I’ve seen several threads on message boards about whether barbecue competitors cook at home just like they do for competition.  The answer is often ‘Yes’.  I sometimes wonder, though, if this is due to wanting to practice or because of preferring competition barbecue all the time.

Here’s how I see competition cooking being different from cooking at home:

It’s simply that, when I cook at a competition, I concentrate on making 6 servings/slices/pieces/ribs as good as I can make them. 

That sounds simple, but there’s a bit more to it than just cooking 6 servings of everything. 

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Last weekend, my wife and I got the chance to cater a birthday party.  The couple were both turning 40 in the same week, and wanted to do something fun.  We were really glad to have the chance to help them celebrate by letting them not worry about the food or serving.

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Everyone seems to have their lists of advice, so I figured, now that we’re well into the peak of grilling season, to add mine!

So, with no further adieu, here is Bucky McOinkum’s 9 Tips For Cooking Outdoors:

1.  Have a fire extinguisher handy.

Ok, first one is boring, but, really, have a fire extinguisher on hand.  You never know when you need it, and even seasoned cooks have issues.  When you’re cooking outside, you’re likely working with flame of some sort, and things do happen!

2.  Take the time to determine what tools you like to use.

This is somewhat different than I hear most people say; most want to tell you what tools to use.  However, I think people do things differently.  I’ll give advice now and then on something I happen to like, but if you choose something differently, that’s fine with me, too.

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With this new MacBook Pro, I got some software that takes photos and lets me put them into a sort of photo movie. Here’s my first attempt, from the 2006 Blues-B-Q competition in Carmel, IN…

Last weekend was our 7th competition, if I’m counting right… Carmel 2005, Madison 2005, Carmel 2006, Grand Rapids 2006, Nelsonville 2006, Fairbanks 2007, Dayton 2007… Yep, 7th! I’ll post results later, but we did just fine. It was a non-sanctioned competition, and the judges were all new, non-certified judges. I didn’t expect the scores to be very consistent, but the competition was really well done for a first year comp, and we can’t wait until next year when it’s sanctioned!

We had several people stop by during the weekend, since we were local. We made some chicken and some pitbeef for visitors, and both turned out really good. Part of the fun of the competitions is figuring out what to have on Friday night!

I wanted to thank everyone that stopped by for doing so, and I also want to say how nice it was to see teams we knew and to meet new teams.

So what is pitbeef? I know I’ve talked about it before, but it’s one of the simplest yet tastiest quick smokes I’ve made. I take a cheap cut, eye of round, and season it with a variety of things from blackberry-pepper jelly to, in Friday night’s case, brisket rub.

The idea is to use a cheap cut of beef, then slice it thin so that it isn’t tough. I cook it to 120 degree, then foil it andlet it rest. Then I slice it as thin as I can, and top it with homemade sour cream horseradish sauce. Great sandwiches made very easily!

Last weekend, Mark and I pulled the smoker up to Detroit, MI, for Dr. BBQ’s Competition BBQ Class.  The class was very much oriented toward Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) competitions, and Ray (Dr. BBQ) certainly has the background to talk about comps!

The class ran from 3:00 PM on Saturday until about 2:00 PM on Sunday, with set up starting at noon on Saturday.  The weather couldn’t have been better.  Highs in the low 70s, low in the high 40s overnight, clear and gorgeous.  The class was held at an engineering/manufacturing firm, and John Ford, the owner, has a GREAT pellet smoker inside, with a fantastic kitchen, so we did the classes inside mostly, taking the food outside to cook.

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I was recently contacted by Hanna of the American Table Culinary Tours about their September 2007 tour of Memphis Barbecue. 

I corresponded with Hanna about the American Table Culinary Tours is a nonprofit company that wants to promote culinary history.  Their goal is to work with culinary students for internships and to simply promote cooking history.

So if you’re up for what looks to be an incredible weekend of barbecue, look into the tour of West Tennessee.  Here are some particulars:

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Since starting this blog, I’ve done a lot of stuff like steak au poivre, grilled lobster, etc.  But today I want to get back to barbecue basics with simple, tasty pulled pork!  (I also realized that I’d never posted a photo of my own pulled pork sandwiches.)

This is one of the best barbecue meats to start out with.  It’s about the most forgiving piece of meat you could choose, and it can take both high heat and low heat to get it done pretty well.  The first time I ever did pulled pork was by cooking it indirectly on a charcoal grill.  I used wood chips, and it probably cooked at about 350 degrees, with the pork in the middle and fire on both sides.

There are a couple of different cuts you can use to make pulled pork.  I use Boston butt roasts, as they’re easy to find around where I am.  You can also use a picnic roast, or, if you want bigger, a whole shoulder.  The picnic and butt roasts are both parts of the whole shoulder, just cut into smaller roasts.

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