Brisket Hunting

Well those of us with off-beat hobbies often find ourselves doing things that are, well, slightly sad and pathetic.

The movie 'Best in Show' comes to mind.

My obsessive-compulsive activity is brisket hunting.

Instead of spending a Saturday afternoon playing golf, or relaxing on my lunchbreak at work I'm out stalking my favorite markets (the locations of which I cannot reveal) for the perfect brisket.

Not all briskets are created equal. The main characteristics I'm looking for are even, thick briskets with a good fat cap. A lot of briskets are thick on one side and then thin on the other, which in my opinion are almost worthless when it comes to competition bbq. There are a few other things I look for, but I'll get into that in detail in my upcoming competition bbq cooking class. ;-)

I have three more events to cook this year, American Royal Invitational, American Royal Open, and the Jack Daniels Invitational. So I've been on the hunt for six perfect briskets for those events. I found two really good ones recently (yeah, Restaurant Depot is one of the stops on my hunting trail).

Harvard, MA

Mass State Championship this weekend in Harvard, MA! The venue reminds me a lot of the old Pig N Pepper contest in Westford, MA that ran for about a decade starting in the early 90's.

At the Pig N Pepper the cooks would often hi-jack the merry-go-round in the middle of the night...
hmmmm.

Lucky # 7

Well, yesterday was a big day.  For the 7th year in a row we were selected to cook in the Jack Daniels Invitational BBQ.  "The Jack" is the one of the most prestigious and certainly the most difficult contest to get into out on the competition bbq trail.

The Jack invites only the teams that have won a Grand Championship in each state.  Problem is some states have a bunch of state championships.  I think Missouri has about 40 state championship contests.  So what Jack Daniels does is have a draw for each state by putting a numbered whiskey bung into a big whiskey barrel and pulling out the numbers of the lucky teams. 

Full rules here.

Full results here.

In past years we have won contests like Merrimack, NH or Windsor, VT where these were the only contests in that state so we had an "automatic".  This year though I Smell Smoke!!! swept the automatic New England contests (MA, VT, NH) and as a result 'draw day' was a bit more dramatic for the IQUE team.  

We won two qualifying contests in NY: New Paltz and Troy.  There were three other NY contests though:  Buffalo (won by Lunchmeat), Sayville (won by BBQ-Brethren) and Lake Placid (won by Jacks Down Home).  So we had a 2 in 5 chance of getting drawn.  The Jack also randomizes the order of the state draws so we were hoping that PA went first because Lunchmeat won a PA contest.  If Lunchmeat was drawn in PA they would not be part of the NY draw.  Turns out NY was up before PA so we were really lucky and got drawn for what we hope is Lucky #7.    

The team had pretty much thought we were not going to the Jack so all of our travel arrangements and time off has been focused on the American Royal.  Looks like it might be only myself and my brother Jamie cooking this time.  If so, we'll skip the extra categories like Chefs Choice.  Here is a pic of a lobster pot pie preparation we turned in for Chefs Choice a few years ago and earned a 3rd place jug.  As always our goal for the 2008 Jack is to get a call to the stage.

Congrats and good luck to all the teams going to the Jack.

New Cooking Geer

Well since my recent post about Pit Envy a couple of weeks ago I have been on a mission to get a new pit. As I mentioned, as much as I love the Backwoods Smokers, the idea of getting back to cooking with logs on an offset style cooker was very appealing to me.

So a few things fell into place... One was we won the New Paltz contest and took in a bit of prize money. I also was able to sell my two Backwoods Fatboys and my CargoPro 5x8 trailer in short order. My teammates were completely behind the idea, especially after my barage of 'pit porn' pictures I have been sending them on a daily basis.

So, I put a call into Jamie Geer at Jambo Pits and put a down-payment on a trailer pit. Jamie has been great to work with so far. It looks like he will finish my new pit in December so I'm starting to plan a road trip to TX. Haven't finalized colors or options but its going to be similar to this cooker.

Garden Cooking

The garden is starting to look pretty good. Basil/herbs look outstanding... tomatoes just OK. I think we have had too much rain for a good tomato harvest this year. Sunday night did some cooking straight out of the garden on the egg... Made some pesto, grilled some zucchini, picked some cherry tomatoes and grilled off a nice piece of swordfish. Was a very nice meal out on our deck with a bottle of wine or two...

Pit Envy

Over the past 10 years I've owned quite a few different smokers and grills... Langs, Backwoods, Webers, Big Green Eggs. I've currently whittled things down to 1 BGE and 2 Backwoods Fatboys. Pretty optimal equipment for what I need. The BGE is renowned for it's versatility handling everything from pizza, to high temp steak searing, to slow and low. Ideal for cooking at home for my family. And the Backwoods are perfect when I need extra capacity cooking a contest or for a crowd of friends. Both are well insulated so I can use them 365 days a year in New England.

Practical right?

Well I'm itching for a new toy. I guess you could call it Pit Envy. I've had my eye on stick burners from both Horizon and Meadow Creek. I do like to play with fire. My charcoal cookers are so 'set it and it and forget it' I no longer have an excuse to hang out in the yard and tend to the cooker. And of course since the stick burner needs tending every hour I'll need to be equipped with a comfortable recliner and a cooler of cold beer.

So amongst all of the smokers I covet two stand out today. One is from the largest producer of charcoal grills - Weber. The other is more of an artisan producer - Pits by Jambo. Guess which one I can afford?

What both Manufacturers have recently announced is new availability. WSM groupies have been clamoring for a larger version of this cooker for years. There are also rumors of 26" charcoal grill as well. The new 22" WSM should be available by the end of the year and hopefully I'll see one under my Christmas Tree.

Jamie Geer of Pits by Jambo has built beautiful, custom, off-set trailer smokers for some of the top teams in the country including Smoking Triggers and Cool Smoke. Recently after a 3 year hiatus Jamie announced he is building pits again. I haven't figured out how to fund a purchase of one of these beauties yet, but I'm working on it!

Celebratory Dining

Jenny and I are turning 40 in a few months. ::gasp::

We of course are using this event as an excuse to spend a lot of money on a good time.

New Orleans JazzFest has been discussed. I'm partial to investing in a once in a lifetime dining experience. Alinea in Chicago has been on my radar as well as Per Se in Manhattan.

One of my favorite bloggers, Beef Aficionado, just posted a most excellent and thorough review of Per Se here. It certainly peaks my interest and also someday I hope to be able to incorporate the word salubriousness into one of my posts. Now I just have to convice my wife that an other-worldly meal at Per Se is worth dropping a grand on!