PigheadedBBQ

2011 BBQ Season Recap

2011-09-18T12:16:00.012-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ had it's best year ever in 2011. It looks like the teamwork and practice is starting to pay off. Although we ended the season on a low note at the
3rd Annual Southern York County BBQ Cook Off in Shrewsbury, we still had a very good year. Yes it's tough to end the season like we did, but we have only higher hopes for next year. In Shrewsbury, we placed 2nd in Chef's Choice, 8th in Sausage, 6th in Chicken. 26th in Ribs, 21st in Pork and 19th in Brisket for a dismal 21st overall. Oh well, enough dwelling on the bad.

We started out the season in Salusbury, MD, then cooked Middletown,DE - Wildwood,NJ- Gap,PA-New Holland,PA and Shrewsbury,PA. We had originally signed up for the Sam's Club event in Chesapeake, VA, then decided to do the event at Harrah's Casino in Chester, PA. Well, once we pulled out of Chesapeake and registered for Chester, the competition was cancelled. Our place had been taken in Chesapeake so we missed out on that one. Not one of our best decisions.

I think the team worked together very well as a unit and had a good time. Family is what this team is about and everyone seems to enjoy themselves at the competitions. Along with family, the good friends that support us and attend the events as well make the whole experience more enjoyable. We have made some good friends on the circuit as well and it's always good to see them and when we have a chance, find out what's new in their lives. I don't think there is a finer group of people competing against and willing to help each other out as the BBQ teams we've met.

You can bet that a lot of practicing will be going on over the off season, and who knows, maybe even a class will be taken. We are already looking forward to Salisbury, April 2012.

New Holland Summerfest 2011

2011-08-28T18:22:00.008-04:00

We had a great time at New Holland Summerfest again in spite of Hurricane Irene and the dire weather forecast.
Irene was lady enough to hold off her approach until after the awards ceremony. Five teams decided to sit this one out due to the weather so instead of the usual 72 teams, only 67 teams were on hand. Norma and I arrived early Friday morning and put up the new 10 x 20 canopy and were followed by Brian, Stephanie, Bertie and Pat, then Mike and Trina and Michael & Maddie. Ron v2.0 was unable to make this one due to other commitments. Friday was actually very nice weather wise and the usual site and food preparations proceeded smoothly. For those of you familiar with this competition, you know that there are three distinct sections to the park. Once you’ve competed at New Holland, you usually get the same spot year after year. Our site is located in the Far West section. This section is the furthest from the judges and turn in location, but generally have larger sites. We are very fortunate to have this location. We have great neighbors on either side with nobody in back or front of us, so we have room to spread out somewhat.

After setting up the site and having our meats inspected, we started our meat prep and this is where our routine
set in and we go about our business in a somewhat orderly fashion. Our only hiccup was the sausage. We mix and grind our own, but for some reason the hand grinder we use wouldn’t fasten to the table firmly. This made for some pretty comical actions and we had to adapt on the fly and change our plans. We made sausage balls instead of sausage links, but we thought they turned out very good. I have to hand it to Brian for his recipe and
enthusiasm for this category. He was up to at least 3:00AM putting the finishing touches on it. The cooks on the other meats went smoothly and our turn ins were on time. Immediately after the last turn in, we started breaking down the site because we wanted to leave as soon as possible due to the approaching storm. Some of the teams decided not to stay for the award ceremony. We had mixed emotions because we heard they might close the bridges over the C & D Canal which we had to cross to get home. Mike & Trina decided to not take the chance and headed out before the awards to be our scouts.

We thought our cook went well and hoped for some good results. Well we did get some good and some not so good finishes. We placed 14th in sausage, our first entry and 9th in Chef’s Choice. The four meats were next and we waited. Chicken brought us a 5th place with a plaque and check. A 1st place in Ribs shocked me and I was in a bit of a daze while receiving the trophy and check. Pork and Brisket didn’t fare well with a 33rd and 41st place respectively. We did finish 8th overall which made us very happy. Any top 10 finish with the level of competitors that were there made us very happy.

I would like to thank the friends and family that braved the weather predictions and visited us. This is one of the reasons we do this activity. The ride home was a little stressful due to the storm, but made easier with the finish we had. We were relieved to see the bridge still open and ran into the house after removing the cold items and a few other essentials and left the rest ‘till the next day. Clean up and restocking of the trailer took longer than normal because of the high winds and we took two days to complete it. Next up is Shrewsbury, PA in 2 weeks. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello.

3rd Annual Victory BrewBQ at Twin Brook Winery

2011-08-14T15:22:00.005-04:00

On Saturday Aug 6th, a condensed version of Pigheaded BBQ once again competed at the Victory BrewBQ at the Twin Brook Winery at Gap, PA. This is a Mid Atlantic BBQ sanctioned event and is the 3rd annual BrewBQ and there was a slight venue change. Instead of being located on one of the rear fields, the teams were situated on the front of the winery. The sites were along a tree line, just in front of the vineyard. Also competing there was 340Q which consisted of Mose & Annie Zook, good friends of ours from the Middletown Farmers Market. This was their first competition as cooks and not organizers, as they usually are at the Middletown BBQ Cook Off. There were a total of fourteen teams this year, down a little from last year. The weather called for a nice day with rain moving in late in the afternoon and the weatherman delivered as the rain held off ‘till we were pulling out of the Twin Brook Winery’s driveway after the event was over.
The cook sites were smaller this year due to the change in venue and we had requested a larger spot. We arrived early and were able to get the far end site, allowing us to spread out a bit. Ron, Brian, Stephanie, Norma and Bertie were in attendance as this was a small one day cook. Chicken and ribs were the only two categories. I had been working on a new rib recipe and was anxious to see how it would work out. We set up our site and as soon as the meat was inspected, the chicken was rubbed and set aside to chill and the prep work on the ribs was started. All was ready and we then had a little time to relax and visit some of the other teams. Mose and Annie looked relaxed and confident and everyone was in various stages of prep work. We saw some familiar teams and a few first time teams as well. It’s always nice to meet new teams and make new friends.
The cook went pretty much as expected, but the ribs were not quite as well done as we would prefer, so out of six racks cooked, only one was suitable for turn in as far as we were concerned. Keep in mind that competition ribs are not supposed to be falling off the bone as that’s considered overdone. That being said, ours were underdone in our opinion and could have used a little more time on the pit. We didn’t have high expectations for the ribs, but the chicken was done to our satisfaction and we’ve been doing pretty well with that category lately.
Off we went to the awards ceremony with mixed feelings and waited to hear if out name would be called. The first category called was chicken and Pigheaded BBQ was called for 4th place, a little disappointing, but not too bad. We had won this category the last two years and kind of expected to do a little better. Just goes to show why they call it a competition. We were happy with our chicken so that’s all you can ask for I guess. Ribs were next and once again, Pigheaded was called for 4th place. This was better than we thought we would do considering we weren’t happy with our turn in, so it all evens out in the end. For the overall, Pigheaded was called yet again for 4th place. Well, we were consistent if nothing. Our friend from RA McCoy Welding was 1st in chicken and the overall winner and we were very happy for him, as this was his first win I believe. The 1st place rib winner was Son of a Beach Junior. The younger members of the team cooked this competition and did a fantastic job. Well done!!
We had a great time and plan on being back next year. Congrats to Mose & Annie for their 7th place chicken, 8th place ribs and 8th place overall.

2011 NJBBQ Championship (Wildwood)

2011-07-14T19:26:00.003-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ competed at the New Jersey BBQ Championship this past weekend, July 8-10.
This is always a family favorite because it’s a three day competition and we generally get a couple of hotel rooms and stay an extra night, giving everyone a little holiday. Friday was a nice sunny day and Norma started on her dessert category but as night fell so did the rain. It was a heavy drenching rain and I saw at least 2 canopies end up in the dumpster. That’s never a good thing and thankfully our new 10x20 canopy survived and held up very well giving not only our team some shelter, but a few neighboring team members as well. During the rain, the cook’s meeting was held and the Iron Chef ingredient was divulged and passed out. This year’s ingredient was a whole frozen turkey in the 11-12 pound range. I called for some helping hands and a family friend, Bill Kerns arrived to carry back the turkey while I brought back the turn in boxes, containers, cups and ID necklaces. As I stepped out of the firehouse, I saw a river flowing in the street that ran the whole 4 blocks back to the competition site. There was no getting around the deep puddles, so we just muddled through them. There was no keeping the boxes or anything else dry, so I had to wipe them all off once I got back to our site. The rain only lasted a couple of hours and the rest of the night was very nice weather wise. We tossed around a few ideas for the Iron Chef category, some of them being Thanksgiving fatties, turkey poppers, turkey tacos and a few others. Ron v2.0 & Brian who would be cooking the category promised to kick around more ideas during the night. We settled in for the night, knowing the next two days would be long ones.

Saturday was a gorgeous weather day and we were ready to get cooking. Norma finished her dessert, Mike and I experimented with a new sauce and v2.0 and Brian started on their turkey & sausage sliders with cranberry BBQ sauce. They trimmed the turkey, and used some of my rib trimmings and some breakfast sausage and ground the turkey meat. The cook and the turn ins went smoothly and prep work for Sunday’s cook got underway. After the prep work, a little socializing and resting was called for and we wiled away the rest of Saturday. As midnight approached, we shifted into gear and started putting on the big meats. Everything went according to plan and we settled in for another night at the site.

Sunday was another beautiful day and we went about the usual chores of getting ribs and chicken ready to go on the smoker. We were pleased with the results of the cook and our turn in boxes and could only wait ‘till the awards ceremony to find out who we did. We started cleaning up and did some packing up then headed down to the stage to hear the results. We didn’t hear our name in the ancillary categories (Iron Chef, Dessert & Sauce) and hoped the rest of the awards wouldn’t follow suit. Chicken was the first of the BBQ meats and Pigheaded BBQ was called for 2nd place. That was very nice and we received a nice plaque for that. Ribs, Pork and Brisket came and went and we didn’t hear our name called for any of them. We were a little disappointed and they only called the top two for overall. When we got our score sheet we saw that Pigheaded BBQ finished 7th overall out of 66 teams. That was an improvement over our 10th place finish last year and we were happy with that. Our finishes are as follows:

Iron Chef -32nd, Dessert – 18th, Sauce-44th, Chicken-2nd, Ribs-11th, Pork- 42nd, Brisket-21st. 7th Overall.

2011 BBQ season underway

2011-05-24T19:51:00.007-04:00

First order of business is to apologize for the lapse of posts. OK, enough of that, now onto the current BBQ season. This past weekend, Pigheaded BBQ competed in our second competition of the season.

On April 15-16th we were in Salisbury, MD for Pork in the Park. This contest traditionally kicks off the season for many in the Mid Atlantic area and despite the gloomy weather forecast 116 teams signed up to compete here. I would like to say that we started off with a bang, but alas it was not to be. While we certainly did better than last year, we still finished a lowly 62nd out of 116 teams. We did have a strong showing in Dessert (11th) and Chicken (18th), we weren't so strong in Ribs (79th), Pork (60th) or Brisket (75th). We certainly hoped it was the long hiatus over winter. While not happy with the results, we weren't totally discouraged like we were last year. One good thing that happened, or rather didn't happen was the horrific rain and winds that were predicted. While we did have some sprinkles and some wind, Mother Nature was kind enough to hold off the main event 'till after the awards ceremony , giving us a chance to get out of Dodge while the getting was good.

Next on the calendar was Middletown, DE which most of you know is our hometown. On Thursday, May 19th we found out that the Dover, DE competition had been canceled making Middletown the only Delaware State Championship this year. So what's the big deal you may be wondering, well that makes Middletown an automatic qualifier for the Jack Daniels World Championship for the winner. This is a big deal in the BBQ world and the stakes were just raised.

We were psyched, not only because this was our home turf but also the added incentive of the possibility of qualifying for The Jack. The weather forecast was also spotty for the two days and we hoped for the best. We did get rain on Friday, but Saturday turned out to be a great weather day.
Our cook started off on Friday with the Chef’s Choice category which my son Ron v2.0 prepared. It was a mini tower of goodness featuring tomato, onion, avocado and lump crab meat. It was a work of art and tasted just as good as it looked. Next was the dessert category, which my wife Norma cooked. This was a little stressful for her as it was open to anyone, not just the BBQ competitors. Bakers, culinary students or anyone who like to do desserts were allowed to enter, cooked on or offsite including professional kitchens.

Saturday was all about the meat with the four usual categories: Chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. We felt the chicken was on point, the ribs we turned in were the first baby back we ever submitted in a competition, the pork turned out very good and the brisket was not up to our standards. Now we had to wait to see if the judges agreed. We arrived at the awards ceremony and had just settled in when we were informed that there had been an incident at our site. I went back and found out that some trash bags at the site next to ours had caught fire and were very close to our truck. Some fast acting neighbors sprang into action and using our fire extinguisher and water buckets put out the fire with the help of my son-in-laws mother who had stayed back at the site. No damage was done and I went back to the awards ceremony.

The first category called was Chef’s Choice and we didn’t hear our name called but found out we placed 7th. Next up was Dessert and the 1st place winner was Pigheaded BBQ. Norma was so excited I had to help her up to accept the award. I got the trophy and she got the check. Oh well, she’s not the CFO for nothing. Next category was chicken and 1st place winner was……Pigheaded BBQ. What a great start, another trophy and another check for the CFO. Ribs were called next and we didn’t hear our name called. Oh well, we were still off to a great start. The pork category was next and Pigheaded BBQ was called again, this time for 4th place. Great job Mike, you nailed it. The last category was brisket and we were pretty nervous because we felt if we didn’t tank ribs and we got a call in brisket, we had a chance for the Best of Delaware award. We didn’t hear our name called in brisket and found out that we finished a lowly 38th in brisket. While we didn’t get Best of Delaware, our good friends Slower Lower did and we were very happy for them. All in all it was a very good weekend for Pigheaded BBQ. Another great event organized by Mose Zook, Ben Riehl and crew and another chance to work as a family unit and see our BBQ friends. Next stop, Wildwood, NJ July 8-10. Hope to see you there.

Uh... OK?

2010-10-31T19:36:00.001-04:00

2010 Southern York County BBQ (Shrewsbury)

2010-09-12T13:20:00.007-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ finished their 2010 season at the Markets of Shrewsbury, for the 2nd annual Southern York County BBQ Cook off. This was our second visit to this competition and the organizers, Ben Kauffman, Alicia Herbst and staff did another great job. The field of competitors just about doubled over last year to 29 teams. The best news was NO RAIN this year. Last year's competition was held in a steady downpour and this year, the weather was great. The trip down was fairly smooth despite the fact that the adaptor on our trailer harness was faulty and we didn't have brake lights or turn signals on the way down.

Though the sites were a little tight, but we didn't have any trouble getting in and set up. This was due to our early arrival and my wife Norma and son Ron v 2.0 who made the chore pretty easy. We were a bit lucky in the fact that the team on one side of us wasn't there yet and we could pull the trailer in pretty straight through their site. Once the major chores were done, Norma and I went to find an automotive store to get a new adaptor and a grocery store for some garnish while v 2.0 stayed back and all but completed setup of the site.

Mike and Trina along with grandchildren Michael & Maddie joined us later and the usual chores of meat prep was completed and finishing touches of the site was done. Dinner was a combination of fare from the farmers market and angus burgers cooked onsite by v2.0. Norma, Trina and the kids went to the hotel for the night and we set up the cookers readying them for the big meats which were to go on late night/early morning. Brian arrived later and started on his chef's choice entry so that it would be ready for tomorrow. A chill was in the air as we put the big meats on and I tried to get some rest. Mike, Ron and Brian stayed up as usual keeping an eye on the pits and grabbing some sleep as well.

It was a very cool morning and ribs and chicken and sausage were the next meats to go on. Sausage was due at 11:30, chicken noon, ribs 12:30, pork at 1, brisket at 1:30 and chef's choice at 2. No rest for the weary now, as crunch time was here as well as Norma, Trina and the kids. Everyone pitched in and the final preparations were done smoothly and efficiently. Everything was turned in on time with very little rushing and we settled back and started cleaning up, breaking down the site and waiting for the awards ceremony at 4:00PM. Our fate was in the judges and all we could do was speculate on how we might have done. Hopes were high and we felt that we had done pretty good, but would the judges agree.

We shleped our chairs to the awards site and waited for the results. First up was sausage. At the cook's meeting last night, some new interpretations on what would be accepted almost caused us to not enter this category. We decided to change our original thinking and changed our entry. v2.0 and Brian were glad we entered, because we placed 7th in sausage and a new ribbon added. Next up was chef's choice and again we heard Pigheaded BBQ's name called, this time for 2nd place. A trophy and check were the reward for this entry. Chicken and ribs were next and our name was not called for these categories. Pork did bring us another ribbon and a 10th place finish. Brisket, which we had high hopes for was a letdown as we didn't hear our name for this category either. Altogether we finished:
7th in sausage, 2nd in chef's choice, 14th in chicken, 27th in ribs, 10th in pork and 11th in brisket and 18th overall. Not a great finish, but not dismal either.

Pigheaded BBQ had a good 2010 season and we improved in pork and chicken over previous years. We have some work to do on ribs and brisket, but we have all winter to practice and we have high hopes for next year. Thanks to all of the crew for their hard work this year and thank you to all the friends and family who have showed up to support us over the season. We look forward to seeing you and all our bbq friends on the BBQ circuit next year.

Snausage!

2010-09-11T11:20:00.001-04:00

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The meat is on!

2010-09-11T10:10:00.000-04:00

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New Holland Summerfest & BBQ

2010-08-30T16:49:00.008-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ competed at the 2010 New Holland Summerfest on 8/27-28. This venue and the organizers continue to make New Holland, one of our favorite competitions. Unlike last year, this years weather was just about perfect. Not too hot, no rain and just a hint of a chill in the air at night. Some of the categories changed for this year one of which got us a little excited. The organizers switched from sausage to a chili category and we were happy to try that out. More on that later.
I think we set a record in attendance by friends and family at one of our comps. We were supported by many of each and they made us feel special. Thank you for your support. Of course we did feed them, so I wonder which they were really here for?

Norma and I were met early Friday morning by Brian who helped us set up our site. We actually brought an extra canopy in anticipation of the expected throng of visitors. This gave us some extra room and enabled us to do our work and still have room for most if not all who showed up. Mike, Trina, Michael and Maddie arrived around noon and Stephanie and Bertie and Pat arrived around the same time. Some fine tuning to the site was done and prep work begun for the 6 categories we were entering. The only category we didn't enter was whole hog. We just don't have the equipment to do that yet.

After set up and initial prep work was done, I like to walk around and visit some of the other teams that are there. Most of them we know and I try to meet as many new teams as possible, but that doesn't always work out. I did manage to visit a couple of the food vendors though, as it's most important to keep up my energy levels for the chores ahead. At least, that's what I tell everyone.

Norma started working on the chili, assisted by Trina and Brian started on his Chef's Choice category. This was a prelude to the final prep work being done on the four meats that make up the core of all of our competitions. Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket would be turned in in 1/2 hour increments starting at noon on Saturday. By late evening, Norma, the grandchildren and Bertie and Pat were safely ensconced at the hotel for the night while we set about putting the big meats on the smokers starting at 11:00PM. After the Brisket was put on at 1:00AM, I retired for the night while Mike & Brian stayed up watching the fires and whatever else they does in the middle of the night.

I got up at 4:45AM and gave Mike a break, then started final prep for the ribs. By 6:00AM we were ready for the coffee and breakfast supplied by the organizers. Big Mike was really eying up those "Long Johns" that were from Achenbach's Pastries I believe, but much to his credit, only one was consumed. Well by him at least, I won't say how many I ate. After breakfast, it was back to work and the pace picks up a bit. The cook went reasonably well and by 11:30, Chef's Choice was turned in. After the Chili was turned in at 2:00PM, the left over food was put out for our guests and family and I don't think anyone went home hungry. After that was awards time at 4:30PM

We all gathered by the stage and found some empty ground and set our chairs up waiting to hear our name called. The first name called was Pigheaded BBQ for 10th place in Chef's Choice. Brian did us proud and he,Michael and Maddie went up on stage to receive our ribbon for 10th place. The next category was Chili and Pigheaded BBQ was again called. This time for 9th place and Norma, our new "Chili Queen" went up with her entourage and accepted the 9th place ribbon. The next category we were entered in was Chicken. We again heard Pigheaded BBQ, this time for 7th place. Ribs brought us another ribbon, this time for 12th place and an honorable mention. We didn't hear our name called for pork or brisket, but overall were were thrilled to have won 4 ribbon's and a check for our efforts. I think we did ourselves proud. While there's definitely room for improvement, we were happy with the food we turned in, the good time we had with friends and family and after all, that's what this endeavor is all about.

Next up is the 2nd Annual Southern York County BBQ in Shrewsbury, PA on Sept 10-11. Hope to see you there.

2010 Diamond State BBQ Championship

2010-08-22T07:27:00.009-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ just finished doing the 2010 Diamond State BBQ Championship at Dover Downs, in Delaware. It felt a little strange being here in the heat of August, as this competition has always been held in October. The organizers changed the dates, due to the historically bad weather conditions in the past years. I do feel that the late change in dates hurt the number of competing teams this year. The competition started out with 62 teams the first year and had grown to 83 teams I believe last year. This year there were 52 teams. Many teams had already set their schedule and had committed to other competitions being held in the weeks immediately preceding and following this one. It's very hard to do back to back competitions, let alone three weeks in a row and many teams decided to forgo this one for just that reason. Maybe with the change now in place, teams will have time to decide which competitions to do next year. Dover is just too close by for us to not do this one and the venue is very good.

This was a good competition for us. There were many family members in attendance and isn't that what this pastime is all about. The team worked well together as usual and everyone pitched in and performed their duties in the efficient manner that comes over time working together. My wife Norma and son Ron v2.0, came with me to the site early and helped set up our site and then stayed on for the duration. Mike, Trina, and Stephanie arrived later and preparations were begun. Meats were prepped, drinks iced, dinner cooked and the team settled in for the work ahead of us. Due to prior commitments, Brian and family arrive on Saturday and Brian jumped right in and pitched in with turn in boxes.

There were some very well known teams there and some we met for the first time. BBQ friends are some of the best people you will find anywhere. There is a true feeling of family there and we always enjoy seeing our friends at these competitions. I enjoy seeing the many different cooking rigs and BBQ pits and always learn something in the way of fine tuning our setup from seeing the thought out and sometimes ingenious layouts of the other teams. Little tricks can make competition life so much easier and efficient.

As night falls, teams wander around, socializing, sharing liquid refreshments, food and stories before getting down to the reason we're there. Then the business of putting the big meats on starts. Brisket and pork butts are put on first and this week brought some new twists for us. I had bought 2 large packer cut briskets from a new source and this would mean some adjustments. I usually cook brisket flats and these new ones were much bigger and would take more time to cook, so they would go on earlier than our usual ones. Mike had gotten some really big Boston Butts also, so these too had to go on earlier and we both set about putting these meats on, hoping we guessed right with regard to the timing of the cook. Then we sat around for awhile talking and catching up on each other's lives. I'm usually the first one to retire for the night after making sure that Raquel, our Stumps cooker is dialed in and humming along at the desired temperature. I will lay back in a reclining chair, in the trailer, but will generally only get about 1-2 hours of sleep. Mike, Ron v2.0, Brian, Steph and anyone else that's there will usually stay up longer and tend the fires. I think it's due to their younger age, but they will tell you it's because they're more dedicated and diligent than I. I think that's the drink talking myself, since our smoker is rock steady and needs very little effort to maintain temperature and we have an alarm that will alert us to any fluctuation.

As dawn approaches, I get up and Mike will get some sleep. I check on the brisket and butts, then start making preparation of the ribs and chicken that will be the next meats to go on the smoker. I rubbed the ribs and put them on the pit next. After that, since Dover had the facilities, I grabbed a quick shower, which is a real luxury at a competition. Most competition's are held in fields or parking lots and showers are a very rare treat.

We have a little time after that, so we eat breakfast, start making our turn in boxes and wait for the time to put the chicken on. If you haven't changed any of your meat preparations, or changed to larger pieces of meat, you usually have a pretty set timeline for when to prep and put the meats on the smoker and will have a set routine. We're getting there finally and this will make it a lot easier for future competitions.

Crunch time come quickly though and chicken is due in at noon, ribs at 12:30, pork at 1:00 and brisket at 1:30. This is a pretty hectic time for us and we, or at least I go into a zone and pretty much tune out the rest of civilization as we get our turn in boxes just the way we want them and do our best to get the boxes to the turn in table on time. Nothing is worse that being disqualified for trying to turn in an entry too late and that has happened occasionally, but fortunately not to us. Now there's nothing to do but have a toast to our efforts, start to do some cleanup up and site breakdown and wait for the awards ceremony where our fate awaits. Thanks to the friends and family how pitched in to help with the always tiring cleanup chores and thanks to the friends who came out to support us again.

Pigheaded BBQ assembled at the judges tent, where the awards ceremony is being held and wait with baited breath to hear our names being called. Chicken is first and we hear PIGHEADED BBQ for 5th in chicken. We erupt and myself and my grandson Michael walk up and receive out ribbon and check for our finish. We don't hear our names being called for ribs and later find out we placed 13th in this category. Pork brings us another 5th place finish and big Mike and myself walk up for that ribbon and check. Well at least I walked up, I think Mike floated up as he's had a great run lately as our pork cook, placing 10th, 10th and 5th in our last three comps. Brisket which we had high hopes for is a let down for us. We finish 21st in that category and we thought our brisket was spot on. As the top 10 overall finishes are being announced, we heard PIGHEADED BBQ announced as the 7th place overall. We are very happy with this finish, because as I said, there were some very good and well known teams here and we feel that we're steadily improving and really feel like we're in the mix of things right along with them. Well done team, now let's keep this momentum for next week in New Holland, PA. If any of you reading this is in the New Holland area on 8/27-28 stop on by and say HI. We enjoy visitors and would like to see you.

Pigheaded BBQ's Curried #Jambalaya

2010-08-20T18:43:00.002-04:00

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Here's a picture of the fantastic jambalaya Ron v 2.0 cooked Friday night at Dover.

PigheadedBBQ's Big Mike on the MonsterMile

2010-08-20T15:09:00.002-04:00

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Big Mike on the track at the Monster Mile in Dover Downs.

Pigheaded Brings the Heavy Artillery...

2010-08-20T12:12:00.001-04:00

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Pigheaded BBQ Tearing Up the Monster Mile

2010-08-20T09:55:00.002-04:00

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Pigheaded BBQ's trailer tearing it up on the Monster Mile at Dover Downs. It doesn't show it, but it was pretty steep there and was a little unnerving driving at that angle towing a trailer.

2010 NJBBQ Championship (Wildwood)

2010-07-13T16:10:00.003-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ competed at the NJBBQ Championship in Wildwood on July 9-11, 2010. We were the last team accepted for this years event. Since we did so poorly last year, we didn't have an automatic entry and had to resubmit our application along with first time teams. We honestly didn't think we were going to get in after the first selection process put us at the bottom of the standby list. The organizers did some minor site reorganizing and 3 more spots were found and we got in by the skin of our teeth.

The organizers sent out 3 newsletters keeping all teams informed of event's rules and regulations as well as schedules. We arrived at 9:30AM on Friday, July 9th and true to their word, no one was there to show the teams where to set up 'till 10:00AM. There were about 10-15 teams there when we arrived in various stages of setting up or waiting. We found the first empty space along the street and began to set up ourselves. At 10:00AM, one of the organizers showed up and said: This isn't a free for all, some of you will probably have to move. Lucky for us, we weren't one of them

My wife, Norma and I finished our set up and relaxed awhile 'till the rest of the team showed up. It was a hot, sunny day at the beach and some cold beverages were definitely in order. The final touches were put on the site and everyone settled in. Friday was pretty much free after setup, except for the cook's meeting at 7:00PM where the Iron Chef ingredient would be announced and distributed. I have to admit that mild Italian sausage didn't exactly excite us when it was announced. After getting back to the site and discussing it, we decided on mini sausage, peppers and onion Stromboli's.

Friday night, I did something new for me. Since the whole family was there, most of them stayed at various hotels and I stayed at the hotel for the night. When I received a phone call at 3:00AM, I immediately thought the worst but it turned out to be a "pocket dial". No emergency, and much to my surprise, I wasn't needed at all!! LOL. Saturday started out pretty smoothly and prep was begun after meat inspection and everyone did their part. Pecan pies were baked, the Stromboli's cooked, sauce put in cup and work on the bbq meats began in earnest. Saturday became a pretty wet miserable day. Most of the day was spent in cramped conditions as we had to bring in all equipment and rearrange tables to keep it as dry as possible. Saturday night was much dryer and not at all a problem. The big meats were put on in the late night hours and we settled in again to mind the pits. Since we were directly across from one of the many bars in the area, there wasn't any "Quiet Time" 'till 3:30AM when the bars closed.

Sunday dawned as a beautiful morning and everything was right on track. Ribs were put on and Mike cooked a great breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs and pancakes. Yes he really cooked pancakes after 2 years of promising. They were delicious and gave us the energy for the final stages of the competition. Chicken was put on last and turned in first. Did I ever mention that I hate chicken?? We knew it wasn't our best effort and didn't have high hopes for it. Ribs on the other hand, we thought was one of our best, if not our best ribs to date and expectations were high for them. Our pork man, Mike did his usual masterful job and we thought we could do well with both it and the brisket.

At the awards ceremony, they announced from 5th to 1st in the ancillary and core categories and we didn't get a call. We certainly weren't feeling very happy about our performance and thought "Here we go again". When they began calling out the overall finishes, they called from 10th to 1st and we heard Pigheaded BBQ 10th place. We were elated and couldn't wait to see the score sheets. We had a 7th place ribs, 10th place pork and 9th place brisket. Notice what we didn't get a top ten finish in? "FRICKIN CHICKEN". I need some help badly with chicken, any volunteers? We were happy with our finish and that of our Middletown, DE and Wildwood neighbors Finn's Finest for their 9th place finish. Middletown, we both did you proud. Congrats to Tom & Michele of Lo'-N-Slo' BBQ for their Grand Championship and T'N'T BBQ for their Reserve Championship. We will be back next year.

1st Middletown BBQ Cook-Off

2010-05-23T10:30:00.007-04:00

This weekend was the 1st Annual BBQ Cook-Off was held on May 21-22 at the Dutch Country Farmers Market in Middletown, DE. It was organized by Mose Zook and Ben Riehl, proprietors of the Farmers Market. I have to say that they did a great job and it was noticed and appreciated by all in attendance. Their hard work made this a very cook friendly competition and it will no doubt grow by leaps and bounds.

This was our home town competition and the pressure was on for Pigheaded BBQ to have a good showing, since so many friends and family were going to be there. We didn't do too bad and even had a walk and a ribbon for pork.

My wife Norma and I arrived around 6:30AM to begin setting up, as most of the other members of the team weren't due to arrive 'till later in the day. This also allowed a leisurly pace which was good because the competition site was situated in the parking lot and the weather forecast called for a sunny day in the mid to upper 80's and asphalt can be a tad warm in hot weather. I must say that I get tired just watching my wife work as she works circles around most people. I was ready for a beer by 7:00AM.

Mike and Trina, my daughter and son in law along with Michael and Maddie (grandchildren)arrived around noon and pitched in with site prep. Meats were injected, trimmed and put away for later preparation. Stephanie arrived next bringing more welcomed tidbits as usual. I walked around and chatted with most of my BBQ friends and fellow competitors that had shown up by then and then started some prep work on tidbits to munch on. I prepped the buffalo chicken stuffed jalapenos, the roasted red pepper/blue cheese fatties and the "Redneck Cannolis".

My son Ron v2.0 along with my daughter in law Jeanette and Wade & Reid grandsons) arrived aroung 7:30PM and my nephew Brian arrived later in the evening. All through the day and well into the night, friends and family members of the team stopped by for a chat and some liquid refreshments and to nibble on whatever was around. About 10:30 things got serious and we put the finishing touches on the butts and brisket so they could hit the smoker by midnight. This went very smoothly and everything went according to plan. Now it was time to relax for most and after ensuring that the pit and temp was stable, I decided to lay back in my chair with the intention of getting a little shuteye. I should know better, because sleep does not come easily for me at a competition. I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve and try as I might, I just can't shut the old brain off so sleep comes in little spurts totalling about 1 1/2 hours. I will add that the 3:00AM whistling train didn't help, nor did the 3:30AM street sweeper who must have been trying to get a raise because he made numerous passes in our vicinity. You could have eaten off the asphalt in that parking lot.

5:30AM arrived and I realized sleep was futile, and I got up and started the final ribs prep work and worked with the chicken before putting it back into the cooler for later. You would be amazed at how time flies when crunch time is approaching. We always worry about finishing everything in time, but it seems to work out as planned in the long run. Maybe it's the fact that the team has become a pretty well oiled machine with everyone knowing just what needs to be done next and picking up for someone else that may happen to need help. This was my daughter, Trina's first time with the team from start to finish. She did a great job and it looked like she had always been there.

Our finish, while not great, was certainly better than our last one and we did get a walk up to the stage for a ribbon for pork. We finished 18th overall out of 42 teams and placed as follows in the 4 categories:
Chicken - 16th, Ribs- 28th, Pork- 10th and Brisket-30th. We had a ball here and again want to express our thanks and appreciation to the organizers, volunteers and all involved with the successful competition that's sure to grow by leaps and bounds.

Pretty Frickin Chicken

2010-05-22T11:27:00.000-04:00

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Drew's Alex's Lemonade Stand

2010-05-22T10:31:00.000-04:00

Amazing Family!

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Middletown Meats are on like Donkey Kong!

2010-05-22T00:05:00.000-04:00

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1st Competition on New Smoker (Raquel)

2010-04-23T19:59:00.005-04:00

Well, after a long 12 week wait, Raquel has arrived,was seasoned and cooked on twice before her first competition. She was a little nervous standing there, ready to be fired up and loaded up with a full complement of meat for the "Pork in the Park" competition at Salisbury, MD. This is always the first competition of the year for this region and legions of BBQ teams were chomping at the bit after a long, cold winter to get back in the swing of things.

We arrived Thursday night to pick out a prime spot, as the majority of teams wouldn't be showing up 'till sometime on Friday. Salisbury is a first come first served competition, meaning there aren't assigned sites. You pick out what you consider to be the best site for you. There are as many different criteria as teams when it comes to picking out the ideal site. Some teams vie for closest to the judges tent, so you don't have to walk far to turn in your entries, some look for ease of entry and exit and I'm sure that some look for as much privacy as possible in a crowded field that was to hold 132 teams from around the country. We picked a site close to the electric and water hook-ups and in the middle of the pack so we could socialize. Or at least that's what we intended to do. It seems we never get around to doing as much as we would like.

Friday morning, we finished setting up our site and after having our meat inspected, we began to trim and prep the meats. Since we wouldn't be putting on the big cuts (brisket and butts) 'till midnight or later, we had a pretty leisurely pace going and enjoyed not being rushed. Our families came down Friday afternoon and we took the kids to the festival for the rides and enjoyed the comraderie of it all. The family went to a nearby hotel for the night and our activities began to pick up the pace getting ready to do our first cook of the season and the first serious cook on Raquel. Just about midnight, I lit the charcoal in the chute, set the guru and waited for Raquel to come up to temperature. Around 12:30AM the briskets and butts were placed inside and we were excited. It got down into the high 50's to low 60's and we settled in for the long night. Raquel hummed along throughout the night, holding at a steady 250 degrees. We couldn't have been happier about her performance.

Early Saturday morning, about 6:30AM, the ribs were loaded in and only chicken waited it's turn to be cooked to perfection. We were in a zone and things were progressing as we hoped and had high hopes for the results. The chicken turned out tasty, but alas the skin wasn't where we wanted it to be. The ribs were a tad overdone, having cooked a little faster than we were used to. The pork was good and the brisket was pretty much where we wanted it to be. Now it was in the judges hands.

So by now, I'm sure you're wondering how we did. Well, lets just say that Raquel, the newest member of the team is sueing the rest of us for non-support. She did her job, but somehow we didn't. The judges didn't like our chicken, ribs or pork and just tolerated our brisket. Not exactly the finished we envisioned. In fact, we were downright depressed. I guess we need a few more cooks on Raquel to learn her enough to correct our mistakes, but then isn't that the way with most new relationships? We will grow together, learn together and progress together. This is just the beginning of the season and we're not giving up. Look out for Pigheaded BBQ, we're fired up!!

Red Hot Steady Raquel...

2010-04-02T22:42:00.002-04:00

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Raquel's 1st Comp Practice Cook

2010-04-02T22:42:00.001-04:00

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Raquel is Home!!

2010-03-31T22:07:00.004-04:00

Welcome home Raquel. The newest member of Pigheaded BBQ is Raquel, our Stumps Stretch Smoker. In the midst of a cold rain, a large 18 wheeler pulled up in front of the house. I rushed out to greet the driver and oversee the delivery. There, tucked in the farthest corner, sat the 800lb crate that was Raquel's temporary home. The driver muscled the crate with a pallet jack to the back door and out onto the lift gate. I almost had a heart attack when the front wheels of the pallet jack rode off the end of the lift gate and I instinctivley reached up to prevent it from falling off the back of the truck. Oh yea, I can just see the headlines: BBQ'er crushed by smoker. Maybe Norma, my wife could just curl my cold, lifeless body into a fetal position and stuff me into the smoker for burial. Can't you see the irony in that?

Enough with the negative thoughts, it's time to get to work. With the help of the driver, we got the crate into my garage and he helped me uncrate her. Raquel was free!! After a careful inspection, I signed the adoption papers,OK OK, the delivery paperwork and she was officially mine. Ron v2.0 and Mike showed up shortly afterward and helped me install the wheels on her. We had 2 extra racks, a slam latch and a Guru adaptor added to her to customize her to our specs. She weighs in at a svelt 575lbs without the crate and is as solid as a tank. She is truely built to last.

Tomorrow, I will season her. I will liberally spray her with Pam, add the charcoal and get her up to at least 350 degrees for 3-4 hours. It would be a shame to waste the charcoal and time, so I might as well throw on some meat while I'm at it. I haven't decided on just what kind of meat, but over the next 2 weeks, she will get a lot of use. You see, I only have 'till April 16th to learn her charastics before our first competition of the year. Salisbury, MD has over 125 teams signed up and we must be ready. Stay tuned for more updates and pics sure to follow in the very near future.

New Smoker

2009-12-31T22:37:00.002-05:00

After much consideration and begging of the wife, I pulled the trigger and ordered a new smoker. I had been mentioning to my wife that a new smoker would be nice over and over and finally she said, why don't we get one.

We took a trip to Georgia, just after Christmas and visited Stumps Smokers Inc. There, I looked at two models that I had been considering: A Classic and a Stretch. I was like a kid in a candy store and couldn't make up my mind, so I had to see them up close and personal. I poked, prodded, kicked the tires and decided on the Stretch. Stumps himself was there and after numerous questions and information gathering, I decided on the Stretch. My wife just shook her head and smiled. Stumps and his wife Tab were a pleasure to deal with and patiently put up with all my questions and they provided me with the information with which to make an informed decision.

Now the hard part comes. I was told that it would take at least six weeks for it to be built and shipped to me. How am I ever going to wait that long. Those that know me, know that I will probably be a basket case by the time it arrives. I will go over every detail in my mind and cook who know how many imaginary butts, briskets, ribs and yes even chicken in it before it finally shows up crated in my driveway. My poor wife is already steeling herself for the hell I'm about to put her through, 'till it gets here. Did I mention that she was a saint?

For those of you wondering, yes my new baby has a name. Her name is Raquel and she weighs 575 pounds and is 44.5 inches long. She will have a shiny "Eagles Green" color.

After BBQ Season Musings

2009-11-24T09:50:00.006-05:00

Well, it's been just about a month since our last competition of the season. I've been thinking about a lot of things, but specifically BBQ classes and smokers. Let's examine these thoughts.

BBQ Classes:

Why take a class, don't I already know how to BBQ? Well yes I do thank you, but there are always new techniques, methods and recipes to learn. Doesn't it make sense to take a class from someone who consistently wins on the circuit. Why not pick the brains of people who've been doing this a lot longer than I and speed up the learning curve so to speak. There are only two drawbacks that I can see.

One is cost. You see it's typically costs about $500 for these classes, not counting the travel expenses and possible time off work. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but I think that a lot of the costs can be made up with prize money that the new knowledge will help you win. Wishful thinking?, maybe but it doesn't hurt to dream.

Another drawback is deciding which course to take. There are about 4 - 5 highly skilled cooks out there who are currently giving classes. I suppose you could choose the one who's giving the closest class, or you could take the cheapest one, or the one whose accomplishments you respect the most. You could always pick the one that cooks on whatever is closest to your own cookers, or go in a totally new direction and take someones class that cooks on something drastically different than you.

Smokers:

This leads me to the other thoughts I've had so far this off-season. If I got a new cooker, which one would I like to get. Do I make that decision on cost or what I see as the best suited cooker for my needs. It's no wonder I have sleepless nights. It's not only the competitions, but all aspects of BBQ that have taken over my life. My wife just shakes her head and mutters when she sees that far away look in my eyes. As of now, I think I'm leaning to a Stumps "Classic" cooker. It's a gravity fed smoker with 5 shelves that would give me plenty of cook space for both competitions and catering. Here's a link to their website: http://www.stumpssmokers.com/about.html
Now can"t you just see me cooking on that beauty? I know I can. Oh well, let me get back to daydreaming. I'll let you know what if anything I decide to do.

Dover Recap

2009-10-26T14:51:00.002-04:00

Dover Downs, we came we saw we got SMOKED!!! I’ve been trying to put this competition out of my mind, and with my sieve for a mind I truly hoped I could forget it. Well, I can’t. This one will be in my mind the entire winter. The weather was typically Dover. In other words “Dover Blows”. In fact, I had tee shirts made up last year stating just that. They sold like hotcakes. The rain, chill and winds lasted most of the competition.

Despite the weather, the cook went very smoothly. The smokers hummed along all night through the wind and rain, without so much as a hiccup. Our meats turned out like we planned with the possible exception for chicken. We thought they were a little too spicy. We had high hopes for at least the ribs and brisket. We went to the awards ceremony hoping for a top 5 call in at least one category. Alas that was not to be. We weren’t even close in any of the categories, in fact we were in the bottom half of the 81 teams for all four categories. The dismal results are as follows:
Overall: 61 out of 81, Chicken: 54th, Ribs: 48th, Pork: 72nd, Brisket: 43rd
We can’t blame the weather, we can’t blame the judges, we can’t blame anything because we don’t know why we finished so low. We can only chalk it up to the old saying: “On any given day…”. On April 16-17, 2010 in Salisbury, MD we will try to redeem ourselves. Yes it’s going to be a long cold winter for Pigheaded BBQ.

Thanks guys for a very good season. We had our ups and downs, but all in all, this was our best season yet and despite Dover, we are improving. Keep your heads up and keep on smokin’!!

Adam's Ribs

2009-10-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

First place Ribs? True Dat!

Can you smell the love?

Ron v2.0
aka The Butt Doctor
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What's a guy gotta do to get some pancakes?

2009-10-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

All-
Checking in from the Diamond State BBQ in Dover, DE where the temperature is a balmy 46 degrees and the forecast calls for overcast skies with a 60%chance of showers. Bullshitake!

It's cold, wet and we're loving every pouring rain drenched minute of it. Our butts (pictured above) are looking phat, ribs are sticky icky, the brisket is smoking and the chicken is prepped and clucking beautiful. Barring a complete disaster (and Mother Nature is sure as hell trying) we're aiming to take down the big dawgs.

Keep you posted on all our progress right here and on Twitter @pigheadedbbq

Out...

Ron v2.0
aka The Butt Doctor
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Smoking the Competition

2009-10-15T17:37:00.000-04:00

Hello All-
The local boys got some nice pub in today's Middletown Transcript. After all of this stardom, now it's time to bring home the BACON!!!!

http://www.middletowntranscript.com/entertainment/x576551822/Locals-looking-to-smoke-barbeque-competition

Be sure to stay connected by following us on Twitter http://twitter.com/pigheadedbbq

Ron v2.0
(aka The Butt Doctor)

Dover Blows

2009-10-14T14:42:00.000-04:00

With the weather looking pretty ominous for the upcoming Diamond State BBQ in Dover, DE on October 17th and 18th, team Pigheaded looks to continue our recent hot streak and bring one home a Grand Champion trophy (and check) for the "First Staters".

At this point we've learned to expect the unexpected. The elements have actually become a rallying cry of sorts and help us focus on what we do... Que! The last two events have both been "moist" to say the least. And at both we fared pretty well, the last of which was a 3rd place finish @ the Southern York County BBQ Cookoff. But you're only as good as your last turn-in.

Pop's got some new kicks that should help to keep those old dogs nice and dry. And with some tricks up our collective sleeves, we aim to dress warm, act cool, cheer on the Phightins' and bring home the bacon!

So, dust off the Gordon's Fisherman Halloween costume from 1987 and get your pork butts to Dover. It'll be well worth the trip!

The Butt Doctor

Pork Practice

2009-10-12T17:16:00.002-04:00

Well, I had the time to try two new methods of cooking pork butts. They were very different from each other and our normal pulled pork. After cooking them, I divided them into packages labeled very creativly #1 and #2. I gave a sample of each to teamates Ron Jr and Mike and their wives. My wife and I tried them as well. Without talking to each, the unanimous decision was #2. I guess we'll have to try and replicate that result in Dover this coming weekend. I hope the judges like it as much as we did. Looks like we're in for some damp chilly weather at Dover. Wish us luck.

Time to reinvent pulled pork

2009-09-27T19:45:00.003-04:00

After looking at our scores so far this year, it's pretty evident that our old standby, pulled pork is no longer working for the judges. What's puzzling is the fact that it used to be our strongest entry and we haven't changed a thing. Are the judges taste changing or are we inadvertently doing something different. I thought our pork at our last competition (Shrewsbury) was our best this year, but the judges didn't agree. In fact, the only time this year that pork was our best category was Wildwood and that was nothing to brag about.

I've got a few ideas for pork and a couple of weeks before Dover to try them. That's what is so challenging about this pursuit. We're constantly trying to improve our products and sometimes it even works. This year, we started over with chicken and ribs and our scores have improved dramatically. Our brisket has been pretty consistent and has been our best category.

Southern York County BBQ Cookoff Recap

2009-09-13T20:23:00.003-04:00

We arrived at Shrewsbury in a driving rainstorm around 10:30AM, not knowing if we would sink or swim. We met with Ben , one of the organizers and found our spot. After parking the trailer we decided to duck into the Farmers Market to stratagize and stay dry for a spell. We had a look around, a bite to eat and decided to go brave the weather and set up. We had positioned the trailer to use as a wind block and set up our canopies, tables and other necessary paraphernalia. We saw that a small lake was developing in our site, so we borrowed a shovel from our local neighborhood Pirates, (Tom & Chrissy of the Va BBQ Pirates) and filled a few buckets of gravel to fill in the low spots. Ron Jr. then became our resident irrigation specialist and dug some channels to divert the water away from the site. Thank goodness we were situated on crush and run instead of grass, or this would have been a quagmire.

The rest of the day was spent doing our normal competition chores. The meat was inspected by Melvin of New Holland fame, the meat prep was started and the site fine tuned. We did some visiting of neighboring teams. We were between Smokeopolis and Susquehanna Blue Smoke. Both were great neighbors. We chatted with Sal of Smokin' Gnome, Jim & Mark of Pequea Pullers, Tom & Michele of Lo'N'Slo and met the Pulling Pork team who were the only other team from Delaware. Since it was still raining, we decided to walk across the parking lot back to the Farmers Market for dinner. What a friendly bunch of people. They greeted all the BBQ teams enthusiastically and had lots of questions about the whole competition scene. The food was great and we had fun looking around at all the shops. We headed back for the cooks meeting and more chores.

Did I mention that it rained there? It rained 'till around 1:00AM, then more or less settled into a light mist. We put our butts and brisket on and semi -retired for the evening. Up for good at 5:00AM to get ready to put the ribs on and start the long day ahead. The cook went well during the night and once the ribs were on, we prepped the sausage and got ready to put the chicken on. Our Amish friends from the Middletown Farmers Market came up to support us. They were there to see how a first time competition looked because we are trying to convince them to host one in Middletown. My wife and Dorothy, a family friend drove up also to cheer us on. We were pleased with the chicken taste, though not necessarily the appearance, thought the ribs and pork were good and the brisket tasty, but a little tough and the sausage good. After turning in our entries, we started cleaning up and waiting for the award ceremony.

We all walked over to the awards tent and heard some good music from a local band as the final scores were tallied by the Kansas City Barbecue Society reps. During a steady rain, the ceremony started and we were surprised by being called up for 2nd place chicken finish. We were called up again in the next category for a 3rd place ribs finish. We didn't hear our name for the pork category, but were called up again for an 8th place finish in brisket. Tom & Michele from Lo'N'Slo were Grand Champs with 2 firsts and 2 second and Paul & Barbara of PA Midnight Smokers were Reserve Champs. Guess who was 3rd overall? PIGHEADED BBQ. We were stunned and very pleasantly surprised.

Melvin from Meadow Creek, Joe from NBBQA, and Ben and Alicia from The Markets at Shrewsbury did a very good job with this first year event and despite the weather the a good time was had by all. We will definitely plan on being back next year.

Pics from the Southern York County BBQ Cookoff

Smokin' Fatties

2009-09-12T10:26:00.000-04:00

Not what you'd think, but it's everything you'd hope.

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Pig Candy

2009-09-12T10:07:00.000-04:00

Candied bacon. Mmmmmm!

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Butts are on!

2009-09-12T01:07:00.000-04:00

Fire tht is...

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Brisket is on!

2009-09-12T01:04:00.000-04:00

Time to get our Q on...

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Phils.jpg

2009-09-12T00:43:00.000-04:00

Nice win...

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Pig Balls

2009-09-11T23:58:00.001-04:00

Grab a sack... They're yummy!
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Lake Pigheaded.jpg

2009-09-11T19:16:00.000-04:00

Here' s a picture of our irrigation specialist Ron Jr diverting water away from our site at Shrewsbury.
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PHBBQ Update

2009-09-11T16:21:00.001-04:00

Well... The Ark made it to Glen Rock, PA despite Mother Nature's best efforts to hold us at bay. We're moist, but the site is set up sans smokers (ounce of prevention). Chicken is prepped, water's boiling, the irrigation ditches are irrigating and we're chilling with a few beers listening to some tunes.

It's almost time to get our Q on...

More in store!
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Soggy Conditions

2009-09-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ is braving the elements at the 1st Annual Southern York County BBQ Cook-off @ The Markets at Shrewsbury in Glen Rock, PA.

The "Arc of Bark" has 2 cows, 2 pigs and 2 chickens loaded aboard and is aiming to take home some hardware and dead presidents.

We'll be sure to keep you posted on Twitter and Facebook!!!

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TwitterFeed Setup

2009-09-11T10:12:00.001-04:00

Blog posts now are fed directly to twitter. This is only a test!

2009-09-08T20:44:00.003-04:00

Pigheaded BBQ is gearing up for the 1st Annual Southern York County BBQ Cook Off this weekend. It is being held at the Markets at Shrewsbury. This event is organized by the same great folks who run the New Holland Summerfest. Melvin and crew do a fantastic job and I'm sure this event will follow suit. Stop by if you're in the area. Here's a link to the Market.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketsatshrewsbury.com%2F&h=113637b81574803bb42ac147c93b1921

New Holland 2009 Recap

2009-09-01T09:50:00.001-04:00

Even the rain couldn't spoil the 2009 New Holland Summerfest. This is my favorite BBQ competition. Melvin Stoltzfus and crew do a great job organizing this event. There were 76 teams competing. We had the same site as last year and were happy for that. Ron, Mike, and Stephanie got there around 10:30 Friday morning with Brian arriving shortly after and all began setting up our site. The early arrival proved a good decision, what with the tight ingress into some parts of the grounds and the weather deciding to let its presence be known. The weather turned out to be a big factor for the 2 days we were there, raining all of Friday afternoon and most of Friday night, quickly turning our site into a muddy mess. We thought of reenacting the famous Woodstock mudslide, but nobody wanted to shed their clothes. (Thank God for that).

Saturday was a full day with 6 categories to be turned in, starting at 11:30AM. First up was sausage which we mixed and stuffed Friday afternoon, followed by chicken, ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chef's choice, which in our case was pecan pie. This made for a fairly hectic morning, but everything was turned in on time. We were pretty happy with most of our entries and awaited the judge's decisions.

Our smoked mozzarella cheese and roasted red pepper sausage placed 33^rd. Our Chicken placed 40^th, our ribs placed 19^th, our pork a dismal 63^rd, our brisket got us a walk with a 7^th place finish and our pecan pie placed 19^th. Overall we finished 29^th. Not a great performance, but not terrible considering the level of competition here. As always, we saw some old friends from the circuit, and made some new ones. Friends and family also showed up to show their support and root us on. I think the hardest part of the competition was cleaning the muddy mess that our trailer turned out to be. Thankfully, my wife Norma and son Ron helped me with that chore. The trailer is cleaned, packed and ready for the Southern York County BBQ Competition in Shrewsbury on Sept 11-12. Stop by and have some good food and camaraderie.