I posted before about how much of a pain it was just getting to
Madison, IN, for the 2005 Ribberfest. Once we got there, things
improved a bit…
It was just plain hot last August. We had a
landscape trailer that was loaded with 3 Chargrillers and a bunch of
bins, charcoal, etc., and more in the SUV, including 2 EZ ups. Tony
Hunter and his m-i-l’s boyfriend met us there, and I wouldn’t have made
it without them. After the cook’s meeting, we got everything set up.
Mistake
#1 here was that I looked at the space and arranged our now 4
Chargrillers and a WSM (one CG and the WSM thanks to Tony). I have to
say this… Tony is almost showing OCD by how clean he keeps his
equipment… puts me to shame! I set the smokers up in kind of 3 sides
of a square. This would be wonderful in a cool April or October comp,
but in mid August, bad choice… it just concentrates the heat to the
middle of everything. We got things rearranged so it worked better,
but not until Saturday morning.
We got our meat inspected, then
put rubs on butts and brisket and put back in the cooler. Our plan was
to put them on about 9:00 pm. In the meantime, we got stuff out to
have grilled pizzas. We had plenty of ingredients, and we started
making them for the team. My dad and stepmom came up all the way from
Atlanta, and they were there by dinner, too. Friday nights are really
great at comps… everyone is relaxed and still rested, and they don’t
have to hurry around too much.
The briskets went on the WSM,
2 flats on the top, and a Wagyu packer underneath. We used Wicked Good
charcoal, and it’s well named. The next morning, the load of charcoal
we put in the WSM was still at least a third unburned… great stuff.
We had turkery fryer with propane to light the charcoal, so that
wasn’t a problem. We put 3 butts on one of the Chargrillers, too.
About
10:00 pm, I drove my wife to her hotel for the night (that’s the deal
for her to help.. she doesn’t have to stay on the site for the night!)
When I drove back and got out of the SUV, the woodsmoke hit me all at
once… 59 teams all with smokers going is a GREAT smell!!!
Unfortunately, it was still stinking hot!
I tried to sleep in
the SUV, and managed to get a little sleep thanks to having the
vehicle’s fan on. Mark, my teammate, slept on the floor of a minivan.
Tony didn’t sleep at all… showing how great he is once again, staying
up and tending fires. I have to add that Tony, aside from just working
and working and working, is simply a great guy. If you see him at a
comp (Indianapolis Smokehouse BBQ), stop by and say hello to him.
Mark
and I got up about 4:30 and started on ribs and chicken. The mistakes
we made here was putting the chicken on too late and getting the temps
too high on the ribs. We did worst on the ribs, though the taste was
very good, I thought. I brined the chicken in a bourbon brine, and we
barely got them done in time; I think another 30 minutes would have
made a big difference. As it was, we just barely missed the top half.
The ribs we did with the 3-2-1 method, and, after the ’2′, I saw they
were already too done… that did not make me happy, but you go with
what you have.
Butts and brisket all got down around 8 to 9:00,
and got foiled and put in coolers. By the time turn ins started, it
felt like it was 120 degrees, though I found out it was only 95 with
very high humidity. My wife took towels and put them in ice water,
then put them on my neck.. I wouldnt’ have made it otherwise.
The
turn in time is when I’m probably disliked most by those on my team and
around me. I get very task oriented, and I take my mistakes
personally. Fortunately, I get over it quickly, but I have to get
better about this. We’re slowly getting to a system where, during turn
ins, only Mark, Phyllis and I are allowed in the prep area. I know
visitors want to help, but that’s not the right time; even helping with
knowing if it’s dry or not is not helpful, as they don’t really know
what we’re looking for. But once each entry gets done, we have a few
minutes to breathe.
All in all, we did well. I think we came in
badly in ribs, something like 43rd out of 59. 33rd in chicken, 25th in
brisket and 19th in pork. We turned in both sliced and pulled pork
(one we cooked only to 180 so we could slice it. I don’t really sauce
brisket or pork, but I spray it with sugar water to make it look
better. We spray the ribs a bit, too, but I glaze them just a touch
before taking them off the cooker, and I used the same glaze on the
chicken.
We had a great time, but I was glad a storm started
showing up because it got us to move quicker on tearing down. We were
out of there pretty quickly… That’s the last mistake; this year, I
think we’ll be staying somewhere close Saturday night.
There was
some excitement in the middle of the night… some teams were seen
skinny dipping in the pool right behind us… after seeing my fellow
bbq’ers, I’m glad I was asleep!
