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.

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.

One of my favorite contests of the year is the BarBeQlossal held during the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, IA. This is our fourth year of competing and it gets better every time. Day 1 starts on Thursday. I came in on Wednesday night to work form Des Moines during the day, while Randy rolls in Thursday morning with the concession trailer. The big event for Thursday is a high end, five course cigar dinner for six that we are serving on behalf of the Missouri Pork Association. The Missouri Pork Association is a sponsor of our competition BBQ team: Pork Pullin Plowboys.

This was labeled as the 1st Annual Cigar Dinner for the Missouri Pork Association at the World Pork Expo. The six guests from Ohio bid on and won the dinner at a National Pork Board function earlier in the year. Comments from the group was that it was the highlight of their week at the World Pork Expo and that they would love to come back the following year. The meal was provided by Plowboys BBQ with wine from the Missouri Wine & Grape Board.

Antipasto
Premium Smoked Sausages and Fine Cheeses with Accompaniments
Wine: 2002 Blanc de Blancs (Stone Hill Winery)
Cigar: Punch
First Course
Spring Greens
Wine: 2005 Chardonel (Les Bourgeois Winery)

Intermezzo
Rasberry Sorbet

Entree
Bacon Wrapped Double Cut Grilled Pork Tenderloins paired with lobster tails
accompanied by Backed Potatoes and a Seasonal Garden Selection
Wine: 2003 Norton (Adam Puchta Winery)
Cigar: Partagas 1845

Dessert
New York Cheesecake
Wine: Ice Wine (Augusta Winery)

Digestif
Wine: 2003 Fine Old Ruby Port (Crown Valley Winery)
Cigar: La Perla Habana Black Label

The pork tenderloins, lobster and potatoes were grilled on a Traeger 075 pellet grill. The pork tenderloins were cooked until an internal temperature of 150 degrees. The lobster tails were cooked until opaque and basted with clarified butter throughout the cooking process. Despite never having grilled or otherwise cooked lobster, I thought everything turned out fantastic. The guests voted with their plates… no lobster or pork was to be found at the end of the meal.

Our Plowboys BBQ YardBird rub is now available at Alewel’s Country Meats in Warrensburg, MO. Alewel’s is a sponsor for our Pork Pullin Plowboys bbq team. Randy Alewel and his staff are wonderful people who know their business. The impressive display of awards in their store says it all.

Stop by Alewel’s Country Meats in Warrensburg, MO to try some Yardbird Rub on your chicken, ribs, or fish.

63 Teams

Ribs - 9th place
Brisket - 10th place
Overall - 16th place

This was a semi solo competition. Randy stayed home for this one. Friend Andy Groneman joined me to assist with cooking and running boxes. For the most part, we followed the Plowboy recipes and methods, but Andy several of his tips and methods as well. Some top teams gave a run for our money, but we walked away with two calls. Our briskets and pork were way overdone, but we pulled a 10th place brisket despite. Cooked and entered spare ribs for the very first time.

Briskets and chicken for this contest were provided by Alewel’s Country Meats in Warrensburg, MO.

Here’s what the new Pork Pullin Plowboys banner will look like.  We’ve added the Alewel’s logo as well as Kookers Kare.

We’re getting new banners this year being made by GuerillaBanners.com.  Here’s the Sponsor banner that I designed.  We are so grateful for our sponsors.

PlowboysBBQ.com will be one of the sponsors of the 2nd annual Grillin’ On The Bay grilling contest in Brooklyn, New York. The contest benefits a local youth sports organization. PlowboysBBQ.com will supply Blues Hog Sauce and Rub for the team gift bags.

As mentioned, the contest supports a small sports organization in Brooklyn, The St. Mark Sports Association, that has been actively building the sport of barbecue in New York for the last two years. They’ve sponsored New York City’s only sanctioned grilling contest and brought Paul Kirk - The Baron Of Barecue’s School of Pitmasters to the boroughs.

Money raised from these events has been used to fund The St. Mark Sports Association in it’s mission to bring competitive basketball, swimming and softball to the children of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and the surrounding community. The St. Mark Sports Association also hosts a Special Olympics Basketball team and runs a girl’s cheer leading program. Be sure to check them out. It’s a great group of people with some amazing kids.

Grillin’ On The Bay
March 31, 200
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

New York City’s Only NEBS Sanctioned Grilling Contest

Grillinonthebay.org

It sure is strange that in this day and age you can have friends whom you’ve never met. I participate in a couple of Web communities: DodgeTalk.com & BBQ-Brethren.com. I have friends across North America and the UK, most I’ve never met. Tom from Utah is one of those folks. One of our common bonds is that we own the same model of BBQ smoker: Traeger 075. Here is a composite of one of Tom’s most recent experiments on his Traeger 075 pellet smoker. The Blues Hog sauce used in this recipe was from a quart he purchased from me a few weeks ago.

Tom likes to use a mustard slather of yellow ballpark mustard and worchestershire sauce. The slather is applied to the pork butt or shoulder and then the rub. The slather helps bind the rub to the meat, adds moisture and flavor. This time Tom was inspired to use his new jar of Blues Hog Tennessee Red instead of the worchestershire sauce.

Meat: Bone in Pork Butt (Tom’s was a 9.5lb Butt)

Slather: 50/50 mix of Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce and Yellow Mustard

Rub: Blues Hog Rub or any will do (Tom used Klose Rib and Butt Rub)

After 10 hours, the butt looks good enough to eat. However, it is going to take a couple more hours before done. For pulled pork, 195 is an ideal internal temperature.

Tom said it turned out as one of the best butts he’s done. Reported the taste was surprisingly more to the sweet side than the tangy as would be expected from the tangy, vinegar based Blues Hog Tennessee Red sauce. He praised the convection style of the Traeger 075, as well. Smoking in Utah’s December climate means more fuel and more temp fluctuations in the pit. Tom’s Big Green Egg would have been an easier cook but with a different flavor and product in the end.

I’ll be using Tom’s Blues Hog Tennessee Red & mustard slather this week for a couple of butts that are needed for a couple of office parties I’m catering. A bit of Blues Hog sauce to top on a sandwich sounds great. I think any of the three sauces would work great: Original, Tennessee Red, or Honey Mustard. Plowboys BBQ is a seller of Blues Hog products. Blues Hog is a sponsor of the Pork Pullin Plowboys competition BBQ team.

Missouri Pork Producers
The Missouri Pork Producers have been generous in declaring the Pork Pullin Plowboys the official Missouri entry into the BarBeQlossal contest at the World Pork Expo. Since 2004, we’ve represented the Missouri Pork Producers Association and have done well with our whole hog and pulled pork. We are proud to show what Missouri Pork is all about.

We greatly appreciate the help we recieve from our sponsors. All sponsors are listed on our site, on our team shirts, and on banners in our cook site at contests.