Last weekend, the Three Dogs BBQ road show packed up and headed off to the asylum. BBQ'er's are a little crazy to be in the world of competition BBQ. So, it was fitting that the 3rd annual Almost Heaven BBQ Bash was held on the grounds of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV.
This building is the largest hand cut sandstone building in North America and the second largest in the world. I did not take any of the tours offered but from what I hear the history of this building, which dates back to the 1850's, is quite chilling. Bulk lobotomies, torture rooms, holding boxes. You get the picture.
The facility was finally shut its doors in 1994. Since then, the building has been purchased by a local businessman who is restoring the inside to its original state. Various historical and haunted tours are run and from what I hear, the former asylum is a must see on the list of haunted places to visit in the United States. Definitely a unique place to hold a BBQ competition.
So, with one eye on our smokers and one eye looking over our back for ghosts, we fired up our smokers and got down to the business of smoking meat.
To add to the craziness, this competition was an auto qualifier to the Jack Daniels BBQ Championship as this is the only sanctioned BBQ contest held in West Virginia. Win and you are in. No sweating out the Jack Draw in August. Consequently, this contest drew 57 of the best teams from east of the Mississippi. The field was the toughest we have ever competed against. How would we fare?
Well, the results were mixed. Overall, we were very happy with our results, but we did leave some points on the table. 29th place chicken, 3rd place ribs, 37th place pork, and 19th place brisket added up to an 18th overall. Our pork box was mixed. "Great pulled, rubbery slices" were the comments. We agree. We should have left the money muscle out of the box. The ribs were spot on, falling one taste and one tenderness point away from a 180.
But the brisket box is the story of the day...
The temperature was rising slowly on this brisket. I could not figure out why. When we pulled our brisket out of the foil, the flat split right down the middle. There was a time I would have panicked. But, we refoiled and let the brisket rest until turn in time. I started to formulate Plan B. Later, when we were building our brisket box, I did try to get some slices. No luck. Completely overdone. I believe that my temperature probe was right in the middle of a vein of fat. So, Plan B went into action. I pulled the flat, chopped it up, lightly sauced, and dusted a bit with rub. We threw it into the box with the burnt ends and crossed our fingers. I was betting on a lower 10% finish. You can't imagine our surprise when we came in 19th place. We were dinged a bit on appearance scores, but the taste and tenderness saved us for sure. We really appreciate that the judges scored what was presented to them and not what they expected to see.
Congratulations go out to Rocky Top BBQ, our GC and Wolf's Revenge, our RGC. We would also like to thank Royal Oak Charcoal for keeping the 270 Smokers rolling smoke. Next up is the Adirondack BBQ Festival in July.
Thanks for stopping by,
Bill
This building is the largest hand cut sandstone building in North America and the second largest in the world. I did not take any of the tours offered but from what I hear the history of this building, which dates back to the 1850's, is quite chilling. Bulk lobotomies, torture rooms, holding boxes. You get the picture.
The facility was finally shut its doors in 1994. Since then, the building has been purchased by a local businessman who is restoring the inside to its original state. Various historical and haunted tours are run and from what I hear, the former asylum is a must see on the list of haunted places to visit in the United States. Definitely a unique place to hold a BBQ competition.
So, with one eye on our smokers and one eye looking over our back for ghosts, we fired up our smokers and got down to the business of smoking meat.
To add to the craziness, this competition was an auto qualifier to the Jack Daniels BBQ Championship as this is the only sanctioned BBQ contest held in West Virginia. Win and you are in. No sweating out the Jack Draw in August. Consequently, this contest drew 57 of the best teams from east of the Mississippi. The field was the toughest we have ever competed against. How would we fare?
Well, the results were mixed. Overall, we were very happy with our results, but we did leave some points on the table. 29th place chicken, 3rd place ribs, 37th place pork, and 19th place brisket added up to an 18th overall. Our pork box was mixed. "Great pulled, rubbery slices" were the comments. We agree. We should have left the money muscle out of the box. The ribs were spot on, falling one taste and one tenderness point away from a 180.
But the brisket box is the story of the day...
The temperature was rising slowly on this brisket. I could not figure out why. When we pulled our brisket out of the foil, the flat split right down the middle. There was a time I would have panicked. But, we refoiled and let the brisket rest until turn in time. I started to formulate Plan B. Later, when we were building our brisket box, I did try to get some slices. No luck. Completely overdone. I believe that my temperature probe was right in the middle of a vein of fat. So, Plan B went into action. I pulled the flat, chopped it up, lightly sauced, and dusted a bit with rub. We threw it into the box with the burnt ends and crossed our fingers. I was betting on a lower 10% finish. You can't imagine our surprise when we came in 19th place. We were dinged a bit on appearance scores, but the taste and tenderness saved us for sure. We really appreciate that the judges scored what was presented to them and not what they expected to see.
Congratulations go out to Rocky Top BBQ, our GC and Wolf's Revenge, our RGC. We would also like to thank Royal Oak Charcoal for keeping the 270 Smokers rolling smoke. Next up is the Adirondack BBQ Festival in July.
Thanks for stopping by,
Bill
