Slap Yo Daddy BBQ Blog

Rental U-Haul truck to get out of the wind; notice that only one WSM was used

North winds 25-35 mph; gusts to 45 mph. Yikes!

When the National weather service issued an extreme caution Wind Advisory for the upper Colorado River Valley with North winds 25-35 mph gusting to 45 mph on Friday and Saturday, I knew Hava Q would be a challenging contest to cook.  My EZ Up and WSMs don’t do too well in windy conditions so a quick Google search allowed me to locate a U-Haul rental place a couple of miles from the contest site.  The novelty of the first time using a U-Haul truck to duck out of the wind was tried out in the 2011 Sam’s Club Qualifier contest in Gilbert, AZ.    Now, it’s a standard practice for SYD whenever the wind exceeds 30 mph.  So the $20 for the rental really helped keep the wind under control.

Grand Champion amid 74 teams

Amazingly, SYD received its highest score in chicken of 179.4286 in 4+ years of trying.  And, for the first time ever, I used leftover excess chicken I had previously frozen from prior contests.   I’ve never used frozen chicken. . .ever!  Now, instead of cooking the excess chicken for my family, I’m going to freeze my chicken before a contest!   With a 1st in Chicken, 2nd in Brisket, 6th in Ribs, and 48th in Pork, we clinched the GC for this event amid 74 teams from Texas, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, and California.   This is the largest contest SYD has won and we’re enjoying a roll having won 3 GCs from December to January.  <KCBS Results>

Sunny with 45 mph winds gusting off the lake

Thanks Skip and Cheryl for organizing a great event.  It was good to see everyone again.  A BIG congrats to all who walked. Thanks to all the judges and officials.   A shout-out goes to Wil and Amy, of Got Smoke, a first time team from Salt Lake, for 7th place.  They told me the impromptu SYD Lazyman class I did for them on Sat morning helped.  And, as a note to myself, the next time a team asks me to critique their turn-in boxes (I get many such requests), it’s better to wait until after awards to do so.  I suggested some ideas for improvement for Bam Bam BBQ’s rib box during awards.  Lo and behold, I was pretty sheepish when two minutes later Cameron Treu of Bam Bam takes 1st place in ribs!

Thanks to Tracy of Woodhouse BBQ for a Chorizo Waffle Breakfast treat

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Grand Champion 1st chicken, 1st pork, 2nd Brisket. 7th GC for 2011

Although the West has fewer professional BBQ contests than the rest of the country, we have the weather advantage of being able to have a yearlong BBQ season.  After a much needed 3 week break after our double-header and GC in Mesa, AZ, I was at it again in Southern California at our second double-header KCBS contest.  When people should be resting comfortably inside from the cold weather and bringing the New Year in with fine champagne, I find myself with 120lbs of raw meat to cook in two days.

Our contest promoter, Henry Silvestre, held the last contest for the CBBQA calendar year and the first for the 2012 year at Knott’s Berry Farm.  Originally selling berries, preserves and pies from a roadside stand, Knott’s gradually became a western themed destination complete with a ghost town, rides and restaurants.  Roller coasters could be heard soaring in the distance as we cooked our meats to perfection.

SYD fans young and old!

Four teams from out of state joined in on the fun, Brew ‘N’ Bar-B-Que from Kansas, Route 66 Catering Crew and Loot N Booty from Arizona, and TippyCanoe BBQ Crew from Iowa.  It was great to be situated next to my former team mate s and good friends Benny & Shari Adauto of Funtime BBQ as neighbors, as well as The Q BBQ team next door.  Thanks also go out to Ardith, Ted and Steve Madule of All Hogs Go to Heaven who invited us to breakfast not once but twice at their camp.  Ardith cooks the best biscuits and gravy, with scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage and cantaloupe.  We ate like kings and cooked like servants all weekend long.

More SYD fans!

Many families came out to watch!

At this contest, Tim McDonald from Rusty Barrel BBQ announced that this would be his last contest on the circuit due to health reasons.  Tim and his wife Diane started off cooking in 2008, the same year as I did and were part of the frenzied ROY race of 2008.   Rusty Barrel is a terrific family team and over the years  we’ve become good friends.  I’ve made it a point to give medals I win from contests to their son whenever we cook against each other.  Their friendliness and competitive spirit will be dearly missed by all.

Award winning SYD assistant!

Donna, from Butchers Daughter BBQ, was kind enough to share her assistant, Esther, with me who turned out to be the best dishwasher and helper in the West and made our work much easier.  Esther also happens to be a professional massage therapist and I was the lucky recipient of a shoulder neck massage.  On Saturday, I came in 1^st in chicken, 13^th in ribs, 1^st in pork shoulder, and 2^nd in brisket, placing me as Grand Champion for contest 1.  This was sweet as it was our 7^th GC for 2011.  On Sunday, I came in 2^nd in chicken, 13^th in ribs, 20^th in pork shoulder, and 13^th in brisket with an overall of 8^th in contest 2.  Congratulations to Tippy Canoe for their RGC on day 1 and GC on day 2.  I know as well as anyone how difficult it is to cook on someone else’s equipment, in another state with an entirely different set of judges and taste profiles.  It only goes to prove that TippyCanoe is a top-notch team with great adaptability and skill.   It was a real honor for SYD to be the only team from the West able to hold Joe from Tippy Canoe on day 1 else he would have swept both days in a row.

New Year Eve bubbly ready for the countdown

10, 9, 8, 7. 6. . . .

Thanks to Donna for hosting the New Year Eve toast as the 30+ pitmasters and crew counted down the new year with some champagne amid thick fog in the Knotts parking lot.

Congratulations to all of the teams out there that received calls and best of luck to my 101 students as you go out this year and cook, be it in your backyard or at a contest.  I’m very proud of my Oct 1, 2011 student Jerry Agiluar of Burnin and Lootin BBQ who came in 1^st in Chicken and  2^nd in Ribs on Sunday the first contest of 2012 at Knotts.  Thanks to Henry for organizing this event, Knotts for being the hosts, Kelly and Kathleen for being the KCBS officials, judges, and volunteers.

New fashion trend with headgear for walks!

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Grand Champion Day #2

In December, I pulled off something I’ve not done before which was to teach two classes the first weekend and then compete in a double header contest the following weekend, with both the class and contest 6 hours from home.  A week before the double KCBS BBQ cookoff and Ranchers Reserve cup race in Mesa, Arizona, I was invited to teach not one, but two back to back BBQ classes at BBQ Island in nearby Tempe, Arizona.

BBQ Island class students

So I needed to pack enough for the classes and for the two day competition for two teams into one vehicle. Thankfully, we could purchase most of the meat locally at the nearby food warehouses. And my friend and BBQ assistant, Peter Graves and his wife hosted our stay while we were in Arizona over two weekends. They made what was a logistical nightmare, not only possible, but successful and enjoyable. Many thanks also go out to Shelton, Mike, Sterling and Kurt from BBQ Island for promoting my Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ 101 class at BBQ Island and for providing a large variety of top notch smokers, equipment and assistance during both classes <Blog 1> <Blog 2>.  My students really liked my class  <Blog 3> <Blog 4>

BBQ Island - Largest BBQ store in Phoenix

After the classes, I flew home and returned only four days later to cook in Tommy Duncan’s contest which was sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and benefited the Boys and Girls Clubs of the East Valley. Since it was the last KCBS contest of the calendar year, some of the most competitive teams this year traveled to Arizona like TrueBud BBQ from Kansas, The Smoking Hills from Kansas City, and Chow Texas from Keller, Texas. Though Tommy’s team, Whiskey Ranch, didn’t compete, his wife, Jennifer Duncan of Smoked to the Bone did and her team were our gracious neighbors.

Ranchers Reserve were at the contest

In the end, we finished 7th overall on the first day with a 5th in chicken and brisket. TrueBud and the Smoking Hills finished first and second. But my first place finish in the Safeway/Vons year long national Ranchers Reserve cup secured my second consecutive first place finish in the cup which I also won in 2010.  I made a Beef Martini Shaken Not Stirred inspired by James Bond’s infamous vodka martinis.  I put a splash of vodka in my beef marinade.

Beef Martini Shaken Not Stirred

Ranchers Reserve first place at Mesa which secured our 1st place in the nation

On day two, my GC finish was an awesome surprise after a grueling 2 day cook. Congratulations to TrueBud BBQ for their first place finish on day one and RGC on day two. And to Otis and the Bird for their RGC on day two and for their recent marriage!

New SYD banner and graphics

Many thanks go to Tommy and Jennifer for a great event that went to a good cause. We loved the complementary breakfast each morning from Cracker Barrel and for the personal thank you from the representatives at the local Boys and Girls clubs.

Trophies added to my already large collection!

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Wet and Rainy Night

The last contest for 2011 in Northern California was hosted by the city of Antioch which rests on edge of the Delta that feeds into San Francisco Bay.   It was held in conjunction with Antioch’s Fall Faire that showcased arts and crafts for some early Christmas shopping. The weather is usually more brisk in the north and as winter approaches, the risk of a wet contest increases. So we were not surprised by a rainy welcome on Friday afternoon as we loaded into our grassy home for the next 26 hours.
In an hour and half, two tents were sheltering us from the drizzle and we were quickly preparing our meats to enter the fire. After a two month break from the last circuit contest, competitors were particularly happy to see other and greetings seemed heighten. We were all ready to cook.
And cook we did. Though there were only 31 teams at Antioch, an average team count for California, there were five teams from the south (Slap Yo’ Daddy, All Sauced Up, The Pit Crew, Big Poppa Smokers, and Who’s Smokin Now) trying to move up in the TOY/KCBS rankings or earn some Christmas money. Dave Malone initiated a wager between the NorCal vs. SoCal teams. But the rookies offered to compete against the veterans and next thing I know, I’ve wagered a dollar in each sub-contest.

Thanksgiving Breakfast Waffles

Saturday morning started early with progress check on the brisket and pork shoulder which smoked overnight. Before we knew it, Tracy Anderson from Woodhouse BBQ had brought over a Thanksgiving inspired breakfast, waffles made from stuffing and topped with turkey and gravy, with a side of cranberries. It was simply amazing and could only be outdone by her afternoon super chocolaty, super rich homemade cocoa.
With a full kitchen only a few hundred yards away from our tent, the cleaning process was easier than usual, especially when the rain stopped by morning. We were introduced to some new rookie teams that were competing in Sunday’s non-sanctioned rib winner take all cookoff. It is exciting to know that BBQ continues to expand and capture the attention of a diverse population.

Rain stopped by contest morning

By 4:30pm, we were enjoying the sounds of a local band and relaxing before the awards ceremony. Dave Lopp, our KCBS representative, announced that SoCal had beaten NorCal and that the veterans had beaten the rookies. I had already doubled my money! SYD took 1st in chicken, 14th in pork ribs, 3rd in pork and 17th in brisket. Overall, we were Reserve Grand Champions and second to first time winners, Scott and Pam Hares of Too Ashamed to Name. Congratulations to Scott and Pam for their success and ending off the year with a huge bang. Our good finish at Antioch will set the pace as we look forward to the double header Holiday Cookoff for Kids contest in Mesa, AZ next month.

Reserve Champion at Smokin on the Delta

Good friends and good times at Antioch!

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100 foot Blue Whale comes up for air

The Cadillac of all California BBQ competitions came in with a roar at the end of September.  The 1st Annual Dana Point BBQ Championship treated its BBQ teams with such luxury, most of us were almost too relaxed to cook competitive barbeque by the end of Friday night.  The city of Dana Point which is located at the southern end of Orange County, is a popular destination for surfing and whale watching.  As such, the city treated us to a private whale watching cruise on Friday afternoon, followed by an elaborate buffer dinner catered by  the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort.  The mayor, Scott Schoeffel, welcomed us to the city and thanked us for participating in the city’s first KCBS BBQ contest.  He explained that the city had purchased a smoker for emergency purposes and thought that hosting a contest would be a nice way to demonstrate its utility and enjoy good barbeque. We feasted on appetizers and a seafood buffet which included a flowing chocolate fountain.

First time seeing a chocolate fountain at a BBQ contest!

After dinner, I strolled back to the two tent sites that I had setup using my equipment for our two teams (Slap Yo’ Daddy and Butcher’s Daughter).

SYD and Butcher's Daughter BBQ

Around 9pm, Donna and her daughter finally arrived from her flight and drive from the airport, thanks to my daughter, Amy, who picked them up from Ontario airport.  I wanted to wait until she arrived before we both started cooking.  We had agreed the week earlier that we would wager a 2.5hr Thai massage for the pitmaster who could beat out the other in contests we would both cook.  I had to give her a 5 contest handicap to even us up as of Dana Point and because I have three more years of experience over this newbie. So again, we found ourselves cooking on one smoker and begun our preparation in the middle of the night.  Within an hour, our meat was on the smoker and the bet was on.  After a quick Mexican dinner, our daughters were resting on 700 count sheets at the Marriott Hotel while we were “slaving away” on our meats into midnight.  The night was cool and misty as we went to sleep in the minivan.  By morning, my meat was cooking as planned and I was able to enjoy the company of my neighbors while I waited for my meat to reach hog heaven perfection.

Rare treat for us cooking on grass for a change!

My former assistant, Benny Adauto and his wife, Shari, were cooking as Funtime BBQ a few tents down. It was also good to see my former students, Andy Soto of Master of Disaster and Sylvie Curry, solo cook of Four Q.  Andy was practicing some last minute tuneups before heading out the Jack Daniels in October.  I know that Andy will cook very well at the Jack and will do us proud in California.  Go Andy!

In the end, I finished 8th overall, with a nice 1st place finish in pork shoulder.  A brutal 35th place in brisket held my scores down along with a disappointing 12th place in pork ribs and 15th place in chicken.  Though it wasn’t my worst performance for the year, I still finished lower than my rookie girlfriend who placed 5th overall.  I’ll have to tune up my slapalicious skills before I lose the Thai massage bet to her at the end of the year.  Congratulations to Benny who finished 6th overall and Sylvie for her nice ninth place finish.  Also many thanks go out to the city of Dana Point and Arlie Bragg for a great first year contest.  I hope it happens again next year.  It was great for our two families and daughters from NorCal and SoCal to get to hang out together.

Pitmasters and their daughters

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SYD and Butcher's Daughter BBQ at Ribstock

After having the head cook, Donna Fong, from Butcher’s Daughter BBQ, as my assistant for the last three contests, we decided to split our forces and challenge ourselves. At Ribstock, Peace, Love and BBQ, we cooked separately as solo cooks in this 2nd year NorCal event. After agreeing that less is more, and wanting to making traveling to contests easier, both Donna and I have decided to cook with one WSM each at contests going forward. For NorCal contests, we will begin using her equipment entirely. For SoCal contests, we will use my equipment, but again, cook as two separate teams. We will still use our own rubs, sauces, mops, and injections, but the equipment and most of the meat will come from the pittmaster that lives closer to the contest site.

We had met Damon “Mak” Lomelo of Smokaholics from La Mesa last year in Vista and were inspired by his low profile approach combined with infectious enthusiasm. Mak and his wife cook on one 18.5” WSM, bring two pop up tents, cook PC and are able to fit all of their equipment and themselves into a Honda Fit! At Vista, Mak walked three times to the podium to collect his trophy! We thought, if Mak could do it, so could we. So at Ribstock, we reduced the number of smokers down to one 18.5” WSM, just like Mak. But because we carry equipment for two teams, we couldn’t make it all fit into what would normally be classified as a compact car by most rental car agencies. So Mak will still be the king of the compact.

So with all of Donna’s equipment packed into a rented Toyota Sienna, we headed off to Ribstock after she was done with work. Unfortunately, a fatal motorcycle accident turned a 2hour trip to a 3.5hr trip and we rolled in around 9:30pm. Working quickly in the darkness of night, we had our butts and briskets in the smokers within an hour. Thankfully, the smokers, the weather, and the meat all behaved and the cook went smoothly into the next day. The long meats came out in the morning and the chicken and ribs went into the single smoker without a hitch. After all four meats were turned in, we prepared our booths for people’s choice, when we served SYD barbeque to the public in exchange for tickets. This was a 50/50 split where $1 goes to the team and the other $1 goes to the organizers. Our popularity from television made lines long and food was easily gone. There were even a few judges and competitors in line!

Harry and Donna doing People's Choice as two separate teams

An experiment in the chicken category didn’t pay off for us and I fell to 19th place for my way overcooked cornish game hen. But it won’t stop me from trying it again in the future. SYD was 8th in pork ribs, 13th in pork shoulder and a disappointing 19th in brisket. Finishing 12th overall was my worst performance of the year. I even got beat by my girlfriend Donna who finished third overall, with a first time, first place finish in beef brisket.   Amazingly, the top 4 rookies for California finished in first place in each of the four meat categories (Who’s Smoking Now, Butchers Daughter, Woodhouse BBQ, and Huminie’s Hogalicious BBQ).  Well done!  I’ll have to step it up next time and be less distracted by her 70’s gogo outfit, complete with shiny white gogo boots.

Top 4 ROY teams finish 1st in each meat category!

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The draw for the Jack Daniels Invitational 2011 occurred on Sep 2, 2011.  Despite having 5 bungs for California and 2 bungs for Arizion, we did not get drawn.  With 20 bungs and 20 contests in California during the qualifying period from Sep 1, 2010 to Aug 31, 2011, our odds were 25% to be drawn for California.  The California draw went to my BBQ 101 student Andy Soto for his recent win in Vista on Aug 6, 2011.   In addition to Andy, three other BBQ 101 students also made the draw.  In total, congrats go out to four of my students for making the draw this year. They are Andy Soto – Master of Disaster, Jennifer Duncan – Smoked to the Bone, Steve Renfro – Flyboys BBQ, and Tommy Duncan of Whiskey Ranch.

Well done my 101 alumni!

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After winning our 5^th Grand Championship for the calendar year at Acorn, we rolled into Lakeport two weeks later with a mission.  Fortunately for us, we had one last chance to try to grab our 7^th GC before the Aug 28 deadline to quality for the Jack via the automatic 7 wins.  This was because our Canada win did not count towards the 7th so we have to win this one.   This well run contest was sponsored by Konocti Vista Casino. Many thanks go to Darlene in the accounting office and Dan for ensuring that all teams’ needs were met. 

Lakeport sits on the edge of Clearlake, California’s largest natural lake wholly within California.    35 professional BBQ teams pulled their smokers into the RV park which had individual power and water supplies.  Since the annual lollapalooza of BBQ, Nugget Rib Cook-off in Reno followed this Clearlake contest by one weekend, we had our share of out-of-state teams who were dropping by to compete at Lakeport before heading over.  Ted Aggeler of Casual Smokers and Mike Peters of Here Piggy Piggy were from Kansas City.  Tommy Houston of Checkered Pig from Virginia and Darel & Dona Martin from Piggy D’s from Winthrop, WA were all in our neighboring area.  The out of state teams without a doubt increased an already high level of competition to a full tilt.

As it almost always the case at each competition, something went wrong.  Our stoker fans were left in a bin at home and we were lucky enough to be next to John Jackson who lent us his extra 10cfm fan but without an adapter.  After some jerry rigging with rope and aluminum foil, we were operational for the night.

Many teams and judges came by before the awards ceremony and wished us all the luck in the world.  We were very grateful to be healthy enough to be participating in a hobby we love and to have so many wonderful people walking beside us on the path.  We cooked a good contest and felt that we turned in the very best quality of BBQ meat we had and crossed our fingers.  We placed 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th in pork, ribs and chicken but alas, no call in brisket, a traditional stronghold for the SYD team.  This allowed Mike Peters from Here Piggy Piggy to win the GC three points ahead of our RC.  A big congratulations to Mike and Christine for all of their hard work and good showmanship.  A heartfelt thanks to everyone who came by or sent emails to me wishing us well.  We will submit our paperwork and wait in anticipation for this Friday’s Jack Draw.

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