OLN Barbecue Challenge

[jgh1204]

Has anyone else seen this?

"The best, most outrageous BBQ chefs in America face off against each other in the ultimate showdown to crown the best BBQ chef in the US. Also competing will be local amateurs who think they have what it takes to win the crown. Local competitions take place around the country at real events, with thousands of people in attendance, leading to the grand finale in New York City. "

The pick 2 professionals and 1 local amateur team. They provide the cooker, which changes week to week and so does the meat. The 1st show was in Hammond, La(ribs) and the 2nd in Corpus(brisket)

http://www.olntv.com/nw/article/mdview/?tf=TonightOnOLN_show.tpl&Limit=1&mt=3&f1=UserDef3&UserDef=true&d1=ALL%20STAR%20BBQ%20SH

Some surprising stuff(too me) from the Corpus Christi show.

The pros were Myron Mixon, Dr BBQ and a team from Houston.

Mixon of Old South, the meat was brisket, he said 5 hours at 325. Three hours on smoke and 2 hours wrapped. He also injected with several fruit juices, looked like grape, apple, pineapple. The judges kind of dogged him on the fruity taste.

Ya'll are probably familiar with the Judges and the host is from Gibson's in AL.

It is only a 30 minute show, I wish they had gone 1 hour with it.


SPOILER WARNING








Dr BBQ won, Mixon, local
I was not familiar with the pros on the rib show and do not remember their names.

OK, looked up the rib pros, All-Stars Hayward Harris (Rib Dr.) and Mike Davis take on Civilian chefs Doug and Ferdie in this barbeque battle.

Davis edged out Harris and once again the amateurs took 3rd.

[jgh1204]

Ok, rerunning right now.
The cooker on the 1st show is a square charcoal pit, looks kind of like a brinkman, but cannot see the logo and I missed the intro.

The cooker on the 2nd show was a round horizontal offset pit, again, I missed the brand.

[jgh1204]

Dr BBQ also injected, but it looked more like a salty, savory type injection. Mixon injected about a gallon of his mixture, it was running out all over the street.

[jgh1204]

Man, was I off on the 1st pit. It is some fancy rotisserrie rig.

[chad]

Yeah, it's called at Jedmaster.

And, yeah, Myron injects the heck out of butt and brisket. And yeah, he wins A LOT with his brisket. He's primarily a pork cook (MIM 6 time team of the year) but does a bunch of KCBS and FBA events every year.

It's going to be 9 weeks of these things (I think) and the final was in NYC a few weeks ago.

[jgh1204]

The Judges: Ed Roith, Rocky Danner, Bill Felder

Bill Felder started talking about the smoke ring on the ribs. Roith said that smoke had nothing to do with the pink ring, that it came from a chemical reaction from the fire(heat) and moisture in the smoker and in the meat. Davis agreed with Roith.



Upcoming shows.

Bentonville, AR
All-Stars Fast Eddie Maurin and Terry Black take on Civilian chef Ralph Taylor in this barbeque battle.

Huntsville, AL
All-Stars Bad Byron Chism and Bart Clarke take on Civilian chefs En Fuego in this barbeque battle

Memphis, TN:All-Stars Hayward Harris (Rib Dr.) and Ray Lampe (Dr. BBQ) take on Civilian chefs the Quessenberry Boys in this barbeque battle.

Sevierville, TN:All-Stars Mike Davis and Myron Mixon take on Civilian chef Bill Russell in this barbeque battle.

Kansas City, MO:All-Stars Bad Byron Chism and Terry Black take on Civilian chefs Squeal of Approval in this barbeque battle.

[jgh1204]

Smoke ring science from another site.

Smoke Ring in Barbeque Meats
How to Get That Coveted Pink Ring With Your Cooking
by Joe Cordray

Slow cooked barbecue meats often exhibit a pink ring around the outside edge of the product. This pink ring may range from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch thick. In beef the ring is a reddish-pink and in pork, chicken and turkey it is bright pink. This pink ring is often referred to as a "smoke ring" and is considered a prized attribute in many barbecue meats, especially barbecue beef briskets. Barbecue connoiseurs feel the presence of a smoke ring indicates the item was slow smoked for a long period of time. Occasionally consumers have mistakenly felt that the pink color of the smoke ring meant the meat was undercooked. To understand smoke ring formation you must first understand muscle pigment.

Myoglobin is the pigment that gives muscle its color. Beef muscle has more pigment than pork muscle thus beef has a darker color than pork. Chicken thighs have a darker color than chicken breast thus chicken thigh muscle has more muscle pigment (myoglobin) than chicken breast tissue. A greater myoglobin concentration yields a more intense color. When you first cut into a muscle you expose the muscle pigment in its native state, myoglobin. In the case of beef, myoglobin has a purplish-red color. After the myoglobin has been exposed to oxygen for a short time, it becomes oxygenated and oxymyoglobin is formed. Oxymyoglobin is the color we associate with fresh meat. The optimum fresh meat color in beef is bright cherry red and in pork bright grayish pink. If a cut of meat is held under refrigeration for several days, the myoglobin on the surface becomes oxidized. When oxymyoglobin is oxidized it becomes metmyoglobin. Metmyoglobin has a brown color and is associated with a piece of meat that has been cut for several days. When we produce cured products we also alter the state of the pigment myoglobin. Cured products are defined as products to which we add sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite during processing. Examples of cured products are ham, bacon, bologna and hotdogs. All of these products have a pink color, which is typical of cured products. When sodium nitrite is combined with meat the pigment myoglobin is converted to nitric oxide myoglobin which is a very dark red color. This state of the pigment myoglobin is not very stable. Upon heating, nitric oxide myoglobin is converted to nitrosylhemochrome, which is the typical pink color of cured meats.
When a smoke ring develops in barbecue meats it is not because smoke has penetrated and colored the muscle, but rather because gases in the smoke interact with the pigment myoglobin. Two phenomenon provide evidence that it is not the smoke itself that causes the smoke ring. First, it is possible to have a smoke ring develop in a product that has not been smoked and second, it is also possible to heavily smoke a product without smoke ring development.

Most barbecuers use either wood chips or logs to generate smoke when cooking. Wood contains large amounts of nitrogen (N). During burning the nitrogen in the logs combines with oxygen (O) in the air to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitrogen dioxide is highly water-soluble. The pink ring is created when NO2 is absorbed into the moist meat surface and reacts to form nitrous acid. The nitrous acid then diffuses inward creating a pink ring via the classic meat curing reaction of sodium nitrite. The end result is a "smoke ring" that has the pink color of cured meat. Smoke ring also frequently develops in smokehouses and cookers that are gas-fired because NO2 is a combustion by-product when natural gas or propane is burned.

Let’s review the conditions that would help to contribute to the development of a smoke ring. Slow cooking and smoking over several hours. This allows time for the NO2 to be absorbed into and interact with the meat pigment.

Maintain the surface of the meat moist during smoking. NO2 is water-soluble so it absorbs more readily into a piece of meat that has a moist surface than one which has a dry surface. Meats that have been marinated tend to have a moister surface than non-marinated meats. There are also a couple of ways that you can help to maintain a higher humidity level in your cooker; 1. Do not open and close the cooker frequently. Each time you open it you allow moisture inside to escape. 2. Put a pan of water on your grill. Evaporation from the water will help increase humidity inside the cooker.

Generate smoke from the burning of wood chips or wood logs. Since NO2 is a by-product of incomplete combustion, green wood or wetted wood seems to enhance smoke ring development. Burning green wood or wetted wood also helps to increase the humidity level inside the cooker.
A high temperature flame is needed to create NO2 from nitrogen and oxygen. A smoldering fire without a flame does not produce as much NO2. Consequently, a cooker that uses indirect heat generated from the burning of wood typically will develop a pronounced smoke ring. Have fun cooking. A nice smoke ring can sure make a piece of barbecued meat look attractive.

About the Author:

Joe Cordray is the Meat Extension Specialist at Iowa State University’s nationally renowned Meat Lab, located in Ames, IA. He has been writing for The BBQer since Fall of 2001

[jgh1204]

Holy crap, that JedMaster lists for $3150.

[jgh1204]

Is Mixon as big of an egotistical jerk in real life as he looks like on this show?

(my post count was slowing down a bit the last few weeks)

[jgh1204]

In one of the previews it looks like the teams had to build their own pit out of cinder blocks.

[chad]

No, Myron is as straight up a guy as you'd want to meet. He is, however, a PRO cook. He does things his way and WINS real often. I just spent 2 1/2 days with him and those of us at his cook school have his cell number, the number to the restaurant, and email address.

So, no, he's not what you see on TV. He cooks competition over 40 time a year. He's got over 160 Grand Championships. Remember, what you're seeing is a "made for TV" BBQ competition REALITY SHOW!!!

[jgh1204]

That's good, he did not come off too well in the editing. I still cannot imagine putting fruit juice in a brisket.

[chad]

cannot imagine putting fruit juice in a brisket


Get over it! :D It'll knock your dick in the dirt! No ****!

[icemn62]

Saw these shows last night, I thought they had teh feel of "fixed" to them. but did not mind since I enjoy BBQ shows.

[frognot]

Y'all convinced me to try injecting a brisket. Also, will be checking out OLN more closely.

[jminion]

DrBBQ used Fab B in his brisket, we talked before he left before that cook and he was trying to decide what one item to bring, his rub or FabB. Going to TX he took the chance they would cook brisket so the Fab B went in the baggage. Good call on his part.

Hayward and Mike Davis are both great guys, Mike is a big time winner out on the circut (Lotta Bull is his team name).

[Ron_L]

OK, Jim... I'm having a brain cramp this morning... What's Fab B?

[jminion]

Fab B was developed by Joe Ames of the www.theingredientstore.com
I just posted how works on the brisket injecting thread.

[Ron_L]

Thanks... I just read that post... interesting stuff...

[Solidkick]

DrBBQ used Fab B in his brisket, we talked before he left before that cook and he was trying to decide what one item to bring, his rub or FabB. Going to TX he took the chance they would cook brisket so the Fab B went in the baggage. Good call on his part.

Hayward and Mike Davis are both great guys, Mike is a big time winner out on the circut (Lotta Bull is his team name).

I looked at the wife when Dr. BBQ pulled that bottle out and I said, "That's got Fab B in it" .........