tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92200049778025475982012-02-16T10:08:13.895-05:00A blog about my hobby of BBQ, BBQ competition adventures, reviews of grilling and BBQ foods, restaurants, rubs, sauces and recipes I like.Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-16234937498993574812012-02-14T09:42:00.000-05:002012-02-14T09:44:28.713-05:00

Creator: Socks' Love Rub Co Location: Duluth, GA Cost: 5oz Shaker $5.50 + shipping and handling Link:  Socks' Love Rub I decided I needed to post something on Valentines Day and thought that Socks’ Love Rub would be appropriate. A friend (@bbqpairadise) shared the love and sent me a bottle of Socks’ Love Rub to try out. I had heard good things about it and had wanted to try it. I was

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-65334485502995378812012-02-11T14:05:00.002-05:002012-02-13T10:26:23.312-05:00

Team Swine 'n Dine: Frank Fields, Rob Ford, Mike Bonn. Not pictured, Preston Cornett. I received an email from my friend Gwen Poth who requested I check out and review this BBQ team who use their BBQ to raise money for 24 Hours of Booty in Charlotte. I always love it when other BBQers use their ability for good and to raise awareness for a good cause. After all OTT is a great event I help with

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-2026184928057093642012-02-07T13:55:00.000-05:002012-02-07T14:21:15.447-05:00

Our SUPER Super Bowl Screen This weekend we had a Super Bowl party and I smoked a bunch of food for it. I had done some St. Louis ribs last month and had saved the trimmed tips so I used those along with some country style ribs. I also did the crowd pleasing MOINK balls, wings and Pigs on the Wing. We had a great time with lots of friends eating, talking, cheering on our teams and making fun

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-23750782576817746302012-01-31T20:43:00.000-05:002012-02-14T09:32:43.255-05:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin Sausage Location: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage Heads  Cost: $4.95 + shipping and handling Link:  Spicy BarBecue Sauce Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse makes a variety of rubs, sauces and other delectible delights that I have had the privalige of reviewing. I've had the Spicy BarBecue Sauce sitting on my shelf for awhile trying to find just the right thing to try

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-1661770041423272912012-01-26T07:33:00.000-05:002012-01-31T11:38:01.500-05:00

Name: Queen City Q Location: Charlotte, NC Price: $$ - $6-$14 Hours: Mon-Sun 11am-12am Queen City Q recently opened in Uptown Charlotte, and there was much rejoicing. At least from me. Anyone who is familiar with Charlotte knows they have been lacking in places for good BBQ. Being located at the center of both Carolina's you would think there are many BBQ joints serving the classic Carolina

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-50346434450137343282012-01-23T18:36:00.001-05:002012-01-23T18:48:18.538-05:00

I've been thinking about trying to make a drunken spatchcock chicken for a long time. I finally tried it this weekend and videoed it. Normally with a drunken chicken you take a half can of beer and stick the chicken on it and set it on the cooker until it's done. Spatchcocking basically means you butterfly it. Therefor it can't fit it on a can of beer any more. I laid mine on a rack in a pan

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-5714822711429699892012-01-16T16:11:00.001-05:002012-01-16T20:35:14.100-05:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin Sausage  Location: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage Heads Cost: $4.95 + shipping and handling Link:  Texas Hot Pepper & Wing Sauce I like spicy and I like flavor. There are some hot sauces that are just spicy and that is all they bring to a dish. There are others that just bring flavoring with no spice. Texas Hot sauce is neither of these. It brings flavor

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-49640128715676468222012-01-15T10:28:00.001-05:002012-01-16T09:23:51.107-05:00

Creator: ThremoWorks Location: Lindon, UT Cost: @$89.99 +shipping Link: Thermapen I've added a new tool to my BBQ arsenal. A Thermapen. I have been lusting after one of these for about three years. This year I entered into Thermaworks Thanksgiving  drawing and won one. These thermometers are really great and take a reading in about three seconds. The prize package. The Thermapen is great

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-88487620881932033632012-01-05T20:17:00.001-05:002012-01-05T20:33:59.140-05:00

Ok, so I'm a bit late. We're into the new year all ready and lots is going on. I have a few reviews coming this month for my friends at Meyers Elgin Sausage, a review of the super fast Thremapen and another of ThermoWorks fabulous thermometers (TW8060) and my new cooker.  It was a good Christmas. I got a Louisiana Grill pellet cooker for Christmas from my very good friends and a ThermoWorks

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-27285578699876506672011-12-19T15:33:00.001-05:002011-12-19T20:47:31.221-05:00

My all time favorite BBQ is ribs. When cooked correctly they are a combination sweet pork and savory spices with hints of smoke that marry the flavors together in a magically wonderful way. Ribs aren't difficult to make but take about 5-6 hours to do correctly. There are many different ways to make ribs and various methods and spices you can use. Below is how I make them and the way my

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-18352554944788118432011-12-12T11:39:00.001-05:002011-12-12T13:44:20.166-05:00

This was the fourth year of Operation Thanksgiving Turkey (OTT). The first year we smoked 40 turkeys to feed 40 needy families in our area and this year we smoked 300. We involved our community and church to gain a pool of volunteers. This year we had two churches involved. The first was First Baptist Church of Fort Mill. They were gracious enough to let us use their huge parking lot to camp

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-1811352786747080352011-11-16T10:52:00.001-05:002011-11-19T09:13:24.268-05:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin Sausage Location: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage Heads Cost: @$14.95 +shipping Link: Beef Jerky I got more beef jerky from Cuetopia, this time it was their Sweet & Hot. This jerky is better then the plain beef jerky. The spices they use on it give it a nice sweet flavor and a great hit of heat. It is not too hot so your mouth is on fire but just a

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-31370242411272231922011-11-13T15:18:00.001-05:002011-11-14T15:52:53.656-05:00

I'm always trying to figure out what to do with left over BBQ. I've used it in enchiladas, fritatas and chili. I wanted to try it in something a bit different though. A couple weeks ago my wife and I went to an Asian-American fusion restaurant where they serve bar-b-q-shi and I was inspired. I thought pulled pork wontons would be yummy. I came up with a plan. Get some wonton wrappers, make

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-79143672875438500532011-11-09T06:48:00.002-05:002012-01-26T16:03:26.107-05:00

Name: The Cowfish Location: Charlotte, NC Hours: Lunch - Daily from 11am-4pm Dinner - Mon - Thurs. 4pm-11pm Friday & Saturday 4pm-12am Sunday 4pm-10pm Price range: $$ There's a great American-Asian fusion restaurant in Charlotte, NC and it's name is The Cowfish. At the Cowfish you can order a burger and sushi or you can combine them and get burgushi. If you're looking for a place to go for a

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-17567779622100268292011-10-28T15:44:00.000-04:002011-11-08T23:08:25.065-05:00

A friend shared this and it was too good not to share.

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-27805957163919192472011-10-28T13:29:00.001-04:002011-11-14T15:53:48.634-05:00

In 2009 a friend gave me an old smoker he never used. This was the start of a beautiful thing at my house. It was a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and I was trying to figure out what to make on it first. The first cooker. My wife and I talked about it and decided we would try smoked turkey. I had never smoked anything by myself. It was going to be an adventure. My wife bought two turkeys. I

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-42758344504061610142011-10-16T09:58:00.001-04:002011-11-14T15:51:37.052-05:00

I was trying to figure out what to make for supper and looked in the freezer to see what I had. I had some chicken breast, wings and bacon. So I figured I would grill some chicken and wings. As I was thinking about how to season the chicken I thought, "Bacon wrapped chicken wings would be good." Here's how I made the wings. Ingredients  Chicken wings - I made 12 Bacon - 12 pieces to wrap the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-29816844847373412952011-10-12T13:09:00.002-04:002011-11-14T15:51:50.579-05:00

A couple weeks ago I got the idea to make something like a bacon explosion. A bacon explosion will put you into a meat coma if not consumed carefully. My idea was for a bacon wrapped fiesta burger.  Ingredients: @1.5lbs ground beef 1 onion 1 egg Worcestershire sauce 1 pack of bacon 1 can of blackbeans 1 can of tomatoes Rub (I used Meyer's Elgin Sausage's Smokehouse Seasoning) I

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-3719263770478644082011-10-02T22:13:00.001-04:002012-02-07T09:57:16.626-05:00

Name: New York Butcher Shoppe Location: Charlotte, NC Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10am - 7pm; Sunday, Noon - 7pm I was talking to a judge at a BBQ competition and found out about a butcher shop in Charlotte. I had also heard about tri-tip, This is a standard BBQ meat in California and I had never tried it. I have search around the Charlotte area for it but could never find it. I emailed the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-14985071444091379022011-09-28T14:32:00.000-04:002011-09-29T12:41:18.597-04:00

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of judging at BBQ & Blues here in Charlotte, NC. I was judging the pork entries with three lovely ladies, and we started talking about the BBQ. As we talked I realized that, while they knew what they liked in the flavor and texture, they were unfamiliar with the terms used in BBQ and what the different parts were. I’d like to explain some of the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-19382761572574414152011-09-27T21:26:00.001-04:002011-09-27T21:33:02.901-04:00

Creator:Meyers’ Elgin Sausage Location: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage Heads Cost: @$21.50 +shipping Link: Sausage All good things must come to an end. Last weekend my supply of Meyer's sausage did. It was a happy but sad day. Happy because I got to savor the wonderful flavors of their Hot Smoked Sausage and Smoked Mexacan-Style Sausage with Jalapeños (Tejano). Sad because I now

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-63236381147873534512011-09-20T20:29:00.002-04:002011-09-27T21:32:06.665-04:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin SausageLocation: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage HeadsCost: @$21.50 +shippingLink: Sausage After the first set of sausages we had from Meyer's my wife kept asking when we would be eating the others. I decided Sunday night would be a good night for a pack. I was home and the ladies were out shopping so I decided to make supper for us. In the variety of

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-30751082155361637862011-09-15T22:08:00.001-04:002011-09-15T22:45:11.424-04:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin SausageLocation: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage HeadsCost: @$21.50 +shippingLink: Sausage One of the BBQ people I follow on Twitter is @cuetopia. He is the official Twitter spokesperson of Meyers Elgin Sausage and the Fighting Sausage Heads. Since I have been following him he has tantalized and taunted me with pictures of their smokehouse making sausage. I

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-18701183060811192562011-09-13T10:54:00.000-04:002011-09-13T12:57:07.218-04:00

Creator: Meyers’ Elgin Sausage Location: Cuetopia, TX - Home of the Fighting Sausage Heads Cost: @$14.95 +shipping Link: Beef Jerky The folks at Cuetopia were kind enough to send me some of their product to sample. I am glad they did. I received a box of some of their sausage, beef jerky and a rub. Over the next few weeks I will be posting reviews of the products. I like beef jerky. My girls

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-43005215640854606712011-09-11T23:05:00.001-04:002011-09-12T13:03:39.870-04:00

September 9-10 This year the team I compete with has taken a break from BBQ competitions so I have decided to judge a few that are close by. BBQ & Blues is an annual event in Charlotte, NC that I have competed in. This year I judged. I am a certified KCBS BBQ judge but have been interested in the MBN style and thought this would be a good way to find out about it. I sent in my judging

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-84526322386564821272011-09-11T14:44:00.000-04:002011-09-11T14:44:32.246-04:00

The second day of photos from the BBQ & Blues competition in Charlotte, NC. I'm working on a third post about my experience and thoughts on judging for it. They also had a car show.

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-61368514524893866862011-09-10T22:44:00.001-04:002012-02-03T11:08:06.403-05:00

Name: The Kickin' Pig Location: Rock Hill, SC Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - Until Price range: $4-$10 (Pig Out Combo @$35) This morning my wife and I were driving to the tax office to pay our car taxes and passed by a little brick building with a cooker smoking away outside. I said to my wife, "That looks promising." After all it was about 8:45 am and the cooker was going. We got our

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-46040030536844045452011-09-09T20:25:00.000-04:002011-09-09T20:27:34.988-04:00

Tonight we stopped by BBQ & Blues in Charlotte, NC for some fun. Here are some of the sites we saw.  Tomorrow I will be up there judging the Backyard pork category. 

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-49448525481031967812011-08-31T21:40:00.000-04:002011-08-31T21:40:57.712-04:00

Creator: Bad Byron's Specialty Food Products, Inc. Cost: @ $4.25 for 4.5oz Link: Butt Rub When I BBQ, I use a rub I make. This time I switched it up. A friend of mine gave me some Bad Byron's Butt Rub as a gift and I hadn't used it yet. I figured I would try it on a pork butt I was cooking. The rub itself is a little saltier than I like when I tasted it on my hand but it had good flavor. It

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-91934929887238234842011-08-12T11:04:00.000-04:002011-08-12T11:13:51.051-04:00

I have been asked about what types of wood to smoke with and there are a lot you can use. Bill Wight over at BBQ by Dan blog has a great list. I posted it below. For the full post you can click here. Q: Would someone please tell me what kinds of wood are suitable for grilling? A: The traditional woods for smoking are HICKORY, PECAN and OAK.  Here is a list of woods suitable for smoking: ACACIA -

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-14174427733057698002011-07-28T10:59:00.000-04:002011-07-28T11:00:05.844-04:00

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Saturday I plan to get up around seven, start a fire in the cooker and cook some pork butts and chicken. Some people say, "That's a lot of work for some food." It may be, but I find it enjoyable and relaxing. My oldest brother is in-town visiting so I promised him and his family some real BBQ. It is a labor of love. Love for my family and love for the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-5614828980937336262011-07-15T10:55:00.000-04:002011-07-15T10:55:09.325-04:00

Creator: CulinartMedia, Inc. Requirements: Compatible iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.
 Cost: $3.99 Link: Great Grilling This app is well designed with intuitive navigation and great-tasting recipes that are easy to follow. My likes: There are some cool features that make this app shine for me. When I find a recipe I like, I can add it to my favorites, menu or shopping cart. Favorites help

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-79385476179687653652011-07-01T10:33:00.000-04:002011-08-12T12:43:28.599-04:00

I get questions from friends and family on how to cook a pork butt quite often. Questions like: What rub do I use? How long do I cook it? What temperature do I cook it at? Can I do it on a gas grill? Well today I'm going to try to explain how I do it and hopefully answer some of these questions. There are lots of ways to cook butts and no one way is the "correct" way. Again this is how I do it.

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-49716021037035546272011-06-29T08:56:00.000-04:002011-06-29T08:57:29.496-04:00

This past weekend one of our friends asked me to cook for their sons b-day. He wanted butts, slaw and potato salad. I did four butts and a big that's-a-bowl of coleslaw and potato salad. I used a fellow designer's (Jeff Fisher of LogoMotives) coleslaw recipe. It was very good. Well I was supposed to be up at 3:30 am to get the butts on by 4:00 so they would be done in time for the party. I

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-20899400121934979472011-06-23T14:30:00.000-04:002011-06-23T14:30:26.405-04:00

Creator: Ryan Michel Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
 Cost: $.99 Link: GrillStar Summer is here and it’s time to fire up that grill (unless you’re crazy like me and cook all year round). Time to feed the family in that old-as-time tradition of cooking over an open flame. They want to eat chicken but every time you grill it, you burn it. You

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-80024300345898204392011-06-17T19:16:00.001-04:002011-06-17T19:16:37.635-04:00

Last weekend I had some friends over for Summer Q 2011. I smoked a bunch of meat and tried some new things. On the menu we had pulled pork, ribs, spatchcock chicken, London broil, black beans (the recipe will be in another blog), caesar salad and chocolate cake. It was a great spread.I did the pork like I usually do. Slathered with honey mustard and rub and smoked at about 250° for about eight

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-63210735231506478482011-06-08T07:23:00.001-04:002011-07-18T11:11:12.606-04:00

Last Christmas I received one of the most useful gifts for Q. Silicon gloves. These are one of the most useful tools in my arsenal of Q tools I have. They are insulated black silicon gloves that allow me to grab meat off the hot cooker, pull pork without getting third degree burns and are easy to clean. They are not good for grabbing a hot grate or stone as it will melt the silicon. The meat

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-18345041867669805402011-05-09T11:32:00.000-04:002011-06-23T14:35:29.967-04:00

Best in Smoke Food Network TV Premiered: Sunday May 08th, 2011 Contestants: “Famous Dave” Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) – Founder, Famous Dave’s of America Chris Hart (Boston, MA) – Winner, Jack Daniels’s Invitational World Championship BBQ 2009, IQue BBQ Team Sara Horowitz (El Paso, TX) – 2nd place, Versus National BBQ Championship Series Matt Lang (Brooklyn, NY) – Former Head Chef, Fette Sau Chris

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-44886898861663142472011-04-25T22:17:00.001-04:002011-04-26T09:51:41.855-04:00

One of the most important part of BBQing is using the correct rub. There are many out there to choose from and lots of them are very good. But if you want a challenge, make your own. It can be a fun rewarding process and you can learn a lot about flavors and their profiles. I started making my own rub and love it. I've shared it with friends who always ask for more. It works well on just about

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-45311524052556645282011-03-15T19:00:00.001-04:002011-03-15T19:00:23.967-04:00

This weekend I made some ribs. Harris Teeter had a sale of buy one get one free on ribs and I couldn't resist. I decided to try a different rub that had a Moroccan flavor to it. The rub smelled good and I thought it would work well but I was mistaken. Don't get me wrong, the ribs weren't awful they just weren't up to my usual standards. The rub had fennel in it. I am not a fan of fennel and

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-12593715717474917122011-03-04T11:09:00.000-05:002011-03-04T11:12:08.236-05:00

This week is our ASC fund raiser at work. One of the annual traditions for it is a chili cook off. Last year I entered and won. So, of course this year I had to defend the title. The theme of the fund raiser this year is Mardis Gras, so, of course, the food was to be Cajun or Creole. I tossed around a few ideas and decided to make a gumbo using smoked chicken, smoked andouille sausage and smoked

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-34486950755944261732011-02-24T22:07:00.001-05:002011-02-24T22:12:38.928-05:00

Dr. BBQ's Big-time Barbecue CookbookBy Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQThe Dr. is in and he has the prescription to cure your hunger.This is the first BBQ cook book I owned. I was given it as a gift along with my first cooker and it started me on my way to finding the flavors I love.As cookbooks go it didn't read like any other cookbook I have read. As I started to read it, it was like sitting down with Dr

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-91228276117266037922011-02-20T22:53:00.001-05:002011-02-25T09:02:08.191-05:00

A couple days ago we had some friends over for supper and I made smoked beer-can-chicken and ribs. Once again they were awesome. After the first beer-can-chicken I made I started to experiment using different beers. Each beer adds a different flavor to the chicken. I have used Modelo, an oatmeal stout and a Hefeweizen. This time I used a Serria Nevada Pale Ale. I really liked the flavor of it

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-35129543044803281802011-02-20T22:24:00.001-05:002011-02-20T22:24:11.155-05:00

A couple weekends ago I smoked a whole chicken. I usually smoke legs, thighs or wings so this was a first for me. It turned out great and the family loved it. I took the whole chicken and marinated it over night in a vinegar BBQ sauce. About an hour before I put it on the cooker I butterflied it and then put rub on it and let it rest. After the cooker warmed up to 250° I set the chicken on it and

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-10226528213878778712011-01-22T17:41:00.001-05:002011-01-27T13:32:11.974-05:00

Tonight I tried a first. Making a pizza on my cooker. I have heard about it but never tired it. All I can say is WOW! It was great. It had all the yumminess of a pizza with the extra flavor that smoke adds to food. I made two types. One of them I made the dough from scratch and cooked it directly on the grate. For the second one we used crescent roll dough and cooked it on a stone. I liked the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-69165207744861724052011-01-11T21:00:00.001-05:002011-01-27T13:33:02.600-05:00

The last two days we have been home bound due to snow and ice. They shut down everything in SC. Today I was craving chicken nuggets so I decided to make some.Ingredients6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts1 cup milk1 egg1/2 cup white flour1/2 cup wheat flour1 tbls rub1/2 tbls cayenne pepper I took the chicken breasts and cut them into cubes then set them aside. I mixed the milk and eggs together

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-31501417239758340232010-12-26T13:08:00.001-05:002011-01-27T13:34:08.722-05:00

Merry Christmas all.For Christmas I fired up the smoker for the traditional smoked turkey and tried some new things. I made ribs and moink balls.I have only made ribs at competitions and one other time so I had some fear for making them for family. My fears were unjustified though. I used the 3-1-1 method and the ribs were awesome.What is the 3-1-1 method you ask? Well... After putting the rub on

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-74845473814274266842010-11-30T17:52:00.001-05:002011-01-27T13:36:13.962-05:00

This Thanksgiving smoked a lot of meat. I did two turkeys, a 20lb and a 15lb, an elk roast, venison steaks, three pork butts, venison ribs and a partridge in a pear-tree. Ok, I didn't real smoke a partridge or a pear-tree, but I did cook the rest. Wednesday night before Thanksgiving I was exhausted. In had been up all night helping to cook 250 turkeys for needy families in our area. When I got

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-19396298776727776542010-09-27T20:06:00.000-04:002010-12-13T16:13:45.091-05:00

This weekend I was asked by Lakeshore Christian Fellowship to smoke 280 lbs of pork for a youth fund raiser. I personally don't own a smoker big enough to handle that amount of meat (32 butts) so I contacted my friend who owns the Catchafire for Q BBQ team and borrowed his Lang smoker.I enlisted the help of my wife and daughters. We went over to the church Saturday night and rubbed all 32 butts

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-58935914308502098032010-07-25T08:46:00.000-04:002010-07-28T16:18:48.276-04:00

This weekend was a first for me. I smoked a goat for about 60 people. A scary prospect as I had never done this before. I searched the Internet, my cookbooks and asked people who had cooked goat before for any help. I found the recipe I used in the Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book. It was good.The night before the cook, I needed to do some prep work. I needed to rub some pork butts I was going to smoke,

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-70725227915470053392010-06-15T20:48:00.000-04:002010-06-16T09:28:11.895-04:00

My wife and family ROCK!!One of my brother-in-laws had some 55 gallon drums. One day I mentioned to him it would be cool to turn one into a smoker. I wasn’t sure when I was going to do it but I kept thinking about it but had other things to do and bigger butts to smoke.Well, my other brother-in-law thought it would be cool to surprise me with a smoker for my birthday (which is in July) so the

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-58231180049248958002010-06-07T21:40:00.000-04:002010-06-07T21:51:20.398-04:00

The last two weekends were spent at BBQ competitions. The first in North Augusta, SC and the second in Linconton, NC. I really don’t know how teams can go out every weekend and enter a competition. It would be crazy!!! The North Augusta competition was the First Annual Banjo-B-Que. It was a pretty big event with some pretty big names. I got to meet both Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke and Johnny

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-49806771322300567102010-05-18T17:53:00.000-04:002010-05-18T17:53:00.665-04:00

This weekend I attended the Boss Hog Cook Off in Waynesboro, GA, the bird dog capital of the US. It is one of the best competitions I've been to. It is well organized and the volunteers make sure you are taken well care of. One of the things we noticed was it seemed like the community was really involved. Local business sponsored different parts, they had a hospitality room for volunteers and

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-48909401291413761182010-05-02T17:03:00.000-04:002010-05-02T17:07:15.658-04:00

This weekend I judged my first BBQ contest. It was interesting. We arrived early and waited fir the judges meeting to start at 10 am but it didn't start until. About 10:20. When it started it went fairly quick. They introduced the coordinator, the person who set up the contest and finally the mayor of Anderson, where the contest was held. After all the introductions were done the coordinator went

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-42848233944788337162010-04-27T10:21:00.000-04:002010-04-27T10:23:41.120-04:00

The weekend of April 17 was Catchafire for Q’s first competition this season. This was one of the smoothest competitions we have ever done. Everything went really well. We had trimmed the meat ahead of time so we didn’t have to worry about that onsite and had the trail organized and a schedule set to follow. When we got to Kings Mountain and checked in there was a little bit of confusion about

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-22621011632155214402010-02-21T19:39:00.000-05:002011-02-09T15:56:52.214-05:00

This is a recipe I came up with after smoking some pork one weekend and we needed to eat up the left overs so they wouldn’t go bad. It was a hit with the family. I also do competition BBQ some weekends and sometimes we enter the “anything but” category. We needed a dish for one competition so I made this. It was a hit with my team and came in third. 1 Onion 4 cloves of crushed garlic 2 TBLS Olive

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-20896124647334183772010-02-15T19:46:00.000-05:002011-06-29T08:58:51.402-04:00

This weekend I smoked some pork and a brisket. It was the first time I smoked a brisket so I had a bit of fear going into it. I really didn't want to ruin it. The other obstacle I ran into was snow. When it snows it is harder to keep the smoker at the right temperature so the meat may cook quicker (due to high temperature) or longer (due to low temperatures). Well, turned out I had a flat not a

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-47921294226789781512010-02-11T22:03:00.000-05:002010-02-11T22:10:08.644-05:00

Last weekend my friend Ken (of CatchaFire for Q) and I went to a BBQ class called Road to the Winners Circle. It was a a great class. Not one for the beginning BBQer but really good for someone who competes and is trying to get the edge to move to the next level. The class was taught by Troy Black (pictured left) of Learn2Q.com. He’s a really good guy and knows his stuff. He was able to answer

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-29152431567349192282010-02-03T15:23:00.000-05:002010-02-03T15:29:49.956-05:00

I had heard about the drunken chicken for years and finally tried it last summer. It is one of our favorite grill dishes (yes I know this is supposed to be about BBQ. This also works well on a smoker if you have one.) I have had friends try it with soda and they say it is good too. I have tried with different beers and found that they will give you a different flavor profile. You can also stuff

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-10694041961388548722010-01-29T09:40:00.000-05:002010-01-29T09:52:04.476-05:00

I grill and I BBQ. Aren’t they the same thing? No. Don’t you fire up the BBQ for burgers and hot dogs? No. Grilling and BBQ are two different animals. Both are good and give you great results. But, they are very different.Grilling and BBQ both use fire to cook your meat on a cooker of some sort. It can use gas (though that doesn’t make great BBQ, IMHO), charcoal or wood. You get a fire going and

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-88705538685804307382010-01-26T21:16:00.001-05:002010-01-26T21:21:28.744-05:00

This past weekend I became a Certified BBQ Judge (CBJ) for the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS). My friend Ken and I went down to Kennesaw, GA for the training.Overall, it is not a hard thing to do and is fun. You get to taste six different cooks BBQ in four categories - chicken, pork, ribs and brisket. The hardest part is deciding how good you think the entries are and not comparing them to each

Steve Gibbshttps://profiles.google.com/103618616103031133171noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9220004977802547598.post-2489230241596281372010-01-21T11:22:00.000-05:002010-01-21T11:32:50.475-05:00

Welcome to Q 4 Fun.I live in South Carolina, the land flowing with vinegar and mustard. About two years ago I started smoking meat for fun. I loved it and am now on Catchafire For Q team and regularly smoke pork, chicken and turkey.I don't promise regular updates to this blog, but will try to keep it up-to-date with what our team is doing and what I am experimenting with at home.It should be a

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