2013 Do AC Smokin Hot BBQ Recap

Pigheaded BBQ just finished our last competition of the year. We competed at the DO/AC Smokin’ Hot BBQ Championship in Atlantic City, NJ. This was a first year event organized by Ronnie Cates of Smoke on the Water Productions. This event had 85 teams and had to turn away 57 others due to space limitations, The total prize purse was $50,000 and we just had to try our hand at it. We were told by the organizer and sponsors that next year the purse will increase to $100,000. I think they’re going to need a bigger venue. Speaking of venues, this event was held in a very large parking lot across from the Showboat Casino/Hotel. It was very convenient for hotel rooms.

Norma and I arrived at 7:30AM on Friday, as the sites were first come, first served and we got a very good site that was close to the judges’ tent. What was a little unusual was that check in was on Friday and this was a Saturday/Sunday event with nothing going on Friday. That being said, we had plenty of time to set up our site, check into the hotel and relax. Due to their schedules, the rest of the team would be arriving later on Friday and Saturday. We had outstanding neighbors in the adjoining sites and that just makes the whole event more pleasurable. I want to thank Aporkalypse Now, Must Be Smokin Something, and Reel Nauti BBQ for their company and making it like a BBQ family, and not just competitors.

Saturday was a bit more relaxed than a normal comp as we were already set up. We had the cooks meeting at 10AM and meat inspection shortly after that. After the meats were prepped, we prepped some food for dinner and visited the other teams and shared food with each other. We also fed some of the local police and security personnel and just had a good time. A little later, we got down to business and started the competition cook. I know, I know, you not supposed to experiment during a competition but we were trying out two different meats. Since the prize money was so big, we decided to try some very upscale meats for this event. Stephanie procured a SRF Waygu brisket from Huntspoint for us and Mike arraigned to get us a Compart Duroc Pork Butt from BBQ Guru. We were “All In” as they say in AC. We hadn’t cooked either of these meats before and decided it was time to gamble a bit. We were however hedging our bets a bit by also cooking our regular Creekstone Prime brisket and pork butt along with the newbies. The brisket and butts went on at midnight and the cook was on. As usual, ribs and chicken were put on the next morning. After the cook was done, we decided our Waygu brisket turned out better than the Prime and turned it in, but decided our usual pork butt turned out better than the Duroc and turned that one in. It was all in the judges hands now.

After cleaning up, have a few cold beverages to celebrate a pretty smooth cook we went to the awards ceremony hoping to hear our names called and be able to cash in. This event paid down to 20^th place in the categories and 10^th overall. In the chicken category we heard Pigheaded BBQ for the 3^rd place call. That was a great start.  In the ribs category we heard Pigheaded BBQ for the 13^th place call. So far so good. We didn’t hear our name called in the pork category. In the brisket category we heard our name called for 18^th place. So in summation we finished as follows: 3^rd Chicken, 13^th Ribs, 64^th Pork, 18^th Brisket and 15^th overall out of 85 teams. Yes we did have a good cook.

Well our 2013 BBQ competition season is over. We had an up and down year, ending on an up note. A big thanks to all the team, family and friends that supported us all year. We would also like to thank our sponsors, without whose help we wouldn't do as well as we have. Thanks to:
Fordham Brewing Co., Haines Pork Shop, Oakridge BBQ, Pat LaFreida Meats, Stoltzfus BBQ, The BBQ Guru and The BBQ Equipment Store.

Next up for us is Oct 30th. We are the guest chef at World Cafe Live in Wilmington, DE from 6-10PM. Would love to see you there.

2013 NJ State BBQ Championship Wildood, NJ

Well, the NJ State BBQ Championship started out as a wild, wild Wildwood day. Norma and I arrived early Friday morning and were greeted by a light rain. The canopies were quickly put up and the necessary equipment was brought out trying to beat the heavy stuff that was called for due. Stephanie arrived with help in the form of our good friend Billy and they helped complete the set up. Mike, Trina and kids caught the ferry over and Ron v2.0 arrived in the afternoon after conducting some business. It got progressively worse as the day wore on. It ended up quite the deluge with approximately 3.5 inches of rain falling on Friday. Some of our canopies are aging as are we and they weren’t the most watertight shelters. We spent the day diverting water and trying to stay dry, which wasn’t always successful. By the time the 7:00PM cook’s meeting came around, the rain had stopped and we didn’t really have any more weather issues.

The cook’s meeting brought two pleasant surprises. The Iron Chef’s mystery ingredient was Jumbo Shrimp. I know, that’s an oxymoron but we were happy nonetheless. Another surprise at the cook’s meeting was the announcement that the new KCBS scoring system was in effect as of this weekend.   Ron v2.0 and Mike put their heads together and ran out to the store to get more ingredients for the Iron Chef category and Norma got busy cooking for the dessert category. I on the other hand pretty much had the day off as meat inspection and prep for the KCBS categories wasn’t until Saturday. After a long day, Stephanie and Ron held up the fort, while the rest of us retired to our hotel rooms at Flip Flopz, just across the street.

Saturday brought the usual prep work and I must say it felt a little weird.  This competition is a bit of an anomaly in that it is a 3 day event and the KCBS portion is on Sunday. Usually our competitions are held on Friday and Saturday. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it does mess with your mind a bit, at least it does mine. There was prep for the 3 ancillary categories as well as the 4 KCBS categories. Anyway, Saturday was a gorgeous day weather-wise and all went smoothly. Iron Chef turn in was 3:00PM, sauce was 3:30 and Dessert was 4:00PM. We had a number of friends and family stop by and all had fun. Then we got down to business with final prep work and putting the big meats on the pit at midnight. Mike, Ron and myself stayed back at the site and the rest of the crew retired once again to the hotel rooms.

Sunday morning brought about the normal hectic ballet of coordinating of the 4 meats and we felt we had a pretty good cook. Of course no one mentioned that as it usually is a “Kiss of Death”. Whenever we think we had a great cook, we don’t fare well and when we think the cook was so-so, we do better. So while we may say, that tastes pretty good,  no one will predict how it will score. The usual turn in times applied and chicken turn is was noon, ribs 12:30, pork at 1 and brisket at 1:30. All turn ins were on time and now it was time to start cleaning up and waiting for the awards ceremony at 4:30.

It was blazing hot by 4:30 and we waited out in the sun for the ceremony to start. We didn’t hear our name called for either Iron Chef or Sauce, but did have a top 10 call for dessert (7^th). The chicken category was next and we heard Pigheaded BBQ called for 6^th place. A 3^rd place Ribs call was next, but alas no calls in Pork or Brisket. We did feel that we had a good cook and finished as follows:

Iron Chef 18^th, Sauce 39^th, Dessert 7^th, Chicken 6^th, Ribs 3^rd, Pork 15^th and Brisket 34^th. Overall we finished 10^th out of 65 teams. No bad, but not as good as we’d hoped. Congrats to Local Smoke for their GC, Rib’s Within for RGC and one of our sponsors BBQ Guru who finished 3^rd. WTG guys, congrats on your good cooks. We also want to give a shout out to our friends and neighbors, Slower Lower and Finn’s Finest for putting up with our crowds and antics. You guys are the best. Thank you also to all the friends and family that showed up to lend their support. It means a lot to us. Our next competition is in Laurel, MD for the Sam’s Club local event in August 16-17. Hope to see you there.

 

2013 Que For The Troops

On 5/31, Pigheaded headed out to Levittown, PA to participate in the Que for the Troops BBQ competition. This is the first year we competed here. We had a choice of two different competitions this weekend, but the fact that the proceeds from this one would benefit the Liberty USO, hence the troops was the deciding factor. The venue for this event was the Falls Township Park, which was very nice. Large level grass sites made the hot weather tolerable and we would definitely do this event again. We decided to leave very early Friday morning to get through Philly before the rush hour traffic. We actually made very good time and it only took an hour and a half to get there. After getting our site, the game plan was to set up as early as possible to avoid the heat of the afternoon. We had a set of extra hands in the guise of Linda Lucas helping us at this event. Linda is a CBJ and wanted to experience what the competition teams did to see how the product is produced that ends up on the judges table. We benefited greatly from her enthusiasm as she totally immersed herself in every aspect of the weekend from setting up and prepping, to cleaning up and taking down the site after all the categories were turned in. We sincerely hope she isn’t permanently scarred from the exposure to our family’s antics, as we put the Fun in dysfunctional. One thing that was different about this competition was the fact that due to the hot weather, we decided to forego the Chef’s Choice and Dessert categories and take Friday afternoon as easy as possible. While we didn’t know what to do with ourselves during this normally busy time, we believe we made the right decision. The normal prep work went pretty smoothly and we settled into our normal routine as Friday evening wore on. After the prep work and the butts and briskets were put in the pits, we sat back and enjoyed a very pleasant evening and even had to pull up a light blanket as the weather cooled for the night. Saturday morning brought about the usual activity and after the provided breakfast we went about the business of trying to wow the judges with our offerings. Well, almost!!! Just about the time that chicken was due to be turned in, Trina made a dramatic exit from the trailer. She stepped onto the step wrong and took a header onto the ground. Lucky for her that the lush grass field softened the blow somewhat. After scaring the hell out of us and cleaning up her cuts, scrapes and icing her neck and hand we found that no major damage was done, except for her pride. It’s a good thing we had 2 nurses onsite. Some people will do anything to get out of clean up. Just kidding Trina, see I told you we’re a dysfunctional family. Despite the drama, turn ins took place as normal and we were pretty happy with our cook. It was now time to clean up, feed friends and some of our country’s finest Marines and wait for the judges’ verdict. We decided to carry a canopy to the awards ceremony to escape the hot rays and settled in to hopefully hear our name called. After the two ancillary categories called, chicken was next and 1st place went to…..Pigheaded BBQ. Wow, what a way to start the awards and the trophies were huge. Alas, we didn’t hear our names again and eagerly poured over the score sheets to see how we fared. Well, we didn’t fare too well. After the 1st place Chicken, we placed: 17th in Ribs, 30th in Pork and 31st in Brisket for a 17th overall finish out of 46 teams. Not the way we had hoped, but at least we did get 1 call. Congrats to Wilbur's Revenge for their GC and Fire & Spice for RGC. We would like to thank our brave service men and women whom we were here to support and wish them all the best of fortune and the safe return to their families. God bless all of America’s service members, as they are our true heroes. Thank you also to the friends and family who continue to support our crazy passion that is competition BBQ. Our next scheduled competition is on July 12-14 in Wildwood, NJ. Pigheaded BBQ is also cooking a pop up “ABC Dinner” at Cantwell Tavern in Odessa, DE on June 17. Cantwell Tavern will supply the sides, beer and cigars and we will cook the brisket.

2013 Middletown Recap

The 2013 Middletown BBQ Cookoff has come and gone, but left us with indelible memories. This competition holds a special place in our heart, as it's our hometown competition and we usually have a lot of guests that stop by. Sorry to our neighboring teams if the throngs (LOL) posed a problem. This competition changed venues last year to Frightland, a local favorite during the Halloween season noted for it's scary haunted tours. Another use for this land are the 2 Mud Runs held annually. The charity supported for all events held here are The Leukemia Research Foundation, a truly deserving charity indeed. What didn't change was the great organizers for this event: Mose Zook& Benuel Riehl from the Middletown Farmer's Market and the Middletown Area Chamber of commerce. As someone mentioned on Facebook following this years event, these folks could give classes on how to organize a BBQ competition. Thank you for all your hard work.We had an eye on the ever changing weather forecast because this venue is a large section of open farmland which could be interesting in the event of a heavy rain. The forecast seemed to change daily and indeed, we seemed to dodge a bullet. Norma and I took the trailer over on Thursday. We took advantage of the whopping 3.6 mile drive and decided to set up early because I had a small catering job that included a Friday pick up and wanted to get set up and prep during the daylight as the power wouldn't be turned on 'till Friday morning. Thursday was an absolutely perfect weather day and the prep and cook went very smooth. I stayed onsite while Norma spent the night at home. At least she didn't have to listen to the rumble strips at the toll booths on Rt. 1 which was just on the other side of Rt. 13 which fronts Frightland.Friday arrived and was another beautiful day. The rest of the team arrived throughout the day and preparations went on for the Chef's Choice and Dessert categories which was due to be turned in at 7:00 & 7:30PM respectively. Meat inspections were held and the prepping the big meats also took place. I would like to thank one of our sponsors, Fordham Brewery for their generous donation of assorted brews. Not only ourselves, but numerous other competitors and judges enjoyed them throughout the day and evening. They really helped to keep us in the mood and enjoy ourselves in the midst of all the prep work and evening socializing. Our site was situated on the end of a row and we had 2 great neighbors, 3 Eyz to one side and Hawg Nation to the rear of us. You can't ask for better neighbors. After the ancillary category turn ins, we had dinner at the site. Trina made the Jambalaya this time along with numerous other morsels and if you were hungry, it was you own fault. Friday evening brought the clouds and the cooler weather and we settled in for the night after putting the big meats on the smokers and had a few more beverages.Saturday morning brought about the usual prep and cooking of the chicken and ribs as well as tending the big meats. The organizers had a breakfast for the competitors, but most of us skipped this for a very nutritional breakfast of donuts from the Farmers Market and a couple of us had scrapple, cheese and egg sandwiches. Thanks to the 2 Annie's for these treats. Aside from a minor (we hoped) mistake with rib timing, (my fault), the cook went pretty smoothly and offered our entries to the judges. We hoped they would be kind and we went about the task of cleaning up. We weren't in a big hurry to break down the site as we usually do, because of the lack of a long drive home. As awards time neared, we grabbed our chairs and ambled over to the stage area and listened to the last few songs sang by a local group "No Strings Attached". We enjoyed the group and waited.At last, the KCBS Reps took the stage and the awards ceremony started. The first category was Chef's Choice and 1st place was won by............. PIGHEADED BBQ. After much whooping and hollering, we waited for the next category, Dessert. This category was won by.......PIGHEADED BBQ. Needless to say we were thrilled at how the awards were starting. The KCBS categories were next and Chicken was announced first. 7th place Chicken was......PIGHEADED BBQ. We didn't hear our name called for Ribs. Pork was next and again we heard PIGHEADED BBQ, this time for 4th place. We were very excited and waited with baited breath for the Brisket category, but alas we didn't hear our name called for that. The final categories were GC, RGC and Best Delaware team. They started out calling the top 5 teams from 5 up and when they got to 3rd Overall they announced PIGHEADED BBQ as "Top Delaware Team" and 3rd overall out of 56 teams. We went a bit nuts as we really wanted the Best Delaware Team award after missing out on it the last 3 years and this is only the 2nd time we finished as high as 3rd overall. Even the rain that fell during awards couldn't dampen our joy at the results. Congrats to our good friends, Dave Marks of Wilbur's Revenge for his first GC and Mike Richter of Chix Swine and Bovine for RGC. Couldn't happen to 2 nicer guys. As usual, thanks to all our sponsors, friends and family who came out to support us and again, thanks to the organizers for another great event. Next up for us is "Que for the Troops" in Levittown, PA on 5/31-6/1. Hope to see you there.

2013 Pork in the Park

Our 2013 BBQ season officially started in Salisbury, MD at the 10th Annual Pork in the Park Festival. We have always looked forward to Salisbury as it historically kicks of the Mid Atlantic BBQ Competition season. This year there were 106 teams competing, down from 133 teams last year. This is the largest BBQ Competition west of Kansas City, or so we’re told. One of the major changes at PITP this year was the absence of the original organizer and good friend to all, Sandy Fulton. This is a long story in itself and I won’t go into the details here. Right up front, I will say that the weather forecast for Friday was anything but inviting. Though Salisbury has had its fair share of bad weather, the forecast had a tornado warning in it. Norma and I arrived around 3 in the afternoon on Thursday. We had heard that the layout of the festival was changed and we wanted to get a good spot, as in “The early bird gets the worm”. When we arrived we requested a spot towards the back, after looking over the site map and seeing that the judges’ tent, Porta Johns and parking were all close to this area. We were shown to a spot that fit this criteria and to top it off, we were right behind Broke Bob’s BBQ. After parking the trailer and setting up the canopy I hooked up the electric and looked for the water connection. It was then that I was informed that there was no running water for the whole section that we were located in. This was not the way I wanted to start our season. You see the team had pitched in and bought a new instant water heater to make it easier to heat water for dishes and whatever. The catch is you can’t use the heater without running water and we didn’t bring our turkey fryer to do that chore as we’ve always done. I was about to request another site when our good neighbor and friend Bob from Broke Bob’s BBQ offered us the use of his turkey fryer. We gratefully accepted and stayed put. It would have been nice to know that only about half the teams would have running water even though we all paid the same amount for our sites. Oh well, moving onward. Thursday night Norma and I stayed in a local hotel and arrived early Friday morning to resume setting up the site. Trina & Mike along with Michael and Maddie arrived soon after and the site quickly took shape. Since the forecast was so bad, we decided to set up with as minimum amount of equipment as possible. Pat, Bertie and Stephanie arrived a bit later and after meat inspection, we went about prepping the meats, then had the afternoon to relax. This gave us time to walk around and visit friends we hadn’t seen since last year. It’s always fun to catch up and see what everyone did over the winter and what comps they planned on doing this year. Around 7:30PM or so, most of the crew went back to the hotel for the evening and myself, Mike and Stephanie settled in for the evening. The band on stage made an announcement about 8:30 or so that under the direction of the Sherriff’s Dept, the festival was closing for the night due to the impending storm. Nothing makes you feel quite as good as know that you’re about to spend the night under a canopy in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. We got the pits lit and the butts and brisket on before the storm hit and tried to relax. When the storm did hit it hit with a vengeance and we scrambled around securing equipment, duct taping canopy sides that ripped away from the supports and kept our finger crossed. The worst of the storm was from 2:30-5:30AM Saturday morning and after a very long night we emerged. A bit wet and very tired, but thankful that no major damage occurred and nobody was injured, though a few canopies did not survive the night. Despite battling the storm and pit temperatures we were in pretty good shape. Saturday morning brought calm skies, hot coffee and we went about our prep for chicken and ribs. The cook went pretty well and we thought we turned out some pretty good BBQ. The whole clan was back by now and we boxed up our entries and turned them into the judges. It was all in their hands now. After relaxing for a bit and going over the cook in our heads, it was time to start cleaning up and breaking down the site. Awards were scheduled for 5:00PM and we carried our chairs to the stage and listened to Smokin Gunzz for awhile before awards started. We didn’t cook any of the ancillary categories because we didn’t know when the weather was going to hit and instead concentrated on the 4 main categories. Chicken was the first of those announced and we didn’t hear Pigheaded BBQ called for an award. Alas we did not hear Pigheaded BBQ called for any of the awards. Score sheets were to be passed out after the Grand Champion was announced and with baited breath I went up and received ours. The results were: 28th overall out of 106 teams. Chicken-12th, Ribs-42nd, Pork-69th and Brisket 49th. While these were certainly not the results we hoped for, we realized that that it was definitely better than the last 2 years here. We generally consider Salisbury our test comp before the season begins and hope to get better from here. I want to congratulate Jay from 4:20 Q for winning GC and Bob & Kenny from BBQ Guru for RGC. Great cook guys. As always it was good to see our BBQ friends and thanks for the support from all of our family and friends. Next up is our hometown competition in Middletown on May 17-18. Hope to see you there.