The Grande Gringos team went to the base of operations for the Lone Star Social Club yesterday morning to help them get some preparatory work done for the cook off. We met the rest of the Lone Star team and had a good time. Phil and Kim once again were great hosts and it is always nice to see them. The wood is stacked, the pits are cleaned out and the paint has been refreshed.
The closer it gets to the actual kick off time for the cook, the more excited I get. I know that we are about to be a part of something very exciting and I am sure there will be plenty of drunks throughout the entire cook off, which means lots of debauchery. I have never been out there but I am sure it is not a place for kids, so please leave your children at home ladies and gentlemen. Nothing worse than seeing parents bring their kids out to a function where drinking and partying is the main event. We all know that BBQ cook offs are known for a little drinking and partying the night before the cook, so I can only imagine what is about to unfold at an event such as this one.
We will be there and hope to see you there. The drinks will never end and the BBQ will be the best you can get anywhere. Smile, enjoy life and be nice to someone today.
Frankenpit
Hook Em' Horns
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Pitfalls and Traps
This post is about those pitfalls and traps that we get ourselves into, especially during competitions. Lets start with the most important thing about a competition BBQ cook. Have fun. Simple. Just go out there and have a great time doing what you obviously love to do. I say love because, you have to love it to continue doing it. It is not cheap and it is a ton of work. You darn sure don't do it for the money.
Secondly. Spending time with other people that share your passion is a great way to spend the weekend in this BBQ cooks opinion.
Thirdly. For the call to the stage. No matter what you cook, how long you have been cooking, whether you are an enthusiast, hobbyist or BBQ junkie; we all love gettin those calls to the stage. When your numbers are called out and you get to strut your butt up onto the stage and get that prize, no matter how big or little, it makes that night of no sleep and all the spent money worth it.
It is these three things that get us caught up in the pitfalls and traps of competition BBQ. I have a friend that has been cooking competition que about a year longer than I have. He is a pretty darn good BBQ'er and his brisket turns out great most of the time. His pitfall is wanting that first place call so bad he will try anything to get it. That leads him into the trap if inconsistency. He changes things so often, chasing that first, that inconsistency kills his chances.
When you find a way to cook a Brisket, the worst cut of meat from the toughest place on the whole darn cow, that makes it tender and juicy with a nice smoke ring; don't change it. Flavors can be changed around without much of an issue, but preparation and cook styles must be repeated over and over to get the desired result. If you change your cook times, temperatures and preparation methods every time you go out because last time you did not score high enough, you will never score high unless you get a fluke. Then it will kill you trying to repeat that win.
We have fallen into that very trap ourselves. The truth of it is I trapped myself and cost myself, and team, a lot of time and money. Our very first competition we got a few calls and one of them was for third place brisket. I thought that was awesome, at the time. Then when you are making that long drive back home at the end of the weekend, you start laying the ground work for a trap that will take you out of the running for the next competition.
You are driving along tired and your mind is racing about the past few days events and then you start to think, what could I have done differently to get that brisket to first place? So the next weekend during competition you have a whole new plan for brisket. I am going to change my cook times and temps, I am going to change the way I prep it and all the rubs and injections I use. That is exactly what I did. Ended up setting in my chair at the awards ceremony while all the other teams got calls to the stage.
I learned then that consistency will win out over experimentation almost every time. I went back to my original brisket method and have gotten a top ten call on it almost every cook since. Changing everything I was doing was only hindering my chances not helping them. Don' get me wrong, changes and experimenting will help you improve you brisket, but once you get a winning combination working don't throw it out and start over every week. Competitions are not the place to be experimenting anyway. Do that at home on your off time.
This goes with any meat category. Not just Brisket. No matter what you do or how you cook it, there is that one wild card you have absolutely no control over. The one thing that will rush your butt to the stage or bite you in it and ruin your day. The judges. They are different at every event and none, well most of them are not trained to be judges. They needed judges so they ask people walking around the cook off if they would like to. There you go. The wild card. Judges.
Cook your Que they way that works for you. Cook it consistently and eventually you will hit the right judging table on the right day for your call to the first place stand. Maybe even the GC slot. Just don't give up, be consistent, only experiment at home and have fun. Always have fun and enjoy yourself, if you don't do that then don't go cook anymore.
Avoid the pitfalls and traps. Enjoy your time cooking with your team mates and meet new people. Smile, say hello to a stranger and who knows, they may be your next friend in the Que.
Secondly. Spending time with other people that share your passion is a great way to spend the weekend in this BBQ cooks opinion.
Thirdly. For the call to the stage. No matter what you cook, how long you have been cooking, whether you are an enthusiast, hobbyist or BBQ junkie; we all love gettin those calls to the stage. When your numbers are called out and you get to strut your butt up onto the stage and get that prize, no matter how big or little, it makes that night of no sleep and all the spent money worth it.
It is these three things that get us caught up in the pitfalls and traps of competition BBQ. I have a friend that has been cooking competition que about a year longer than I have. He is a pretty darn good BBQ'er and his brisket turns out great most of the time. His pitfall is wanting that first place call so bad he will try anything to get it. That leads him into the trap if inconsistency. He changes things so often, chasing that first, that inconsistency kills his chances.
When you find a way to cook a Brisket, the worst cut of meat from the toughest place on the whole darn cow, that makes it tender and juicy with a nice smoke ring; don't change it. Flavors can be changed around without much of an issue, but preparation and cook styles must be repeated over and over to get the desired result. If you change your cook times, temperatures and preparation methods every time you go out because last time you did not score high enough, you will never score high unless you get a fluke. Then it will kill you trying to repeat that win.
We have fallen into that very trap ourselves. The truth of it is I trapped myself and cost myself, and team, a lot of time and money. Our very first competition we got a few calls and one of them was for third place brisket. I thought that was awesome, at the time. Then when you are making that long drive back home at the end of the weekend, you start laying the ground work for a trap that will take you out of the running for the next competition.
You are driving along tired and your mind is racing about the past few days events and then you start to think, what could I have done differently to get that brisket to first place? So the next weekend during competition you have a whole new plan for brisket. I am going to change my cook times and temps, I am going to change the way I prep it and all the rubs and injections I use. That is exactly what I did. Ended up setting in my chair at the awards ceremony while all the other teams got calls to the stage.
I learned then that consistency will win out over experimentation almost every time. I went back to my original brisket method and have gotten a top ten call on it almost every cook since. Changing everything I was doing was only hindering my chances not helping them. Don' get me wrong, changes and experimenting will help you improve you brisket, but once you get a winning combination working don't throw it out and start over every week. Competitions are not the place to be experimenting anyway. Do that at home on your off time.
This goes with any meat category. Not just Brisket. No matter what you do or how you cook it, there is that one wild card you have absolutely no control over. The one thing that will rush your butt to the stage or bite you in it and ruin your day. The judges. They are different at every event and none, well most of them are not trained to be judges. They needed judges so they ask people walking around the cook off if they would like to. There you go. The wild card. Judges.
Cook your Que they way that works for you. Cook it consistently and eventually you will hit the right judging table on the right day for your call to the first place stand. Maybe even the GC slot. Just don't give up, be consistent, only experiment at home and have fun. Always have fun and enjoy yourself, if you don't do that then don't go cook anymore.
Avoid the pitfalls and traps. Enjoy your time cooking with your team mates and meet new people. Smile, say hello to a stranger and who knows, they may be your next friend in the Que.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
New Season Beginning
It has been about six weeks since my last post and things have been busy. Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone for another year it is getting closer and closer to BBQ Tour time. Originally we had decided to cook the Hold 'Em and Hit 'Em cook off in January, but after much thought and discussion we decided it was not going to work well with our other plans.
We have been invited to cook with the Lone Star Social Club at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year. That will be our first run of the season. Even though it is their event and set up we are all pretty excited to be given the opportunity to help them out. Phil Brust is a very knowledgeable cook and I am going to steal as many ideas and techniques from him as I possibly can.
After the rodeo our next cook will not be until April. I don't know if they are having the Texas Music Festival in Hempstead again this year but if they do it will be our kick off solo cook again. We are going to try and hit the same ones we did last year and maybe a few new ones along the way.
Well that is it. That is what we are up to and why there have not been any updates recently. Keeping up all three blogs is time consuming but I promise to keep on it as best I can. Have a great day and as always, be nice and smile. Life is good.
We have been invited to cook with the Lone Star Social Club at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year. That will be our first run of the season. Even though it is their event and set up we are all pretty excited to be given the opportunity to help them out. Phil Brust is a very knowledgeable cook and I am going to steal as many ideas and techniques from him as I possibly can.
After the rodeo our next cook will not be until April. I don't know if they are having the Texas Music Festival in Hempstead again this year but if they do it will be our kick off solo cook again. We are going to try and hit the same ones we did last year and maybe a few new ones along the way.
Well that is it. That is what we are up to and why there have not been any updates recently. Keeping up all three blogs is time consuming but I promise to keep on it as best I can. Have a great day and as always, be nice and smile. Life is good.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Catering
Just finished up a little catering job we picked up. It was enjoyable cooking for money that I did not have to compete against a bunch of other cookers to get. Honestly while I was sitting in the driveway all night last night watching the temperature on the pit, I was thinking about how many teams there are out there that do catering, and the number is staggering. I wonder how they got started? I figure you place good in a few competitions and you automatically think you are smoking cater quality meats. I will however admit that not just everyone can smoke BBQ the way competition cooks do. I have found that competition cooks take a little more pride in their cooks and spend way more time perfecting their flavor profiles. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of backyard cooks that do very well, my Grandfather for instance, he was quite an accomplished BBQ smoker, but he did cook competitions. The only problem was back then there were not a lot and a person could only cook two or three a year without traveling long distances. I guess what I am saying is, how do you know when you have a product good enough for people to pay you for it? At what point do you make the transition over to caterer from just competition cook? I think for me it was when strangers began telling me that our BBQ was great.
The catering job is complete and I feel pretty good about it. They liked the meat and I liked knowing that I did something to make someone elses day little better. I look forward to more of these little catering jobs in the future. I hope that the guests at their party enjoy the food as well. I have been up for 40 hours non stop so I know I am rambling. I will go for now but I looking forward to the Hold and Hit Em cook off in January with much anticipation and excitement. Hopefully we will see you there.
November 20, 2011
Today is the day after the event mentioned above. I just wanted to add this to the blog because it was pretty awesome. I received several phone calls today from people just wanting to tell me how good the BBQ was. It was not only unexpected, it was really great to hear from them. There it is once again, like I have said many times; getting that recognition and knowing that perfect strangers loved your BBQ, well that truly is the best part of it all. Have a great week ladies and gentlemen and say something nice to somebody you don't know.
The catering job is complete and I feel pretty good about it. They liked the meat and I liked knowing that I did something to make someone elses day little better. I look forward to more of these little catering jobs in the future. I hope that the guests at their party enjoy the food as well. I have been up for 40 hours non stop so I know I am rambling. I will go for now but I looking forward to the Hold and Hit Em cook off in January with much anticipation and excitement. Hopefully we will see you there.
November 20, 2011
Today is the day after the event mentioned above. I just wanted to add this to the blog because it was pretty awesome. I received several phone calls today from people just wanting to tell me how good the BBQ was. It was not only unexpected, it was really great to hear from them. There it is once again, like I have said many times; getting that recognition and knowing that perfect strangers loved your BBQ, well that truly is the best part of it all. Have a great week ladies and gentlemen and say something nice to somebody you don't know.
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