Archive for July, 2008
New contest added
Jul 29th
Just over half way done
Jul 24th
This last weekend was the half way mark of the contest we were doing this year. Going into Friday, five down and five to go. I wanted to reflect on the season so far but did not have a chance to do so before going to Waterloo last week.
We have all been pretty pleased with the way the season has gone. At the time of this post we are:
- 28 out of 822 in chicken
- 83 of 819 in ribs
- 237 of 812 in pork
- 171 of 795 in brisket
- 179 of 692 overall
I indicate that because these numbers will change as we don’t compete again until August 22nd. What I think our biggest accomplishment has been is consistency. We are starting to find what works and then improving on that. One thing I have learned in the BBQ world. You don’t always have to finish first to win.
We did three contest so far this year that we did last year and our overall scores were up 11, 29 and 19 points respectively. Our last six contest we have increased our overall score each time and almost by 40 points in that time frame. That’s good enough to get us in the top 10 at most events. We have also received more than one call in each category. Last year we didn’t get brisket until our next to last contest.
The toy hauler trailer has been a huge boost this year. Last year we did 10 x 10 canopy’s, a trailer, etc. We just couldn’t find a good setup. This year the new egg tables and the toy haulers make it easy to just unpack and get going. We’re not worrying about elements, sleep, and all the other distractions. I think we have a well run setup now and it accomplishes what we want. The other thing we did this year was buy meat by the case. It sure does help when you get a good feeling for a brand and cut. You know more what to expect, cooking times, and taste.
We have also made a lot of new friends out on the trail. BBQ teams are some of the nicest people there are. All are friendly and willing to help out (unless you need a recipe 
.
Anything less than what we have done to this point will be a dissapointment for the rest of the year. We have 3 maybe 4 more contest left and have a good chance to finish top 5 in chicken and ribs in the state of Iowa. That would be a major milestone. With a goal in site we have to keep moving towards that goal and hopefully will be able to hoist a grand champion trophy.
La Porte City Wrap – Up
Jul 21st
La Porte City is about 17 miles south of Waterloo right on 218 so it made sense (to us anyway) to enter this contest since we were already doing Waterloo. This is a first year contest and the park was pretty small. What amazed me is the number of big teams that showed up for it. Pellet Envy, Lotta Bull, Iowa’s Smokey D’s were all there. No worries, as we all have our day.
After we got in our spot we ran up to Waterloo for the awards there. When we got back we unpacked everything and took showers (love having the toy hauler). Very refreshing. We then headed off to the cooks meeting. Shorty after getting back to our site a storm blew through. Luckily we were pretty well shield from it and the wind. We hung out with Shotgun BBQ and BS’d for a while.
About 11 we got the brisket on and called it a night. One thing about both contest is it was nice enough in the evening to leave the windows open. Of course that means you hear everthing like some teams having all night parties despite quite hours. Every group always has one cackling old hag that can be heard from one side of the contest to another. No exception here. Outside of Dawn feeling the need to get up multiple times for one reason or another we all slept pretty good.
As turn in times came I thought the chicken was better than in Waterloo. While our placing (4th) did not reflect that, the scores were only 1.7 points apart. Gotta love consistency especially when you are in the money with it. The ribs were not quite as tender as we wanted because I did not let them go long enough. They tasted good but needed about another 45 minutes. And the brisket, I thought it was ok but maybe a little too dry.
Well, here comes the awards and we get 4th in chicken. Good start. 14th in ribs and 9th in pork. Man, Dawn had a great mix of sauce and rub. Then came brisket. I felt maybe a 9 or 10 if I was lucky but we got called for 4th I was pretty pleased. Overall a 5th place finish. Our highest finish and point total ever. Congrats to Roy and the Lions Club for a good contest.
One thing I did not mention was what happens when Dawn and I both pack stuff for a contest. We forget stuff. Lots of stuff. Like BBQ sauce. I had my sauce for chicken and ribs but no squirt bottle. Had to use a mustard bottle from her mom. Then luckily we had some sample BBQ sauce packets in the camper that had been handed out from one contest or another. Well, that went on the brisket. I had just enough to cover six slices and burnt ends.
One other thing we had this weekend was our new table. We had been using the table that came with the camper, but it was smaller and only so so. I got a stainless steel table like my eggs are in. Wow. Cleanup was so easy. just wipe it off and that’s it. Done.
No competitions for a month now. We’re just happy to be back from a fun but exhausting weekend and sleep in our own beds.
Waterloo Wrap Up
Jul 21st
Well, where to begin. We drove up to Waterloo Thursday night so we could be one of the first teams to setup on Friday morning since we have a big trailer and the spots are tight. The other thing I wanted to do was see if we could get a spot where we could easily get out. We needed to go to La Porte City for their contest on Saturday and were told they were shutting down the streets at 5:15 for the event on Saturday in Waterloo. Last week in Ankeny I was stuck behind three other people and did not get out until about 1 1/2 hours after awards.
So when we got to the contest site in Waterloo and asked about being switched they wouldn’t do it. I guess some teams request the same spots as previous years. So I go to the spot they assigned to me and parked until the guy who that spot belonged to showed up. He agreed to switch and wasn’t too concerned about it. Then we ran an pretty long extension cord to our new spot and were told it was too long and we couldn’t do that either. Ugh. Do you want us here or not? So I said fine forget it (we hooked it up later). If you could have seen all the cords coming out of that box this would have been the least of their worries.
Anyway, We setup and went to Dawn’s parents or quick showers and back to the site. The people next to us, N2Que, were excellent neighbors. Our trailer ramp sat very high because of the street and he loaned me some jacks to use. He also lent me an extra extension cord and switched spots. Very nice people out of Iowa City. I hope we run into them again.
The competition list I saw earlier in the week didn’t look to bad. Until Pellet Envy and Lotta Bull showed up. Pellet Envy has been named rib team of the year before and Lotta Bull has been team of the year or runner up on numerous occasions.
I can’t say anything too exciting happened at this contest. We just hung around our trailer. Not much more going on that we went to. Dawn and I had a first though. We had pizza delivered Friday night to our site at about 11pm. David was mad we didn’t wake him.
As far as the food, I tweaked the chicken a little more and we finished 2nd overall behind Pellet Envy. Our ribs I thought looked pretty good and they finished 5th overall. The other categories were average at best.
After our brisket turn in we headed to La Porte City and dropped off the truck and trailer. Then headed back up to Waterloo for the awards and some dinner afterwards. One down and one to go. Winning makes it better.
What a weekend – 2 top 10 finishes
Jul 20th
I will update the entire weekend later. just too tired to do it tonight. We did two contest this weekend. In Waterloo we finished 9th overall with 2nd place chicken and 5th place ribs. In La Porte City we finished 5th overall with 4th place chicken, 4th place brisket and 9th place pork.
Check out our rankings on the left.
Contest 1
Jul 19th
Waterloo finished 9 overall
2nd chicken and 5 ribs
Rod Anderson
Net Image Group
515-202-6604
Rod@netimagegroup.com
Buster Dog BBQ Cracks top 100 in Chicken
Jul 15th
According to the Pickled Pig stats posted on the left side of the screen, Buster Dog BBQ has cracked the top 100 nationally in the Chicken category. THis is pretty exciting. Just last month marked the one year anniversary of us entering this venture. Now in our second season we are continuing to get better.
We are Crazy!!
Jul 14th
This weekend we are doing the unthinkable. A BBQ Contest doubleheader. That’s right. We are going to Waterloo on Fri/Sat and La Porte City on Sat/Sun. They are only about 25 miles apart so it shouldn’t be too bad. Might try to get a little more sleep at these.
Ankeny Wrap Up…David catches 4 fish and a dog (and we got 2 top 10’s)
Jul 13th
Well, Ankeny is behind us and I am exhausted but we had a great time. I also want to thank all the people who stopped by Friday night.
Thursday night we took some stuff out to the trailer and headed over to Ankenyfest to check out the Rumbles. They played at Marshalltown and even though I could only here them from our spot I thought they were pretty good, so I wanted to check them out. They are a cover band and I really enjoyed their music. They were all over the board with what they played. The old guy in the blue shirt and his wife put on a dancing clinic to a lot of their songs.
Friday we got to Ankeny to setup about 9am. I was a little disapointed where they put us because we faced to the south and of all the days this week it was windy. Like 20-30 mph winds. So no way I was putting up the awning or 10 x 10. All week it was nice and light wind. Figures. Anyway, we kind of hung out till about 3ish then got ready for the party Friday night. There was a small pond behind us where we setup so David wanted to go fishing. He caught four fish which I think were small mouth bass. Man, Grandpa Dave would have thought that was all right. Funny, some people were there fishing for like an hour then David pulled a couple of these in within about 10 min of dropping his pole in. BTW….He also caught a dog. Yep, David hooked Buster on the side. Hook went right through him and we had to cut it out. All was good. We had about 40 people come by. We grilled chicken, had a roaster full of pork, ABT’s, grilled pineapple and some pizzas. Almost all was gone by end of night. The party wrapped up in time to get the butts and brisket on in time. I wish I had more time to visit with everyone but had to keep the wheels in motion to stay on schedule bbq wise. Friday night a storm came through around 1am. I tell you. I love my setup. While everyone was in a panic to put everythign away I just sat back. Everything is weather proof and nothing to blow around.
As far as the BBQ, we finished 6th in chicken and 5th in pork. 12th place overall. I didn’t think the chicken was as good as it usually was. It will be interesting this week to see if we move to the top 100 in the country in chicken. It was nice to see the pork back in the top 10. We have been so over the board on pork and we do it the same week in and week out. Go figure.
Ankeny Ducks Unlimited Contest July 11-12
Jul 2nd
This is as close to home as we get for a KCBS contest for the rest of the season. We will be in Ankeny, IA at the Sports Plex location. Next door to us will be the Ankeny Summerfest and will feature a beer garden and live bands. Although we can’t get in until Friday for the BBQ, Thursday night the Rumbles are playing at the beer garden. They played in Marhsalltown and were really good. Looking forward to seeing them. Saturday morning a large parade runs along the area.
This contest definately has a little different feel to it. Last year there were lots of little parties going on all night in the parking lot. Not that I could hear them because the guy next to us had the loudest generator on the planet. So I anticipate not getting much sleep and watching the drunk crowd. A lot of the teams seemed like they only did a few contest a year. Last year we had a little party Friday night and plan to do so again this year.
As far as the teams go I think this will be wide, wide open. Most of the heavy hitters are heading to Shannon, IL for the Illinois State BBQ Championship. Last year at this contest we finished 1st in chicken and 16th overall. Based on last years scores, I think we can come close to the top if we can continue our ways. We are scoring overall about 12 points higher this year than last for this contest.