My New Competition Addiction - SCA

In 2018, the Three Dogs team entered the world of Steak Cookoff Association (SCA) competitions.  The SCA is a sanctioning body for steak cook offs and ancillary categories such as ribs, wings, dessert, Bloody Mary's, and much, much more.  SCA is based in the Fr. Worth, TX area and sanctions contests in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan.  The SCA is a great way to enter the competitive cooking world with minimal investment.  Let's take a minute and delve into the pros and cons of competitive steak cook offs.

Pros:

Lower entry fees when compared to KCBS.  Most entry fees for SCA run $125-$175 per contest.  Most contests pay $1000 to the winner and usually pay out to the top five teams.  Ancillary contests run about $25 to enter.

The contest provides the steaks.  This is a bonus on many fronts.  One, you do not have to go out and buy the best cut of meat to compete.  The organizer provides you with two steaks, boneless ribeye, choice grade or better.  Two, steaks are chosen via a randomly pulled draft.  If you pull number one, you go first.  Then your second steak is chosen in reverse order.  A nice level playing field for all.  No need to go spend $100+ on prime or waygu steaks, adding cost.

Competitions are only one day.  You show up in time for the cooks meeting and steak draft, 8 am in most cases.  Generally turn ins are at noon and they have you headed home by 4-5 pm.

A lot less equipment.  All you need is a grill, your tools and knives, a cutting board, seasonings, a thermometer, a canopy for shade, and a cooler with lunch and drinks.  20 minute set up, 20 minute break down.  What's not to like?

Low stress atmosphere.  Mingling between reps, judges, and teams is encouraged.  Everyone talks and has a grand old time.  Then, about 30 minutes before turn ins, the judges disappear and you get down to cooking.  As for turn ins, the window is 30 minutes.  Easy peasy.

No garnish.  No need to spend cash on kale, parsley, or lettuce.  The steak goes into a 9x9 box with a foil disk on the bottom for cutting and to make sure the box doesn't melt.

Overall cost.  We can do 10 SCA competitions for the total cost of two KCBS competitions.  Win, win, win.

Cons:

No comment cards.  Doneness for steaks is graded on the following chart:

Medium is what you are striving for.  You can't cut your steak before turning in to be judged.  If your score is anything other than a 10, you do not know if you were over or under cooked.  Knowing would be helpful.  Also, some general comments would be nice, but not needed.

Not many comps in the Northeast.  But, that is changing.  It is looking like in 2019, this will drop off of the con list.

As you can see, the Pros way outweigh the Cons.

In 2018, Three Dogs entered three SCA competitions.  In our first two outings, we finished in the bottom 10%.

Our first steak was a bit under trimmed and my guess is that it was a bit overdone due to a raging hot grill.

In our second competition, our steak was trimmed a bit aggressively and perhaps a little underdone.  

Some research was needed.  I picked a few brains, hit the Internet for articles and videos, and held a few practice cooks at home.  In September, all of the research and practice payed off...

Three Dogs won the first SCA event in the Pittsburgh area at the Grill Your Ace Off held by Williams Ace Hardware in West Newton, PA.  With this win, we get to attend the World Steak Championships in Fort Worth, TX in October and perhaps the 2019 World Food Championships to cook in the steak category.  

Over the past year, Three Dogs has found the SCA to be a nice, relaxing, low cost way to participate in the world of competitive cooking.  We will never fully quit cooking KCBS competitions.  But, considering the ever escalating cost to compete in the world of competitive BBQ, I think that over the next few years, we will be participating in fewer BBQ contests and transitioning into more SCA cook offs.  

So, if you happen to see a SCA competition in your neck of the woods and you think you cook a mean steak, you just might want to throw your grill in the back of the truck, grab your seasonings, and see how your steak stacks up against the best.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

Hello everyone!  We are back.  I know it has been quite some time since we have posted.  But, as stated before, life got in the way, we ran out of ideas, etc...  But, people have asked where the blog went.  It seems that people actually did read it from time to time.  So, after the time off, I figured that now is as good a time as any to fire the keyboard back up.

2018 was a good year for Three Dogs BBQ.  With 8 contests, we finished ranked 14th in the country in chicken, 116 in ribs, 41st in pork, and we won't talk about brisket.  Overall, we were 114th in the country for KCBS.  This is out of 2335 teams that competed in 10 contests or less.  Not too shabby for a team just winging it over the summer.  In addition we finished 4th in chicken and 5th in pork in the Mid-Atlantic Barbecue Association Team or the Year standings for Tier II (Best 5 scores out of 8 contests or less).

In addition, Three Dogs started competing in Steak Cookoff Association sanctioned contests.  After a dreadful start, we did manage to win our final SCA contest in September at Williams Ace Hardware in West Newton, PA.  That has earned us a trip to the SCA World Championships in Ft. Worth, TX in October 2019.  We are definitely looking forward to that road trip!

So, as we re-launch the blog, we are open to ideas for content.  We will be going back to recipes, restaurant reviews, etc...  But, if you have any ideas, we are more than open to your suggestions.

Happy New Year!

Bill

Grilled Chicken Wing Dip

Super Bowl Sunday was upon us and I was feeling a little indifferent to the whole event.  Our Steelers "spit the bit" as they are prone to do from time to time and we really didn't have a horse in the race.  I wasn't rooting for the Eagles.  More like, I was rooting against Darth Belichick and the evil empire known as the Patriots.  I needed something to get me into the game.  So, instead of the usual spread, I focused on preparing some dips for the evening.  I had a hankering for some buffalo chicken dip, but I was looking for something other than the usual canned chicken, cream cheese, raw Texas Pete all mixed up kinda thing.  So, as I am prone to do, I did a little experimenting.  Off to the kitchen we go.

Ingredients:

Chicken Wings.  Ultimately, I used 6.
Adobo Seasoning with Pepper

For the Wing Sauce:

2/3 cup Texas Pete
1/3 cup butter
3 cloves of garlic minced

For the Base:

1, 8 oz pack of cream cheese, softened
8 oz of sour cream
2 tbsp of ranch dressing

The Rest:

2 ribs of celery, finely diced
1/4 cup of carrot sticks, roughly diced
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese plus more for topping
Bleu Cheese crumbles for topping

The night before, I seasoned both sides of my wings with the Adobo seasoning, layered them in a pan, and placed them in the fridge to dry brine.

 Dry brining removes the moisture from the skin, promoting crispiness when cooked.  More on that in my next post.

The next day, I fired up my grill to cook the wings.  While the charcoal was getting ready, I prepared my sauce, the dip base, and the veggies.

For the sauce, I melted the 1/3 cup of butter and lightly sautéed my garlic.  Then I added the Texas Pete and let simmer for about 10 minutes to slightly reduce the sauce.  When reduced, I removed the sauce from the heat and set aside for use later.

Next, I took the softened cream cheese and incorporated the sour cream, ranch dressing, and the wing sauce using my hand held mixer until the mixture was smooth.

When the grill was ready, I placed the charcoal off to one side for indirect grilling.  I placed the chicken on the grill and covered with the lid, vents wide open.  Every five minutes I came out and rearranged the wings so those that were close to the fire did not burn.  I continued this process for about 40 minutes until the skin was crispy and the meat was cooked.

 After removing the wings from the grill, I brought them inside and let them cool down for 15 minutes.  Then, I pulled meat from the bones and roughly minced until I had two cups of meat.  This amounted to six whole wings, deboned.  I also included some of the skin as it was nice and crispy.

Next, I took the meat, diced veggies and 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella and folded into the cream cheese mixture.

Then, after spreading into a 8 inch pie pan, I topped with mozzarella cheese and bleu cheese crumbles.  

Finally, I baked in a 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes when the mixture was melted and the cheese on top was brown and bubbly.  

Then, I served hot with tortilla chips and crackers for dipping.  The dip was everything I was looking for.  The grilled wing flavor came through very well.  All of the flavors mixed well.  The celery and carrot were tender crisp and not over cooked.  The next time around, I am going to add a little more wing sauce and perhaps a little more ranch dressing.  I will be making this dip again.

Thanks for stopping by...

Mid-Summer Review

July and August saw our usual competition slowdown.  July saw Three Dogs head up to Old Forge, New York  to compete in The Great Adirondack BBQ Festival.  In August, we made our yearly trek to the Hudson Valley area for the Hudson Valley Ribfest.

The Great Adirondack BBQ Festival, Old Forge, NY

This was an addition to the schedule for 2017.  We usually have a two month lay off between our last June contest and Hudson Valley.  But, we wanted to stay sharp and started to look for a July comp to do so.  This competition fit the description.  Old Forge is a great mountain town about halfway between Utica and Lake Placid.  It is a great place for a competition, other than keeping on the lookout for the occasional bear.  Martie, our at the time 7 week old Springador puppy, made her debut there.

We had the typical Three Dogs, Three Meat Cook.  8th in chicken, 7th in ribs, 11th in brisket, and a deserved 27th in pork (ouch), added up to a 13th overall.  I tell you, if competitions were three meats we would be rivaling Myron Mixon  for most GC ever.  Just kidding, but we would have at least one. But, champions seal the deal and we just haven't been able to put great product out for all four categories yet.  No excuses.

Overall, Old Forge is a great contest.  Beautiful scenery, cool weather in July, big payouts if you are lucky enough to walk top five, and the area is littered with lots of great little pubs.

I believe that Old Forge will be a regular in the Three Dogs rotation for years to come.

Hudson Valley Ribfest, New Paltz, New York.

Hudson Valley is an odd duck of a contest.  Generally, you stay in your extended area for BBQ competitions.  You know what judges like, why tempt fate?  Hudson Valley, due to its proximity, pulls teams from New England, Western NY, and the Mid-Atlantic.  It also pulls judges from all three areas.  Good teams always rise to the top, but this convergence of different regions does add an X factor to the competition.  Results are always interesting.  

It all started here for Three Dogs back in 2011.  At our first contest here, we got a walk and a check for the pizza turn in.  Hope fell in love with BBQ at that point and the rest is history.  We followed that up with a chicken wing walk the next year and our first KCBS call in 2013.  This is the only contest we have attended every year since we started competing and we always will.  The ribfest has grown a lot over the years, adding country concerts and lots of vendors.  We have fun, but this contest has never been kind to us.  Perhaps this would be the year.

Friday was load in day and we were one of the first to arrive.  That gave us the opportunity to enjoy the oppressive humidity, constant rain, and the black flies and mosquitoes.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  Mental note, five tiki torches do keep the flies and bugs away.  They also stay lit in driving rain.  Bonus...

Saturday dawned and we sauntered over the Mort's Meat Mafia to assist with the NEBS grilling.  I made our pulled pork pizza for Mort and Jeff.  Yes, this was the pizza that gave us our first walk in competitive BBQ and has yet to disappoint.  Mort took a 6th with this pizza, along with a 10th in steak, and a 9th in apple dessert for 19th overall.  We won't talk about the wrapped in bacon turn in...

Afterward, we strolled back over to our site and prepped for the KCBS cook.  Still oppressively humid, but there was a slight breeze and a front was moving in later that night.  Perhaps it would cool off a bit.

When Sunday dawned, it was noticeably cooler and less humid, good cooking weather.  Everything made it in on time and all we could do was wait for what I fondly call The Reckoning.  Now, I thought we had a good cook.  I didn't say that out loud because generally that means the judges will tear you apart.  Yes, I am superstitious like that.  Well, for once my hunch was right.  4th in ribs and our first category win with a 1st in pork added up to a 5th place overall out of 59 tough teams from all along the East Coast.

Next up, our final competition of the year, Oinktoberfest in Clarence, NY.  Stop by and say hi.  Hope to see you there.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

A Day at the Asylum: Almost Heaven BBQ Bash

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

BBQ in the Valley - Jamestown, NY.

Last weekend Three Dogs BBQ packed up the trailer and kicked off the New York portion of our BBQ schedule for 2017 by competing in a first year contest, BBQ in the Valley in Jamestown, NY.  Rain was the main dish.  Lots of rain.  Cold too.  If anything, I learned three things:

1. I'll take hot and humid over cold and rainy.
2. Mud has a knack for getting in places that you would never think it could.
3. Disposable cutting boards make for a clean place to stand while changing your muddy clothes in a muddy trailer.

Even George, who loves to come to BBQ competitions, was not having much fun.

But, enough about the weather.  Let's talk about the competition.

BBQ in the Valley was a first year competition organized by the fine folks at Hidden Valley Camping Area.  I must say, you could not tell it was a first year competition.  Everything ran smoothly, from the Cinco de Mayo pot luck, down to having the tractor ready to pull teams out of the muck when the competition was over.  I do like dedicated electric and water as well.  It will be hard to improve upon this year, but I am sure Bill and his staff are up to the task.

As for our cook, we had another solid cook.  12th in chicken that could have been top 10 if not for the  Table of Angels that slanted the results a bit, 13th in ribs (deserved), 7th in pork, and 7th in brisket add up to a 10th overall.

A better trim job on the ribs and we probably net a few more points.  Details, details...

Time to soldier on, mop out the trailer, and get ready for the Salt City BBQ Festival next weekend in Syracuse, NY.  See you there.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Kings Mountain Firehouse BBQ Cookoff - Kings Mountain, NC

Last weekend, Three Dogs BBQ kicked off their 2017 season with a round trip down to sunny Kings Mountain, NC to compete in the 21st Annual Kings Mountain Firehouse BBQ Cookoff.

This was a very nice competition held in a field out behind the Kings Mountain Fire Museum.  In a rarity for a competition, there was lots of space for 49 teams to spread out, enjoy the sun, and show off their BBQ skills in what was for many, their first competition of 2017 as well.

This competition is a fund raiser for the fire museum and other assorted needs that the fire department might have.  One of the draws to the competition was a cover band, The Dukes and Smith Band, that was rocking the night as we were preparing to light our smokers.

On Saturday, the day dawned bright and warm.  In a stark difference from New York BBQ, we did not have to deal with the elements.  So weather would not be a factor for this cook.  Very rare for spring BBQ.  So, after day of cooking, it was time for awards.

There were two things that concerned us; recipe tweaks and cooking in an area where we had never cooked in the past.  BBQ is BBQ, but tastes do change from region to region.  What would be our fate?  Our results were very encouraging for our first competition of the season.

First off, we practiced a lot in the off season to improve our chicken.  The results from Kings Mountain are encouraging.  The box below was good enough for 13 out of 49 teams.  Chicken might be back!

Pork was another nemesis last year.  But, after a 12th place finish at Kings Mountain, we are encouraged.  Otherwise, our ribs finished 25th and our brisket 27th.  I knew the ribs were mediocre at best.  The brisket was spot on tender.  I am guessing that the savory sauce for the burnt ends does not work in an area where a sweeter sauce is preferred.  All of this added up to a 19th place overall.  For a team that starts slow and was cooking in a unknown part of the US, we are encouraged.

Next up, we kick off our New York season in pursuit of the Empire State BBQ Championship at BBQ in the Valley in Jamestown, NY.  See you there!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Caramelized Onion Smoked Meatloaf, Finished on the Grill

The balmy winter of 2015-16 is a thing of the past.  The 2016-17 winter is shaping up to be like any other winter around here.  Windy, cold, and snowy.  This year I have plowed and shoveled as much if not more than I did last year.  Time to think about some comfort food.  

One dish that I have not had in a very long time is meatloaf.  I had a craving for some on a recent cold and windy Saturday.  I have been wanting to try cooking one on the smoker for quite some time now.  With the Girls baking Christmas cookies in the kitchen on this day, making this meal on the smoker and grill kept me out of the kitchen.  A plan came together.

Caramelized Onion Smoked Meatloaf

2 lb ground chuck.  I used the 80:20 as I was going to lose fat during the smoking and I didn't want to dry it out on the grill

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese.  Used as a binder for a gluten challenged friend.

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt

Olive oil for caramelizing the onion

First, I diced the onion and slowly caramelized the over low heat until half of the onions were caramelized and half were still tendercrisp.  Then I placed the ground meat and the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and incorporated the onions.  Next, I placed the mixture into a well greased loaf pan.  Once the loaf was formed, I placed the pan outside into the 20 F weather for about 40 minutes to firm up the meat so it would slide out of the pan in one piece.  

I set up my smoker to run at 300 F and added some pecan chunks to the firebox for some smoke.  I slid the meatloaf out of the pan onto a cookie sheet, then I placed the cookie sheet into the smoker.  

I was shooting for 135 F as an internal temperature for the meatloaf.  After an hour, the temperature was 140 F.  So, I removed the cookie sheet and let it sit outside in the cold weather to firm up for slicing.  While I was waiting on the meatloaf to cool, I fired up a chimney of lump charcoal to grill off my slices.  

I apparently did not get all of the air out of my meatloaf before cooking as I did have some splitting after the smoking.  

But, I was still able to get some slices out of the loaf.  As you can see, it was still pink in the middle.  Just was I was shooting for.

I then took the slices of meatloaf out to the grill for a quick sear.  The fire had gone down in intensity a bit, so I ended up grilling them off for about 4 minutes a side.  Yes, the picture is not the best...

I served the meatloaf with some gravy, roasted garlic, dill, and feta mashed potatoes, and some oven roasted broccoli.  

I decided on the grilling step as I generally do not like smoked ground beef.  It has a tendency to dry out and have a grainy mouth feel as well as become over smoked.  But, this meatloaf was good stuff.     The smoke flavor was not overpowering.  The taste was a blend of the taste you remember from the meatloaf you had as a child, along with that good char you get from the grill.  I need to tweak the spices in the meat.  But, I deem this a successful first pass.  How do I know?  The leftovers were gone the next day.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

End of the Summer Season

It has been too long since our last post.  You know how it can be.  Life gets in the way, interests and hobbies suffer.  Rest assured though, we have been hitting the competition trail this summer.  Let's look back and see what has gone on since Roc City.

First after Roc City was a trip to Covington, Va for the Covington Cork and Pork Festival.

The competition was held the same weekend that the flooding was taking place just 20 miles away in southern West Virginia.  As a result, all of the teams donated their leftover food to Operation BBQ Relief to feed first responders and those in shelters in the White Sulphur Springs area of West Virginia, one of the hardest hit areas. I've always known that BBQ people have the biggest hearts. This just confirms what I already knew.  As for our results, we came in 17th overall, including a fourth place rib entry.  We have always wanted to win one of the cutting board trophies.  Mission accomplished.

Next up was the first annual Salamanca Rock'in Ribfest in Salamanca, NY.  The hot, humid, and rainy theme for summer 2016 continued.  Even George was looking for some high ground.

Results for this competition were mixed with an 8th in pork and a 7th in brisket.

We had some issues with the other categories, leading to a 21st place overall finish.

Next up was one of our favorite competitions, the Hudson Valley Ribfest in New Paltz, NY.  Again, it was hot and humid, with a 100% chance of flies.  Lots of them.

Chicken has historically been one of our best categories.  So, our low scores this year were a bit of a head scratcher.  But, after Salamanca, I sat down and thought through what we were doing.  I realized that I had left out a few small, but important details.  As a result, we scored an 8th place chicken call with a 28th place finish overall.

So, since reexamining the process worked with the chicken, I reexamined our process with our other meats before competing at the Finger Lakes Fire and Smoke Festival in Geneva, NY over Labor Day weekend.

Our first competition of the year with cool and dry conditions.  Very refreshing after the hot and sticky summer.  The attention to detail paid off with chicken placing just out of the top 10 with an 11th place finish, 5th place ribs, and 5th place brisket adding up to an 8th place finish overall.

So, that sums up the summer season.  I've taken some more notes to capture the little things and we are ready for our last competition of the year in three weeks at the Keystone Classic BBQ Competition in Harrisburg, PA.  Hopefully the upward trend will continue.

Finally, I have been cooking and have some new recipes to share.  I promise in the next few weeks to post more regularly.  Life has just gotten in the way.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill