Category Archives: Barbecue

Current events – Mid September 2007

This week is really hectic for Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue. We started off the week with a barbecue class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, OH. The class was a big success; it was full in less than a week after registration opened up for it. We had a full house, with some on a waiting list, too. Props to my peeps (Maria and the staff) at Cooks’ Wares for all their help (like my ‘urban’ talk there… I’m so with it… Not!) We did a full competition menu of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, with cole slaw, tomato pie and doughnut bread pudding added. The sauce for the bread pudding included some Maker’s Mark whisky… Man oh man, was it good stuff! Continue reading →

Melancholy ribs

5 Sep ā€™07

This is going to be a bit of an odd post for me. I’m really blue today, and, since this is my blog, I’m going to type what I want to type… I’ll start with ribs, though, for those readers that want a bit of cooking today.

On Labor Day, I tried some babyback ribs. I have to say that I still prefer spares, but these were worth a try. They looked good, but one rack was a bit tough… Sometimes, you just don’t have good meat to start with, I think. The flavor was still there, though.

I did the same basic stuff I usually do for ribs. Continue reading →

Making burnt ends

4 Sep ā€™07

I didn’t grow up in barbecue country. My earliest memories of barbecued ribs were from places like the Montgomery Inn, famous in Cincinnati for ribs. I don’t go there at all anymore, as their ribs are steamed and sauce-drowned. People in Cincy swear by them, but I choose other ribs. Pulled pork was done in a crock pot, and chicken was grilled at best.

Brisket was unknown to me in any form other than corned beef. Later, pastrami could be found in the area, but I had no clue what part of what animal this stuff came from. I take that back… I knew it wasn’t pork because the best places to get either were Jewish delis. Continue reading →

Cooking at home vs competition cooking

28 Aug ā€™07

I’ve seen several threads on message boards about whether barbecue competitors cook at home just like they do for competition. The answer is often ‘Yes’. I sometimes wonder, though, if this is due to wanting to practice or because of preferring competition barbecue all the time.

Here’s how I see competition cooking being different from cooking at home:

It’s simply that, when I cook at a competition, I concentrate on making 6 servings/slices/pieces/ribs as good as I can make them. Continue reading →

Birthday party catering

7 Aug ā€™07

Last weekend, my wife and I got the chance to cater a birthday party. The couple were both turning 40 in the same week, and wanted to do something fun. We were really glad to have the chance to help them celebrate by letting them not worry about the food or serving. Continue reading →

9 tips for cooking outdoors

21 Jul ā€™07

Everyone seems to have their lists of advice, so I figured, now that we’re well into the peak of grilling season, to add mine!

So, with no further adieu, here is Bucky McOinkum’s 9 Tips For Cooking Outdoor Continue reading →

Kind of a competition movie

18 Jul ā€™07

With this new MacBook Pro, I got some software that takes photos and lets me put them into a sort of photo movie. Here’s my first attempt, from the 2006 Blues-B-Q competition in Carmel, IN… Continue reading →

Pitbeef is good

16 Jul ā€™07

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! Continue reading →

Dr. BBQ’s Competition Class

25 Apr ā€™07

Last weekend, Mark and I pulled the smoker up to Detroit, MI, for Dr. BBQ’s Competition BBQ Class. The class was very much oriented toward Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) competitions, and Ray (Dr. BBQ) certainly has the background to talk about comps!

The class ran from 3:00 PM on Saturday until about 2:00 PM on Sunday, with set up starting at noon on Saturday. The weather couldn’t have been better. Highs in the low 70s, low in the high 40s overnight, clear and gorgeous. The class was held at an engineering/manufacturing firm, and John Ford, the owner, has a GREAT pellet smoker inside, with a fantastic kitchen, so we did the classes inside mostly, taking the food outside to cook. Continue reading →

Memphis Barbecue Tour

15 Feb ā€™07

was recently contacted by Hanna of the American Table Culinary Tours about their September 2007 tour of Memphis Barbecue.

I corresponded with Hanna about the American Table Culinary Tours is a nonprofit company that wants to promote culinary history. Their goal is to work with culinary students for internships and to simply promote cooking history. Continue reading →

Back to Basics – Pulled Pork

9 Jan ā€™07

Since starting this blog, I’ve done a lot of stuff like steak au poivre, grilled lobster, etc. But today I want to get back to barbecue basics with simple, tasty pulled pork! (I also realized that I’d never posted a photo of my own pulled pork sandwiches.)

This is one of the best barbecue meats to start out with. It’s about the most forgiving piece of meat you could choose, and it can take both high heat and low heat to get it done pretty well. The first time I ever did pulled pork was by cooking it indirectly on a charcoal grill. I used wood chips, and it probably cooked at about 350 degrees, with the pork in the middle and fire on both sides. Continue reading →