This week is really hectic for Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue.  We started off the week with a barbecue class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, OH.  The class was a big success; it was full in less than a week after registration opened up for it.  We had a full house, with some on a waiting list, too.  Props to my peeps (Maria and the staff) at Cooks’ Wares for all their help (like my ‘urban’ talk there… I’m so with it… Not!)  We did a full competition menu of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, with cole slaw, tomato pie and doughnut bread pudding added.  The sauce for the bread pudding included some Maker’s Mark whisky… Man oh man, was it good stuff!

Keep in mind, if you’re local, that classes will only be advertised online from now on at Cooks’ Wares.

Before I forget about it, I’ll be posting a Carnival of Food Photography tomorrow (a day late, but I needed to get word out about the competition (see below)).

The photos today are from prepping for the kick off of the Dayton Vineyard’s Wild At Heart men’s ministry for autumn. 

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On September 10, 2007, Mark and I will be conducting another class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, OH.  This time, we aren’t trying anything too fancy… Just straight barbecue!

In May, there were timing issues for a grilling class, though I did hold a private grilling class that month.  The newsletters got out late, and, I think, the menu wasn’t what people necessarily wanted.  So this time, we’re going with real competition barbecue as a theme.

We’ll be doing pulled pork, brisket, beer can chicken, spare ribs, tomato pie, cole slaw and Krispy Kreme bread pudding with whisky sauce.

The good news is that the class filled up in less than a week!  The bad news is that some people are on a waiting list.  If you’re local and want to learn a bit about competition barbecue, get in touch with the store… We can try to talk them into another date!

Next Monday, May 14, Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue will be holding a cooking class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro Ohio.

The cost is $50, and the class runs from 6 PM to 9 PM.  The menu is pretty good, I think:

Wood Fired Smoked Duck Pizza
Cedar Planked Scallops with Rosemary
Brined Pork Chops with Gianfrancos Renetta sauce
Roasted Broccoflower
Grilled Cinnamon Peaches with Dulce de Leche

If you’re close by, the class will be a LOT of fun, and you’ll get to not only find out about grilling and the differences between charcoal and gas, grilling and barbecuing, but you’ll also get to try every dish we make.  You’ll have the recipes for everything you need, too!

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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This coming Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22, Mark and I will be attending a competition barbecue class held by Dr. BBQ, Ray Lampe.

If any of you have seen the Versus (formerly OLN) Network’s Barbecue Championship Series, you got to see Ray go head to head to head with other barbecue pros.  He’s won awards over several years, and has a couple of books out, Dr. BBQ’s Big Time Barbecue Cookbook and Dr. BBQ’s Barbecue All Year Long Cookbook as well as his upcoming Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Road Trip.  On top of that, he’s active in several online barbecue forums and has his own webpage at www.drbbq.com. 

The class will be geared toward Kansas City Barbecue Society competition.  Meats in the categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket will be cooked overnight, leading to a barbecue breakfast on Sunday. 

Mark and I are hoping to jumpstart our competition cooking, and I’m personally looking forward to meeting Ray as I’ve spoken with him briefly and corresponded a bit on barbecue forums with him.  I’ll have a report with photos after the class, then, hopefully, more ribbons this year from competition!

On Monday, September 18, 2006, Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue held its first cooking class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, Ohio!

18 people signed up for the class, and it was a good mix of men and women.  Actually, there were more women than I expected to be there.  The class went from 6:00 PM to 9:00 pm, with a break in the middle.  I didn’t realize how tiring 3 hours of class would be!

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If you’re in the SW Ohio area, keep in mind that we’re holding a Tailgating class on September 18 in Spingboro at Cooks’ Wares.  It’s a great store with really nice classroom facilities.  The food will be good, and I think everyone will learn something!

Contact information is:

Call Cooks’ Wares at 937-748-4540

It’s that simple!

In 3 weeks exactly, my barbecue competition teammate, Mark, and I will be holding our first cooking class!  (Details can be found here.)  With that in mind, later this week, we’ll be reviewing the class and deciding what we’re going to be doing.  The theme is tailgating, and, weather permitting, we’ll set up a pseudo-competition site to show the people in the class how a comp might be run.  We’ll also be cooking all the food we’ll be going over with the class.  My thoughts are to include more than recipes, though; I want to talk about the different types of outdoor cooking and how/when to use different types of outdoor cooking (direct, indirect, smoking).  I hope to have a really good packet of info for everyone, with the 2 part goal of getting more people interested in barbecue/outdoor cooking and to be asked to do a class again.

Also this week, I’m going to go over flank steak and how I like to prepare it.  It’s a great, healthy hunk o’ beef.  The only real downside is the toughness, which is negated if cut correctly against the grain.  I’m partial to coffee based rubs for flank steak, and I may try grilling it directly on the coals this time…

I am planning on doing a little bit about over-smoking.  Over-smoking can leave bitter tastes, and can really turn someone off of smoked foods.  There are easy ways to recognize over-smoking, though, and some pretty simple ways to avoid it (hint: don’t use so much wet wood!).

Next Monday is the deadline for the next Carnival of the Grill, which I’ll be hosting.  Click here to submit entries, and the Carnival of the Grill will be posted on September 5.

And the next week, on September 11, I’ll be posting the first of the Carnival of the Food Photography entries, with the topic of "Grill Marks".  Submit any blog entries you have that show great grill marks!  If you have any suggestions for food photos you’d like to see, let me know!

Earlier this year, a local kitchen store contacted me about the possibility of doing a cooking class on barbecue.  There are a couple of stores in the group, called Cook’s Wares, in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.  Of course, always looking for ways to promote barbecue and outdoor cooking, I said I’d love to do it.

Well, it’s official now!  Their course catalog came out for the fall, and we’re in it!

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