Plowboys BBQ is pleased to Sponsor Ted Lorson of Q-Haven BBQ in their upcoming BBQ competitions. The Norwich, CT team will be flying a Plowboys Yardbird Rub banner at their contests. They’ve also decided to sell our Yardbird Rub at their upcoming contests.

Q-Haven was the 2006 Grand Champion of the New Hampshire Rockin Rib Fest. Their Grand Championship earned them a trip to the honored 2006 Jack Daniel’s Invitational in Lynchburg, TN. The next contest for Q-Haven is the upcoming Harpoon contest. Q-Haven is a New England Barbecue Society (NEBS) member.

Entered this at a BBQ contest in Burlington, Kansas and placed 3rd out of thirty teams. I got the idea from Good Eats. The capers and lemon zest were add ons to Alton Brown’s recipe. The sauce was made on a Weber Kettle grill in a sauce pan. I’ve never made a butter sauce like this before. It was tasty!!!

Beurre Blanc is French for “white butter”. It is very rich with the added zing of the lemon acid. The zest gives a bright accent. A true Beurre Blanc sauce, to some, would not have cream in it, but I added it.

Salmon rubbed with my bbq rub and smoked at 275 for 35-40 minutes until 150 degrees. Lemon slices placed on fish to baste while cooking.

Beurre Blanc Sauce
1 to 2 shallots, chopped fine
8 ounces white wine
2 ounces lemon juice
Lemon Zest
1 tablespoon heavy cream
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and white pepper, to taste
Capers

Combine the shallots, white wine, and lemon juice over hot coals and reduce to 2 tablespoons.

Add the cream to the reduction. Once the liquid bubbles, move away from coals. Add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking first over coals and then away. Continue whisking butter into the reduction until the mixture is fully emulsified and has reached a rich sauce consistency. Add zest from one lemon and capers. Season with salt and white pepper. Hold in a thermos until ready to serve.

In 2006, Mike Tucker of Hawgeye’s BBQ cooked a world record 43 pound pork burger. This year a new pork double burger was set. The 10 inch tall, 21 inch wide burger weighed in at 70.5 pounds. It was done in Big Mac style with a center bun. Maytag blue cheese, lettuce, pickle, tomato, onion and BBQ sauce adorned the colossal sandwich.

Pictured are Ray Lampe, aka Dr BBQ, and Mike Tucker.

The record setting double pork burger was part of the activities at the 2007 World Pork Expo and the 20th Annual BarBeQlossal barbecue contest sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. The National Pork Board coordinates all of the World Pork Expo and BarBeQlossal activities.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Great BarBeQlossal BBQ contest in Des Moines, IA. It is an all Pork contest as it is associated with the World Pork Expo held at the Iowa State Fair grounds each year. The entries for the contest include Pork Ribs, Pork Loin, Pork Shoulder, and Whole Hog. Every barbecuer should cook a hog at least once in their life. It is one of the most fun and rewarding tasks you can have as a BBQ cook.

This was our fourth year competing at the BarBeQlossal contest. Every year our goal is to get that hog cooked and in the box. We care more about being proud of our accomplishment than judges awards. Once again, we were proud of what we turned in, however, this was the first year that we didn’t receive a top ten award, but that’s okay.

In the picture above you have pork shoulder top left, spare ribs below, loin down the center, tenderloin top right, and ham medallions in the bottom right. The contest requires that you turn in at least parts from the ham, loin, and shoulder. We like to add a couple of ribs and tenderloin if they turn out.

First let’s talk about the hog. Fat equals flavor and the kind of fat we want is what’s called “inter-muscular fat”. In the world of beef, you hear this called “marbling”. The more marbling, the juicier and flavorful the meat is going to be. Certain breeds of hogs are more known for their inter-muscular fat than others. A Birkshire (or Birkie) is a much sought after hog for marbling. Availability and cost of Birkshires can be a problem. They are known for having small litters and are more costly to produce. They are typically not grown for mass markets. Duroc hogs, however, are a wonderful breeding stock and have excellent meat structure. You often see Duroc in the breeding genetics of commercially grown hogs.

Our hog was a 100% Duroc hog. He was provided by Stein & Stewart Genetics from Odessa, Missouri. A boar and gilt from the same genetics pool of Stein & Stewarts won Grand Champion at the World Pork expo. Notice the red color. Not your garden variety pink pig.

There are many methods for prepping and cooking a whole hog. Skin down, skin up, foil, no foil, skin on, skin off, skin on but rolled back for a while… the one that got me was I hear someone talking about putting ice on the loin and tenderloin prior to cooking so that the temp of the meat going in was different from the hams and shoulder. This makes a lot of sense (we didn’t do that), because you only want about 145-150 in your loin, but 180+ in the other muscles. This is the hardest thing about doing hogs… different meats requiring different temps… then you have to turn them all in. If some are perfectly cooked, then the other is overdone, underdone, dry, or tough.

We like to place a couple of ribs in our box. To do that effectively, we separate the ribs into the familiar baby back and spare ribs. Removal is easier, but the pressure on the ribs is lessened as well. As the hog cooks, the meat shrinks and can flex the carcass at the ribs. If you want ribs from the whole hog, this is a key step. We use a Zip Saw to seperate the ribs bones.

The hog pictured was a young hog and weighed 95 lbs. live. Dressed with head removed and split he weighed about 60-65 lbs. Cooking at 225 degrees the hog spent over 15 hours in the smoker.

Find a hog, dig a hole or find some cinder blocks, and cook one. Just once and you’ll have memories for a lifetime.

81 teams

8th - Overall

9th - Pork  (pictured)
17th - Ribs (Tied for 13th w/four other teams)
20th - Loin
23rd - Whole Hog

This was the 20th anniversary of the Great BarBeQlossal. This was our fourth year at the contest and the best overall finish we’ve had. We met dozens of wonderful people cooking, volunteering, and visiting the 2007 World Pork Expo. After the whole hog entry, visitors were able to come by the teams and sample the food. Between entries, we were able to talk with visitors about both the techniques of BBQ cooking and pork. This is our favorite contest of the year to attend. This year was was even more fun that years previous. Anne Rehnstrom and the National Pork Board put on a wonderful event. It is a great venue for BBQ and pork.

PORK - Don’t be blah!!!

Jim Cunningham of Hurricane Smokers used Plowboys BBQ’s Yardbird Rub for this very first time over Memorial Day weekend. The occasion was the 2007 Louisiana State BBQ Championship at Lake D’Arbonne State Park in Farmerville, La.

The LA State BBQ Championship is an ICBA sanctioned contest. The ICBA is different from KCBS which we are used to here in Kansas City. A primary difference is chicken where KCBS teams can turn in any chicken parts. ICBA contests call for half chickens. Oh, and no garnish in a ICBA turn in box.

That I’m aware of, this was the first ICBA contest where Plowboys Yardbird Rub was used. Jim’s lone “walk” of the day was an impressive 5th place in chicken. As you can imagine with any state championship, this was a strong field of ICBA competition cooks. The Grand Champion was Ronnie Wade of Blazen BBQ, 2006 ICBA Team of the Year.

HoDeDo’s BBQ Team, the self proclaimed Kansas City legends of BBQ, placed 1st in chicken at the 2007 Great American Barbeque Memorial Day weekend. Of the 230 or so teams, the HoDeDo’s placed 5th overall.

Their secret: Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub! This was the first contest that Plowboys BBQ sponsored Andy Groneman, HoDeDo’s chief cook. Andy is also the chief cook for Smoke On Wheels. I was as proud of Andy as if I had secured the trophy myself. Way to go, my friend!

Another KCBS team, Jeanie’s Got Wood, applied Yardbird Rub to her pork this weekend placing in the top 10% of the Open contest. Jeanie’s Got Wood is flying a Yardbird Rub banner this season as well.