Pitmaster, p.15
Pitmaster, page 15
11:55 a.m.
Brush the edges of the chicken with the warmed honey. And sprinkle a small pinch of finishing salt on each piece of chicken. Begin presentation.
CHICKEN RUB
Prep time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 1/4 cups (225 g)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (96 g) turbinado sugar
1/4 cup (56 g) kosher salt
1/4 cup (28 g) sweet paprika
1 tablespoon (6 g) ground black pepper
1 tablespoon (9 g) garlic powder
1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder
1 tablespoon (12 g) lemon pepper seasoning
METHOD
Mix all the ingredients well.
STORAGE
Store in an airtight container out of sunlight. Somewhere in the 1 to 2 month range the rub will start to lose its vibrant flavor.
CHICKEN INJECTION
Prep time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups (570 ml)
INGREDIENTS
2 cups (475 ml) Smoky Chicken Stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon (12 g) MSG
1/2 cup (168 g) agave nectar
METHOD
Place all the ingredients in a container, cover tightly, and shake vigorously.
STORAGE
Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
COMPETITION
FLAVOR
PROFILE
Two of the judging criteria in a barbecue competition—appearance and tenderness—can generally be handled through a lot of practice. Repeatedly cook barbecue meats until you can consistently achieve a very tender bite without the meat becoming mushy or dry. And then make it look pretty in the turn-in box. It’s not easy, but it’s also not rocket science. Brute determination can get this done. The more heavily weighted of the criteria—taste—is more elusive. We have a two-pronged attack for creating a winning flavor profile.
First, create a one-bite experience. Classic roadside barbecue is built for bulk; customers eat a whole rack or a giant pulled pork sandwich. Barbecue judges are looking at six portions each of chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket in a two-hour window. If you want to get the judges’ attention, you'll need to make a big impression in just one bite. When new teams come and ask our opinion on their competition barbecue entries, we often find them to be under-seasoned, one note, or needing salt. Our goal is to create a powerful flavor punch that hits lots of notes: a balanced mix of salty, sweet, savory, spicy, meaty, and rich.
Second, create a flavor profile that is consistently liked. A spicy raspberry chipotle sauce for instance can be loved or hated. Luck into some spicy food loving judges and you may get a call. You also may just as easily earn your first dead last finish. Imagine two judges: one is an old-time traditionalist who prefers dry rub over sauce and likes spicy food; the other is a newbie whose idea of a tasty Friday night is fall-off-the-bone sweet and sticky ribs from Applebee’s. Can you build a flavor profile that both of these judges would enjoy? For us, that winning flavor combination is predominately sweet, balanced with savory flavors such as garlic or onion, and then finished with just a touch of heat. Also, a special background ingredient like cumin, cinnamon, or peach works well but should be barely perceptible, just enough to spark the curiosity of the judge. Keep playing with different spices and combinations until you find a winner.
Competition Barbecue Flavor Profile Pyramid
The flavor profile of a good profile is like a pyramid, with the rich flavor of the meat first and foremost at the base, up to just a hint of smoke at the top.
SMOKE
ADD JUST A
HINT OF SMOKE
AS AN ACCENT NOTE.
_____
SALTY/SPICY
SEASON VERY WELL WITH SALT AND
A LIGHT SPICE KICK ON THE FINISH.
_______________________
SAVORY
AVOID A CLOYING FLAVOR PROFILE BY BALANCING
THE SWEETNESS WITH ONION, GARLIC, AND UMAMI.
______________________________________
SWEET
SWEET WINS. CREATE COMPLEXITY WITH MULTIPLE TYPES OF
SUGARS, SYRUPS, AND GLAZES.
_________________________________________________
RICH AND MEATY
FOUNDATION FLAVOR SHOULD ALWAYS HIGHLIGHT THE FLAVOR OF THE MEAT.
◁ Lakeside Smokers' Rib Recipe
Mike and Kris Boisvert, the Lakeside Smokers, were a force to be reckoned with on the New England barbecue circuit. They won an astounding 17 grand championships in just five years. Sadly, they decided to move on from competition barbecue to focus on brewing beer. They are greatly missed at Friday night competition parties … but not so much missed at awards on Saturday afternoon.
Mike and Kris displayed a lot of the attributes we often see in successful competition cooks: detailed, organized, meticulous, practice-crazed, and, of course, uber-competitive. So it took a while to wrangle their famous rib recipe, which won countless awards including first place at the Jack Daniels Invitational. Mike and Kris have some truly innovative methods they adapted for this recipe.
Don't leave it to chance finding decent ribs the week of your contest. Start hunting for high-quality ribs weeks, or even months, before a competition. Lakeside's preferred brands are Prairie Fresh or Swift Premium. Look for the heaviest, meatiest, well-marbled ribs. The ribs should have straight bones and no shiners.
This recipe is designed for a water smoker, cabinet smoker, or Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker. It certainly can be adapted to other smokers by modifying temp or cook time. You can also sub your favorite commercial dry rubs or use the dry rub recipes in this book. But we wanted to preserve the exact Lakeside recipe for posterity, so here it is.
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 6 hours
Serves: 12
INGREDIENTS
4 racks of pork spare ribs
1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
2 cups (200 g) Smokin’ Guns BBQ Hot Rub
4 tablespoons (55 g) bacon fat, room temperature
1 cup (340 g) plus 2 tablespoons (40 g) honey, divided
1 cup (235 ml) Stubb’s Pork Marinade, strained
2 cups (450 g) packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (18 g) Cimarron Doc’s Sweet Rib Rub
9 tablespoons (126 g) salted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups (375 g) Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup (120 ml) Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce
2 tablespoons (12 g) Obie-Cue’s Sweet Rub
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Vacuum sealer
Wood choice: apple
Cambro insulated food cart or dedicated warm cooler
METHOD
Trim down the spare ribs to a St. Louis cut by removing all of the breast bone section below the bottom of the rib bone (see here for instructions). Remove the membrane with a paper towel. Vacuum seal the ribs. Date them and put them into the freezer. Three days before the competition, take the ribs out of the freezer and place in the refrigerator.
The day you plan to cook, follow this timeline for a noontime competition turn in—or lunch:
STORAGE
Wrap room temperature leftover ribs tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
TIMELINE
5:00 a.m.
Prepare your smoker for a 250°F (120°C) 6 hour cook.
5:45 a.m.
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator or cooler and unwrap them. Lay the ribs out on a large piece of aluminum foil. Dust both sides with sugar. Apply a fairly heavy amount of Smokin’ Guns BBQ Hot Rub on both sides. Tent with aluminum foil and leave the ribs out of the cooler. When your smoker is settled in at 250°F (120°C), add a couple of chunks of apple wood.
6 to 6:15 a.m.
Put the ribs on the smoker meat side up.
9:30 to 9:45 a.m.
Take the ribs out of the smoker and brush each rack with 1 tablespoon (14 g) of room temperature bacon fat on the meat side only. On a large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle about 3 tablespoons (60 g) honey, a 1/4 cup (60 g) of light brown sugar, a 1/4 cup (60 ml) of strained Stubb’s Pork Marinade, and a sprinkle of Cimarron Doc’s Sweet Rib Rub. Place the ribs meat side down on top of the above ingredients.
Then add 1 tablespoon (20 g) of honey, 1/4 cup (60 g) of light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons (28 g) of salted butter, and a bit more of Cimarron Doc’s Sweet Rib Rub on the back side of the ribs. Wrap the aluminum foil up tight, leaving no air pockets. Repeat for the remaining racks and put back into the smoker.
11:00 a.m.
Start checking for doneness. A meat thermometer inserted between the bones on the meatiest area of the rib should read 200°F (95°C).
When the ribs are done, keep them wrapped and put them in a full-size disposable pan and hold in a warm cooler.
12:00 p.m.
(or immediately after chicken turn in)
Make the rib sauce. Warm the Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce, Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce, and remaining 2 tablespoons (40 g) of honey over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon (14 g) of salted butter. Open up the aluminum foil on each rack of ribs and start glazing the ribs on both sides with the rib sauce and accumulated braising juice in the aluminum foil. Take the ribs out of the aluminum foil and carefully put them into smoker. After 10 minutes, glaze the ribs again with just the rib sauce.
12:15 p.m.
Take the ribs out of the smoker and put them on your cutting board. Lightly dust with Obie-Cue’s Sweet Rub.
12:20 p.m.
Start slicing the ribs and pick the biggest, meatiest, juiciest ribs from the racks you have. Arrange them in the turn-in box with a 4 over 4 pattern.
“I’m Just Trying to Cook Perfect Barbecue”
by Tuffy Stone
COMPETITION BARBECUE TEAMS COOL SMOKE AND Q BARBEQUE
I had been cooking professionally for 18 years when I got into barbecue. I had been cooking high-end food—hard-to-pronounce, expensive food—and I had this idea that I would be able to do barbecue with ease. I had smoked meats before, but that was smoked duck and smoked fish, not smoked ribs, not brisket, not pork butt. Really quickly, I realized just how freaking hard barbecue is, and that was appealing to me. I had to lose my “chef thinking” for a bit and learn what barbecue was. Then I could come back and apply my chef sensibilities.
My number one goal with barbecue was to get reconnected with cooking. It’s very primal. I thought it might be relaxing, too, which is funny because anybody who has ever cooked beside me knows that I’m never really relaxed. I thought I was way overthinking barbecue—and then I found the competition circuit. At my first competition in Lynchburg, Virginia, I was up early with the other stick burners—I love playing with the fire—and I met all these other people who think about barbecue as much as I do. Suddenly, I had all these friends from all over the country and from all different backgrounds.
Competition barbecue is very detail oriented, and so am I. I’ve earned the nickname “the professor” because of the attention I’ve paid to the fire. I run a really, really clean fire, and I’m always thinking about how the smoke will taste with the meat I’m using. When I teach classes at Cool Smoke barbecue school, I focus first on smoke and then on tenderness. Those two things are more important than anything else on the competition circuit. People ask me all the time, do you change your flavors based on whether you are cooking in Virginia or New York? I make some tweaks here and there, but generally, no. I’m trying to create a flavor that can be appealing to everyone. The typical tastes of barbecue are salt, pepper, sugar, smoke, and tang. If you like it sweet and your neighbor likes it tangy, I need to find a balance of those things. That’s how competition has developed a style all its own—you have to get everyone with this one bite of food. It’s an assertive style that is a little bit of a blend of Tennessee and Kansas City. You’ll find ketchup and tomato-based sauces and probably a rub with more than just salt and pepper and a precise control of smoke.
I focus first on smoke and then on tenderness. Those two things are more important than anything else on the competition circuit.
I’m just trying to cook perfect barbecue—barbecue that looks and tastes exactly the way I want it to. You learn something new at every competition. You learn not to build your presentation box too early—I had these rocking ribs one year at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue but I mismanaged them, took them off the smoker early and they tightened up—or too late. At the Jack Daniel’s World Championship, I put the ribs on later and they didn’t get done. I remember being disqualified in a competition in Lakeland, Florida, for a mistake with my brisket. That disqualification taught me to be a better cook. After that, someone showed me how to separate the point of the brisket from the flat, and I realized that there was so much I still didn’t know. Even a professor has more to learn. That’s what makes me successful in competition.
Smoky Chicken Stock
Competition meat preparation yields lots of leftover bones and scraps. We often buy two to three dozen chicken thighs in order to produce 12 perfectly trimmed thighs. Trim the meat off of any leftover thighs and freeze the boneless meat for future use. Leave the thigh bones meaty and use those for this smoky stock recipe. This stock is an outstanding way to boost flavor through an injection. It can also be used to add moisture to pulled barbecue meats when you don’t want to use barbecue sauce.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 6 hours, plus overnight cooling
Yield: 8 cups (1.9 L)
INGREDIENTS
1 gallon (3.8 L) water
5 pounds (2.3 kg) chicken parts (any combination of back, neck, wings, or meaty thigh bones)
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
8 sprigs of parsley
1/2 pound (225 g) hickory-smoked bacon
1 tablespoon (14 g) kosher salt, as needed
METHOD
Put the water and chicken in a large stockpot over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle boil. Skim off any foam that develops on the surface for 10 minutes.
Add the onion and parsley to the stockpot. Adjust the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer for 5 hours. After 5 hours, add the bacon to the stock and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain the stock into a full-size aluminum pan or large bowl sitting on top of a wire rack. Discard any solids. Let sit at room temperature and stir occasionally to release the heat.
Taste the stock. The bacon may have imparted enough salt. If not, add up to 1 tablespoon (14 g) of kosher salt.
When cooled at room temperature to below 100°F (40°C), refrigerate overnight. The next day, discard fat that has congealed on the surface of the stock.
STORAGE
Refrigerate for up to 3 days and freeze for up to 2 months. We separate the stock into pint-sized (475 ml) portions before freezing.
IQUE Sauce v2.0
IQUE Sauce Version 1 found in our book Wicked Good Barbecue is a delicious sauce. But man, some of the ingredients were a pain to procure. We often wondered if it was worth it. Over time, we transitioned to readily available pantry ingredients and a more familiar flavor profile. Feel free to get creative with the spice blend and finishing spice components of this recipe to make it your own.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Yield: 1 quart (946 ml)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (225 g) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (235 ml) apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (9 g) garlic powder
1 tablespoon (8 g) chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
2 cups (480 g) ketchup
1/2 cup (120 ml) maple syrup (Dark amber grades are preferred.)
1 tablespoon (6 g) your favorite dry rub or the latest hyped-up dry rub on the competition circuit
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Spice grinder
METHOD
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a gentle boil and remove from the heat. Add the garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, ground cumin, Old Bay Seasoning, and black pepper. Mix very well, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
Stir in the ketchup and maple syrup and return the sauce to a simmer over low heat. Cook gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Don't let the sauce boil.
Process the dry rub to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Remove the sauce from the heat and blend in the ground rub. Let cool. Transfer to a quart-sized (946 ml) Mason jar.
STORAGE
Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
◁ Hot and Fast Pork Shoulder
One of the great things about the Jack Daniels World Championship is it brings teams from all over the country together to mingle on the ultimate barbecue battlefield. At a recent competition, we were lucky enough to spend some time with JD and Rhana McGee. Their team—“Wine Country Q” out of Duvall, Washington—has dominated the Pacific Northwest BBQ circuit for the past five years, racking up 16 grand championships. They shared with us their ingenious approach to cooking pork hot and fast.
Prep time: 1 hour
