2012 is here!

A lot has happened since our last post in 2010. 9th in ribs in the Abilene contest, 1st in brisket and 2nd in ribs in the Jammin in JC contest in Junction City. We now have an FEC100 in addition to the Jedmaster. A couple of contests should be on our agenda in 2012.

El Dorado Contest

The team participated in the El Dorado contest August 21. Top to bottom, it was one of the tougher contests we've done in the last 3 years. All in all our scores were pretty good...16th chicken, 19th ribs, 22nd pork and 35th in brisket. Don't know what happened to our brisket, but we must have done something wrong. Presentation scores continue to be good, but we want to try to improve our taste scores. So...what new gadgets did we decide we need? The "Stoker" would help us control temperature and sit by our computer and monitor temps. Mostly it would allow Todd to sit in an air conditioned hotel room and monitor the temps! We also decided to buy shirts for our team. The new logo is on the right. Thanks to our sponsor, City BBQ, for offering to supply us with a new Stoker!

Sold on Q gets 2 calls

Well, we did it at the Wheatstock contest. 2 calls. 7th in pork, 10th in brisket, 12th in chicken and 13th in ribs. 12th place finish overall. Earlier that same day we were ready to retire. All it takes is a call to get the fire going.

The first Big Cook

Last Saturday night I came to realize a true test of barbeque - The Week Later Test. A week after our first big cook with "Gisele" the new Jedmaster, I found myself eating left over brisket and sipping a Maker's Mark. Earlier that day I saw a friend that heard our chicken turned out fantastic. As I sipped my bourbon it struck me, it's a week later and I'm still eating and enjoy our fine food and I'm still hearing comments about how good our food was.

So how did our 4 meats score on the Week Later test. I think it is pretty clear, brisket and chicken drew the most favorable comments and any time I'm still eating something a week later it must have been good. The good news is brisket and chicken have been our 2 weaker entries so we must be on to something.

It is definitely important to start with a fat packer brisket. The brisket was excellent. It may or may not have been over cooked - hard to tell since we cut it when it was still very hot. It took right at 15 hours to cook and well held it at a high temp for 3 hours. Taste, tenderness and moistness were all very good. All week I looked at the leftovers in the refrig and the brisket had the most fat and resulted in the most moist and tasty leftovers. Wish the bark had not been so dark.

The chicken received rave reviews. I was a bit surprised because it got very little attention and was almost an after thought. We nailed the taste, tenderness, skin and moistness. Presentation was nothing like a contest but we can work on that. Unless someone can change my mind with a compelling argument we should be brining chicken with only salt and water. Based upon our chicken in Ohio and on Easter, the simple brine produced a nice clean, moist product. I think the Italian dressing method introduces too many other ingredients and flavors that complicate the flavor and cooking methods. I thinkwe start it on Gisele and finish on the Weber.

Thought the pork was good. Would still like to have more bark on the outside. I think we should mustard and rub, let it set, then reapply right before we place it on the smoker. Still need to work on presentation.

The ribs cooked for 5 1/2 hours. They had good flavor and texture. May have been a little over done but not much. My biggest concern was cutting the ribs. I felt like we had sharp knives but they seemed hard to cut. It was like the outside of the meat was too dry and we had a hard time cutting through it. Maybe saucing them the last half hour would have helped. I'm not certain but I don't think we wrapped the ribs at any point either and that may have helped soften the crust. We also may have cut them too soon. Everything was probably cut sooner than we normally would in a competition.

All in all, a great, great time and another big step forward in our cooking. Looking forward to the next time.

SOLD on Q takes a leap forward

This past weekend the SOLD on Q team took a trip to Columbus, Ohio to visit City Barbeque and our friend Rick Malir. We were able catch up with a great friend and make some new friends over wonderful food and drink - just an all around great cook. We have returned home with a new smoker, smarter than we were and with a bright future. The BBQ Boys from Ohio have sold their smoker and passed on valuable insight to the Sold on Q team. For that Lance, Brent and Todd are grateful. The team is also grateful to Rick for making it all possible and for the generous hospitality of Rick and his wife Bonnie. We just hope to carry on the legacy and have as many good memories as the BBQ Boys.

BBQ season is coming!

It's time to look for a contest. I am hopeful we can do three this year. Here are 5 contest suggestions: Manhattan in April, Abilene in May, Wichita in June, Paola in August and Park City is September. Maybe you guys have some suggestions?

St Louis Style Ribs

Last Saturday after dicking with the membrane on two slabs of ribs for 45 minutes I was ready to quit this crazy hobby. Tonight I have a new "rules to live by". Before ever trying something new in life, always check for a youtube video first - you are sure to save lots of the time and wasted effort.

This evening, Brent and I discussed where to get our ribs and whether we should trim them St Louis style ourselves or let the butcher. This lead me to youtube and a leap forward in my Q knowledge. I have attached a link to a video below that is great for trimming St Louis style ribs. I'm now convinced to trim the whole slab myself.

Now about that 45 minute thumb wrestling match with the membrane last Saturday. After watching the video I have come to the conclusion that the butcher at YB Meats removed the first membrane for me - what a nice young man. Maybe next time he will tell me that. You see I learned there are actually two membranes. The first appears relatively easy to remove. The second is on the bone and if removed the rib bones will fall out when you cook the ribs. I'm convinced I was trying to remove the second membrane, hence my headaches and part of the reason the bones fell out when we were done cooking.

Moral: a new rule to live by - always consult youtube first.

Enjoy the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYMNLMQmM4s