Our son, Michael embarks on his first BBQ competition on April 4.  He’ll enter chicken wings and a hamburger.  My wife and I thought it would be fun for our boys to have their own logo.  This was done by Patrick at www.BBQLogos.com.

The annual KCBS banquet was held this last weekend.  KCBS and Kookers Kare hold raffles during the banquet.  Kookers Kare is a charitable organization of BBQ cooks feeding and supporting local food pantries.  Kookers Kare raised a couple of thousand dollars during this raffle.  The money will purchase the 8000 pounds of pork that will be cooked during the annual cook in mid March.  The 8000 pounds of pork will go to local food pantries.

Our Plowboys BBQ baskets held a shaker each of our Yardbird rub and our new brisket rub that hasn’t been launched yet.  In addition to a Plowboys Barbecue shirt, each basket contained a Pig Face Hitch Insert that we are starting to sell.  They are made of 100% billet aluminum.   The same materials used to make aircraft.  They are tough and will not rust.  We are selling them through our online store.

Not getting everyone sick should be job one when cooking for the public or your family. Food safety is something that everyone should be aware of and practice. Latex gloves, combined with hand washing, should be a regular practice for all BBQ cooks.

In addition to food safety, I like using gloves for keeping my hands clean. BBQ can be a messy business. Sauce, food, and grime from the cooker can get all over your hands. I’ll grab a pair of gloves when I’m cleaning the cooker or handling grates. A box of large sized gloves is handy for most jobs, while an extra large size will fit over a pair of cotton gloves. We use latex gloves over ordinary cotton gloves when handling hot food. They are easy to replace or have multiple pairs around. I now buy them by the case. A case hold ten boxes of 100 gloves each. Never have to worry about never having the right tools available for the job.

Pork Pullin Plowboys: 2007 Missouri State BBQ Champions

During the awards for the 2007 American Royal BBQ Open Competition, our team was presented with a special award.  The Missouri State BBQ Championship is given to the Grand Champion with the highest score from the following contests: Blue Springs, Kearney, and North Kansas City.

5th Overall - 17 Teams
3rd Ribs
1st Pork
5th Brisket

Third week in a row with a top 5 finish. The most thrilling moment was of course the 1st place in pork. It marked our nineth top 10 finish in pork for 2007 and our first ever blue ribbon in pork. I wasn’t happy with the pork at Blue Springs and Kearney, even though Kearney’s pork placed 9th. This week, however, I felt our pork was back on track. Got to cook with Randy and Brandon once again. It was good to have the whole team together. Brandon was our box runner… and didn’t even trip.

The contest a state championship. The grand champion, Grillas, will be invited to the Great American Invitational, American Royal Invitational, and have a chance for the Jack Daniel’s Invitational. It was set in a very quiet area. We had a playground directly behind us for the boys. The organizers were doing a lot for local groups like senior citizens, Boy Scouts, and local Fire Department. It was really nice to see.

The surgeons and staff at the IABS performed a Lab-Band procedure on Todd Johns in January 2006. He was able to lose 170 lbs. in one year and regain his quality of life. We are very proud to have this great group as a sponsor.

The Institute for Advanced Bariatric Surgery and the Minimally Invasive Surgery Hospital are an American Society of Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence and accept Medicare patients. We have helped hundreds of patients take control of obesity and their lives all over the United States, in both adults and adolescents. Patients report choosing services through our program based on our expertise, our quality and our record of safety in the performance of laparoscopic bariatric surgery.

My friend Andy Groneman was featured on both the front page of the Atchison Globe and the paper’s Web site.  Cooking as Smoke on Wheels and sometimes as HoDeDo’s, Andy was both competing at the local contest and selling his BBQ to the public.  If you look closely, you’ll see that Andy is sporting a Plowboys BBQ hat that I gave him a couple weeks ago.

Andy and I cooked together a couple of times this year at Sugar Creek, MO and Columbia, MO.

Plowboys BBQ had the honor of helping Operation BBQ feed some worthy service men and women as well as their families this last Sunday. The BBQ team of Mad Hogs & an Englishman were host to Air Force Reservists and BBQ fans in at the St Joseph, MO base. Our brisket from the Kearney contest was added with dozens of other teams in the Kansas City area to feed these worthy men and women. Our part was small. We appreciate the folks who fed the troops and the troops for their commitment and sacrifice for this country we love.

From Barb of Mad Hogs and an Englishman:
The meal for the St. Joe MO Air Force Reservists was fantastic. We fed about 150 people and sent food back for the “night shift” at the base. We also had enough meat donated to send “goody boxes” home with those who wanted them. These guys deploy for 6 weeks desert training the first part of October. They get to come home for Thanksgiving then will be sent overseas. They put a donation pot out and the $185.09 that was collected is going to be sent to “A Soldier’s Wish List” which sends care packages and letters to soldiers in the Middle East. We explained that Operation BBQ doesn’t take money from the men we cook for but we would see that it was donated to an organization that sent care packages.

So from the troops themselves - a huge “Thank you, thank you, thank you” to the teams that donated their leftover turn-in meat from Kearney. I would love to list every team that donated at Kearney but there were so many and I would not want to forget anyone, which I’m sure I would do. Let’s just say that well over half the teams donated. And from the Atchison contest these teams donated their left over turn-in meat - Roo-B-Q-N, Dusty Roads, Smoke on Wheels and Tasty Green. All in all, we had over 30 half pans of meat donated. One reservist said “I didn’t know BBQ could taste this good. I’m not a huge BBQ fan but what I’ve had before never tasted like this.” Thank you to every team that donated.

Again the troops wanted to make sure that everyone that donated got a huge thank you from them.

43 Teams

Grand Champion

1st Brisket
5th Ribs
9th Pork

This was our first ever Grand Championship after seven years of competition BBQ. The best part was having my wife and sons with me. The worst part was not having Randy there. I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for Randy. I wouldn’t be half the cook I am if it wasn’t for Randy. He was the first person I called just seconds after winning to contest. Told him, “Pack your bags. We’re going to the Royal.”

Since this was a “State Championship”, we are eligible for the 2008 American Royal Invitational and 2008 Great American Invitational contests. We are also eligible for the draw for the 2008 Jack Daniels Invitational BBQ contest.

77 Teams

Ribs - 6th
Brisket - 4th
Sausage - 6th

Hometown Team - 1st
Overall - 3rd

Living in Blue Springs, this has been a special contest since we started here five years ago.  From the first time we competed here, I’ve had my eye on that Hometown Team award.  Two years ago we were third, but finally, we earned that very special blue ribbon.

I don’t know why, but Blue Springs contest has always been good to us.  It is a large contest with many, many good teams.  To get a call at this contest is a feat and we’ve had some good one’s here: 5th in chicken, 1st in ribs, 8th in brisket, 8th in ribs, 9th in pork, 1st/perfect score in dessert, 4th in brisket, 6th in ribs, 6th in sausage, 3rd place hometown team, and 1st place hometown team.

My wife, Audrey came out both Friday and Saturday night to help sell “Buck a Bone” to the public.  So in addition to cooking six different contest entries, we sold over $350 worth of bbq, Plowboys Rub and Blues Hog sauce.  We helped sponsor the contest by providing an 8 oz shaker of rub to each of the contestants in their Goodie bag.  Sold mine. 

Great weekend.  Tired today.  Ready to go to Kearney, MO next week and do it all over again.