The Crack

It's early. I'm up at 5 am today to get in for a Big catering job today. General Electric has an aviation plant about 30 minutes north of here and they've ordered food for each of three shifts at their plant. Nice managers, and I have no idea what the occasion is.

This means a delivery this morning at 4am, 11am and 6pm for some 12oo people.

The last two days we cooked 160 briskets, 210 slabs of ribs and prepped 300 pounds each of green beans, barbeque baked beans, smoked turkey and more to fill their order.

Though the numbers are impressive, I'm still trying to figure out the profitability of the place. It must be good with jobs like this, but I haven't been granted access to the books. Yet...

Saturday sees us going north again to Kansas, to serve bbq for 600 dedicated NRA members celebrating something (perhaps Obama's approval rating). That'll be interesting.

Good times.

MudFest 2010

Back from the Red Dirt BBQ Competition, another Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned event. But it was more of a water-logged rain-fest than anything else. And what a difference in atmosphere.

It rained continuously all weekend and the event took on a much more serious, subdued feeling, while not altering the essentials for a bbq competition. While last week's cook-off had a tail-gate vibe with lots of smiles, chatting and beer, this week's seemed more earnest in some ways as competitors fought the elements.

Those with split log cookers struggled to keep their temperatures accurate throughout the day and especially the night as the weather went up and down consistently all weekend. Most of the wood smokers are not insulated and thus their captains have to balance the amount of wood added with the temperature required and with the quantity of smoke desired - i.e. a tough job. On the other end of the spectrum are the cooks with insulated smokers, mostly pellet fires, who weren't much affected by the chilly weather. However, the amount of smoke, and the resulting flavour produced by these two types of competitors is as different from each other as a boiled hot dog is from a grilled one.

What really stood out at this competition is how unconventional bbq cooks are. Most Pit Masters (I could say chefs, but read on for the point), have little to no culinary education or in many cases practical experience outside of bbq. I'd be surprised if most knew what a mirepoix is, let alone miramax. Many cooks use melted butter and/or rendered bacon fat to add flavour and sheen to their meats, but I spoke to only one who bothered to clarify the former first and no rendered duck fat in sight. Lastly, not one competitor that I saw used any cooking method other than the smoker itself - no pans, torches, pots (except for sauce or beans), grills, ovens....

However, I'm just observing here, not judging (that's next week). Bottom line, their food is routinely fabulous. On a side note, I spoke with a judge who had to disqualify a competitor in the pork shoulder category because a toothpick was found in the bottom of the container, clearly an accident. He said it was far and away the best he'd tasted, boourns.

And taste I did. Everyone was nice and offered up samples after they had submitted their category. Ribs have crusty, yet sometimes chewy bark while the meat remains tender and pulls away from the bone with minimal tug - saw a lot more St. Louis cuts here than last week. Brisket is moist, smoky and tender with a similar bark, like burnt ends, that should sell at gas stations instead of jerky.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Great eating. Saw some cool smokers too.

Back at the restaurant, it was a relatively slow week, so I just focused on the routine there. I did start experimenting with chicken wings on the smoker, results to come.

We also catered the prom this Saturday night (there's only one), for the 400 graduating students. They actually have a promenade where the students file in, in couples, outside the venue for the parents and the whole town to watch. I feel bad for those who went stag.

As they see it

I didn't mention it because it wasn't yet published, but on my fourth day I was interviewed - fifth day photographed. I've since been recognized almost everywhere I've been. Got to love the small town life, really.

http://poncacitynews.com/templates/lifestyle/153752672545285.bsp

STILLWATER!!!

The BBQ experience continues at record pace.

Stillwater, Oklahoma - April 9 & 10. Blazathon State Championship Cook-off.

http://www.blazathon.com/Stillwater_Elks_Lodge_Blazathon/blazathon.com.html

This is a classic BBQ competition - exactly like the Pit Masters show, minus the drama (it was actually quite relaxed, at least until turn-in times). It is run by and according to KCBS rules, i.e. the Kansas City Barbeque Society (kcbs.us). That means that judging is blind. Competitors turn in numbered boxes that groups of judges then sample and mark on a scale from 1 - 10. If the mark is under 4, they are required to explain why. Judges are also not allowed to discuss the food as they eat it. The food is evaluated in three categories: Taste, appearance and texture. I was also told that appearance is weighted

less than the other categories. At least 6 portions are required for each of the following meats: Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulder (the cut for pulled pork), and then beef brisket.

Stillwater is only 45 minutes from Ponca City, so I drove down for about 2pm on Friday, just as the competitors were arriving and setting up their smokers and kitchens. I was invited by a competitor (who is also the guy who connected me with Head Country BBQ initially), who cooks for his company, Cookshack - manufacturers of smokers and other BBQ products.

www.cookshack.com

This is early in the season, so a lot of competitors came to test their off-season recipes and cooking method tweaking. A little more than 40 teams showed up. It's not really open to the public, so my being attached to a team helped entirely for the access that I got.

Here's the process:

noon - 4pm - Competitors arrive, sign in and have their meat inspected to check for quality and that the meat has not been prepared in any way.

4pm ish - Cooks meeting for rules, times and general scheduling.

4-6pm - Teams prep their meat. Rubs, marinades, injections, brines...

6-7pm - Smokers are fired up to attain the cooking temperature and smoke quantity desired.

6pm ish until morning - at various times, teams will start cooking their brisket and pork shoulders. Some smoke these cuts for up to 17 hours, others for as little as 6. This variance illustrates the two philosophies of smoking: low and slow, and hot and fast.

Also in the evening... well, it's pretty much a party. There was karaoke, a lot of light beer and little stress. I stayed until about 11:30pm and people were still going strong.

Next Day: Teams wake up at various hours. The hot and fast guys, who haven't lit their ques yet, get up at 4am ish to get started. Most others are up at around 6. However, many teams have been smoking all night, so lots don't sleep much at all. Those with split wood smokers have to tend the fires constantly to manage the smoke and heat. The others with pellet bbqs and digital monitoring are resting a lot easier.

6 - 1st turn in: ribs go on for about 4 hours, chicken needs only about 1 to 1 and a half, depending on the team. Final checks on brisket and shoulder into...

10:30am, 1st turn-in: Chicken. Thighs (and some breasts), are mostly de-boned, skin removed, brined and seasoned overnight, then finished with skin replaced, and a gloss of sauce.

11am - ribs. I saw some St. Louis cuts, but mostly baby-backs. Those I tasted were, for lack of words, perfect.

11:30am - pork shoulder

noon - brisket

Results were announced at 3pm, when all votes were tallied and verified.

In all, it was a ton of fun and the best bbq that I've ever tasted. The teams worked really hard to produce amazing quality bbq - so much so, that I realized that this level of quality is NOT feasible for a restaurant system. I learned a ton, ate great and made some key contacts from within the circuit.

Everyone was super nice and let me taste all of their food and were extremely open to questions on their methods (though many keep sauces and rub recipes very secret). The only drama like that you see on Pit Masters came at turn-in time when everyone's stressed to meet the deadline and managing last-minute problems. Otherwise, the teams were friendly and completely NON-competitive. Speaking of the show, I spoke with one guy who was invited to send in an audition tape for the next season.

And who is it?

Paul Schatte, General Manager at Head Country BBQ. I hadn't met him beforehand because he works at their main office at the site of their sauce bottling plant - that will be post-coming. I'm definitely in the right place.

Next weekend - Enid, Oklahoma. http://reddirtbbq.com

Note: A win at this event or Blazathon (or any KCBS sanctioned competition), gains the Team an invitation to the American Royal Barbeque competition which takes place on the first weekend in October. This is the world's largest BBQ competition and everyone who thinks they can smoke wants in. Additionally, a win also enters the winning team into a state lottery for a place at the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque - also a huge competition on the circuit.

A Week of Firsts

I won't constantly give play-by-plays, but while it's still new, I have describe it. And though I'm sure these postings are standard for commercial bbq'ers out there - those of you not accustomed to the sheer volume of a professional BBQ kitchen have to take a step back.

I'm actually losing weight here eating bbq everyday (no, I'm not tired of it yet - I'll get into the goodies at Head Country BBQ later), no shit - this business works you.

After the brisket-a-thon on Monday, the rest of the BBQ week was stimulating to say the least.

On Tuesday I loaded 1500 chicken quarters, filling an entire smoker (now that's 6 trays per rotisserie - 6 rotisseries in the smoker). That took a while, with a lot of lifting and bending - and this is their back-up smoker that I was using, the other was full with the day's regular cuts of brisket, ribs and some pork shoulder. A whack of chicken - every one of them shiny, trimmed and ready for the smoker courtesy of the great people at Tyson.

Wednesday was rib day, in prep for all-you-can eat ribs on Friday. That's 216 racks of side-ribs, averaging roughly 5 or 6 pounds a shot. Looking at them all is amazing.

Preparation for all meats takes place one or two days beforehand. The meat is rubbed with Head Country signature spice blend - it's great (I don't know exactly what's in it, and I didn't ask - I figured that would be bad form, they sell it). Then it's stacked in tubs in the walk-in until needed. This is also part of my duties.

Today shaped up to be a little more calm until I cut myself washing knives and had to visit the local walk-in for some mending. This was amazing for a number of reasons, though not for the slash itself - which was actually the worst I've ever had with knives (stuff was creeping out of the hole, and I'm not talking about blood).

This was the first time that I've needed medical help in the U.S. I was taken to the walk-in because I was told that the emergency room would charge double for the same work. Right. Filling out the myriad forms was entertaining, not only for the quantity of them and the useless info they were asking for, but trying to write while holding a cloth to bleeding hand (which they didn't give me while filling out the papers).

Additionally entertaining was explaining to the staff that I didn't have medical insurance and that this procedure would not cost anything in Canada - this explanation was continued in detail after stitching to the intense interest of the staff. They ultimately didn't care how I was hurt or who my insurer was when I paid for it with a credit card, $220 bones. Classic.

So after 7 stitches and nearly 2 hours later, I returned for the lunch rush.

Beefahontas

ahoy, I'll tell you - this is not a night-owl's business. Started the day at 5:30am, need to get the smokers going in time to meet the lunch rush. Luckily (kind of), I'm currently staying only a 9 iron from the restaurant, a propitious commute. If the meat's not on by 7:30, they risk heating up frozen, pre-cooked ribs - which, by the way, heat up in 30 minutes at 250 degrees, and they claim that little taste is lost - I've yet to try them that way.

Today, aside from the regular demand in the restaurant, there was a monstrous catering order for brisket - I seasoned them yesterday and plopped it into the fridge overnight and then today, loaded just under 200 briskets into two smokers. That's some beef.

Here's the process, to give you some idea of the work:

Briskets come in boxes individually wrapped in plastic. They're opened, seasoned with rub in sealable plastic crates (in a plastic bag), then kept overnight. In the morning, they're put in the smoker on the lowest racks (because those have the lowest temperature), and smoked for around two hours at around 260 degrees (time variation in lieu of brisket size is irrelevant, due to the total load size and accessibility to each brisket in the smoker). The briskets are then individually wrapped in foil and placed back in the smoker for another hour - remember there were 194 of these babies - averaging 6 pounds each. That's zen work if there ever was any.

Lastly, the briskets are loaded into cooling racks and rolled into the walk-in freezer for quick cooling. However, because of the sheer quantity of briskets (the heat emanating from the mass actually dropped the temperature of the moderated freezer by enough degrees that it couldn't do the trick!), it took longer than expected to cool those suckers. We had to move them into the other walk-in freezer, kept at a lower temperature.

Great day. My back hurts and I smell like smoke, the good kind.

Stage 1 - Ponca City, Oklahoma

It's a beautiful morning. The sun's shining, it's hot and there's lots of pick-up trucks screaming by my hotel window. It's a great sound to wake up to, seriously. I'd like to say I'm not in Kansas anymore, but I didn't drive through it to get here - I'm just south, in Ponca City, in Northern Oklahoma.

I'm here to learn BBQ in a town with a great tradition in the meat, not to mention oil and Obama's heritage. But I'll keep to the BBQ.

Yesterday was my first day at Head Country BBQ, in business since 1949 and famous as much for their sauce as their meat. They've agreed to take me on as an apprentice in preparation for my own restaurant opening in Toronto.

Thus, the BBQ stage, so to speak. I'll jump to the goods from day 1 and get to more of the background in another post.

So here's the goods:

Day 1: 108 racks of ribs

32 beef briskets

50 chicken breasts

and a Turkey.

Not a bad start. Already more ribs and brisket than I've ever prepared in my life - and I've cooked a lot of them.

The basics: They use a large Southern Pride Rotisserie Smoker, the XLR 1400. That means that the racks rotate within the machine, self-basting the meat. It's gas powered and they use Pecan Wood for their smoke flavour profile.

I'll get into the details later, I've got to go and find a place to live while smoking in Ponca City.

ahoy