Chesapeake

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WildFireEric

Senior Cook
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
292
Location
Sterling, VA
Funny to say that before this weekend, I didn't even know how to spell Chesapeake. Well, we met our two goals this weekend. Not dead last and we scored some funnel cake. The 10th in pork was the nice surprise. Me and Amy just looked at ourselves for a moment before we got up to walk the 100 yards to the stage (we weren't expecting the call). "Fun" weather, friends and food. Pigs On The Run, Woodchicks, and VA BBQ Pirates did very well. I didn't memorize the order, but Woodchicks won the whole thing. Big thanks to John of Pigs on the Run and Dave of Freestate Smokers for their advice and help.

I'll need the next two months to prepare for Bill's contest. (Amy will need two months just to clean up the dishes from this cook-off :) Hurricane Cook-Off hit our house. Something about the last minute packing wrecked havoc on our 'formerly' clean house. :)
 
Great job on the pork Eric and Amy. First time out and you get a walk, can't beat that. Where are the PICS?????????????????
 
pretty sure Woodchicks got Reserve, but still major congrats to our
friend Lee Ann!

and to you Eric! any walk means the comp was a success!
 
Chesapeake full results:

Overall
1. Va. BBQ Pirates
2. Woodchicks
3. Chef Herb Productions
4. The BBQ Guru
5. Uncle Jed's BBQ
6. Serial Grillers
7. Tar River BBQ
8. Pigs on the Run (Way to Go JOHN)
9. JT and the BBQ 3
10. Texas Ribs and BBQ

Chicken
1. Tar River BBQ
2. Smokey Bottom Boys
3. Chef Herb Productions
4. DJ's
5. Wilber's Worry BBQ
6. Guts Smokehouse
7. Jerr Elliot's Cooking Team
8. Who Are Those Guys?
9. Freestate Smokers
10. Uncle Jed's BBQ

Ribs
1. Dirty Smoke
2. Serial Grillers
3. Texas Ribs and BBQ
4. Woodchicks
5. Chef Herb Productions
6. Not YOur Average Man's BBQ
7. Smokey Bottom Boys
8. Uncle Jed's BBQ
9. Freestate Smokers
10. Tar River BBQ

Pork
1. Woodchicks
2. Chad's Dad BBQ
3. Guts Smokehouse
4. Va. BBQ Pirates
5. Rockin Smoker BBQ Pit Stop
6. Capt. Jack Hopps
7. Dirty Smoke
8. The BBQ Guru
9. Serial Grillers
10. The Princess and the Pig (Eric and Amy)

Brisket
1. Pigs on the Run
2. Uncle Jed's BBQ
3. The BBQ Guru
4. Who Are Those Guys?
5. Va. BBQ Pirates
6. Texas Ribs and BBQ
7. Chef Herb Productions
8. JT and the BBQ 3
9. Chix, Swine and Bovine
10. Cooking Cousins

Anything Butt
1. Woodchicks
2. Uncle Jed's BBQ
3. Tar River BBQ
4. Dirty Smoke
5. Christmas City BBQ
6. Chix, Swin and Bovine
7. Serial Grillers
8. Smokey Bottom Boys
9. Texas Ribs and BBQ
10. Freestate Smokers
 
Captain Morgan said:
pretty sure Woodchicks got Reserve, but still major congrats to our
friend Lee Ann!

and to you Eric! any walk means the comp was a success!

My badd!!! They both got called enough, I got confused.
Thanks. The walk was fun. Amy wants to get a trophy case now to store our ribbon :P
 
lol!

you're hooked now! prepare to cease funding all other hobbies
for this one! any prepare to be addicted to internet bbq boards!
 
Bill The Grill Guy said:
Great job on the pork Eric and Amy. First time out and you get a walk, can't beat that. Where are the PICS?????????????????

OK, here's the pics. Please don't laugh too hard or cringe when you see our turn-in pics.

 
thanks for the pics! Dude, don't apologize for your turn ins...
they look great! brisket and chicken looked a tad oversauced (keep in mind I'm no judge) pulled pork looked a tad dry, which is common
on pics of pulled pork...it may not have been, ribs looked good.

The first truck photo reminds me of my first comp....I looked
like the Beverly Hillbillies pulling in there! But you proved you
belong....and my guess is you had a blast! Enjoy the ride!
 
Captain Morgan said:
thanks for the pics! Dude, don't apologize for your turn ins...
they look great! brisket and chicken looked a tad oversauced (keep in mind I'm no judge) pulled pork looked a tad dry, which is common
on pics of pulled pork...it may not have been, ribs looked good.

The first truck photo reminds me of my first comp....I looked
like the Beverly Hillbillies pulling in there! But you proved you
belong....and my guess is you had a blast! Enjoy the ride!

Thanks, you are correct on just about everything. We had a blast. The pork dried out very fast, but I put some apple cider on it just before I took that picture. The full image (3MB) shows lots of moisture. This 1MB picture I posted doesn't have the same resolution to show it. sorry :(

However, I had to make decisions on what to put in that box and it wasn't the stuff I usually do (normally, I'll eat everything including juice and fat when I reheat it). Here, I had two butts to choose from. How much bark, how much chopped pork and some pulled pieces went in there. The more I added sauce and mixed it in, the more it started to look like mush. Amy added the bigger chunks at the last minute and it helped. Scores on appearance was four 8's and one 7. So that was good. Really, that 1/2 hour really goes fast. Glad we found my atomic clock, it came in handy. One turn in was 3 seconds before DQ.

Our ribs and brisket were disasters. One rack of ribs self destructed upon taking off the grill. Of the remaining 3 racks, we had trouble figuring out where to cut and how to cut. We didn't bring the right knives for the job and our cutting skills are weak. The brisket was too tender and we had to cut thick slices to prevent them from breaking. We added more sauce to keep them from drying out. Still, the brisket placed 17th.

Besides the disappointing ribs results, were the chicken scores. I thought we did a decent job on the chicken. It tasted good and was shiny. I'm sure we oversauced them. It would be nice to know why they got 'average' scores.

Overall, we had a great time and were happy that we did average on most things because there is a big difference between cooking for your friends and family and cooking for judges (and submitting with all these great teams). We need more practice, the right equipment, and to learn a lot of things. At least we didn't get DQ'd on anything and we actually did well on the pork (I typically cook better pork and ribs at home than brisket and chicken so at least I wasn't upset at the judges on anything).

As for giving up any other hobbies and spending more time on the Internet: I'd say that is likely true. I'd like to judge some more contests before I dive into this thing. But yes, I'm already thinking about ways to stabilize my WSM temps in high winds (are there any hot water heater blankets that fit WSMs??? :)
 
Congrats on the call and glad you had a good weekend.

I know there are some hot water tank covers that will fit the wsm from Home Depot.
 
WildFireEric said:
Captain Morgan said:
thanks for the pics! Dude, don't apologize for your turn ins...
they look great! brisket and chicken looked a tad oversauced (keep in mind I'm no judge) pulled pork looked a tad dry, which is common
on pics of pulled pork...it may not have been, ribs looked good.

The first truck photo reminds me of my first comp....I looked
like the Beverly Hillbillies pulling in there! But you proved you
belong....and my guess is you had a blast! Enjoy the ride!

Thanks, you are correct on just about everything. We had a blast. The pork dried out very fast, but I put some apple cider on it just before I took that picture. The full image (3MB) shows lots of moisture. This 1MB picture I posted doesn't have the same resolution to show it. sorry :(

However, I had to make decisions on what to put in that box and it wasn't the stuff I usually do (normally, I'll eat everything including juice and fat when I reheat it). Here, I had two butts to choose from. How much bark, how much chopped pork and some pulled pieces went in there. The more I added sauce and mixed it in, the more it started to look like mush. Amy added the bigger chunks at the last minute and it helped. Scores on appearance was four 8's and one 7. So that was good. Really, that 1/2 hour really goes fast. Glad we found my atomic clock, it came in handy. One turn in was 3 seconds before DQ.

Our ribs and brisket were disasters. One rack of ribs self destructed upon taking off the grill. Of the remaining 3 racks, we had trouble figuring out where to cut and how to cut. We didn't bring the right knives for the job and our cutting skills are weak. The brisket was too tender and we had to cut thick slices to prevent them from breaking. We added more sauce to keep them from drying out. Still, the brisket placed 17th.

Besides the disappointing ribs results, were the chicken scores. I thought we did a decent job on the chicken. It tasted good and was shiny. I'm sure we oversauced them. It would be nice to know why they got 'average' scores.

Overall, we had a great time and were happy that we did average on most things because there is a big difference between cooking for your friends and family and cooking for judges (and submitting with all these great teams). We need more practice, the right equipment, and to learn a lot of things. At least we didn't get DQ'd on anything and we actually did well on the pork (I typically cook better pork and ribs at home than brisket and chicken so at least I wasn't upset at the judges on anything).

As for giving up any other hobbies and spending more time on the Internet: I'd say that is likely true. I'd like to judge some more contests before I dive into this thing. But yes, I'm already thinking about ways to stabilize my WSM temps in high winds (are there any hot water heater blankets that fit WSMs??? :)


Actually there are:

http://secure.thebbqguru.com/ProductCar ... roduct=205

The silver smoker jacket for that debonair WSM man around the town. :LOL:
 
Well, I guess its offical...good things happen to those who show up as guests on the BBQ Central Show!! KARMA baby!! I can't explain it but all I know is that it never doesn't happen.

Just ask, Bill TGG...he was on the show a few weeks back and then BLAMO...he gets a call at his very next comp. Then of course we have Lee Ann...on the show last Tuesday and, wouldn't ya know it, KARMA!! She wins RGC!! KARMA BABY!!

Just to further prove my point, Bobby Flay has never returned my request for an interview...what happened? He was steadily beaten down by Lee Ann on "Throw Down"...KARMA BABY!!

So all of you fools be warned...if you refuse me an interview, I will not be held responsible for what happens to you...but just look at the growing list of people who have benefited from it...KARMA BABY!!
 
Thanks for the link and recommendations for the WSM blanket. I'll definately try it.

Greg, is it possible that Bobby lost because Lee Ann knows how to cook? Or were the pins in your Bobby Flay voodoo doll the deciding factor? When Bobby got shocked on the original Iron Chef (against Masaharu Morimoto), was that you dangling the toaster in a bathtub? :)

Congrats to Lee Ann for doing well on both occasions.
 
Good for you, Eric & Amy. I think your lives have just changed. ;)

--John
(We'll be able to say we knew them back when they entered the First Annual Frozen Few.)
 
WildFireEric said:
...Greg, is it possible that Bobby lost because Lee Ann knows how to cook? Or were the pins in your Bobby Flay voodoo doll the deciding factor? When Bobby got shocked on the original Iron Chef (against Masaharu Morimoto), was that you dangling the toaster in a bathtub? :)

Again Eric...I can't explain it, I just know that it never doesn't work! I mean look, Ray Lampe does a podcast...BLAMO, he's the new Executive Chef at Justin Timberlake's new restaurant in NYC...KARMA BABY!!

Or, Kevin Bevington comes on the show before running for FBA president for a 2nd term...BLAMO, re-elected after a fierce campaign...KARMA BABY!!

It just happens!!
 
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