Zombie Barbecue
Knows what a fatty is.
This entire thread is for anybody who is considering officially competing.
First off, we couldnt wait to go to an official kcbs comp for a long time. after doing a few years of local bbq events and doing quite well, we definitely understood the need for official judges (rather than the local tool from the bank judging our food and wishing it was boiled and slapped with kc masterpiece), so we were thrilled to finally get to enter.
So our first gig was York County state BBQ comp this past weekend and it was freaking beautiful. But first we needed meat. So our normal butcher (Barringer Bros meats-Richlandtown, PA) was on vaca so we ordered from another butcher at quakertown farmers market (not to be named because of terroristic threats). The meat was ordered 2 weeks ahead and I went over the importance and specifics of the meat, bone in pork butt, 12 lb full brisket or more, with point/flat, big ribs etc and it must be ready by 8AM we have a 2 hour drive ahead of us. SO we show up and its one lady saying "yeah I got your order here on paper, but I don't think we have it!!!????!!! DOn't HAVE IT!??!!!!! OUR MEAT???? FOR OUR FIRST COMP????? At one point the lady shows us a 5 pound trimmed brisket flat and said here ya go. My other team mate, says where's the point? and she literally just pointed to the "point" of the flat, like the pointed way it was cut! CHRIST! so we cursed em out and made some emergency calls to Barringer bros and we got out meat! Thanks Gregor.
Let me tell you, rollin into a big event like this with a homemade trailer packed to the gills with equipment, squeaking like a bastard, our cheap backyard smokers, and a half torn tarp waving behind us and seeing the huge winnebagos, and giant banners, and RV's. We had to laugh. Were we gonna be ridiculed? probably. Were we gonna have a damn good time? Absolutely.
So we cracked a lager and began setting up our makeshift tent. After we set up our homebase, we realized we were right in between some heavy competitors. Pork and Deans, PA midnite smokers, Christmas City and our good friend Philly Blind Pig, so we drank more beer. Here we are fixing the screws on our cheapo backyard smokers and the guys down the pike are setting up there hot tubs! good stuff.
Once we were up and running, it was time to grab a beer and go to our first official KCBS meeting. We did not stay for the CD.
We put our briskets on around 10:30 and our butts on around 11:30pm. With us, we searched the land for Pecan wood and we found it, but they were smaller chunks. so you mix small chunks in with a ****ty smoker where the seal to the firebox has been runover once so its not sealed, and you have about every 20-30 minutes trying to put out flare ups and you have a LONG NIGHT AHEAD OF YOU!!!!
Around 3 am, the entire place looks like burning man, minus the mind altering drugs and Im sure it smells much better here as well (I would much rather smell oak/hickory than dirty hippies).
You can get some great advice over some bourbon and a pull goes a long way around here. Thanks Kenny for the help on chicken and everybody else who stopped by to congratulate us in.
So on no sleep we get into morning. ribs on. drink. So at this point we ARE zombies. chicken on and here we go, its turn in time!
Well we got everything turned in on time (although we werent happy with taste and we still need lots of help with garnish), we got it done no prob. At first we were nervous about turn in (is 30min enough??) turns out its plenty of time with time to drink a beer. We cleaned up our homebase and waited/hallucinated for a few hours.
Trophies were announced at 4pm and we were truly happy for the teams that won, because we knew in the future we would be getting ours.
Here's the deal for competing: It rules. It was a blast. We may not have placed well (28 out of 29 ) but we didnt come in last. and we actually got 12th for pork overall! There's more cool people at these events than you can count. Everybody is there to help. we didnt meet one prick while we were out there. We learned ALOT! no we learned a ****LOAD! and most of all we had a freaking blast. It's really a great time.
Thanks to TAcks for those kick-ass poppers and patron! you rule it dude
Thanks to tim from Porter Macs for having your kid kick Toms ass
Thanks to kenny from bbq guru for advice on how to cheat death, 5 times and also on the thighs
and most of all Thanks to TOm Bera/Blind Pig. A mentor/friend/advisor and freaking nutjob drunk! one of the best.
Hope this thread wasnt boring as **** but to anybody reading it and thinking about competing. DO IT! Smoke your face off, learn alot, and then do it again.
and have beer. lots of beer. LOTS.
uke:
zombie bbq
First off, we couldnt wait to go to an official kcbs comp for a long time. after doing a few years of local bbq events and doing quite well, we definitely understood the need for official judges (rather than the local tool from the bank judging our food and wishing it was boiled and slapped with kc masterpiece), so we were thrilled to finally get to enter.
So our first gig was York County state BBQ comp this past weekend and it was freaking beautiful. But first we needed meat. So our normal butcher (Barringer Bros meats-Richlandtown, PA) was on vaca so we ordered from another butcher at quakertown farmers market (not to be named because of terroristic threats). The meat was ordered 2 weeks ahead and I went over the importance and specifics of the meat, bone in pork butt, 12 lb full brisket or more, with point/flat, big ribs etc and it must be ready by 8AM we have a 2 hour drive ahead of us. SO we show up and its one lady saying "yeah I got your order here on paper, but I don't think we have it!!!????!!! DOn't HAVE IT!??!!!!! OUR MEAT???? FOR OUR FIRST COMP????? At one point the lady shows us a 5 pound trimmed brisket flat and said here ya go. My other team mate, says where's the point? and she literally just pointed to the "point" of the flat, like the pointed way it was cut! CHRIST! so we cursed em out and made some emergency calls to Barringer bros and we got out meat! Thanks Gregor.
Let me tell you, rollin into a big event like this with a homemade trailer packed to the gills with equipment, squeaking like a bastard, our cheap backyard smokers, and a half torn tarp waving behind us and seeing the huge winnebagos, and giant banners, and RV's. We had to laugh. Were we gonna be ridiculed? probably. Were we gonna have a damn good time? Absolutely.
So we cracked a lager and began setting up our makeshift tent. After we set up our homebase, we realized we were right in between some heavy competitors. Pork and Deans, PA midnite smokers, Christmas City and our good friend Philly Blind Pig, so we drank more beer. Here we are fixing the screws on our cheapo backyard smokers and the guys down the pike are setting up there hot tubs! good stuff.
Once we were up and running, it was time to grab a beer and go to our first official KCBS meeting. We did not stay for the CD.
We put our briskets on around 10:30 and our butts on around 11:30pm. With us, we searched the land for Pecan wood and we found it, but they were smaller chunks. so you mix small chunks in with a ****ty smoker where the seal to the firebox has been runover once so its not sealed, and you have about every 20-30 minutes trying to put out flare ups and you have a LONG NIGHT AHEAD OF YOU!!!!
Around 3 am, the entire place looks like burning man, minus the mind altering drugs and Im sure it smells much better here as well (I would much rather smell oak/hickory than dirty hippies).
You can get some great advice over some bourbon and a pull goes a long way around here. Thanks Kenny for the help on chicken and everybody else who stopped by to congratulate us in.
So on no sleep we get into morning. ribs on. drink. So at this point we ARE zombies. chicken on and here we go, its turn in time!
Well we got everything turned in on time (although we werent happy with taste and we still need lots of help with garnish), we got it done no prob. At first we were nervous about turn in (is 30min enough??) turns out its plenty of time with time to drink a beer. We cleaned up our homebase and waited/hallucinated for a few hours.
Trophies were announced at 4pm and we were truly happy for the teams that won, because we knew in the future we would be getting ours.
Here's the deal for competing: It rules. It was a blast. We may not have placed well (28 out of 29 ) but we didnt come in last. and we actually got 12th for pork overall! There's more cool people at these events than you can count. Everybody is there to help. we didnt meet one prick while we were out there. We learned ALOT! no we learned a ****LOAD! and most of all we had a freaking blast. It's really a great time.
Thanks to TAcks for those kick-ass poppers and patron! you rule it dude
Thanks to tim from Porter Macs for having your kid kick Toms ass
Thanks to kenny from bbq guru for advice on how to cheat death, 5 times and also on the thighs
and most of all Thanks to TOm Bera/Blind Pig. A mentor/friend/advisor and freaking nutjob drunk! one of the best.
Hope this thread wasnt boring as **** but to anybody reading it and thinking about competing. DO IT! Smoke your face off, learn alot, and then do it again.
and have beer. lots of beer. LOTS.
uke:zombie bbq
