BBQ Judging Class
The California Barbecue Association is holding a BBQ judging class on October 20th at 2nd Annual Smokin’ In The Park Barbecue Championship. This is being held in Alpine, CA… a little east of San Diego. I made it down there last year in a couple of hours, it’s not too far. These BBQ judging classes don’t come around too often… the last one was held over a year ago. I can’t recommend these classes enough.
If you compete or are thinking of competing in a BBQ competition, you can learn what goes on in the judge’s tent. Learn what is expected from your turn-in plate and how to prepare to better prepare yourself. If you are a BBQ enthusiast you can learn more about traditional American barbecue. What can be better than spending some quality time with other folks who also enjoy BBQ?
The cost is $35 if you are a KCBS member and a $70 if you aren’t. If the cost seems a bit steep, think about the benefits.
• You get to eat some pretty good BBQ during the class
• You learn about BBQ from some of California’s best Q’rs
• You meet and mingle with other BBQ enthusiasts
• You can sign up to judge on the following day (if there is room) or any other KCBS sanctioned BBQ competition
• You become an Official Kansas City Barbecue Society BBQ (KCBS) Judge… this alone is worth the price of admission.
I have signed up to be a judge at this event, hopefully I will see you there. Perhaps you can’t make it to this event or you live too far away? You can search the KCBS website for BBQ judging classes that may be closer to you just by clicking here.
Click here and download the application >>
Silent Valley IBCA Competition Results
This weekend’s BBQ competition was an unforgettable event. Our team, Four Q BBQ, had an agreement that was pretty much signed in BBQ sauce. Winning the competition didn’t matter at all, we just wanted to get together and barbecue with other peeps that were out to do the same thing. We put way less pressure on ourselves than our first competition and thus we were able to enjoy the event.
There were six teams in all, so we figured that we would be guaranteed a spot in the top-ten. Pretty good odds. We exceeded our own expectations and placed in all three meat categories. Congratulations to all of my team mates: Sylvie of Soul Fusion Kitchen, Professor Salt, and Mr. 2nd place BBQ beef Brisket himself… Big Mista from The Survival Gourmet.
Click here to check out the photos.
Grand Champion
Burnt by the Best
Reserve Grand Champion
Kyle’s BubbaQ’
Chicken
1st Kyle’s BubbaQ’
2nd Burnt by the Best
3rd Tropical Heat BBQ
4th Four Q BBQ
5th Blque
Ribs
1st Kyle’s BubbaQ’
2nd Burnt by the Best
3rd Tropical Heat BBQ
4th Four Q BBQ
5th BBQ’n Fools
Brisket
1st Burnt by the Best
2nd Four Q BBQ
3rd Blque
4th BBQ’n Fools
5th Kyle’s BubbaQ’
Sauce
1st Blque
Getting ready to BBQ this weekend
Our competition BBQ Team, Four Q, had practice this weekend and everything went pretty good. It has been a while since we had last gathered. Our nerves were flying at the last BBQ competition we did… we are feeling much more comfortable now. One of the biggest mistakes that we did last time was in bringing way too much stuff. We had four truckloads of crap. This time we are only taking one truckload of crap.
This BBQ competition isn’t going to be anything like the Autry. For starters, this one is sanctioned by the International Barbeque Cookers Association (IBCA) and not the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) as are most of the local events. The IBCA focuses more on Texas-style BBQ so the meats for this event will be slightly different… chicken halves are turned in as opposed six identical chicken pieces and there is no pork category.
All in all it should be a good event for our team, but not so good for the public. It’s a small event with no entertainment (aside from all of the BBQ eye candy), and you gotta drive a bit. But if you are so inclined to go, stop by our area and say hello.
See pictures from BBQ practice.
BBQ competition near Banning
It’s been a while since I’ve posted… been busy with work and trying to keep cool in this summer heat. I am happy to inform you that after a few cancelled competitions, the Four Q BBQ team will be competing in our second event. This competition is happening on August 18th & 19th and will be located at the Silent Valley Club RV park. There isn’t too much information available yet only that the proceeds benifit the Silent Valley Volunteer Fire Department… I promise that I will post more info as I get it. For now lets just be happy that there is a BBQ competition in SoCal.
If you are interested in competing the entry fees per BBQ team are $150 for CBBQA members and $186 for non-members. Contact Thom Emery (thomemery(at)aol.com) for more info.
BBQ blog goes down in California
For a good portion of today this website’s hosting company was experiencing server issues. This temporarily led to the inability of the world to access the BBQ Junkie blog.
Sorry for the inconvenience 
Everything seems to be working now and the world can now continue celebrating the art of BBQ by reading the pages of this blog. Enjoy.
BBQ in the 805
People are always asking me where can they taste some authentic slow smoked BBQ. Without going as far as inviting them over for an afternoon of deliciousness, I usually refer them one of the local BBQ competitions. They will usually have a tasting booth available to the public. Regrettably, a few of those have been cancelled recently. Fortunately for us, many of the local BBQ teams that compete at these events also do catering and will occasionally participate in street fairs and festivals. Such is the case at this weekend’s (Friday-Sunday) Camarillo Fiesta & Street Fair just north of Los Angeles, in Ventura County.
Smokin’ Steve’s Pit Barbecue Catering will be making a weekend-long visit to the Camarillo area and selling their ultra-tasty goods. If you are kicking it in the 805 this weekend stop by and get some “authentic southern BBQ.”
If things are a little busy this weekend and you feel that the BBQ Junkie didn’t give you enough warning on this event… Or, maybe, you just try to avoid the 805 whenever possible? Smokin’ Steve’s Barbecue will be at the Pasadena Blues Festival the following weekend. BBQ & blues, what else do you need.
Smokin’ Steve’s Pit Bbq Catering
visit the Smokin’ Steve’s website
805-520-0601
Camarillo Fiesta
visit the website
Pasadena Blues Festival
visit the website
Suburban Cylinder Express
Some people prefer propane to charcoal because of the convenience that it offers. Get home, flip the switch and you are cooking dinner in less than time than it takes to say BBQ tri tip. But using propane can have it’s own set of downfalls… like, lets say, running out of gas in the middle of barbecuing dinner for your family and friends. Not to mention that those tanks can get a bit heavy and cumbersome. To save you from this embarrassment, or maybe just save your lower back from undue stress, there is a service, called Suburban Cylinder Express, available in select cities across the country that will deliver replacement tanks to your home or business.
You can have the service set up to automatically replenish your tanks or just call them anytime you need one refilled. This certainly takes the convenience of gas grilling one step closer to having the grill actually do the cooking for you. Not that I would ever want that, but if you are grilling with gas you’re nearly halfway there. Perhaps you don’t own a gas barbecue grill? Well, Grill On is also not a bad idea if you have a patio heater or two. The price for this added convenience is $24.95 +tax with a turn-in tank.
Suburban Cylinder Express
1-888-33-GRILL (47455)
Visit their website
Natural-Born Griller
Thanks Benny for referring me to this month’s edition of the AARP magazine. It features an article by Steven Slon that is written after attending Steven Raichlen’s 3-day BBQ course. He offers up some tips, recipes and a few anecdotes about his experience.
At the end of the three days it seems we’ve cooked everything that can be cooked on a grill, which is just about anything you can eat, with the possible exceptions of ceviche and sushi.
Rose Bowl BBQ competition postponed
Our competition BBQ team, Four-Q BBQ, was on schedule to compete in the Rose Bowl cook-off on the weekend of August 19th …when all of a sudden we find out that it has been cancelled. There have been a couple of other local BBQ competitions that have been called off this year. This really sucks. Local events like this only help enrich our local BBQ culture.
Here is what the R.G. Canning folks had to say:
On behalf of R.G. Canning Productions Inc. , I have the unfortunate duty of informing you that the Rose Bowl BBQ Cook Off & Olde Tyme Western Fair has been postponed untill a new venue & support structure can be located.
We at R.G. Cannning produce over 200 shows & special events every year and pride ourselves in producing quaility family events. This being our first attempt at a BBQ Cook Off we learned some lessons.
There are several reasons we are going to reschedule this event, there have been several problems with the venue itself, such as wanting each cook team to obtain a heath permit, and not wanting to let the teams overnight on the property,and some logistics problems with other areas of the event. All of these problems did not come out untill recently, and we ahd hoped to work them out but at this time it does not seem possible.
We understand that with the rising cost in our country (Gas, ECT. ) that teams dot enter untill closer to time fot the event, but as I said this was only one of our concerns, not being able to provide you guys with the proper needs for you to cook overnight and things such as that really are a major factor.
We hope to announce a new date and location ASAP. We agin thank those of you who sent in and your checks will be returned to you by the end of this week. And a big thanks to the 30+ judges that signed up.
For more info check out the R.G. Canning website.
Big Bob Gibson’s pork butt
Pork Butts about to come out of the Barbecue.
I’ve had the BBQ book Peace love and Barbecue for some time now and haven’t really dedicated myself to its content nearly enough. Today, the 4th of July 2006, I have. There is a recipe for pork butt included in this book that has garnered so much attention and picked up a few awards around the BBQ circuit that I had to give it a try.
I am speaking of Big Bob Gibson’s championship pork shoulder recipe.
I followed the recipe to the letter, except for the fact that I used pork butt instead of shoulder, and have found the results to be fantastic. I wouldn’t normally post a recipe from a book on this site, but his recipe is the worse kept secret in the world of barbecue. It can be found all over the Internet and television.
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