Paul Kirk Pitmaster Class

[ZBQ]

Hey guys!
I have been busier than a beaver in a toothpick factory and I just now found time to post!!!:roll:

On Saturday I am going to be in Midway KY. attending a Paul Kirk Pitmaster Cooking Class!!:biggrin: Being held here.

Paul Kirk's website with class outline.

Leaving tommorow and coming back Saturday night.

Any pointers on what to take?

Since I don't have a Brethren shirt yet, I was wanting to take a print out of the Brethren Logo and hold it in front of me as I get my pic taken with him. Does anyone know where I could find one to just print out for this purpose? 8 1/2 X 11 would be fine.

 

[chinesebob]

Enjoy the class. I had to bail on the class unfortunately....

 

[swamprb]

Take anything you would use at a comp. I think myself and another guy were the only ones that brought apple juice and it wasn't provided. Sharp knives, because your going to cut up a whole chicken for presentation. What are you cooking on, the WSM and OTG? You will cook the 4 meats and fresh sausage, it may get cramped. Bring foil. You should have a good time! Take lots of pics and post them when you get back! Did I mention foil? Ask PK about the new KCBS judging classes and lots of foil!

Just kidding about the foil, NOT!

Brian

 

[ZBQ]

Enjoy the class. I had to bail on the class unfortunately....

That really bites Bob!!

I was hoping to get to meet ya and get a gander at 'Ginny!!

What are you cooking on, the WSM and OTG?

Cooking on both since the Spice Box won't be done till August. My first comp will be in July and I will have to cook on the WSM and the OTG.

Thinking about cooking a butt or 2 and brisket on the bottom rack and ribs in the rib rack on top and maybe try to get another brisket on the top rack too. I'm thinking the brisket will have to be flats for space reasons.

Any tips on meat placement?

Going to be cramped!!

Doing the chicken on the OTG.

 

[swamprb]

If you are by yourself they may pair you up with another single cooker. Thats what they did at our class. I was paired with another guy with a WSM so we had 2 and my UDS. We did brisket first,whole packers, then cut the bone from a pork butt. I should have cooked them both on the UDS as the butt shared space with ribs in one WSM while the chicken got cooked on the other. You may have to do the ribs in the OTG with the chicken? You might try to rustle up another kettle or WSM, IMO
Our meats were provided in the price of the class, are you to supply your own?

Brian

 

[ZBQ]

You might try to rustle up another kettle or WSM

Yeah, I have been trying to find another WSM to borrow for the comp.
Hope they pair me up like they did in your class. It would make things easier.

Meat is included.

 

[DaChief]

Sounds like a good adventure. Take pics and let us know how it goes!

 

[swamprb]

Did I mention foil?

Brian

 

[Keri C]

And take an EZ-Up if you have it. Preferably two if it's hot. (Paul commandeered my EZ-Up to teach under because it was so hot when I went through the class a few years ago.)

And a table or two.

And a bucket and soap. There were no outdoor water facilities where we were, and we had to haul water from inside a nearby business.

I don't know if it's standard or not, but when he came to Tulsa he had a couple of old beat-up WSMs in the back of his van that he was using as "loaners".

Oh, and foil. :grin:

Oh, shoot, just pile all the comp equipment and take it all. Better safe than sorry!

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time

 

[swamprb]

Seriously- My brisket was done way before anyone elses and I was afraid of it drying out, and PK had me wrap it in plastic wrap then FOIL and cooler it. I got a 4th Place finish with it!

So don't forget the foil!

Brian

 

[ZBQ]

This is long, Sorry

Well fellas, I'm back from the Paul Kirk Pitmaster Class and finally got time to post some pics for you.

I almost didn't make it to the class. I arrived at almost 1 AM Fri. nite because I had a blowout about half way there!! Doing roughly 65 (plus or minus about 10 or 15:wink in the passing lane when she blew!! Luckliy the guy I was passing saw it and sped up so I could get over to the berm. I had a death grip on the wheel!! The 1st pic shows the tire. Shredded it. Called AAA and they argued for over 2 hours about who was going to service the area because I was within about a mile of the border of their district dividing line!!:evil: I called in on the number listed in the Trip Tic and it was in Pittsburg, got transferred to Cincinnatti, to some unknown location, back to Pittsburg, to Hartford CT:roll:,to Columbus and finally back to Cincy. Later, a trooper stopped and he called a local towing place and had him on the way in 5 minutes!! Tow truck guy tells me that when he was about 3 miles from me that AAA calls him to tell him about me!!!:evil: To top all of this off the Trip Tic has me 3 1/2 miles away from my destination on the wrong section of the road!! Driving around in the middle of the night trying to find something with the wrong driving directions is a BEEOCH!! I'm going to have me a big fat farking AAA a$$ sammich in the next day or so!!!:evil:

Once I was there, I had a great time, the facility was really nice and lent itself well to the special needs of a BBQ class with the exception that there needs to be better lighting in the barn for events like this. The barn is a rehabbed old tobbaco barn. John Dance @ Good Ole Days Farm is a class act and a wonderful host. I would highly recommend his place to anyone wanting a place for get togethers like wedding receptions, events, comps etc.. He stayed up waiting for me to arrive and greeted me when I got there. He also called me about midnite to see if I was alright.

Paul Kirk, where do I start?

Well, I am considering giving him a call and asking him if he would adopt me!!:biggrin:

He's a really cool guy who shoots straight from the hip, tells it like it is and doesn't really care about being PC. He isn't pretencious, full of himself, arrogant or anything like that. He seemed to be a down home, regular Joe who just happens to know a whole lot of stuff about Q'n. He also has an ornery streak and good sense of humor!:lol: When I asked him if I could get my pic taken with him he asked if I had a WIDE ANGLE lens and I said it was going to have to be a PANORAMIC lens to get both of our fat a$$es in the pic and he just laughed and said "you've got that right!" as he put his arm around me for the pic.:lol: He DOES however, have this GOD AWFUL phobia about FOIL!!:wink::lol:8) He will answer all of your questions as best as he can and will tell you straight out if he doesn't know. We had a few nice talks and he was REALLY helpful in many different areas. He walked around to everyones pit to see how things were going several times answering questions and offered advice on things that could be tweaked to make better Q. We made a rub of our own design in class and I really like the one that I came up with for chicken and I am going to be using it in my first comp in a couple of weeks.

I set up right next to a couple of women who had a WSM and had never used one!! It was brand spanking new! They told me that the bottom of their Chargriller had rusted through and when they tried to move it, the whole bottom fell out!! So they had heard that WSM's we good so they went and bought one. They had no idea how to run it so I spent the day trying to help them out too. They had no therms so I lent them my ET-73 so they could keep track of their temps. I have a therm mounted in the top lid and just relied on the trusty old thermapen (red one, not those junk orange ones!:wink for the meat.

At the end of the day I was DOG tired, hot, sweaty, covered in pork, beef and chicken grease, charcoal dust, rub spices and I smelled like smoke. As I pulled out of Good Ole Days Farm I thought to myself "Man this was AWSOME!!"

All in all I had a great time and learned a TON of things from my (wishing to be adopted father) Chef Paul. Money well spent!!:biggrin:

Enough gum flappin'.

Here's the pics. Enjoy!:-D
(The lighting sucked in the barn and I had to tweak the indoor pics. Sorry for their poor quality but it was the best I could do.)

Let me know if the link doesn't work.

 

[Norcoredneck]

Looks like you had quite an adventure. Glad you made it safe and sound. Especially like pic with Brethren logo. Thanks for sharing.

 

[keale]

Wow, what a dream! Learning from one of the best, a beautiful countryside! I hope you took good notes!

 

[ZBQ]

Wow, what a dream! Learning from one of the best, a beautiful countryside! I hope you took good notes!

Oh yeah!! I just counted. 6 pages. Front and back. Plus he gave us a 42 page hand out with a TON of info and recipes!

 

[Brauma]

Awesome dude. No question.

The #3 BBQ fantasy. I can see that. Congrats on a great time.

 

[BBQ_MAFIA]

I'm glad you enjoyed and learned so much.
Mrs. Mafia and I had a great time when he did the class on Long Island several months ago.

 

[Markbb]

Man o man

Every thing looks great the Kentucky country side is beautiful , the sidewall blow out is normally a factory defect I'd keep an eye out for the other tires such as bulging....