State of Michigan BBQ Overall Results

This is my youngest daughter Nora- the official mascot of grilladelic.

Here are the overall results for the competition.  For those “in the know”….some pretty tough teams (the meat is tender, but the teams are tough).

Overall:
1 Shigs-In-Pit
2 Up in Smoke & Chet Too
3 CancerSucksChicago.com
4 Doctor Porkenstein
5 Smokin’ Scotsmen
6 Down Home BBQ
7 Rubbed Smoked & Sauced
8 Homefires Burnin’ BBQ Tm
9 Bavarian Smoke BBQ
10 KRE Smokers
11 Pigs-N-Digs BBQ Tm
12 Grilladelic (we could of been a contender! Curse you brisket)
13 All Day Smoke
14 Extreme Rosters
15 DNA Hog Farm
16 BBQ Mole
17 Jus Blowin’ Smoke
18 Great Lakes BBQ & Feed C
19 Chuckwagon
20 Dr. Chuckie’s BBQ
21 Straight Meat BBQ Boys
22 Second Hand Smokers
23 Port-A-Jon’s BBQ
24 Bag O Bones
25 Voogt Farms
26 Cole Pepper
27 Taters-N-Grits
28 The Smokin’ Pigs
29 Pork Pimps
30 Squirrels 2 BBQ
31 Big Moe’s BBQ
32 Bar-B-Que Skis
33 Hog Wild BBQ
34 Schultz’s Backyard BarBQ
35 Smokin’ Wally’s BBQ
36 Jimmy’s
37 Bone Lick BBQ & Grill Tm
38 Buffalo Bros Outdoor Coo
39 Meat Wagon Rescue Grille
40 Midwest Livestock & BBQ

Pride Goeth Before the Fall

The Brisket King is dead.  Long Live the Brisket King.

As you might surmise, the “brisket king” was trounced in the State of Michigan BBQ Competition.  Yes….I was in the bottom ten instead of the top ten.  The only good news on the brisket front was that the beating was self-inflicted.

Poor choice of meat and lack of attention to the cook.  To make a long story short, I bought an untrimmed brisket and did not anticipate the amount of fat that cooked off, starting an early morning grease fire.  From that point, I attempted to recover, but the brisket ended up being very dry….something I thought I had worked through with my foil wrap technique.

However, my mistake in technique was not fully wrapping (crimping the foil tight around the brisket) the meat and instead I just let it simmer in a foil pan, leaving the top 30% of the brisket exposed to the dry winds of a Weber kettle.

Not all was lost however.  Team Grilladelic took 12th overall (out of 39 teams) and had a 5th in chicken and 7th in ribs.  If only the brisket had cooperated…I could of been a contender!

As I wrote earlier, I was gunning for a top 15 finish and two walks.  I accomplished that and now will focus my efforts on the Silver Lake Barbecue Competition!

Pictures of the fun weekend to follow!

Showtime! Grilladelic vs. Goliaths

Tomorrow is the big day….The State of Michigan BBQ Competition.  Team Grilladelic will be trying to throw a monkey wrench into the aspirations of many of the “pros”….especially the “pellet poopers” (thermostaticly controlled, electric driven augers that poop wood pellets into a firebox). How these smokers/grills are considered legal in a competition that does not allow gas or electric heat is beyond me.

However, in the wisdom of more experienced BBQ pro’s like Dr. BBQ, it doesn’t really matter what you cook on….if you are good, you are good….bring it on!

For this event I am using my Weber kettles for the brisket, pork and chicken and my Hasty Bake for the ribs.  I am just a backyard guy, hauling, setting up, cooking, cleaning and tearing down my site….just a humble BBQ grunt, hoping for a few call outs.  Just a deluded grill junkie thinking he can take home a few trophies…

Actually, I am just hoping to have fun, spend time with my kids and friends and catch up with folks I have not seen in a few years.

Here are the events;

Friday

Veggies- 7:00 pm

Potatoes- 7:30 pm

Beans – 8:oo pm

Dessert- 8:30 pm

Saturday

Chicken- 12:00 pm

Ribs-  12:30

Pork- 1:00 pm

Brisket- 1:30 pm

Stop by friday night around 6:00 for a cold one and few samples.

Summer Books for a BBQ Lifestyle

Besides the joys of cooking over an open fire, good friends, family, music, cold beverages and craic; another component of the grilladelic lifestyle is a good book.  When it comes to a low and slow cook; ribs, brisket, butt, it is nice and easy to kill a few hours in relaxing with a book between the prep and the party.

I recently discovered a new author that I have really enjoyed reading a couple of his books:  Don Winslow.  The books were The Power of the Dog and The Winter of Frankie Machine. Both were great reads.

The Power is a story based on the Mexican drug wars of the 1980’s and 1990’s (with a complex backstory) and Frankie is a west coast mafia story that is terrific (think Soprano’s and Goodfella’s)

So although books might be considered the red headed step child in the barbecue lifestyle, if it makes the grill master relaxed, it is a good thing.

Brown Sugar Finished Ribs

As promised, here are the results from my brown sugar finished ribs.

First, I could of used more brown sugar (surprisingly).  Next time I will really pack it on.

Second.  I need a spicier rub.  I used Stubb’s BBQ Rub….Need more heat to contrast to the sweetness of the brown sugar.

Third.  It was good…good enough to do it again after a little tweaking.

I do recommend you try this…..

(Add the brown sugar to the ribs after about 2-3 hours…, wrap in foil and place back on grill for another 45-60 minutes…..Unwrap, add sauce and then serve.)

Here are a few visuals:

Fred Eaglesmith and Amen to BBQ Brother!

As last reported, I was on a family vacation at Drummond Island (eastern upper peninsula in Michigan). Radio reception is not always that great, but one station that came in was Canada’s version of NPR.

Coming back from a whitefish dinner at the Northwood Inn, I was half listening/half watching out for deer crossing the road, when the host of a radio show began interviewing Canadian musician, Fred Eaglesmith. Never heard of him, wasn’t that interested. Then, all of a sudden, they played a track from his new CD- Tinderbox, and I was sold…hook, line and sinker. The song was called; Get on Your Knees. It was over before I had a chance to really process how good the tune was and soon I was back at the cabin, but I made a mental note to check this guy out (hoping I could remember his name in a few days).

Three days later I am back in Grand Rapids, and going to the WYCE offices to pick up a few more CD’s to review…and there it was; Fred Eaglesmith’s Tinderbox.

The fickle finger of fate smiled down on me again. If you are fans of Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen and great songwriting..this is one CD should check out. Tinderbox has a southern Baptist/Pentacostal, fire-and-brimstone, get-on-your-knees-and-pray, can-I-get-an-AMEN-from the choir, feel to it….In other words, perfect for a Sunday barbecue.

In fact, Fred is inspiring me to try a new rib technique this Saturday…hopefully I am filled with the spirit of the holy smoke as I try to coax a new flavor from a few racks of ribs (baby backs).

I will report back on the results, but to make a long story shorter, this new technique was something I “accidentally” observed last year at a BBQ Competition. A friend (and BBQ Champion….name to be withheld to protect myself) was finishing his ribs before turn in….From what I could tell, the ribs were done (visually), but he still had about 90 minutes before they were due. Maybe they needed a little more tendering up….Anyway, he had the racks of ribs layed out and was covering them in brown sugar (heavy cover) and then stacking them up and wrapping in tin foil. He then placed them back in his smoking chamber and walked away.

That is all I know….how long did he leave them? I don’t know. Was it just brown sugar? I don’t know. How cooked were they at that point? I don’t know. What was his dry rub? I don’t know. How hot was his grill? I don’t know. How well did he do? I do know he was in the top three…

There you go….if you believe in fate, karma or luck, it does not matter. Just like I was meant to be turned on to Fred Eaglesmith, I was meant to stumble on this barbecue secret….(I just need to figure out a few details)

So, on Saturday, I am going to go with the brown sugar finish, a spicy dry rub and Big Ricks on the side…I will let you know.

(both photo’s are from Fred’s website)