Pork Barrel BBQ and Pellet Envy team up to feed the troops

With no time to recover from catering a huge party at the American Royal and competing in back to back events, Sheri and I teamed up with Bret and Heath of Pork Barrel BBQ to fire up the smoker to feed 250 service men and women and their families at the newly remodeled USO facility on the Ft. Riley military base. In addition to a meal complete with brisket, ribs, all the sides and award winning Pork Barrel BBQ sauces, we presented the USO with a check for $6,072.21 to be used to create an outdoor patio area for the troops and their families to relax and socialize while grilling and smoking their favorite recipes from home. The money was raised from donations of barbecue people from around the country including Barbara Cochran, Pork Barrel BBQ's business partner and best known publicly for her appearance as one of the investors on the ABC hit television show Shark Tank.Kansas Senator Sam Brownback spearheaded this effort, contacting the USO and ultimately getting permission for us to make this event happen. Special thanks to Creekstone Farms for donating 300 lbs. of their fabulous Angus brisket, Reser's Fine Foods for providing 300 lbs of their amazing side dishes, including potato salad, macaroni salad and baked beans, the Kansas City Barbeque Society for donating 60 slabs of St. Louis cut spare ribs, Ole Hickory Pits for allowing us to utilize their monsterous trailer mounted EL-EDX rotisserie smoker which easily held everything we cooked, and Oklahoma Joe's BBQ/The Kansas City Barbecue Store and Horizon Smokers for donating a brand spanking' new Horizon Classic smoker for the new patio area of the newly remodeled USO Center on base. All of these companies were very generous and without them, this event would not have been possible. For everyone involved, this was a very rewarding experience. We enjoyed serving those that serve our country and look forward to the opportunity to do it again very soon.

Pellet Envy named best competition team

We were completely shocked to check in on our Facebook fan page recently and find our good friend Kevin Dilmore congratulating us on receiving recognition as the Best Competition Barbecue Team in Kansas City for 2010 by The Pitch, our underground newspaper known for having it's finger on the pulse of the KC food and social scene. We love The Pitch, especially for the food reviews and definite opinions on the hot topics around town. We can't wait to pour over the annual Best Of awards, always learning of great new places to dine and shop that otherwise probably wouldn't make our radar. So, it is a great honor for us to be named as the best competition team.

Since starting as a music publication in 1980, the Pitch has grown to become Kansas City's leading source of sophisticated information that readers know they can't get anywhere else -- whether it's in-depth news and analysis about local power brokers; a rundown of who's in and who's out in the city's spirited arts, music and nightlife scenes; or the skinny on famous barbecue joints and steakhouses. More than 258,000 people read the paper every month, picking it up every week at 1,800 locations throughout a seven-county region. Readers across the world also look to our Web site, www.pitch.com, to keep up with what's happening here or to make plans whenever they're goin' to Kansas City.

So it's your first time to cook the Jack

With the 2010 Jack draw now in the books, the dust has settled and there are a ton of first time teams scrambling to deal with all that is the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue Contest. Just the logistics is so different from most any other event we cook. I mean, when you think about it, Lynchburg, Tennessee is a town with an approximate population of 400 people. The weekend of the contest, the little place swells to the point of almost bursting, with an estimated 30,000 people visiting all on one day. Somewhere I read that the annual visitors to the Jack Daniel's Distillery is 125,000. Having 25% of them all come on one day makes my brain hurt a little. Expect to wait in traffic a good while if you driving around this tiny town on that Saturday.

So, it's your first time to cook the event, huh? Here are a few things to consider.

1. Make your hotel reservations NOW. Not tonight, not tomorrow, now! There is only one motel in Lynchburg. Beyond that, there are a couple bed and breakfast places. At least 95% of folks visiting or cooking the event don't stay in Lynchburg. They stay in the outlying towns. Tullahoma is probably the closest. They have a handful of hotels. We've also stayed in Shelbyville, although the road to and from Lynchburg looks a little treacherous to be traveling at night. Fayetteville and Winchester are the two other choices that come to mind, although we've never actually stayed there but a lot of our friends and fellow cooks have. Another option would be to stay in the cabins on the state lakes. There are a couple choices there and in '07 we stayed in a really great cabin that had all the comforts of home with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room area and a big deck off the back. Beyond these choices, some teams even rent RV's, having them delivered from Nashville. Still others just make due at their cook sites.

2. Make your reservations for Ms. Mary BoBo's Boarding House. If you've never been, you really should eat a meal here. They seat in waves and serve the food family style at communal tables in various rooms of the house. When you call, ask about the menu that day. And, it changes daily, so should you be so inclined, you could eat there more than one day during your trip. They own fried chicken there and be sure to try the Jack spiced apples. Oh man.

3. Take a tour of the distillery. Make sure you get one of David Roper's tours. David, affectionately known as "Porky" there, is a tour guide. His tours usually take a little longer than the other guides and he guides the cook's tour, which typically is on Friday morning. It's not so much important to make the cook's tour as it is just to get over there and see the place with David as your guide. If you can't get David as your tour guide, ask for Goose. Either way, you'll be thoroughly entertained.

4. Get up to the Hardware Store as soon as you arrive in Lynchburg. The Hardware Store is actually the Jack Daniel's memorabilia store. They sell all things Jack. They also run out of stuff quickly on this weekend. They will have the contest t-shirts and just about anything else that could have Jack Daniel's logo put on it. As a competitor, there is a team discount so be sure to tell them your team name. Hey, every little bit helps. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that there is a place on the info sheet where you can pre-order your contest t-shirts. Use it. It's the easiest way to insure you get all the sizes and quantities you want. The hot new trend of the past couple years is to buy a barrel top and get all of the competing teams for that year to sign it. We've resisted that urge so far, but I can see how it would make a great way to remember your experience.

5. Bring your team flag or state flag or a banner and march in the parade. The parade line forms at the cook-off and teams march a couple blocks to the distillery on Friday afternoon. The international teams really get into it with cool costumes, fun gear and exotic noise makers. Jack typically gives the teams beads to throw to the spectators. It's just a fun little celebration.

6. Make it up on the hill. There is a cooks' dinner hosted by Jack Daniel's for cooks, judges and dignitaries. It's on Friday about 5:00PM. The parade route ends at the distillery where school buses are parked and waiting to escort you to dinner in the pavilion. The menu is typically southern fare and there is a bar. The place is usually very crowded and everyone is in a festive mood. You can even write down a thought or subject that you'd like to get off your mind and throw it in the fire as a ceremonial way to rid yourself of it. The real reason for making the trip though, is for the view. The pavilion is so awesome, but the view is absolutely amazing.

Most of all, have fun. There is so much to do and see. Between the "I Know Jack About Grilling" event, the Butt Bowling contest, the private parties, the crowds, and on and on, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the event. Be sure to take rain gear, especially good rain boots. It rains every year and things get muddy real fast. Some years your rain boots are the only shoes you need. And don't forget that Lynchburg is in a dry county so if you thirst for something special, better bring it with you and always, always put it in a red Solo cup. Try to get in as much of the festivities as possible, but above all, don't lose sight of why you came. Cook well and enjoy your time in the hollar.

Pellet Envy earns a pass to the 23rd Annual Jack Daniel's World Invitational Barbecue Contest

This past weekend at the Flint Hills Beef Fest in Emporia, Kansas, we bested the field of forty-five teams to be crowned the Grand Champion. With top ten calls in all four Kansas City Barbecue Society categories, we amassed a point total of 674.2854 to slip past Reserve Grand Champion Pork Me Purple and chief cook Jarrod Caton. Despite the heat every year at this event, we have fond memories from years past. Beef Fest was an event we won in our first full year of competition. We also cooked it the year that Bart Clark of team Twin Oak won, sealing his fate as the KCBS team of the year 2005. Finally, this was the site of the now infamous lettuce core incident that got the Smokin' Salmons disqualified and ultimately cost the team a victory.

What makes this win so special for us though, is that being award grand champion in Emporia last weekend gives Pellet Envy our seventh win during the qualifying period for the Jack Daniel's World Invitational Barbecue Contest. In it's 23rd year, "The Jack" as teams affectionately call it, is one of the most prestigious on the circuit, not to mention one of the hardest in which to qualify. I won't bore you with the details, but in short, when the dust settles after the invitational draw on September 3rd, 2011, some of the best teams in the country will be left at home. The only way to insure your invitation and removing the fate of the draw, is to either win the only qualifying event in a state, be the only team to win a qualifier from your home state, or win seven qualifying events within the qualifying period, the later being far and away the hardest to do. We feel very luck to have guaranteed our place in the 23rd annual event by winning seven qualifiers. One bit of trivia: Pellet Envy has never been in the draw. In the our seven years to participate in this event, we've been invited four times under the Ole Number Seven rule, making Pellet Envy the top team to compete in the Jack in this fashion. The other three years we won the only qualifiers in a state.

One other thing that makes this past weekend's win special, is the points awarded for the Kansas City Barbeque Society Team of the Year chase. This Emporia win propels us into second place, only ten points behind the current leader. With Pellet Envy being the current national champion, it would be an amazing feat to repeat as the KCBS Team of the Year. With about fifteen weeks left to the season, there is still a lot of barbecue to cook. But hold on to your hats, because this year could be an even wilder finish than the 2010 season that saw us travel over 13,000 miles in six weeks to compete and win the title. I just hope we're up to the challenge should it come down to that. Stay tuned race fans!

Pellet Envy moves to top spot in National BBQ Rankings

With a win in Emporia, Kansas this past weekend, Pellet Envy takes over the top stop in the National BBQ Rankings for the first time this season. With 5,050 unique teams ranked, our team slipped past Bubba Q, a top tier traveling competition team piloted by William "Bubba" Latimer out of Georgia. The National BBQ Rankings combines contest results throughout the country to ultimately rank the top teams. Each week the rankings are calculated according to a proprietary National BBQ Rankings formula to determine the team ranks. Teams are awarded points based on top ten finishes in qualifying contests. These rankings are updated and released each Monday throughout the competition season and presented on the nationalbbqrankings.com website.

A 104 week rolling calendar is utilized to calculate the rankings. The NBBQR believes this gives the best indication of team success, both over a short period of time and at a sustainable level. By including the two major sanctioning bodies, the Kansas City Barbeque Society and the Florida Barbecue Association, plus unsanctioned events in the rankings, the NBBQR gathers a large portion of contests and teams. Points are awarded teams finishing in the top ten of each category. These points then degrade over thirteen 8 week periods. The points are then totaled and the teams are ranked accordingly.

Smokin' On Big Creek - Pleasant Hill, Missouri

Another contest in the books. This past weekend we competed at the third annual Smokin' On Big Creek in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Only a thirty minute drive, Sheri and I didn't know what to do with all of our extra time. So, we procrastinated.

Having driven over 1,000 miles home on Wednesday from Charlotte, North Carolina, I was left with one day to get things cleaning up from Hammond, Louisiana, plus gathering up the supplies, refilling the rubs and sauces, and packing up to go again on Friday. They may call it "Jet Lag", but I think it applies to long days in a vehicle as well, because I just did not have what it took to get it all done in one day. So, some of my prep spilled over into Friday morning. Luckily, Sheri had Good Friday off, so she was able to help. Without her, I'd might still be trying to get ready.

After a serious straight line wind storm that blew through Kansas City on Friday morning with gusts up to 80 miles an hour and a power outage at the house, I finally arrived at the event about 3:00PM. Nearly the last team to arrive, there were 65 teams cooking in Pleasant Hill. Being Easter weekend, I would not have guessed such a great attendance. Well, at least not prior to my contest experience.

As you all know, we travel the country to cook and compete. Not until I was looking at our schedule to tell friends when we'd be cooking around home, a couple years ago, did I realize how little we actually cook around home. In our travels, we've discovered a level of hospitality at barbecue contests not typically found locally. I realize that this statement, especially when cast broadly, probably offends some local KC contest organizers. It's definitely not meant that way. Rather, competition barbecue around Kansas City has such a history that sometimes I feel it's taken for granted. I've said this many times and I believe it. No where else in the country will you see 60 teams competing for $3,000 total prize money. And yes, I know it's not all about the money, but wouldn't you at least like to think you have a shot to win back the cost to compete when you enter an event? I know I would. I realize that money and hospitality are not the same thing and I could write on this subject until you fell asleep reading this, if you haven't already, so let's move on . . .

Jeff Stith and his crew, including his lovely wife Tammy, busted their tails this weekend to make Smokin' On Big Creek every bit has hospitable as about any contest we've ever cooked, and we've cooked a ton of contests. They greeted us with a smile and that attitude didn't change from start to end. We wanted for nothing. His group made us feel welcome. They catered to our every need, making sure we had ice and snatching up trash as fast as we put it out. There was always someone available to answer questions and Jeff himself took the time to ask if everything was okay several times during the contest. Because of the storm I mentioned, some of the grounds were very muddy. Jeff personally delivered sheets of cardboard for teams to put down in their spots to help with the mud and mess. I don't care who you are, that's a level of service not often seen at barbecue contests. All in all, Smokin' On Big Creek is a true gem in the Kansas City area and it's no surprise the contest experiences exponential growth every year.

Congrats to Kim and Andy of Smoke on Wheels. They were awarded a perfect score in Chicken and were names the overall Grand Champions. Congrats to Craig and Patty Kidwell of Boys of BBQ and Patty for their Reserve Grand Champion finish. Afterwards Patty told me that she set out to beat Pellet Envy this weekend and she did a damn good job. We finished with a second place call in Ribs and fourths in Chicken and Pork. Our brisket let us down this weekend and we finished a very respectable fifth overall in a seriously tough field of cooks. Special congrats to Rich & Bunny Tuttle of KCass BBQ as they won the brisket category and qualified for the Chest to Chest Brisket Invitational in Great Bend, Kansas this Labor Day weekend.

We're off to beautiful Shannon, Illinois this weekend to teach our style of barbecue to a sold out crowd of knowledge thirty folks. Shannon is the only location we've hosted a class all three years and has been our most successful class site. We're really looking forward to it. See you all soon.

I bought a book . . .

So, it's been some time since I've actually written anything for this blog. I used several excuses, including the points chase at the end of last season. Speaking of that, I didn't realize that many of my non-barbecue friends did not know this, but Pellet Envy ended the season as the Kansas City Barbeque Society Team of the Year. Yes, I've put a little spin on that title and renamed it the "National Barbecue Champions." But I digress . . . .

A couple things happened late last year that completely unmotivated me to write the blog. One was the overwhelming idea that I had nothing to say. Well, nothing worth reading anyway. I mean, how many times do you want to read a contest recap? They sort of all run together after awhile, right? So, as I continued to convince myself that my posts were no longer interesting, it sort of snowballed into a sort of writer's block.

To make matters worse, I decided I needed to be more professional in the way I wrote so I bought a book. Yes, it was supposed to be a book that would help me write better. Not the kind of book that motivates you to write more interesting things, although I think I would have bought that book as well. No, this was a book to teach me not to make so many grammatical mistakes when I wrote. As I read it, I realized just what a crappy writer I really was. The more I read, the more I saw the multitude of mistakes I made while writing my blog posts. I think you all know where this is going, so let's just get this out on the table . . . . This book totally screwed with my head. After already losing confidence in my posts, the information in this book sort of made me feel stupid about writing. So much so, that I basically totally gave up on posting to this blog.

I'm here to tell you that those days are over. Screw what's right. This is my blog. I'll write in any damn way I want. So, that's what we're going to do. At least once a week, I'm going to write a new post. Who the hells knows that it's going to be about. I'll do my best to make it interesting and to the point. You do your best to give me a little feedback now and again, just to keep the ship heading in the right direction.

The season has officially started. We've added a new major sponsors. Our first class, hosted here in Kansas City, is in the books. The biggest paying contest in the country is this weekend in Little Rock, Arkansas. I don't have to tell most of you that Arkansas is our barbecue home away from home. It's time to get this ball rolling again. I'm here to tell you now, "I'm back!"