It's being held this weekend in Lynchburg, Tennesse... This is the holy grail in the competitive BBQ world... It's the most difficult Invitational competition to get into. Since they only have room for about 60 teams, they have a draw system to make sure each state is represented, and they also invite 10-14 International teams. So just winning a big BBQ competition is usually not enough to get in, you also have to get your name drawn for the state you won in. (Or just win SEVEN qualifying competitions in the same year LOL) This year they even applied the draw rules to Canada - for example, in B.C. there were two qualifying events in the past year but only one of those teams received an invitation - House of Q, friends of PS&S from Surrey, BC.
There were two events in Canada in 2009 that provided an automatic invitation - the Manitoba Open, which as a first year event just needed 15 teams to become a qualifier. The other was the Canadian National BBQ Championships held in Whistler on the August long weekend. That event was won by Smoke & Bones, a BBQ caterer and competition team from North Vancouver.
Today I will be flying into Nashville to join Smoke & Bones at Justin's gracious invitation. It is a huge honor to be competing in the Jack, and I'm going to work my butt off to make sure we do as well as possible. I'm also looking forward to being among BBQ royalty. I saw most of these teams in Kansas City but since this is a smaller venue maybe I'll get a chance to meet a few more of them.
Click here for more details on "The Jack". You will have to enter your age and country. (Pick the U.S. or the Barbecue contest won't be visible to you)
To read more about Smoke & Bones and the JACK experience please visit the blog. http://smokeandbonesbbq.blogspot.com/
Justin is on a very long BBQ road trip, first stopping at the American Royal, before sweeping through Metropolis, IL to pick up some more BBQ awards, then the Jack. After that he's headed to the Best of the Best in Douglas, GA before meandering back home through LA and TX.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
American Royal: Monday. The last leg.
Monday. A day I can't wait to forget.
Oy... Where do I begin??? At the beginning I guess. The day started off fine, had a little nibble at the Days Inn continental breakfast... We were anxious to get home though so we hit the road right away, we were driving by 6:30 in the rain. We stopped a couple times for gas, basically plowed straight up the interstate towards Canada. We planned on hitting Fargo for lunch at around Noon.
Until the (FIRST) incident. I was driving on I-29, other 3 passengers fast asleep, traffic was light and I had passed someone on my right... All of a sudden the truck started moving, I looked in the rear view to see the trailer swaying all over the place. I gently hit the brakes to get it under control, I figured we blew a tire... I moved over to the left side of the highway, not wanting to hit any oter cars with the out of control trailer. The next moment was a sight that will haunt me forever... I looked in the mirror just in time to see my BBQ, upside down and 10 feet in the air, tumbling slowly into the ditch. It really was as scary as it sounds.
It came to rest upside down, in the middle ditch on I-29, about 15 miles South of Fargo. There was mud jammed up the stacks, a bent shelf, and the bar used to keep the lid shut was bent. All things considered, this thing was built like a tank and it took on very little damage. All indications were that it was still towable. The ball was still lodged in the hitch coupler, and the barbell lock was still intact holding onto the ball. After a few minutes to calm down and take some pictures, we flipped the trailer onto its tires to make sure we could do it without a tow truck. We all piled back into the truck and immediately booked an appointment in Fargo to get a hidden hitch installed. We had to wait an hour and a half for the part to arrive, so we hit Granite City (upscale brew pub) for lunch. Then we hit Menards for some new parts (drawbar, hitch ball, etc). We were happy to run into Smokin' Jim there, it was a pleasant surprise on an otherwise crappy day. We chatted for a few minutes then got out of there. The hitch was installed in 30 minutes and we were on our way back to the scene of the accident. Which leads us to the SECOND incident.
We soon arrived at the scene of the CRIME... That's right, crime. We arrived to an empty ditch. Some friendly North Dakotan took it upon himself to 'relieve' my BBQ from the lonely gully between the 2 lanes of the interstate. I don't even have words to describe the feeling in my stomach. My baby was gone, along with a LOT of gear we had crammed inside - lots of hickory, my Weber Smokey Mountain, extension cords, turkey fryer, cutting boards, my duffel bag and clothing, most of the new rubs and sauces I bought in KC, you name it. So we tracked down the police on the phone, filed a report with about 3 or 4 different departments, and we got back in the truck and drove home. It was a quiet trip.
We stopped in Minot for supper... Jacy opted instead to hit Target to replace some of the gifts she bought for the kids that disappeared in the trailer. Gord wasn't hungry so he tagged along. Dad & I hit Buffalo Wings & Rings, a wing joint / sports bar. Service was fast so we picked up the other 2 less than 30 minutes later. The border crossing was uneventful and we pulled into Regina at about 2:00 AM. We were about 5 hours later than planned but we were safe and sound. Dropped Gord off, unloaded the truck at home and my head hit the pillow at 3 AM. The alarm was to go off again at 6:00, holiday over and back to work. Fortunately I napped from the U.S. to Regina so I wasn't a complete zombie the next day.
Checking out the damage...
Here's where the tongue dug into the soil and launched the pit into the air.
Examining the escape tracks, looking for tread imprints for the sheriff to inspect
One final pic. We cooked a lot of food on this BBQ in the 4 summers we had it... We used it to cook our first big cater to some of our best friends' wedding guests, we hauled it to Manitoba and Calgary this summer to win BBQ Competitions, we cooked endless rib trials on it this Spring looking for the right combinations of spice rub & sauce... We used it for just about every big catering job this summer since our generator (to run the ovens in the catering rig) has been in the shop since May. It was hauled out of the garage and into the driveway every January for a mid-winter "stick burning" BBQ feast. That storage bin you see is brand new, it was installed the night before we left for the Royal. That spare rim and tire are new too, that was a VERY difficult rim to find. I hope we see you again girl, I really do.
Oy... Where do I begin??? At the beginning I guess. The day started off fine, had a little nibble at the Days Inn continental breakfast... We were anxious to get home though so we hit the road right away, we were driving by 6:30 in the rain. We stopped a couple times for gas, basically plowed straight up the interstate towards Canada. We planned on hitting Fargo for lunch at around Noon.
Until the (FIRST) incident. I was driving on I-29, other 3 passengers fast asleep, traffic was light and I had passed someone on my right... All of a sudden the truck started moving, I looked in the rear view to see the trailer swaying all over the place. I gently hit the brakes to get it under control, I figured we blew a tire... I moved over to the left side of the highway, not wanting to hit any oter cars with the out of control trailer. The next moment was a sight that will haunt me forever... I looked in the mirror just in time to see my BBQ, upside down and 10 feet in the air, tumbling slowly into the ditch. It really was as scary as it sounds.
It came to rest upside down, in the middle ditch on I-29, about 15 miles South of Fargo. There was mud jammed up the stacks, a bent shelf, and the bar used to keep the lid shut was bent. All things considered, this thing was built like a tank and it took on very little damage. All indications were that it was still towable. The ball was still lodged in the hitch coupler, and the barbell lock was still intact holding onto the ball. After a few minutes to calm down and take some pictures, we flipped the trailer onto its tires to make sure we could do it without a tow truck. We all piled back into the truck and immediately booked an appointment in Fargo to get a hidden hitch installed. We had to wait an hour and a half for the part to arrive, so we hit Granite City (upscale brew pub) for lunch. Then we hit Menards for some new parts (drawbar, hitch ball, etc). We were happy to run into Smokin' Jim there, it was a pleasant surprise on an otherwise crappy day. We chatted for a few minutes then got out of there. The hitch was installed in 30 minutes and we were on our way back to the scene of the accident. Which leads us to the SECOND incident.
We soon arrived at the scene of the CRIME... That's right, crime. We arrived to an empty ditch. Some friendly North Dakotan took it upon himself to 'relieve' my BBQ from the lonely gully between the 2 lanes of the interstate. I don't even have words to describe the feeling in my stomach. My baby was gone, along with a LOT of gear we had crammed inside - lots of hickory, my Weber Smokey Mountain, extension cords, turkey fryer, cutting boards, my duffel bag and clothing, most of the new rubs and sauces I bought in KC, you name it. So we tracked down the police on the phone, filed a report with about 3 or 4 different departments, and we got back in the truck and drove home. It was a quiet trip.
We stopped in Minot for supper... Jacy opted instead to hit Target to replace some of the gifts she bought for the kids that disappeared in the trailer. Gord wasn't hungry so he tagged along. Dad & I hit Buffalo Wings & Rings, a wing joint / sports bar. Service was fast so we picked up the other 2 less than 30 minutes later. The border crossing was uneventful and we pulled into Regina at about 2:00 AM. We were about 5 hours later than planned but we were safe and sound. Dropped Gord off, unloaded the truck at home and my head hit the pillow at 3 AM. The alarm was to go off again at 6:00, holiday over and back to work. Fortunately I napped from the U.S. to Regina so I wasn't a complete zombie the next day.
Checking out the damage...
Here's where the tongue dug into the soil and launched the pit into the air.
Examining the escape tracks, looking for tread imprints for the sheriff to inspect
One final pic. We cooked a lot of food on this BBQ in the 4 summers we had it... We used it to cook our first big cater to some of our best friends' wedding guests, we hauled it to Manitoba and Calgary this summer to win BBQ Competitions, we cooked endless rib trials on it this Spring looking for the right combinations of spice rub & sauce... We used it for just about every big catering job this summer since our generator (to run the ovens in the catering rig) has been in the shop since May. It was hauled out of the garage and into the driveway every January for a mid-winter "stick burning" BBQ feast. That storage bin you see is brand new, it was installed the night before we left for the Royal. That spare rim and tire are new too, that was a VERY difficult rim to find. I hope we see you again girl, I really do.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sunday at the Royal
Saturday night while Dad was cozied up in the zero gravity chair, I was really tired and basically ready to crash myself... So I came up with a new method of firewatching... I make sure the coal base was adequate and the fire was burning clean, I threw on a nice big hickory log, and I set my temperature probe alarm to sound off when the temperature dropped below 225. Then I grabbed a blanket and laid in the grass with my alarm. Sure enough, 45 minutes later the alarm went off. I threw another log on and laid down again. For some reason the alarm didn't work the second time but Dad woke up and stoked up the fire again. I then took the chance for a real nap in the chair, under 2 blankets with a nice pillow... Slept until 6:30 AM, then it was time to trim chicken. My chicken trimming for a contest is brutal... I mean the process is brutal. It's a 2 hour job for 24 thighs. By the end I had 18 thighs to cook, I also had a couple of bone-in breasts brining for this event.
At 8:30, the chicken was trimmed and rubbed, and Jacy & Gord showed up. Gord started taking apart camp right away, packing up the lights and everything else we wouldn't need again. Jacy still had three presentation boxes to get ready (garnish) so she started that right away.
The food on Sunday was really about as good as I can make it... All 4 meats hit the tenderness target, and the taste was bang on. THe chicken was good, although I thought the sauce was a bit light in texture and color... The ribs fell victim to some sloppy knife work, I just couldn't help nicking bones while slicing. Fortunately presentation is only worth about 1/7 of the score in KCBS rules, but of course every point still counts. The pork was good, and the brisket was pretty tasty too. I used a different sauce on Sunday for brisket and we thought it was much better. My burnt ends Sunday were excellent, It's the first time I ever turned in BE's in a brisket box , but judging by the scores I don't think they helped.
Getting pork ready for the presentation box...
We had enough time after the last category to sit down for a beer, tear down camp, and walk to the awards. We learned a very important lesson when we watched Dr. BBQ walk past us... Bring a soft cooler to the awards! They were close to 2 hours long! They announced the miscellaneous categories - vegetables, beans, potatoes, dessert. Then they announced the sausage winners. FINALLY, on to the main 4 meats. While they announced the top 20 teams in each category, we didn't hear our name. So we crossed our fingers for a decent overall result.
Ribs
After the awards ceremony, we searched around for a printout of the results, they handed out FAR fewer copies than there were teams looking for them. After 10 minutes I found the PNWBA gang as they were reading through it. We finished 248th overall - I have to say it was a little bit humbling. We are certainly not in the same class as the winners down there and never expected to finish near the top but we did expect to finish a bit higher than that. HOWEVER we did come ahead of some big name teams, we could certainly have finished worse, and we had an awesome time. There are so many good points, the finish just isn't that important. We will just have to do some more research next time!
Once we walked back to our spot, we said some quick good byes and headed out. We hit the interstate right away. Since we left in good time, we decided to pull over for some local flavor in a town North of K.C. for supper: St Joseph, MO. While it was a nice town, it was odd to see NO PEOPLE on the streets and everything closed. This was 6:30 PM on Sunday. The restaurant that sounded good on the GPS had been shut down. There were a few chain restaurants but we decided to skip those and head back to the interstate. W pulled off to a truck stop diner and proceeded to wolf down some terrible food. We exited quickly and drove up to Sioux City, IA, arriving in the rain at about 11:30. I showered, everyone else crashed right away for a well deserved sleep.
At 8:30, the chicken was trimmed and rubbed, and Jacy & Gord showed up. Gord started taking apart camp right away, packing up the lights and everything else we wouldn't need again. Jacy still had three presentation boxes to get ready (garnish) so she started that right away.
The food on Sunday was really about as good as I can make it... All 4 meats hit the tenderness target, and the taste was bang on. THe chicken was good, although I thought the sauce was a bit light in texture and color... The ribs fell victim to some sloppy knife work, I just couldn't help nicking bones while slicing. Fortunately presentation is only worth about 1/7 of the score in KCBS rules, but of course every point still counts. The pork was good, and the brisket was pretty tasty too. I used a different sauce on Sunday for brisket and we thought it was much better. My burnt ends Sunday were excellent, It's the first time I ever turned in BE's in a brisket box , but judging by the scores I don't think they helped.
Getting pork ready for the presentation box...
We had enough time after the last category to sit down for a beer, tear down camp, and walk to the awards. We learned a very important lesson when we watched Dr. BBQ walk past us... Bring a soft cooler to the awards! They were close to 2 hours long! They announced the miscellaneous categories - vegetables, beans, potatoes, dessert. Then they announced the sausage winners. FINALLY, on to the main 4 meats. While they announced the top 20 teams in each category, we didn't hear our name. So we crossed our fingers for a decent overall result.
Ribs
After the awards ceremony, we searched around for a printout of the results, they handed out FAR fewer copies than there were teams looking for them. After 10 minutes I found the PNWBA gang as they were reading through it. We finished 248th overall - I have to say it was a little bit humbling. We are certainly not in the same class as the winners down there and never expected to finish near the top but we did expect to finish a bit higher than that. HOWEVER we did come ahead of some big name teams, we could certainly have finished worse, and we had an awesome time. There are so many good points, the finish just isn't that important. We will just have to do some more research next time!
Once we walked back to our spot, we said some quick good byes and headed out. We hit the interstate right away. Since we left in good time, we decided to pull over for some local flavor in a town North of K.C. for supper: St Joseph, MO. While it was a nice town, it was odd to see NO PEOPLE on the streets and everything closed. This was 6:30 PM on Sunday. The restaurant that sounded good on the GPS had been shut down. There were a few chain restaurants but we decided to skip those and head back to the interstate. W pulled off to a truck stop diner and proceeded to wolf down some terrible food. We exited quickly and drove up to Sioux City, IA, arriving in the rain at about 11:30. I showered, everyone else crashed right away for a well deserved sleep.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Results
Quick post here... our results from the American Royal 2009:
Invitational Competition
68th overall / 119 teams.
18th place chicken.
Top international team.
Open Competition
248th overall / ~480 teams
Best meat: Chicken at 108th place.
Top international team.
Invitational Competition
68th overall / 119 teams.
18th place chicken.
Top international team.
Open Competition
248th overall / ~480 teams
Best meat: Chicken at 108th place.
Top international team.
More Friday pics
The big brick pit at the Wood Yard.
Guest chef for the day?
Dad & Gord at one small part of a VERY BIG steel plate art display...
Guest chef for the day?
Dad & Gord at one small part of a VERY BIG steel plate art display...
More Friday pics from the Royal
Dad, downtown KC
Supper Friday at Gordon Beirsch brewpub
Overlooking a small sectoin of the "dark side"
Picking up firewood - oak, apple, hickory
Supper Friday at Gordon Beirsch brewpub
Overlooking a small sectoin of the "dark side"
Picking up firewood - oak, apple, hickory
Friday - American Royal trip
Friday we woke up early and were out of the hotel by 8 AM…. Gord voted for Waffle House for breakfast and since it was his birthday we tagged along… It was actually pretty good. Fast, greasy, and tasty. Perfect start to a BBQ weekend.
Our next stop was the Royal, time to unload and set up camp. This was easier said than done as the wind was gusting and causing problems with the canopies…. So Dad & I left to fill the water buckets (ie weights) with water… When we came back the canopy had been damaged a bit… Still useable but it needs repairs.
With the canopies properly anchored down we were ready to get the last of our supplies… firewood. The Wood Lot was located just a mile or 2 away, so we picked out some hickory, oak, and apple, and stopped in for lunch. The owner was all to happy to give us a tour of the home made brick pit, offered us some chicken to snack on before we even went inside the building. We ordered a bit of everything, and while the service and ambience were awesome, the food was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken was the best part; The drumsticks were tender, juicy, and with crisp skin.
After that, I was dropped back at the tent to start trimming my meats. That continued through the afternoon until it was time to head out for supper. We were celebrating, so we found a great upscale brewpub (chain) - Gordon Beirsch. Great food and good beer. It was located in downtown Kansas City, the power & light district I think. Lots going on, neat area.
We went back to the Royal and hung out for a bit, did some more rubbing, injecting, etc... then over to the Mad Cow BBQ camp for a PNWBA get together... good to hang out with the other Canadian teams for a bit and meet some of the PNW teams too. Thanks Wayne!
11 pm came quickly and we were off to camp again to get the pit fired up. With the big meats on we headed down to "The Dark Side"... the Southern section of the American Royal grounds is where the BIG, WILD, some would say INSANE parties go down... We made it over there (LONG walk) a bit after 12:30 but it was quite clear we missed the action. There was only about 20% of the people in there than there were at 11:00, judging by the overhead view of the area as most of our crew drover directly over it (overpass) at that time - apparently the whole area was like Mardi Gras. So we'll have to check it out earlier next time.
Gord hung out for the night, we each slept for a couple hours in the bone chilling cold, the breeze never really let up and the zero gravity chair wasn't the warmest vessel, even with clothes and a couple blankes. Fortunately it was warmer the next night.....
Our next stop was the Royal, time to unload and set up camp. This was easier said than done as the wind was gusting and causing problems with the canopies…. So Dad & I left to fill the water buckets (ie weights) with water… When we came back the canopy had been damaged a bit… Still useable but it needs repairs.
With the canopies properly anchored down we were ready to get the last of our supplies… firewood. The Wood Lot was located just a mile or 2 away, so we picked out some hickory, oak, and apple, and stopped in for lunch. The owner was all to happy to give us a tour of the home made brick pit, offered us some chicken to snack on before we even went inside the building. We ordered a bit of everything, and while the service and ambience were awesome, the food was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken was the best part; The drumsticks were tender, juicy, and with crisp skin.
After that, I was dropped back at the tent to start trimming my meats. That continued through the afternoon until it was time to head out for supper. We were celebrating, so we found a great upscale brewpub (chain) - Gordon Beirsch. Great food and good beer. It was located in downtown Kansas City, the power & light district I think. Lots going on, neat area.
We went back to the Royal and hung out for a bit, did some more rubbing, injecting, etc... then over to the Mad Cow BBQ camp for a PNWBA get together... good to hang out with the other Canadian teams for a bit and meet some of the PNW teams too. Thanks Wayne!
11 pm came quickly and we were off to camp again to get the pit fired up. With the big meats on we headed down to "The Dark Side"... the Southern section of the American Royal grounds is where the BIG, WILD, some would say INSANE parties go down... We made it over there (LONG walk) a bit after 12:30 but it was quite clear we missed the action. There was only about 20% of the people in there than there were at 11:00, judging by the overhead view of the area as most of our crew drover directly over it (overpass) at that time - apparently the whole area was like Mardi Gras. So we'll have to check it out earlier next time.
Gord hung out for the night, we each slept for a couple hours in the bone chilling cold, the breeze never really let up and the zero gravity chair wasn't the warmest vessel, even with clothes and a couple blankes. Fortunately it was warmer the next night.....
Friday, October 2, 2009
more day 2
After lunch we headed to the butcher shop to pick up our briskets and pork butts. And WHAT a butcher shop. This place is family owned, we talked to the 4th and 5th generation owners. They have a 60 foot fresh meat counter, they sell EVERYTHING, from the oink to the tail. Or from the moo to the hooves if you will... They raise and slaughter their own pigs & cattle too. They invited us back to the aging lockers where all the sides of beef and whole hogs are hung... I'll save those pics for another day! Very nice folks and very welcoming.
Hand-picking briskets & pork butts for this weekend's competitions...
After that we went to check into our hotel, the Best Western I booked a month ago. I called Tuesday to cancel the first night (wednesday) since we weren't going to be here Wednesday as originally planned. I cancelled the first night, promising to check in on Thursday. "OK man, got ya!" was the response I got... Well when we checked in, they had no record of that cancellation. In fact, they charged us for Wednesday night and gave away our room for the rest of the weekend! NO ROOMS LEFT. Perhaps this is where I should mention everything going on in KC this weekend:
- American Royal
- Miley Cyrus concert
- Nascar race
- Chiefs game
- College football game
- And something else I don't remember right now. Safe to say, rooms in this town are few & far between. SO, after some negotiating, many phone calls to central reservations, and some sweet talking of the clerk, he found us a room with one queen bed. So right now, Dad is on a cot, Gord is in the recliner, Jacy is in the bed and I'm on my way.
First, the rest of the day. I did forget to mention the BBQ brisket I had across the street from the meat market... Don't remember the name of the place, just got a half pound of brisket to go. WORST BRISKET I have ever eaten. Clearly re-heated for me, slices were thin and dry, NO flavor of smoke or rub of any kind. This shit could have been boiled, I swear it was that bad. so it all hit the trash. Hoping to find a gem, I found a big rotten lump of coal.
Supper was a Kansas City institution. well, a BBQ Institution that is among the country's few top rated joints - Arthur Bryant's.
We ordered a half pound each of brisket, burnt ends, sausage, and pulled pork. Here's a pic, halfway through chowing down.
The brisket was decent, the pork was shredded and drowned in sauce, nothing to write home about. The burnt ends were bathed in sauce and loaded with flavour - fantastic food. Sausage was a bit different, I liked it but I'm not sure if anyone else did. They did have some ribs out by the time we were half done eating so we picked up a half slab. It was very overcooked, dry, thin, and the two small bones weren't edible. They should not have been served.
This sounds like a lot of complaining but the food was in fact quite good. This sides (especially beans) were awesome.
The place reeks of history, LOTS of celebrities have dined here and the old brick pit in the back has certainly seen decades of smoke.
We'll pay it another visit the next time we're in town.
After supper we just came back to the hotel... Jacy and I headed out to a Target to get a few more ingredients for the weekend. We had a quick dip in the hot tub, then everyone crashed. Well except me, just had to get online and tell our story! That's it for tonight, a big day tomorrow!
later
Hand-picking briskets & pork butts for this weekend's competitions...
After that we went to check into our hotel, the Best Western I booked a month ago. I called Tuesday to cancel the first night (wednesday) since we weren't going to be here Wednesday as originally planned. I cancelled the first night, promising to check in on Thursday. "OK man, got ya!" was the response I got... Well when we checked in, they had no record of that cancellation. In fact, they charged us for Wednesday night and gave away our room for the rest of the weekend! NO ROOMS LEFT. Perhaps this is where I should mention everything going on in KC this weekend:
- American Royal
- Miley Cyrus concert
- Nascar race
- Chiefs game
- College football game
- And something else I don't remember right now. Safe to say, rooms in this town are few & far between. SO, after some negotiating, many phone calls to central reservations, and some sweet talking of the clerk, he found us a room with one queen bed. So right now, Dad is on a cot, Gord is in the recliner, Jacy is in the bed and I'm on my way.
First, the rest of the day. I did forget to mention the BBQ brisket I had across the street from the meat market... Don't remember the name of the place, just got a half pound of brisket to go. WORST BRISKET I have ever eaten. Clearly re-heated for me, slices were thin and dry, NO flavor of smoke or rub of any kind. This shit could have been boiled, I swear it was that bad. so it all hit the trash. Hoping to find a gem, I found a big rotten lump of coal.
Supper was a Kansas City institution. well, a BBQ Institution that is among the country's few top rated joints - Arthur Bryant's.
We ordered a half pound each of brisket, burnt ends, sausage, and pulled pork. Here's a pic, halfway through chowing down.
The brisket was decent, the pork was shredded and drowned in sauce, nothing to write home about. The burnt ends were bathed in sauce and loaded with flavour - fantastic food. Sausage was a bit different, I liked it but I'm not sure if anyone else did. They did have some ribs out by the time we were half done eating so we picked up a half slab. It was very overcooked, dry, thin, and the two small bones weren't edible. They should not have been served.
This sounds like a lot of complaining but the food was in fact quite good. This sides (especially beans) were awesome.
The place reeks of history, LOTS of celebrities have dined here and the old brick pit in the back has certainly seen decades of smoke.
We'll pay it another visit the next time we're in town.
After supper we just came back to the hotel... Jacy and I headed out to a Target to get a few more ingredients for the weekend. We had a quick dip in the hot tub, then everyone crashed. Well except me, just had to get online and tell our story! That's it for tonight, a big day tomorrow!
later
Thursday, October 1, 2009
American Royal - day 2 (Thurs)
We rolled into Kansas City a little after Noon... Lots of old warehouses, around, some very neat ones. Didn't take pictures of those ones however...
Here's our spot... We have more pavement than you can see but this is it. It includes some grass too. That's our own private porta potty
too.
We dropped off the pit and some gear so we would have room for more supplies. Met our neighbors who live about 4 hours away. They were a bit stunned to hear how far we drove but seem like great folks.
First stop for lunch: Oklahoma Joe's!!! Run by some very experienced competition cooks, our lunch was nothing short of AWESOME. We had brisket, ribs, beans, beer and... well that might be it. Oh, fries too. Everything was top notch. Brisket had great flavour, sliced thin and not dry, ribs were well seasoned with a light coat of sauce. Great smoke flavour and good tenderness. One of my best BBQ meals ever.
Some of the trophies on the way in...
Here's our spot... We have more pavement than you can see but this is it. It includes some grass too. That's our own private porta potty
too.
We dropped off the pit and some gear so we would have room for more supplies. Met our neighbors who live about 4 hours away. They were a bit stunned to hear how far we drove but seem like great folks.
First stop for lunch: Oklahoma Joe's!!! Run by some very experienced competition cooks, our lunch was nothing short of AWESOME. We had brisket, ribs, beans, beer and... well that might be it. Oh, fries too. Everything was top notch. Brisket had great flavour, sliced thin and not dry, ribs were well seasoned with a light coat of sauce. Great smoke flavour and good tenderness. One of my best BBQ meals ever.
Some of the trophies on the way in...
Day 1 - American Royal (Wednesday)
We left Regina right on time, 5:30 AM. I woke up at 4:00 AM to shower and finish loading the truck, and went to bed at 3:15 am the night before. I mean, who wants to sleep the night before leaving for a 3-day BBQ marathon anyway??? So i promptly fell asleep and woke up in Estevan, 2 hours down the road where we pulled into the Husky for a quick hot breakfast.
30 minutes later we pulled up to the Portal border crossing into the good 'ol USA. They poked around in the BBQ and the back of the truck, asked about 50 questions and let us go. The spooky part was when they asked "Are you the guy that called 2 days ago asking all the questions about bringing meat across the border"?? Um.. yes sir. "OK then, have a great day." With that, we were on our way.
Keying addresses into the GPS...
We mounted a new storage box on the back of the pit, LOTS of new storage space, and we filled every inch. A little bit ghetto, but the food is killer!
Chinese buffet in some small town in Southeast North Dakota. Not bad! About 50 different things, only $7.50.
Gord "Studying" the game plan for our first ever KCBS BBQ competition. I have meticulously scheduled every component of this cook... something I kind of do anyway but we really need to be on the ball for this one.
We pulled into Sioux Falls at about 9 PM, lost an hour when we crossed the border and a couple hours later than planned. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery through North Dakota and South Dakota was exactly the same as Saskatchewan - dead flat, no trees. The WIND was crazy though, gusting heavy all day and blowing in the NW direction... So we were driving into this wind all day. It was not a cheap day for gas. Supper was at Texas Roadhouse, a steakhouse chain. We each had a nice steak, and they were all very good. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, a great meal for a chain.
30 minutes later we pulled up to the Portal border crossing into the good 'ol USA. They poked around in the BBQ and the back of the truck, asked about 50 questions and let us go. The spooky part was when they asked "Are you the guy that called 2 days ago asking all the questions about bringing meat across the border"?? Um.. yes sir. "OK then, have a great day." With that, we were on our way.
Keying addresses into the GPS...
We mounted a new storage box on the back of the pit, LOTS of new storage space, and we filled every inch. A little bit ghetto, but the food is killer!
Chinese buffet in some small town in Southeast North Dakota. Not bad! About 50 different things, only $7.50.
Gord "Studying" the game plan for our first ever KCBS BBQ competition. I have meticulously scheduled every component of this cook... something I kind of do anyway but we really need to be on the ball for this one.
We pulled into Sioux Falls at about 9 PM, lost an hour when we crossed the border and a couple hours later than planned. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery through North Dakota and South Dakota was exactly the same as Saskatchewan - dead flat, no trees. The WIND was crazy though, gusting heavy all day and blowing in the NW direction... So we were driving into this wind all day. It was not a cheap day for gas. Supper was at Texas Roadhouse, a steakhouse chain. We each had a nice steak, and they were all very good. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, a great meal for a chain.
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