Slap Yo Daddy BBQ Blog

We won our third Reserve Champion for 2010 at the Boise Music Festival State BBQ Championship in Boise, Idaho, on July 24, 2010, amid a field of 27 teams from Idaho, Oregon, California, and Arizona. This was our first contest in Idaho as we were chasing the Jack Daniel Invitational draw in the state of Idaho which has only two grand championship contests so the winner would have a 50-50 chance for the Jack.

The big story was that our friends and fellow competitors from Arizona, Vince and Alexa from Rhythm n Que won GC by a wide margin with 3 first places in chicken, ribs, and pork. This would be RnQ’s 7th GC which meant they would get an automatic invitation to the Jack. In the process, three other teams (R&R BBQ from Idaho, Jennifer Duncan of Smoked To The Bone and my BBQ 101 student from Arizona, and Sweet Peppers from New Mexico) also obtained automatic Jack invitations as they were the only remaining Grand Champions for their states after RnQ exited the race. Unfortunately, for us, with 12 contests in California, we would not be so lucky to get in under these special conditions for those states with only two grand championships where RnQ already won one of the two.

R&R BBQ (left) and Vince & Alexa from Rhythm n Que (right)

We’ve edged out RnQ the last three contests so this was their turn to take top honors. We finished as Reserve Champion with 2nd Brisket, 2nd Ribs, 9th Chicken, and 10th Pork. With 5 GC’s and 3 RC’s under our belt, we’re still short of the 7 GCs needed to get an automatic Jack invitation without going through our California state lottery draw. With three more contests to go before the August 31 deadline, Benny and I will have to win all three as one of our five GCs, the New Mexico contest, was invalidated as a non-Jack event as it was found to only have 23 instead of the minimum 25 teams to quality for the Jack. We’re determined to stay focused and push forward with a full-court press until the Aug 31 deadline.  Hey, we know it’s not easy to win 7 GCs and that’s why only a very small handful of the 5,000 teams are able do it each year!

Jeff (right) of Rub Em Raw BBQ

Aside from the intensity of competition, we had a chance to also relax a bit and enjoy the butterflies as we were able to fly in to cook this event thanks to the generosity of Jeff Selle of the Rub Em Raw BBQ team from Idaho. Jeff went out and bought two new 18-inch WSMs so he could loan them to us together with all the bulky items (canopy, igloos, etc.) so we could fly in and cook out of three suitcases. Jeff and his crew, and family, really took care of our every need. This is tantamount to a competitor lending you their race car so you could race against them. You won’t find this camaraderie in any other sport. All we did was post on the Internet forums and Jeff graciously stepped up to the plate. We owe Jeff and this team a debt of gratitude. I had the pleasure of engraving some BBQ wisdom on the WSMs which Jeff let us use as a small gesture of thank you.

Engraving BBQ Wisdom on Jeff's WSMs which he loaned us

Sage advice from www.BBQWisdom.com

Engraved WSMs lids

The influence of BBQ Pitmaster Season One continues to surprise me as Meghan, Jeff’s daughter, showed us a photo and hand written note from Jessica, a 10-year old, who’s a fan of the show. It really touched my heart to know that our Cinderella story inspired so many persons even though Jessica was too shy to come to the event to meet me in person. Perhaps, in the future, I’ll get to meet her. Read the note and you’ll know what I mean. I’m glad I was able to pack some leftover BBQ for Jessica and her family to enjoy. It’s moments like this that transcend the competition aspect of BBQ to take you to the essence of BBQ with is the human relationships you build with total strangers whom you’re united via a common passion and love for BBQ. The community and camaraderie of BBQ is amazing and this is an Exhibit A testament to that fact. So if you’re reading this Jessica, I want know that BBQ equals happiness!

Jessica's picture and hand written note

What a touching note from Jessica

Yes, my fav is also ribs!

It was a pleasure to also cook beside Kim Glineski from Snake River Farms who is our sponsor for our Wagyu meat products. Kim is a new cook but don’t let that fool you. Her team The Smokin’ D and the Wagyu took 4th. She placed 1st in brisket and we took 2nd by a scant 0.0004 points behind her!  The Boise contest was nicely represented by several women pitmasters including Kim, and a couple of Grand Champion women pitmasters from the Northwest: Lynnae Oxley of Sugar’s BBQ, and and Cindy Hayter of Ella’s BBQ.   It was great to see diversity amid the all-common all male field.

Kim, our sponsor from Snake River Farms

A big thanks goes to Olga and Vern, Benny’s sister and brother-in-law for hosting us; Jim Monihan as organizers; Mark Silver and Gene Goycochea as officials; and all the volunteers, judges, and helpers.We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

Olga, my team mate Benny's sister

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Jennifer Duncan, Grand Champion, and BBQ 101 Student

July 10, 2010 BBQ 101 Class - Jennifer is in the middle

We won our second 2010 Reserve Champion at the IBCA sanctioned Prescott BBQ Days State Championship in Prescott, Arizona, on July 17.  The big story was how my BBQ 101 student from my July 10^th class, just a week before, won her very first Grand Championship!

Reserve Champions - Harry and Benny

A HUGE congrats goes out to Jennifer Duncan of Smoked To The Bone team out of Arizona. Jen took Grand Champion and blew away 33 male teams, including 2 top 2009 Jack Daniels teams,  with THREE first places: 1st Chicken, 1st, Ribs, 1st Brisket, and 6th Pork.

Cool trophiies which puff real smoke

I’m ecstatic for Jen as it’s well deserved and long time coming.   I’m so proud of her.  Of course, I wouldn’t imply that Jen won just because she took my class but I suspect it helped.  Jen joins a growing list of my students and mentees who have won:

1. Dave Malone of All Sauced Up – whom I mentored during his 2009 Rookie Year and who was my assistant cook at Wildomar 2010 has won two GCs in 2010 – Stagecoach and Bakersfield
2. Jennifer Duncan of Smoked to the Bone – July 10, 2010 BBQ 101 student and GG at 2010 Prescott
3. Gary Notely of Notley Que  – my roadie and assistant cook on the TLC BBQ Pitmasters show has won a Reserve Champion at Wildomar 2010
4. Greg of a California team who remains anonymous – 2009 BBQ 101 student won Reserve Champion two weeks later after my class
5. Others – BBQ 101 alumni who have placed in the top 10 in various contests

Gorgeous Day in Prescott, AZ

Our scores were good for Reserve with 2^nd Brisket, 6^th Pork, 6^th Pork, and 11^th Ribs.  Tommy who is Jen’s husband are both well known as the BBQ power couple who love to cook against each other.  Whenever Tommy looses, he has to wear pink.   Well this time, many teams brought pink accessories for Tommy should Jen kick his behind (again).  Tommy is a great cook himself of Whiskey Ranch BBQ and was a great sport to support his wife in her fabulous first time GC win.  Tommy was at my class also so I should give him a refresher!  A picture is indeed worth a  thousand words!

Tommy loses bet and wears pink!

Tommy's a good sport!

AZ students at BBQ 101

A big thanks goes to The Rotary Club, Mike Reimann, and Tommy Duncan as organizers; Kelly and Kathleen Macintosh as officials; and all the volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

Thanks to all our sponsors!

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We get lucky again, the second time, winning another GC at Stockton

We won our fifth 2010 Grand Championship, 1st Brisket, 4th Ribs, 8th Pork, and 11th Chicken amid 40 teams at the Way Out West California State Championship in Stockton, near San Francisco.  This was especially sweet because we also won this event last year and made KCBS history in 2009 as the first team ever to win 1st place in all four meats: chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket since KCBS began over 25 years ago.  The bonus check from the folks at Ranchers Reserve was welcome gas money since we drove 7 hours to reach Stockton.

KCBS Officials: Kelly and Kathleen Macintosh and their mascot Justice

Benny Adauto, my team mate, who joined Slap Yo Daddy in May 2010, and I have been driving and competing like madmen across America.  We’ve been on the road almost every week and have traveled to Kansas City, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and up and down California in a bid to win 7 grand championships to make it to the Jack Daniels Invitational in October.  We have until August 31 to get our 7 else we’ll have to take our chances in being drawn by lottery as only one Grand Champion team is drawn from each state.  Last year, we scored 3 GCs but did not make the draw so this year, we’re shooting for 7 GCs which will result in an automatic Jack invitation.

Benny is the head cook for Fun Time BBQ team and we met in 2008 when I just started competing.  We’ve cooked against each other and helped in KCBS certified judging classes in Orange County.  When my regular team mate Mark had to take a hiatus in March 2010, Benny stepped up to the plate to help and he’s been a great team mate and assistant cook.  We’ve won four GCs together and Benny is now very familiar with the myriad of steps and details we have to execute flawlessly in order to produce grand champion level BBQ.  He does a good job keeping me in check should I get distracted with fans at events.   Additionally, since he’s retired and has time on his hand, he helps me purchase meat and supplies during the week while I have to work.  I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated team mate than Benny.  He has the same dedication, focus, and commitment to excel in BBQ as I do.  We will keep bringing our A-game to contests until we succeed in our mission to make the Jack.

Seared Ahi Tuna w Maui Onion Dressing. Prawns, Corn, Potatoes in She-Bang Cajun Sauce

Since we were not doing Peoples Choice at Stockton, I decided to make a couple of tasty treats for the Friday potluck.  I prepared my classic Seared Ahi Tuna w Maui Onion Dressing and paired it with some Prawns cooked with Corn and Potatoes in a Spicy Cajun Broth which I dubbed She-Bang sauce.  Both dishes went fast at the potluck!

The legendary John Jackson, inventor of our Stoker System, and his team mate Kenny

Our good buddy Chris Juencke of the Smokin Yankees BBQ team

It was great to spend time with our NorCal friends John Jackson, Kenny, Chris, Tim Mar, Howard Chi, and others.  One of the greatest rewards of competition BBQ is not the awards nor prize money but the friendships and camaraderie you develop with your BBQ brothers and sisters.  We’re all, by day, from different walks of life.  On weekends, we come together as BBQ competitors and BBQ friends.  We cheer as loudly for our fellow BBQer as they cheer for us when we win.  This is a side of the BBQ world that outsiders seldom know about nor see unless they spend time in the smoke and fire of a contest.  It’s these friendships that keep us coming back week after week, driving long distances, to experience the humanity and community as fellow pitmasters.

Benny and I get a week off as there is no contest next Saturday so I’m teaching my monthly BBQ 101 class.  My class has been filling up three months ahead and proceeds from contests and class helps us fund our two favorite charities: Operation Homefront (troops, veterans, and their families) and Save The Children.  I want to give a BBQ shout out to Major Brian Clark and his crew who are serving in a classified location in the Middle East.  July 4th is a special day to give thanks for the many who have sacrificed to protect the freedom and liberty we enjoy, including the freedom to cook and enjoy BBQ.

Congrats go out to Larry Hill of BLQUE for Reserve Grand Champion (long time coming and well deserved) and to all who competed.  A big thanks goes to Ben Lobenstein and Ric Gilbert as organizers; Kelly and Kathleen Macintosh as officials; and all the volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

We hope to be back for our 3rd year in 2011 and a Three-Peat!

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GC, 1st Brisket, 1st Pork, 2nd Ribs, 9th Chicken

We won our fourth Grand Champion award for 2010 at our first ever New Mexico State Championship contest on June 26, 2010 with 1st in Brisket, 1st in Pork, 2nd in Ribs, and 9th in Chicken amid 27 teams. This marked our first out of state GC. Although there was a contest in California that weekend we could have cooked in, we decided to drive 850 miles to compete because the IBCA-sanctioned New Mexico Grillin and Chillin contest would be one of the two qualifying Jack Daniels Invitational Draw contests for the state of New Mexico. That meant if we won it, we would have a 50-50 shot at being picked for the Jack. Compared to California where there are about ten such contests, winning one would give us only a 10% chance of being picked. Several top teams also figured the same strategy and showed up in force from Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to do battle (Rhythm n’ Que, Sweet Peppers, AZ BBQ, Smoke Ring, Q, and others).

Gorgeous day in Albuquerque, New Mexico

It was a gamble to drive the 14 hours to Albuquerque as it was unclear the day before we left whether there would be the minimum 25 teams to qualify for the Jack draw. If teams dropped out or couldn’t make it, the team count was in jeopardy of falling below 25. To keep the count in the qualifying range, Jim Ballog from Sweet Peppers, a top Jack team from New Mexico, offered to teach rib and chicken class to the newbie teams. Mike Reiman and Tom Duncan, AZ BBQ from Phoenix, fielded 2 additional teams from Arizona. Daniel Denton from Mule Barn BBQ and Sandra Perro, event organizer, also did a marvelous job getting the word out to teams about this fun event.

Isleta Lakes RV Park

We left Los Angeles Thursday evening and despite some showers and windy conditions, arrived on Friday at 5 pm at the event site. Benny, my team mate, drove his big Ford E-150 van this time and brought his wife Shari to join us. After getting settled with contest prep, we drove a short distance from the RV site where the teams were situated to the Isleta Lakes Hard Rock Casino where we enjoyed a delicious seafood buffet dinner. We put our pork butts and brisket in the WSMs around midnight and got some sound shuteye.

Mule Barn BBQ's breakfast burrito w spicy roasted Hatch chilies

The Saturday IBCA cook went smoothly with temps in the 90’s. After hearing that most of the judges were members of the public, we decided to overcook our meats to make them fork tender as the IBCA rules require judges to eat with fork and knife, as compared with KCBS judges who eat with their fingers. We also cut our ribs Hollywood-style (leaving more meat by cutting flush with the adjoining rib bone) to make it easier to eat ribs with fork and knife. Since we were in New Mexico, we noticed lots of spicy flavors in the buffet. Also, Daniel of Mule Barn BBQ cooked the contestants a delicious burrito breakfast with eggs scrambled with spicy roasted New Mexico Hatch chilies which were super yummy (many thanks to Daniel and his crew; and to Sandra for her wonderful homemade cinnamon buns). Consequently we adjusted our normal flavor profiles and made everything spicier to match the palate of local New Mexico judges. These important tactical changes paid off as the judges gave us top scores!

Daniel Denton of Mule Barn BBQ - gave us roasted NM chili to take home!

During the awards ceremony, only three teams received three calls (top 5 placings) among 4 meat categories. With our very strong placings (1st brisket, 1st pork, and 2nd ribs) I thought we had won GC as no team had done better. To our surprise, we were called for Reserve and Smoke Ring BBQ took GC. Something was obviously was awry with the scoring. Benny asked the IBCA official, who was from Texas, what was the difference between GC and RC, she told him that it was a 2 point difference and that the pork entry was excluded and not counted towards GC. Huh? We were puzzled and a number of our BBQ friends (Jim and Adrian of Sweet Peppers and Mike Reinman and Tom Duncan of AZ BBQ) questioned the official since the contest was advertised and entry fees were paid for 4 meat categories. Jim from Sweet Peppers called the area President of the IBCA and Tom from AZ BBQ called Kelly Macintosh, our Western IBCA official to question the official’s exclusion of pork in a 4-meat contest. After a flurry of phone calls, spirited discussion, and input from Sandra, the event organizer, the scores were corrected and all was well just as a monsoon thunderstorm broke over the contest site.

Harry, Tom Duncan, Benny, Mike Reinman

Congrats go out to Smoke Ring BBQ for Reserve Grand Champion and to all who competed. A big thanks goes to Sandra Perro, event organizer, IBCA officials, volunteers, judges, and helpers. We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors: Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

Memories of our first New Mexico contest on our van dashboard

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New Slap Yo Daddy BBQ Team Banners

Benny and I won Reserve Grand Champion, 1st Pork, 2nd Chicken, 17 Ribs, and 27 Brisket, amid 57 teams in the Que’n for Kids State California State Championship in Costa Mesa, Orange County <Results>.   Thanks to Patrick Carlson, our team logo designer, our new Slap Yo Daddy BBQ banner for 2010 made their debut at this event.  The flames in the background add a nice touch.  Lots more room for our sponsor’s banners too.

Reserve Champion at Que'n for Kids 2010

What a crazy weekend at Orange County. We were swamped by visitors, TV crew from China TV, hordes of people wanting pictures, and serving 700 BBQ samples to the public! CA-TV send a two person crew to interview us for a news segment anticipated to reach 1.3 billion viewers in China and Asia. We’ve definitely put American Q in the country with the world largest population! <Click to see clip>

Clip on China TV

China Television Co - Mark and Eve

I continue having fun making bacon-weave fatties (Jimmy Dean sausage covered in a bacon weave and smoked with rub and BBQ sauce).  This time, I made a bacon millipede to accompany the bacon turtle I made for the KTLA-5 segment on June 9.  The China TV crew loved it and so did everyone at the Friday potluck.  I also made my classic Seared Ahi Tuna w Maui Onion dressing which also went fast <Recipe>!

Bacon Weave Millipede

Seared Ahi Tuna w Maui Onion Dressing

We really enjoyed ourselves at this event.  It’s for a great cause and this is our third year at Que’n for Kids.  We love doing it to support Kelleigh Strobel who organized this event for Kristies Foundation which provides assistance, support and cherished moments to critically ill children and their families.  We donated ten Slap Yo Daddy tees for this cause and cooked and served almost 700 samples to the public who showed up in droves for this event in sunny Orange County.   The number of teams seem to double each year!  The funds raised will be used in programs that help families with a critically ill child, with all their special needs.  Kristies provide Family Support programs for local families and a Wish assist Program for families traveling to the Southern California area on their child’s wish trip.   And due to an urgent need, they are expanding and raising money to open Kristie’s Place, the first children’s end-of-life care facility in Southern California.

Part of our winnings and proceeds from this event (people’s choice, team tees, etc.) will be donated to two charities we support:  Operation Homefront for our troops, their families, and veterans; and Save The Children.  We feel privileged to be able to enjoy BBQ and help others.  Our team motto is: Live, Laugh, Love, and Give.

Kristie's Place will help children live fully and find comfort in their final days. Families will get all the help and support they need.

Congrats go out to Larry Schroeder of Rib Ticklers BBQ for Grand Champion (long time coming and well deserved) and to all who competed.  A big thanks goes to Kelleigh Strobel, Kelly and Kathleen Macintosh as officials, volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

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Grand Champion Slap Yo Daddy BBQ

We won our third Grand Championship for 2010 at the Smoking in the Oaks contest in Penn Valley about 1 hour north of Sacramento. We finished 2nd ribs, 2nd pork, 4th chicken, and 6th brisket amid 32 teams in this KCBS sanctioned contest <Results>. The trophies were cool metal cutouts of BBQ meat animals and the GC trophy was a custom made metal sculpture.  Very nice.

I took this opportunity to play with bacon and Jimmy Dean sausage to make a bacon-weave turtle and triceratops with hotdogs, BBQ rub, and sauce.  The bacon turtle fatty was dedicated to all the Fathers who were there as Fathers Day is coming up.  The turtle lives over 200 years so it symbolized all Fathers living over 200!  We shared the fruits of our labor by slicing it up and sharing with everyone.

Bacon Weave Turtle Fatty

Gina Mar helping us with the bacon weave

Triceratops was bacon weaved too!

Bekah and Chris from Smokin Yankees

Our sponsor John Jackson of Stoker Systems

Howard, Tim, Harry - Chicken Hat Invasion!

We had great chow on Friday night thanks to Leonard Sanders of Chuck Wagon Cookin who made tri-tip, chicken, and all the fixins.

Leonard Sanders of Chuck Wagon Cookin

Tri Tip, Chicken, and Sides

Cooked over wood - cowboy style

Congrats go out to Big B’s Down & Dirty BBQ for RC and to all who competed.  A big thanks goes to Scott Gomes, Kelly and Kathleen as officials, volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system (it was great to see you John and Kenny in person), T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

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Best Dam Barbecue 2010

We finished 4th amid 38 teams at the Best Dam Barbecue held at Boulder City in Nevada on May 29, 2010. Teams as far as Colorado, Arizona, California, and Utah participated.  Congrats to our friends Rhythm & Que from Arizona for taking GC, and my buddy Dave Malone from All Sauced Up from California for RC.

Our neighbor Mike from Wild Hogs

Slap Yo Daddy Fans!

More fans of Slap Yo Daddy BBQ!

BBQ Legend Mike Mills

A big thanks goes to Larry Smith, officials, volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

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Certificate from California State Assembly

What a pleasant surprise, I received a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly for representing our state in the Great American BBQ throw-down in Bonner Springs, Kansas, from May 21 to 22.

26th Overall amid 192 teams in Open Contest

We finished 26th Overall amid 192 teams in the Open contest <Results>.  Kansas City is tough.  Despite scoring a bunch of 8’s and 9’s from the judges (9 is perfect), we only finished 37 out of 49 teams in the Great American BBQ Invitational where only Grand Champion teams were invited <Results>.  It was also quite an adventure flying in and cooking on loaned equipment.  We want to express our heart-felt thanks to Phil Hopkins from Smokin Guns BBQ and Barb Frank from Mad Hogs and an Englishman for helping out with all the WSM, tables, canopies, etc. we needed.  Thanks also go out to Todd Clevenger from Piggin N Swiggin for swapping spots so we could be next to the teams who loaned us equipment.

Phil Hopkins from Smokin Guns BBQ

Barb from Mad Hogs and an Englishman

Todd Clevenger from Piggin N Swiggin

I also got to hang out and do a TV segment with Mike Thomson from Fox-4.  Mike is a funny guy and passionate about BBQ and several charities he supports.

Morning show w Mike Thompson on Fox-4

It was great to be able to hang out with so many old and new friends.

Rod Gray from Pellet Envy

Carolyn Wells from KCBS

Scott Stanley from Wild Blue BBQ team

The Doctor of BBQ

Thanks to Chef Richard McPeake for his cookbook

Thanks for Dunkin Donuts for our morning snack

Thanks go to our neighbors Kelly & Roni, 4 Legs Up BBQ

A big thanks goes to Tracy Satterfield, officials, volunteers, judges, and helpers.  We’d like to thank our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

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Morgan Hill Cookoff Grand Champions 2010

We won our second Grand Championship for 2010 amid 52 teams at the Morgan Hill No Bull BBQ cookoff in the city of Morgan Hill, south of San Jose near San Francisco.  With two GCs and two 3rd-overall placings in our last four contests, we’re on the roll for 2010.  This is a great warm up before our return to the Great American BBQ in Kansas City on May 21-22 where we’ll duke it out with 250 of the best in America.    We finished 1st Pork, 3rd chicken, 3rd brisket, and 11th ribs amid a field of 52 teams with one from as far as Utah. <Results>

Benny Aduato, new Slap Yo Daddy team mate

Benny Aduato of Funtime BBQ joined as my new team mate as my regular team mate Mark is taking time off to spend with his family.  I met Benny in 2008 when I attended a March Madness backyard practice cookout which was ground zero for our start in competition BBQ.  Benny and I hit it off after we cooked together for a KCBS judging class in Orange County in 2009 and I invited him to join me so he could “see the world” as we’re striving for the Jack Daniels Invitational draw in 2010.  This is the most prestigious BBQ contest  the world and being invited is the Holy Grail of BBQ.  I promised myself that I would travel to the ends of the earth and even slay dragons to make the draw this year.  We didn’t make the draw last year even though we won 3 GCs and we took a 3-month sidebar after being chosen to be in TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters Season One which we enjoyed tremendously.  For 2010, our crazy contest calendar shows we’re cooking in Kansas City, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Canada, and Mexico (maybe)  in the coming months in our relentless pursuit of the Jack.

Alex from afarnum.com photography

The Wall Street Journal interviewed me and is working on a BBQ story.   They sent a photographer Alex of www.afarnum.com to shoot us at this contest on Saturday morning.  Alex also took lots of portraits of fellow BBQers and their rigs.  The local newspapers also wrote about this event.

Chris Allingham of the Virtual Weber Bullet Forum

I finally got to meet Chris Allingham of the The Virtual Weber Bullet Forum (TVWB) where I served as guest BBQ guru from 2/28 thru 3/4.  I shared BBQ secrets and answered 279 posts across 86 topics on his forum and made history as the most popular Q&A guest on this world largest international WSM forum.

Mobbed by People's Choice crowd

Serving hundreds of 2 oz samples

PC Helpers: Howard Chi, Lisa, and Friend

PC Helpers: Black Barrel BBQ

We are mobbed by lines 100 feet long as the PC portion was underway at 1 pm.  Luckily, Howard Chi our buddy from the Smok’ed Chi BBQ Team and neighbors Black Barrel BBQ pitched in to help.  We were sold out by 2:30 pm and had to turn away many people. Next time, we’ve got to cook more meat for the PC portion!  We are also tickled we received a perfect score from our Health Dept. inspection report.

A big thanks goes out to Ric Gilbert and Ben Lobenstein for organizing this first class first-year event. Thanks goes to Kelly & Kathleen and Jim Mehl for officiating and to all the judges, helpers, and volunteers.  A big thanks goes to my good buddy Chris Juencke for letting us use his FEC500 to heat our PC meats.  Congrats to Big B’s Down and Dirty BBQ for RC and to all who took a walk especially the new teams who were inspired to cook after watching BBQ Pitmasters!  I was happy to hear from many new teams who learned a lot from the free Ribology 101 and Slap Yo Daddy Lazy Man presentation box clinics I conducted on Fri and Sat.

A big thanks also goes to our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system (it was great to see you John and Kenny in person), T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

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Lots of Awards

I thought I was dreaming when we got a call for 6th place Best Booth. We’ve never been a best booth team with our bare bones advertising banner approach to decorating our booth.  It must have been the showmanship portion that won us an award as I really enjoy shooting the breeze with the judges who stopped by to chat.  We did well at this KCBS sanctioned contest finishing 3rd overall with 2nd Brisket, 2nd Ribs, 6th Pork, and 21st Chicken amid 27 teams.  I was estatic to learn my buddy Dave Malone, who helped me win GC at Wildomar last week, won his first GC!  Way to go Dave!  Who says it doesn’t pay to be dishwasher/helper on our team!

<Results>

Amy Soo, Mimi Tamayo, Wesley Saiki, Natalia Tamayo

It was nice to have my family and friends cook this event and help with the People’s Choice sampling.  We were sold out within several hours with the hungry 50,000 music fans who decended upon BBQ row where teams were situated.   Our BBQ Spaghetti was a big hit and we got clobbered.  Our team tees also sold well and we were able to donate to Operation Homefront and Save The Children charities with 50% of food sales and 20% of tee proceeds.  Our BBQ was written up in the local Desert Sun newspaper

Spanish Seafood Paella w Chorizo and Saffron

Seared Ahi Tuna w Maui Onion Dressing

I prepared a couple of our easy-to-make-on-camp potluck dishes and they were a hit and went fast.  I told those who asked for the recipe that the video and recipes were on my Slap Yo Daddy recipe page if they wanted to try them.  No secrets here!  It’s available for everyone to try.

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We were able to meet Mike and Beth from QUAU, who are at time of writing, the number one ranked KCBS team in the nation.  Nice folks who drove 2,000 miles from Illinois to cook this event which was on the Kingsford tour they were on.    I’ll see them in a few weeks in Kansas City as we’re cooking the Great American BBQ on May 22.

Mike and Beth Wozniak from QUAU

A big thanks goes out to Thom Emery for organizing this awesome event. Thanks goes to Kelly and Kathleen for officiating and to all the judges, helpers, and volunteers.  A big thanks goes to my good buddy Chris Juencke for letting us use his FEC500 to help cook our sampling meats.  Congrats go out to all who took a walk!

A big thanks also goes to our terrific Sponsors:  Rocks BBQ System for our Stoker temperature control system, T&H Meat and Sausages for our meat products, TheSlabs.com for our rub products, Cajun Grill for our Weber stainless replacment doors, Smokin Guns for our rubs , Butcher BBQ for our injections, and Snake River Farms for our Wagyu meat products.

Congrats to my buddy Dave Malone for GC. Well done!

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