Back to School

Well, last weekend, me and Hope attended a KCBS Judges and Table Captain Class so that we could become certified judges and Table Captains...

What does a class consist of you might ask?  Well, you have certified instructors from KCBS who review competition rules and instruct you on what you should be looking for as a judge and how to judge objectively.  You also review protocol and how to interact with your Table Judge and the other judges at the table.

After the power point presentation, a local BBQ team provided the four KCBS categories so that we could judge real food first hand.  Half of the BBQ was good and half bad on purpose.  They also slipped in some illegal boxes to see if we would catch them.  I must say, Hope is better at catching the illegal boxes than I am.  

Why take the class?  As an active competition team, we wanted to see things from the judges point of view to see if we can improve our scores this year.  One big help were our instructors, Carole and Randy Bigler, competitors themselves for many years.  They were quite helpful with tips on what judges are looking for on the circuit.  If you are a team and are looking to take a class, I would recommend doing so with Carole and Randy.   

Finally, we also learned that if you want to become a Master KCBS Judge, you have to judge 30 events and cook with a team.  So, if anyone out there is looking for a team to cook with this year for your Master Judge certification, please feel free to contact us.  We would be glad to help you put the signature in your book.  

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Weekend in Hong Kong, Part 2 of 2

For my Sunday in Hong Kong, I wanted to head over the Stanley.  Stanley is a small village on the southern end of Hong Kong Island that has a nice, European feel.  On a tip from my friend, he said to skip breakfast and to get an early ferry over to the island before noon as Stanley is a favorite place for the locals to hang out on their day off.  So, I grabbed an early ferry over to the island, then a taxi across the island to Stanley...

That is what the ferry looks like.  A great bargain to get around.  For the US equivalent of 50 cents, you can take one-way trips all over the area.

Just to explain, Hong Kong is not just the island.  There are many islands, plus a large chunk of the mainland (Kowloon, the New Territories, etc...) that make up the area.  The cab ride over the Stanley from the ferry terminal to the village runs about $110 HKD, about $15 USD.

I arrived to Chilebrown's (of Mad Meat Genius fame) Asian version of heaven: Farm Markets...

These produce stands are on every corner with a fresh assortment of fruits and vegetables that you might know and others that you might not.  There are also more conventional shops as well...

I was told that the waterfront was the place to be for a meal, so I scoped it all out to settle on a nice place for an early lunch...

You have expats of all types: Aussies, Kiwi's, Americans, and lot of locals.  All walking yippy dogs.  At the far end of the harbor, I found something that made me shudder: American Strip Mall...

No Golden Arches and high priced Lattes for me.  I was here to strap on my Asian flavored feed bag.  So, I walked back down the harbor front and picked a nice little pub with outside seating.  The one with the beige canopy and the black umbrellas...

Strangely enough, it was called the American Pub.  But, the chalkboard menu looked appealing and the old Cantonese lady was quite persistent in telling me I had to eat there.  Besides, it was populated with locals, so I couldn't go wrong, could I?  My first order of business was to order an adult drink.  So, I settled on a Tsingtao.

Tsingtao is a nice, refreshing Asian pilsner.  Asian pilsner is quite good.  They are very German in taste and character.  It makes sense since the Germans left the recipe during WWII.  My starter was a nice bowl of Tom Yum Goong soup...

Tom Yum Goong is a flavorful bowl of spicy goodness.  Chicken broth base, chunks of lemongrass, and filled with Thai chilies and shrimp.  It leaves a nice fire in your belly and a tingle on your lips when you are done.  Next up was a Dim Sum platter...

Dim Sum is a local specialty and cornerstone of Cantonese cooking.  It come with many choices.  This platter had, clockwise starting at left: steamed pork meatballs, pork dumplings, steamed buns with ground pork and shrimp filling, and 2 veggie springs rolls in the middle.  This basket of flavor was served with three dipping sauces...

On the left is soy sauce, in the middle is sweet chili sauce, and the right is a savory vinegar based chili dipping sauce.  All three complemented the steamed treats.  Once I finished, I went exploring the Stanley beach front for a few hours.

Before returning to Central Hong Kong, I saw a noodle shop.  I walked in, no encouragement needed.  I ordered another local beer and contemplated the menu...

Here was my first disappointment of the day.  The Hong Kong Beer is a micro-brewed dark ale.  Unfortunately, it is lacking in body and flavor.  Better than mass produced Crudweiser, but not much better.

For an early dinner, I settled on a bowl of Won-Ton soup, another local specialty...

Rich chicken broth, noodles, and Won-Tons filled with ground pork and shrimp.  The filling is perfectly seasoned with the right amount of sesame oil.  I have not had a Won-Ton soup this good.  Unfortunately, it will be hard to find something like this back home.

My belly full, I started to make my way back to Central.  When I arrived back at the ferry terminal, I went for a walk and ran into some local fisherman killing some time on a sunny day...

Unfortunately, the fishing report was not good.  It seems all they were doing was feeding the crabs...

Public Service Announcement...

I ended my day at a local ice cream shop.  Believe it or not, ice cream in Asia is very good, with flavors you would not normally get in the US.  I tried a taste of the Rose Petal ice cream and decided to have a scoop of that, along with a scoop of the Volcanic Pistachio...

The Rose Petal had a fragrant flavor that was not overpowering.  The taste was almost like a cross between cherry and lavender.  Would I order it again?  Probably not.  But, it was not something I would say no to if it was the only flavor available.  On the other hand, the Volcanic Pistachio was the best Pistachio ice cream I have ever had.  Rich, creamy, and every bite had lots of coarsely ground Pistachios.  I wanted to buy a pint and ship it home.

At this point, I rolled back to my hotel room and moaned until my belly settled.  Thanks for joining me on my Asian culinary adventure.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Weekend in Hong Kong, Part 1 of 2

As you may have seen in prior posts, I am fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you see it) enough to be able to travel for work.  Earlier this month, I spent a week in India and a week in China with a weekend in Hong Kong sandwiched in between.

My weekend started with an escape from New Delhi on a redeye that left at 1:50 am and arrived in Hong Kong around 8:30ish am.  I took the Airport Express into town and the shuttle to my hotel.  I had a ton of e-mail to go though and some work to catch up on over the day on Saturday.  But, I was determined to go on an Asian culinary adventure and to purge my body of Indian food and spices.  Don't get me wrong, I like Indian food.  But, it all tastes the same after six days and it comes in three colors; red, brown, and green.  Besides, I love Asian flavors.  Something you may have also seen by tooling around the Three Dogs BBQ blog...

So, I got a shower, put on a t-shirt and shorts (I was loving the warm weather), and grabbed a quick lunch.

First off were some Asian Spring rolls.  Filled with spring onion, cabbage, and carrot.  Wrapped in a won ton wrapper and served with soy-plum dipping sauce, this was an excellent way to start satisfying my Asian cravings.  Besides, you are looking at the first fresh vegetables that I had had in over a week. Amazing what you crave when it is not readily available...

I finished up my lunch with a plate of Singapore Noodles...

Onions, carrots, cabbage, green onion, been sprouts sauteed with garlic, rice vermicelli, curry powder, soy sauce and char siu pork (think Asian style ham).  This is an Asian medley that I can eat any day of the week.

I then retired to my room in anticipation of my evening out with some friends.

The evening started with a ride on the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island...

Once on the main island, it was a short subway ride and walk to our dinner venue.  Along the way, there were a ton of farm markets on each corner selling fresh fruits and vegetables.  I forget how much I miss our farm markets in the off season...

I don't have pictures of dinner, but my friend, who is from Hong Kong, took me to a smoked goose and crab shop that him and his family have been going to for years.  We were served a plate of thinly sliced smoked goose with an Asian vinegar dipping sauce that was heavenly.  We also had local crab, sauteed baby spinach and other assorted vegetables.

The seafood was incredibly fresh.  How fresh?  See for yourself...

With my belly full, I went back to my hotel and prepared for round two on Sunday...

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

KCBS Rib Practice

In our never ending quest to improve our scores, we tried some new techniques for our spare ribs.  What did we do this time?

1.  Used Dukes Dirt rub.
2.  Spray with apple juice after two hours on the cooker.
2.  Foiled after 3 hours in two ways:  One with just apple juice.  One with apple juice and Franks Sweet Chili Pepper sauce.
3.  A modified 3-2-1 method.  It was more of a 3-1-1 method.  We have found that 2 hours in foil overcooks the ribs.
4.  Lower cook temperature of 235 F.
5.  1 cup of Sweet Baby Rays mixed with 1/4 cup of honey for our glaze.

Here are the results:

Here they are after 3 hours, just before the foil.  I love the nice red color that the Dukes Dirt gives to the ribs...

Franks Sweet Chili sauce on the foil...

Placed meat side down and sprayed with apple juice...

Wrapped and ready for the cooker...

Back on the cooker for 1 hour...

Out of the foil and ready for glaze...

All glazed up.  I applied the glaze and put back on the cooker for one hour...

Bottom line review?  It was a dead heat.  Half of the taste testers loved the ones without the Franks Sweet Chili sauce.  Half loved the ones without.  Hope and I couldn't make our minds up either.  This will require more testing before the season starts to pick our recipe for 2013.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

KCBS Competition Practice, Brisket. Part 4 of 4, and a Product Review, Oakridge BBQ Black Ops Brisket Rub

Three down, one to go.  Brisket.  Up until Nelsonville last October, brisket has been the category that we have done the worst in by far.  I have made some great brisket at home.  But in competition, we have been lacking.  But, mid-season last year, we did a little research and some talking with some fellow teams and changed up what we were doing.

The two biggest changes we made that improved our score were:

1.  Changed our rub.  We went to Oakridge BBQ Santa Maria Rub.
2.  Strained our juices, separated out the fat, and dredged the brisket slices through the au jus before putting in the box.

These two steps added an average of 30 points to our brisket score.

So, over the winter, we are trying a new Oakridge product, Black Ops Brisket Rub...

Upon opening the package, we knew this was not your standard brisket rub.  The aromas were rich and complex.  The finger test was not a disappointment.  Coffee and shitake mushrooms are just two ingredients that add a complex flavor to any piece of beef.  Enough of the rub for now, here are the details on our practice session...

Hope went to the butcher and purchased a nice 4.5 lb brisket flat.  It was trimmed nicely with a thin layer of fat on the top.  We injected with a mix of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and beef stock.  Then, we wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the frig for some overnight happy time...

In the morning, I fired up the smoker and brought to 250 F.  While this was happening, I pulled the brisket out and applied a liberal coating of the Black Ops Brisket Rub...

I allowed the brisket to sit on the counter for 2 hours for the rub to moisten and the brisket to come to room temperature.  Then, I placed some pecan in the ash pan of the smoker and placed the brisket on the second rack down on my smoker...

I also placed a toothpick (bottom right corner on the brisket) into the brisket perpendicular to the grain so I would know which way to slice when done.

I then cooked the brisket until the internal temperature reached 175 F, then I placed in a foil pan with some of the reserved injected and covered with foil.

Brisket at 175 F before the pan...

In the pan...

Once covered in foil, I cooked until an internal temperature of 195 F.  The temperature probe was sliding into the brisket like butter in about 80% of the meat.  Now, we usually place the brisket in a cooler with towels to rest for two hours.  But, we were hungry and it was late.  So, I only let the brisket rest for 30 minutes on top of the stove sitting in the pan.  When you do pull the pan out of your cooker, crack the foil to release the steam.  This will give the bark a chance to set up.  And set up it did.  Look at this beautiful bark.  It was the best bark I have ever produced on a brisket...

I sliced and dipped in some of the strained au jus.

My impression?  For the first time, I made something at home that I thought was trophy worthy in competition.  The Black Ops Rub was made for beef.  The rub made an outstanding bark.  The flavors of the rub mingled with the au jus and the natural flavor of the beef producing an outstanding taste.  I am sold!

Bottom line:

Brisket needs to rest at least two hours.  While the flavor was outstanding, it was not quite as tender as I would like.

Oakridge BBQ Black Ops Brisket Rub gets 4 stars out of 4.  While their Santa Maria rub is a outstanding product, the Black Ops rub is superior!

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

KCBS Competition Practice. Pork Butt. Part 3 of 4, and a Product Review, Dukes Dirt Rub

Ok, you have two boxes turned in.  You are half way home and you are really in the groove.  Time to dissect your pork butt for turn in at 1 pm.

Overall, pork butt is the easiest category in KCBS.  At least it is for us.  Here is what we are trying in this experiment:

1.  A new injection mix: apple juice, Worcester sauce, and soy sauce.
2.  A new rub, Dukes Dirt.
3.  Lower cook temperature: 235 F vs. 250 F.

After injection, I placed in a foil pan covered with foil and let sit overnight...

Then, about 2 hours before placing the butt on the smoker, I covered with a new rub that my friends have been talking about, Dukes Dirt...

After opening the Dukes Dirt, I knew I had a possible winner on my hands.  I could smell some citrus  and nutmeg overtones that were confirmed with the standard finger test.  I could not wait to see how this new predicted performed with this butt.  But, more on that later.

I fired up the smoker and brought to a temperature of 235 F.  Once I reached this temperature, I placed hickory and peach wood in the ash pan, than loaded the butt in the smoker...

I cooked this butt without panning or foiling.  I just took to a temperature of 195 F, then wrapped in foil to rest for 30 minutes.  More on that later.  Here is a picture before pulling..

Here is a picture after resting and pulling...

So, my overall thoughts:

I like the flavor of the new injection.  I also like the flavor of the Dukes Dirt.  The smells coming from the smoker while cooking were intoxicating.  I could not wait to try this pulled pork. 

But, after pulling the meat and trying, I was a little disappointed.  Number one, the meat did not pull well.  But, this was due to the 30 minutes of rest time.  I usually allow my butts to rest for at least 2 hours in a cooler.  They usually just fall right apart.  But, I had hungry people waiting and a butt that took longer than usual to cook.  Number two complaint was the bark.  I would have liked more of a uniform color and darkness.  I did notice the Dukes Dirt did not have as much sugar as I would usually see on a rub.  Also, perhaps I did not place enough rub evenly on the butt.  Things to consider the next time I make pulled pork.  But, I was very happy with the taste, flavor, and smell.  Once I refine my technique on this one, I will dutifully report back. 

For now the Dukes Dirt gets 3 out of 4 stars.  But, I reserve the right to revise my scoring in the future. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill