Hey, Four Q!
If you read my Los Angeles food blog compadres The BBQ Junkie, The Survival Gourmet and Soul Fusion Kitchen, you know the four of us have teamed up to cook at the Autry BBQ contest on April 7-8, 2006.
We’re Team Four Q: “Where the blog meets the hog,” as in there’s 1,2,3,4 bloggers for the price of one. We’re a bunch of rookies up against a lot of competition-hardened pitmasters at the Autry. Come see us and cheer for the underdogs!
This contest is organized by the California BBQ Association, which follows Kansas City BBQ Society competition rules. KCBS teams compete in chicken, pork rib, pork shoulder and beef brisket categories. Each meat is blind judged, and champions decided for each category. The overall Grand Champion wins on combined points from four categories, so a team that’s gunning for the overall title has to do well in each category.
Our gang of four each took on a specialty. I’ve been assigned the pork ribs. Before April 7, I need to hone my skills at trimming meat, creating rubs and sauces, and of course, perfecting my fire control and cooking expertise.
Here’s two racks of ribs I made last weekend. It’s trimmed Kansas City style, which means the sternum and the flap meat have been removed from the rack, and the ends squared off to look pretty. It cooked for four hours at 200 - 235 degrees, and was mopped & re-rubbed three times during the cook. Howma doin’, team?
As preparation for this event, I did some field research on some top barbecue joints in Texas a few weeks ago. Stay tuned for my report from Luling, Lockhart, and Austin, Texas.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
looking good. lets see those puppies sliced up and arranged on a bed of green leaf lettuce inside of a white Styrofoam carton. how did these ribs taste? tenderness?
March 8th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Did you foil the ribs at any point? Did the meat have bite or did it all come off the bone in one piece?
March 8th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
These were a touch on the overdone side. Not to the point of being dry, but it did pull off the bones in some cases.
These ribs were smaller than the average supermarket ribs. They’re “3 downs” from Restaurant Depot, so they cooked faster than I expected. No foil at any point, Big Mista.
Flavor was good. I’m still tweaking my rub / sauce combo to killer levels, but this didn’t suck by any means. I finished by bruleeing some brown sugar with a blowtorch, and I liked that effect.
March 9th, 2006 at 8:31 am
Hey Prof. sounds totaly Qlicious, will the public be able to sample the competing teams’ products? I think I will show the Mrs. your photo above, that just might make her decide that this is an event we can’t miss.
March 9th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Hi Chino,
Teams aren’t allowed to sample directly to the public. After judging is finished for each category, we give our leftover meats to the CBBQA tent, and the public can buy little sample cups for $1 from them. Judging starts at 11am Saturday for chicken, and ends by 12:30pm, so don’t be late! See my report on the Rose Bowl BBQ contest to preview a CBBQA event.
March 9th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Sounds GREAT!!! P. and I will try to make it on the Saturday to cheer you guys ON!
–Dommy!
March 10th, 2006 at 7:36 am
Awesome!. Heidi and I will do our best to be there to lend moral support and to inhale some great smoke!
March 11th, 2006 at 7:12 am
As a Texas boy I have a vested interest in all things BBQ…. can’t wait to see what you report !
March 11th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Looking good. Can’t wait for all of us to get together. I’m practicing with a pork butt today.
March 13th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Ribs look good…. The tough part about ribs, other than doneness, is getting them to lay in the box right! One thing I learned at a recent judge’s class was to find out who your judges are. Are they new or experienced? The newer the judges, the more done the ribs can be.
And the best advice I’ve been given, and I’m sure all of you have, too, is to have fun!
April 6th, 2006 at 9:58 am
i’m gonna try and make it to this event. will you guys have a 4Q banner/tent? Good luck man! See you in a few weeks.