 As we celebrate 20 years of sending out smoke signals all across the barbecue world, we’d like to take a moment and reflect on from where we have come over the past two decades. Each month during 2010, we will feature the reprint of an article originally published during our first years. This month’s article is reprinted for our very first National Barbecue News dated February 26, 1990. We hope you enjoy this blast for the barbecue past...
Spotlight: On the team we know best...
Note: The “News” will have the feature each month in which we “spotlight” some cooking team that we find interesting. It may not be a team that is “cooking”?regularly and is winning a lot of contests or considered to be a “big rig” team. It may only be a local team somewhere that is entering only area contests. This month we are featuring our own team for the purpose of better acquainting you with the ones engaged in the tasks of producing this paper each month.
The “SMOKEHOUSE”
Douglas, GA
Chief Cook: Donald Gillis
 Late in 1987, we began to hear about something called a “pig jig” that was going to be held in Douglas, GA in November. At that time, all we knew about it was that it had something to do with cooking barbecue in competition with other people. Well, I?had been “barbecuing”?for many years and, just like most “backyard”?cookers, knew that my barbeque was “the best.” But, did I?dare test it against someone else’s barbecue? Let some stranger tell me how good or bad my meat was, (not just my family and friends for whom I?had been cooking)? No! I?decided just to go visit and observe the event to see what went on. But, as the time drew nearer, my family and I?decided to “go for it.”
Even though it was a relatively small contest, it was with “fear and trembling,” as well as awe and envy, that I?watched some of the rigs pull in for the cook-off and began to set up. But we met some great people and had a lot of fun that weekend. Of course, winning a 1st and 3rd place didn’t hurt either. Our barbecue had done O.K. Our team for this first event consisted of my Mother, myself, my wife Frances, our four children and their families (including two grandchildren), and a brother-in-law (who had the motor home) and his family.
 This win provided us with a paid entry to the “Big Pig Jig” cook-off held at Vienna, GA the following October. No way! We had had a good time, won something, but felt we didn’t need to press our luck. But, once again, as entry deadline drew near we decided “why not”, sent in our entry, welcomed a “sponsor” and was on our way once again.
Our sponsor was Joe and Carlene Phelps of The Douglas Shopper. They had been in the printing and publishing business here in Douglas for some ten years. They were a big help in this contest, and have since then become an integral part of our team, as well as close personal friends.
 Before the contest we decided to visit the Vienna, GA site to look at our assigned “spot”. The place was, even then, a beehive of activity. Boy, was this a frightening scene to a novice team such as ours! There were many permanent structures already built, and there were people pouring concrete, sawing and hammering. We knew we would definitely be out of place here! But it was too late to back out, so we went back home and designed a portable building that we could carry over to Vienna and set up. Then the big weekend arrived...some 75+ cooking teams and thousands of people! Once again, we had a great time and a third place win in the “Rib” category made the trip home much easier.
 Now the “bug had bitten us” and we continued to enter contests and have a good time, traveling from Daytona Beach, FL, to Memphis, TN, always carrying along our little portable “cabin porch”?which had served us so well in Vienna, Ga.
In our third competition, we were joined by another sponsor, Indi-Heat Cookers of Sylvester, Ga., who was the manufacturer of the smoker we were using. Mike and Karen Barnard of Indi-Heat have been a part of the “Smokehouse”?since then.
Since November of 1987, we have competed in eleven contests. These were in Douglas, GA; Daytona Beach, FL; Columbus, GA; Memphis, TN; Winchester, TN; Nashville, TN; and Middleburg, FL. In the competitions, our team has won two “Grand Champion” awards as well as seven 1st places, four 2nd places, three 3rd places, and one 6th place in Memphis.
We plan to continue to compete on a limited basis but our main efforts now will be directed toward publishing a paper that will be of interest and help to everyone involved in these competitions.
RIBS for Kids 2009: A day of fun and learning
By Nicolas Lavieri
nlavieri@mail.adp.iastate.edu
On a cool and windy Saturday, November 14th, the 2009 R.I.B.S. (Refining Individual Barbeque Skills) for Kids program was held in Wall Lake, IA. A total of 23 kids from the city of Des Moines, IA, ranging from seven to fourteen years of age and all of whom are members of an organization called Urban Dreams, participated in this annual event sponsored by the Iowa Barbeque Society (IBS), Iowa State University (ISU) Meat Science Extension, Urban Dreams and Cookies Food Products. The program was held at the Cookies Food Products facility located in Wall Lake with the invaluable assistance provided by 22 volunteers. Participants were given a tour of the Cookies Food Products plant by Mr. Speed Herrig, owner. They were also educated on basic food safety principles and participated in related activities organized by ISU Meat Science graduate students and staff members from the ISU Meat Laboratory. Everyone took part in sauce, dessert, and barbeque competitions. Additional educational sessions on grill safety and how to present barbeque for competition made up the rest of the day-long program. The overall objective of the program was to foster and encourage the participants’ creativity and desire to cook/prepare foods while making use of basic food safety and grill safety practices and having fun doing so.
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Photo courtesy of Nicolas Lavieri
A hot breakfast served by Mr. Herrig himself. |
Beginning at 10 a.m., the participants were greeted and given a brief welcome to the plant by ISU students. Given that nobody can learn on an empty stomach, the participants then sat and ate breakfast along with all the volunteers and hosts in attendance, which allowed everybody to become familiarized with each other. Quite a few pounds of cheesy hash browns, gallons of orange juice, pancakes and sausage patties later, the participants were given a tour of the facilities by Mr. Speed Herrig. Mr. Speed talked to the kids about the history of his company, the equipment and materials needed for barbeque sauce manufacture, and about the critical steps that must be taken to produce the high-quality food products that have made Cookies Food Products an Iowa staple.
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Photo courtesy of Nicolas Lavieri
Several educational activities were conducted. |
A series of activities designed to interactively teach the participants about basic principles of food safety, grill safety, presenting their barbeque for competition and dessert-making ensued. Graduate students and staff members from ISU spoke to the participants about four basic principles of food safety; (1) hand-washing, (2) cleaning and separating, (3) proper cooking and (4) proper chilling of foods. Different demonstrations were conducted to illustrate the importance of each of the four topics and the participants were actively involved in all of them. IBS member Bret Wram talked about the importance making safety a priority when cooking with a charcoal grill. Basic “dos and don’ts” of grill safety were discussed. The section dealing with how to present barbeque for competition was given by Paul Lengling, IBS member. Some of the rules that apply to major barbeque contests throughout the United States were described as was the importance of visual appeal and presentation. The participants were given a quick tutorial on how to make their barbeque look even more appealing by means of presentation. Last but not least, the participants were given a brief introduction to the world of dessert-making by Shad Kirton, IBS member. The objective was to allow the participants to use their creativity in making a dessert dish that would then be entered into a competition.
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Photo courtesy of Nicolas Lavieri
The perfect day to be grilling outside. |
As a means of encouraging participation and rewarding it, a series of friendly competitions were conducted as part of the program. First, the barbeque sauce competition was a team effort in which six teams of four were all given a master blend containing the basic ingredients of barbeque sauce (ketchup, molasses and white vinegar) and allowed to use a series of spices such as garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper, coriander and others, at their discretion. Teams “Black Magic” and “Catch-up With Us” won 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in the barbeque sauce category and were awarded Cookies Food Products aprons and pot holders for their outstanding sauce-making abilities as judged by Mr. Speed himself and other member of the IBS. Second, the dessert category, judged by Shad Kirton and others, awarded medals the top three dessert entries. Shareisha Walker, Brittany Guffey and Daija Henderson won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medals, respectively, in this category for the amazing creativity put into their dessert entries. Last, the BBQ contest was conducted. As part of it, every participant was given a pork loin chop, a beef sirloin steak and a skin-on chicken thigh to season using Cookies Food Products and cook using charcoal grills they would later take home with them. With the help of every volunteer on site, every participant was allowed to grill all three of the meat products they were provided and then choose which one of the three would be entered into the barbeque contest. After preparing their barbeque for judging, participants turned in their boxes. 5th place and up trophies were awarded in this category. Anfernee Walker, Shamair Gainey, Zhane Dae, Tzshaella Manning and Demetrius Caddell won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place trophies, respectively.
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Photo courtesy of Nicolas Lavieri
A day of fun & learning later.
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At day’s end, the participants boarded their charter bus and headed back to the friendly confines of Des Moines. But before they did so, hugs and words of appreciation were shared amongst participants and volunteers. Given that everybody learned a thing or two about food and grill safety, presenting barbeque for competition and the art of dessert-making, all while having tons of fun and developing friendships, we can safely say that the 2009 R.I.B.S. for Kids program was a success and that next year’s cannot take place soon enough.
Great Pork BBQlossal flame extinguished
As many of you have heard over the past few months, there was a good possibility that the Great Pork BBQlossal contest would not be returning in June 2010 and I regret to say, this is true. It has taken me this long to make the announcement as we had been talking to a group here in Des Moines that was interested but it’s not going to work as BBQlossal has been the past years, so I am now making the official announcement.
Many of you are aware that pork producers have been losing money for nearly two years now, first because of high input costs, but more recently because of a dramatic decline in the market price of hogs. Prices are not projected to return to break-even until late spring.
The National Pork Board gets its revenue from the Pork Checkoff, an assessment of 0.4 percent each time a producer sells an animal. When the price producers receive declines, so does the revenue the National Pork Board uses to fund its promotion, research and consumer information programs. In 2010, National Pork Board revenues are projected to be between 20 percent to 25 percent lower than they were in 2009. Overall, that represents a 2010 budget more than $10 million below the 2009 budget.
Looking back over the last 22 years, this contest has created a lot of excitement for pork. I remember the very first year. Robin and I had to go out in the wind and rain to collect entries from the teams. It was unreal. In year 3, we became sanctioned by KCBS and that made a world of difference. KCBS brought a strong program to the table and we have been together ever since.
We have had teams that brought their children with them and now those children are competing, and beating, their parents. We have had competitors from more than 20 states. We’ve had winners from nine different states. And we’ve had two repeat winners.
Most important, we have forged friendships over during those years that will last a lifetime. Thanks to all the judges, table captains, helpers, pig police and sponsors that supported us over the years. The contest would not have been as successful without you.
Finally, thanks to all of you who have come to Des Moines (and earlier to Springfield, Ill., and to Indianapolis) to compete. You have been the heart and soul of this great event.
I will never forget the good times, the rain, the heat, the wind and all the support you have given me over the past 22 years. I will get out to as many contests as I am able because you are truly a part of my family and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And you know me, I will continue to look for opportunities that could bring the Great Pork BarbeQlossal back to life!
Anne L. Rehnstrom
Marketing Assistant, National Pork Board
arehnstrom@pork.org
Salzburg Barbecue Bulls enjoy U.S. competitions, gain knowledge about bringing BBQ to Europe
By Gerald Reisecker
gerald.reisecker@gmx.at
The Salzburg Barbecue Bulls BBQ Team was founded in 1997 by butcher Helmut Karl in Salzburg, Austria. In their first year, the “Bulls” won the Austrian Championships and became Vice-European Champion. In the same year, the team was invited to the Jack Daniels tournament in Tennessee and won two top-ten titles with Brisket and Ribs.
During the following years, the Austrian BBQ team was always to be found among the top ten in European and World Championships. They won their first two gold medals at the World Games in Jamaica in the Fish and Chicken categories and the year after for Dessert in Hungary, followed by Fish in 2008 in Belgium. These results currently rank the team second on the official WBQA World Ranking.
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Photo courtesy Gerald Reisecker
Salzburg Barbecue Bulls’ tent at The Jack. |
This year’s trip to the States was the 7th time by invitation to the Jack Daniels Invitational BBQ in Lynchburg. As every year, the Bulls met a lot of “old BBQ-mates” from around the globe. Eighteen teams joined the international tournament, with Chief Cook Helmut Karl, Erwin Hofbauer, Martin Schustereder und Armin Oberndorfer, all members of the “Bulls” among them.
The Austrian BBQ-fanatics could not wait to see the brand-new Lang BBQ Smoker that Rocky Danner arranged for them. The team has been impressed by the circulating air system and how well the BBQ was holding the temperature. The integrated “warming unit” was very useful, also for drying wood that turned wet after some rainfall.
As always, the tournament was well-organized with loads of spectators. It was great to meet other BBQ teams to exchange hints and secrets even with visitors.
With some special hints from U.S. teams, the Bulls did very well and ranked 33rd out of 80 teams and turned Best International Team. However, most importantly, the team could gain further knowledge about bringing BBQ to Europe and is happy to announce that from 2010 onwards, there will be a BBQ course without side dish at Austrian tournaments.
Leaving Tennessee, the Bulls turned South and were joined by team members Josef Gradl, Martin Proksch, Johann Glöckl, and Gerald Reisecker. They travelled to Douglas, GA, for the Best of the Best Invitational at the National BBQ Festival.
Things were different down South. For example, teams didn’t prepare a whole chicken, but instead only parts. Also taste seemed to be different. But one thing didn’t change — the team could rely on the great Lang Smoker they used at Jack Daniels.
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Photo courtesy Gerald Reisecker
Salzburg Barbecue Bulls in Douglas, GA. |
In Douglas, the Bulls ranked 6th with their “Austrian Style” whole hog and especially Helmut Karl was proud, as he is the one who prepares hogs every week for his clients.
Again, it was great to see well-known faces from the States, Canada, and Poland. The hospitality was overwhelming. The Bulls could make new friends and learned some new techniques and tricks in barbecueing.
Some news from the Bulls
The team published a BBQ book with the title Grillen wie ein Weltmeister - BBQ like a World Champion.
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Photo courtesy Gerald Reisecker
Salzburg Barbecue Bulls’ 18-foot smoker trailer.
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Together they have constructed a huge 18-foot long smoker trailer. To finance their travels and live the BBQ spirit, the Bulls travel from festival to festival or cater events for companies who more and more are seeking real BBQs (ex. Harley Davidson, John Deere... in Europe). A highlight in the BBQ calendar is the American Independence Day of the Austrian-American Society.
The Salzburg BBQ Bulls would like to thank everybody for the great support at both U.S. competitions. They are looking forward to meeting U.S.teams in Europe in 2010.
Innovative ‘all drawer’ smoker makes its debut
Chattin’ with Red
By Red Todd
redtodd@ocmcast.net
“Flight 3550 – Baltimore to Memphis is now boarding.” That’s what I heard on the morning of Saturday, December 5th as I was reading a book at gate C13 at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. I was pretty excited about my trip to Tennessee. I was on my way to check out a new style of cooker that was the brainchild of Chuck Averwater. He’s also had his “Smackers BBQ Rub” on the market since 2004 and has been busy promoting it ever since. It’s got this unique flavor about it that I just can’t put a finger on. You’re going to have to taste it for yourself, and I think you’ll be pleased when you do.
Chuck is a very well-known judge in the MIM and MBN competition circuits and is becoming more and more known throughout the world of KCBS contests. He has been judging for 18 years now and has talked to thousands of cooks through his travels. One thing he has seen and heard constantly over the years is that almost every cook dislikes something about his/her cooker.
It may be something as small as not having enough cooking space or something as annoying as not being able to control temperatures while cooking on a $20,000 rig. Chuck has judged so many contests that he has lost count, but he hasn’t lost that one theme he keeps hearing from the cooks in his mind. He’s great at keeping little details about competitions and what he talks to the cooks about deep in his mind for later use.
Back in 2005 Chuck had just finished judging a contest in Corinth, Mississippi, and was driving home. He was thinking about the weather overnight at the contest and how particularly bad it was. He had heard over and over while judging how the cooks were fighting to keep their cookers on track and up to temperature during the rain and wind. On his drive home, he continued to think about all he had heard from all the different cooks and was trying hard to come up with a new concept that they could use and be able to cook efficiently during any weather condition.
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Photo by Red Todd
Inventor Chuck Averwater and the Rib Stacker. |
Out of the blue, Chuck had an epiphany — DRAWERS! He started laughing and all but smacked himself upside his head for not thinking of this sooner. He couldn’t get home soon enough. As soon as he arrived home he went straight to his computer and fired up his Microsoft Paint program so he could get something drawn.
Over the course of a year, he kept refining his thoughts and design ideas. He finally had something in his hands that he could use to get a patent pending. Once that was done he approached a few friends and asked them if they knew of a good metal fabricator. One friend just happened to know one and Chuck was on his way soon thereafter. During his first meeting, he thought this fella had the equipment needed but might be lacking in the personal credentials department. He decided to give the man a try anyway.
Chuck told this man he would visit at least once a week to make sure they were on the same page with the project. Well, folks, he soon found that they were on the same page but in totally different books. This fella was doing his own thing with Chuck’s plans. He barely followed his drawings and the end result was a monster of a cooker.
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Photo by Red Todd
“Big Red’ and the Backyard Stacker. |
Chuck didn’t know what to do, but he knew he had to have a prototype so he accepted this beast and took it home. He named it “Big Red” and christened it by seasoning it really well and then cooking on it. He was actually pleased with the way it cooked but knew that he had a lot of refining to do. After taking a bunch of mental notes, Chuck decided to hunt out another fabricator, and this time he found one who really was qualified.
This second fabricator knew his stuff his expertise showed right away. Chuck was impressed with everything this guy showed him so he had him sign a confidentiality agreement and they looked over his drawings. The fabricator liked what he saw and they had a handshake and a deal to work together. Chuck was real happy and confident that this was a good fit. He was right! After about 6 months he got the call that his “Baby” was finished. He went to pick up the new cooker and it was a real beauty.
After giving it the twice over, Chuck was happy with the product. The fabricator told Chuck he’d be happy to move on getting set up to do 10 at a time and after many phone calls and emails, he finally gave Chuck a price to do so. Chuck was astonished at the price and just couldn’t afford to make a deal to have that done. The fella reluctantly told him he’d move it down to a minimum of 5, but it was still too much for Chuck to handle.
After taking all of this into consideration, Chuck decided to look for yet another fabricator. After a lengthy search Chuck found one he’s comfortable with and this one is willing to work to fit Chuck’s needs.
Chuck made more refining adjustments and now he has two cookers being built to be on display at the NBBQA Convention in Memphis on February 4-6, 2010. The two cookers are known as the “Smackers Stacker Series” of cookers and will be for sale. One is named the Backyard Cooker and the other is the Rib Stacker. Both cookers are approximately 5’ tall and 2’ square.
The Backyard cooker has two cooking drawers that are 7-1/2 inches deep and the Rib Stacker has 4 cooking drawers at 3-1/2 inches deep. These things are made of 14-gauge steel and are very well-insulated. While I was there cooking baby backs with Chuck, I could lean on any side of the cooker and not feel one bit of heat on the walls.
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Photo by Red Todd
Chuck starts the baby backs in the Rib Stacker. |
The Davlyn oven gasket around the frame held the heat in the cooker where it should be. These are top of the line gaskets, and the Tel-Tru thermometer was right on the money every time we checked it. When you put the optional 2nd tier cooking racks in the Backyard cooker, you automatically double the capacity or ribs, chicken, briskets, and pork butts. These powder-coated painted units with stainless steel heat-reducing spring handles on the drawers and the stainless steel grates in the drawers give these units a real sharp appearance all around. Throw in the slide dampers on the sides and the swing damper on the smokestack and you’ve got some fine looking and easy to use smokers for any competitor or catering arsenal.
I was seriously impressed when the dozen racks of baby backs we smoked up were done and ready to go at the three hour mark. I’m talking competition ready for tenderness and texture. With the natural convection created by the slanted sides in the water pan and the insulated walls of the cookers, the cooking time is instantly quickened without losing any on the quality side of things.
One of the best parts of this cooker design is when you open a drawer the whole way to tend to a meat, the back of the drawer seals the cooker again. You lose minimal heat and moisture when doing so and this too adds to the speed of cooking.
I can’t tell you loud enough, folks — this cooker series is the real deal. Chuck Averwater has dedicated his life in the past 18 years to barbeque, and in the past five years it has somewhat taken over his life and he just loves that it has. He is like most of us in this world of barbeque; he has the passion and drive to make his dreams come true.
Feel free to visit his website at www.smackersbbq.com to check out Chuck’s rub and these fantastic cookers. I can promise you this, you won’t be disappointed.
November Barbecue Photo Challenge Winner
Submitted by Thom Combs
Most of us have seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) staring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold at least once. Remember Clark getting ready to carve the turkey? Just when he put the fork into the bird, it exploded. The next scene is his chewing on a wing (like a dog), telling everyone that it was not that bad. (Keep this in mind as your read the story below.)
Last fall Chef Thom Combs decided that it was time for a new grill, so in October he started looking at a selection of different grills. It was apparent that the only one that would suit his degree of culinary skills was the biggest bad boy Weber makes. You guessed it…the Weber 2008 Summit S-670. Ooh, gee…eight stainless steel burners, 80,000 BTU, 838 square inch cooking area, smoker box, rear-mounted infrared burner, rotisserie, lighted knobs, lighted handle bar which goes out when you close the hood. This does everything except put the meat on the grill! It goes from 0° to 713° in 5.24 minutes. So Chef Thom ordered the grill…
The grill went into production in October 2007, arrived at the dealer in November 2007, and sat there until January 2008 waiting for the natural gas line to be run. (No more LP tanks for this chef!)
So it’s time to give this bad boy grill a test drive. Chef Thom purchased a 14 pound turkey — all-natural, free range…you get the drift. He rough cuts carrots, celery, oranges, lemon, turnips, onions, garlic, fresh rosemary, and thyme and stuffs the bird with the aforementioned ingredients. He then sutured the front and back cavities with the precision of a trained surgeon and prepared the skin with EVOO, garlic salt, fresh cracked pepper, and gray sea salt. The bird went on said bad boy at 10:03 a.m. with a constant temperature of 312°. (Estimated time for cooking a stuffed bird is 3.5 to 4 hours…so they say.) Friends show up at 2:48 p.m. and find the turkey looking like this…
Photo by Thom Combs |
Have a fantastic photo from your summer barbecue? Submit it to our Summer Barbecue Photo Challenge. Each month’s winner will receive a BBQ starter kit, which includes a one year subscription to the National Barbecue News, a 19.6 oz. bottle of The Old Smokehouse Brand BBQ Juice, 5.7 oz. bottle of The Old Smokehouse Brand BBQ Rub, your choice of two How-To-Barbecue DVDs (choose from chicken, ribs, whole hog, or shoulder), and a professional spot check thermometer with clip. This starter kit is valued at $50.
Email your photo submission to editor@barbecuenews.com or mail it to P.O. Box 981, Douglas, GA 31534. |
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