Last weekend was our 7th competition, if I’m counting right… Carmel 2005, Madison 2005, Carmel 2006, Grand Rapids 2006, Nelsonville 2006, Fairbanks 2007, Dayton 2007… Yep, 7th! I’ll post results later, but we did just fine. It was a non-sanctioned competition, and the judges were all new, non-certified judges. I didn’t expect the scores to be very consistent, but the competition was really well done for a first year comp, and we can’t wait until next year when it’s sanctioned!
We had several people stop by during the weekend, since we were local. We made some chicken and some pitbeef for visitors, and both turned out really good. Part of the fun of the competitions is figuring out what to have on Friday night!
I wanted to thank everyone that stopped by for doing so, and I also want to say how nice it was to see teams we knew and to meet new teams.
So what is pitbeef? I know I’ve talked about it before, but it’s one of the simplest yet tastiest quick smokes I’ve made. I take a cheap cut, eye of round, and season it with a variety of things from blackberry-pepper jelly to, in Friday night’s case, brisket rub.
The idea is to use a cheap cut of beef, then slice it thin so that it isn’t tough. I cook it to 120 degree, then foil it andlet it rest. Then I slice it as thin as I can, and top it with homemade sour cream horseradish sauce. Great sandwiches made very easily!