August 2005
California Charcoal & Firewood
Looking for that great supplier of peach, apple or hickory wood? California Charcoal and Firewood in the city of commerce has a great selection of woods and lump charcoal for your barbecue. All of their wood comes from renewable sources so don’t worry too much about displacing any angry squirrels.
California Charcoal & Firewood
1528 S. Eastern Ave.
Commerce, CA 90040
323-260-5393
Go to their website
Charcoal chimney starter
As I walk my dogs, Gwen and Swifty, around the neighborhood on a warm summer night the scent of smoldering mesquite, oak and hickory is in the air. Occasionally I catch a whiff of something very disturbing, something so morbid that I stop in my tracks. No, not my dogs… I’m talking about the smell of charcoal lighting fluid. There are a surprisingly large number of people, some acquaintances of mine included, that still use charcoal lighting fluid to ignite their charcoal. Aside from the awful smell, that never quite leaves, and the residual taste of toxic petroleum distillates on you food it’s not the safest way to light up the barbecue.
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Barbeques Galore 25th aniversary sale
In this Sunday’s L.A. times there is an insert for the Barbeques Galore 25th anniversary sale. You can save up to 25% on grills and get a $25 discount card with any purchase over $250. It seems though, that all of the grills on the sale page are of the gas variety. Anyway, this is always a good time of year to get those BBQ nick knacks, which you have wanted to buy all summer long, on sale. Not just at Barbecues Galore, but anywhere that BBQ equipment is sold. So keep your eyes peeled for those end-of-season deals.
Becoming a Certified BBQ Judge.
As of Friday August 5th the BBQ Junkie is an official Kansas City Barbecue Society Certified Judge (my badge has yet to come). Not that I have officially judged any BBQ competitions yet, but I am so ready. I felt that it was my duty as a blogger of barbeque to make sure that my standards are of highest out there, especially when critiquing restaurants and recipes.
To become an official barbecue judge you must undergo some training, which consists of a half-day class. You get to sample some great BBQ, which alone is worth the price of admission. The most difficult thing about the training is finding a barbecue judging class within driving distance of Los Angeles. I found my class through the California BBQ Association (CBBQA) website. They have listings of upcoming barbecue competitions and judging classes… but don’t worry, I will post any upcoming classes on this website. It’s a great experience that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in BBQ. You get to mingle with California’s BBQ elite as well as see some of the enormous BBQ pits that these competitors compete with.
I can’t wait to judge my first event.
If you are looking for additional information on these BBQ associations, here is a list:
California Barbecue Association (CBBQA)
visit their website
Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS)
11514 Hickman Mills Drive
Kansas City, MO 64134
Phone: 816-765-5891
1-800-963-KCBS (5227)
visit their website
A few BBQ recipes from the WBBQA
The Albany Democrat-Herald is offering up a few recipes from the Western BBQ Association. The recipes included are for BBQ ribs, chicken, shoulder and pork loin.
enjoy.
Weber Genesis Silver B Gas Grill
The Home Depot website has the Weber Genesis Silver B Gas Grill for $349. That is a $100 dollar savings off of their regular price of $449. From what I have read, it seems to be a great grill. Why the discount? Maybe it’s last year’s model. The jpg shown on Home Depot’s website doesn’t have the stainless steel cover on the lower storage area where the Weber website does. Anyway you look at it, it’s a good deal.
The Great American BBQ
Mother Earth News has a nice article on BBQ across our country, not just the South. I’m not hating on the South, but other people also BBQ.
Click here to read the article
Hawaiian BBQ Kalua Pig
While vacationing on the Big Island of Hawaii a couple years ago having a cocktail on the balcony of my hotel room. I noticed that there was some smoke coming from a pit in the ground with a few people gathered around. I thought that is should go and investigate because where there is smoke there is certainly fire. I found out that they were getting ready to cook the kalua pig for the luau and was delighted to witness them prepping the imu (Hawaiian BBQ pit). You see, I have always been a big fan of kalua pig.
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The All-Star BBQ Showdown
If you have ever needed a reason to watch the OLN network, aside from the current re-broadcast of Survivor season 1, here is your chance. They are currently featuring “The All-Star BBQ Showdown” which sounds like it’s a barbecue competition with a little bit of Iron chef excitement thrown in. I must be honest, I have not seen this show… but it is set to record on my TiVo this weekend. I’ll keep you posted.
Check out the OLN website for listings.
Kermit Ruffins Barbecue Swingers
I found out that a friend of mine, who is a member of the Nortec Collective, will be in concert at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday. Free concert, say no more. While I was checking the schedule for the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series I found the name of an upcoming musical group that intrigued me, Kermit Ruffins Barbecue Swingers. Any group that has the name barbecue in it can’t be all bad. I must admit that I do have the Kermit Ruffins song, Big Easy, in my iTunes library. It was off of the 2004 Festival Sampler from the New Orleans Jazz Festival of that year.
If you like New Orleans music and free concerts, head over and check out Kermit Ruffins Barbecue Swingers on Thursday August 25 at the Santa Monica Pier. Also appearing will be Buckwheat Zydeco and special guest Topsy Chapman.
If you are looking for something to do this Thursday, check out the Nortec Collective.
Twilight Dance Series website
Santa Monica Pier website