Archive for August, 2005
Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off
Labor day is fast approaching, and that means barbecue time for both amateurs and professionals alike. The 17th annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off will be help Labor Day weekend in Sparks, NV. $16,500 in cash prizes and some of the world’s best ribs will make their appearance at this seminal event.
Last year’s champions, Checkered Pig BBQ from Martinsville, VA. will no doubt be back to defend their title against 24 other teams from across the country.
It’s not just an event for the competitors though. Guests make the rounds sampling their favorites at $18 a rack, $10 a half rack, or $5 for a few bones. Last year, 300,000 visitors consumed 148,000 pounds of St. Louis style pork ribs. No mention of how much beer was consumed.
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The World’s Largest BBQ?
Adventure Alliance in Georgetown, Texas owns and operates what they claim is The Ultimate Smoker and Grill. The grill is the size of a tanker trunk and hauled by a semi. It is 55 feet long and can cook 2000 pounds of barbecue, 200 steaks, or 1000 hot dogs at once.
This monster barbecue is available for hire, and is primarily used for coporate events and team building outings. Pepcid launched its newest offering, Pepcid Complete at the New York Stock Exchange by featuring this monster grill. In two hours, they served jalapeno cheese sausage to 13,000 followed up with samples of their new product. Very clever.
Want to hire this monster-trunk-grill for your next cookout? Save your pennies, its $5000 a day for the stop plus $3 for each mile of travel involved. And that doesn’t include the food, which runs $5 a person for hot dogs, up to $25 a person for full blow dinner packages.
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A Profile of Kell Phelps
Read an interesting profile of Kell Phelps, publisher of the National BBQ News, a monthly tabloid that covers the professional barbecue curcuit.
The paper itself has 6,000 subscribers in all 50 states and seven foreign countries. It runs about 40 pages a month. It is published out of Georgia.
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Recipe: Grilled Vidalia Onions
Vidalia Onions are a special variety of onion, grown in Georgia. Vidalia Sweet Onions have a distinctly different flavor that is sweeter and milder than other types of onions. This sweetness makes them excellent in salads, and on sandwiches You can also use thick slices of Vidalia Sweet Onions on hamburgers or grilled steaks. When grilled a Vidalia Sweet Onion can make an excellent side dish.
To grill, wash the onion and remove the outer layers of skin. Using a paring knife or apple corer, cut a hole in the top of the onion. Add a beef bullion cube, a tablespoon of butter, and an ice cube for extra moisture.
Wrap the onion in a double layer of foil, and grill until the onion is soft enough to pierce easily with a fork, about 30 minutes. You’ll want to leave a small opening at the top of the foil to allow the cooking onion to vent.
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Three Out of Four Americans Own a Grill
I read a couple of different studies about America’s grilling habits that I thought were pretty interesting. The first fact I learned was that, as I general suspected, most American households own a grill. Depending on the study, somewhere between seventy five and eight five percent of households own a grill, and forty plus percent of those own more than one grill. That’s 66.2 million grillers.
When it comes to the age old gas vs charcoal debate, gas wins out but not by as big a margin as you might think. Sixty percent of grill owners own an propane gas grill compared to fifty percent who own a charcoal grill. Natural gas (at seven percent) and electric (at three percent) round out the balance. The average age of a grill seems to be about three and half years.
The most popular grilled food is beef, with hamburgers and steaks the top two dishes. Hot dogs, chicken and potatoes are the next most frequently grilled items.
To enhance that flavor seventeen percent of gas grillers use a smoker box or wood chips to add real wood smoke. Most people (ninety one percent) use barbecue sauce on their foods, but only a smal percentage make their own, most prefering the store bought variety.
While sixty percent of households use their grill all year long, the most popular holidays for barbecuing are the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Father’s Day. The top reason given for the love of grilling? Quite simply, the flavor it gives food. Other reasons given as motivation s for grilling included entertaining friends and cooking messy dishes outdoors.
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Grilled Tomato Salsa Recipe
You may already be aware of the many befits of grilling vegetables, for example my recipe for grilled corn. But have you considered how grilling your tomatoes before making your favorite fresh salsa? Grilling intensifies the flavor of fresh summer vegetables, and tomatoes are no exception.
Starting with a big fresh tomato from your own garden or the local farmers market, first slice them down the middle. Drizzle with olive oil and grill the cut side first, then turn the tomato to grill all sides. Once grilled, you can use the tomatoes in your favorite salsa recipe as you normally wood.
What? You don’t HAVE a favorite salsa recipe? Ok, you can borrow one of mine to get you started, but remember that salsa is a free form dish, so be creative.
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Recipe: Grilled Plums with Mint Sugar
A deliciously different summer time dessert, grilled plums are juicy and sweet. Add a splash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier and you’ve got something really special. Try this recipe as a follow on to your main course.
Continue reading “Recipe: Grilled Plums with Mint Sugar”
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Barbecue Brits Stick To The Basics
I just read an article that suggests that British barbecuers are, for the most part, living up to the stereotype of bland British food.
According to a poll by the, ahem, Well Hung Meat Company, only about 15% of British barbecue strays beyond burgers and sausages.
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Learn to Barbecue
If you want a great introduction to basic barbecue techniques, you can’t get much better than Prof. Wiviott’s Weber Smokey Mountain Course. This free, online tutorial takes you step by step through the process via five recipes covering chicken, ribs, and pulled pork. You’ll learn everything from how to light the fire to knowing when ribs are done.
Great for beginners beacause each step is supported with photographs, and full instructions. While it focuses on the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker (the WSM) the lessones are equally applicable to other brands, water smokers, and other home barbecue pits. You do however, have to agree to the following pledge:
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BBQ Grilled Pizza
Over at BBQ Junkie they have a nice set of instructions for grilling pizza using a premade pizza dough. It sounds delicious and I’m definitely going to try it.
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