great time, thanks for coming down and fighting the crowds. If Andrea ever cuts loose with any of the real photo's, we will get them on here! (hint)

Robert D - Where you at? Did you miss your plane?