Interview: Kosher Q? Find out from the RaBBi-Q.

Team: Rabbi-Q
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Website: RabbiQ.com
Twitter: @BBQRabbi

I met Mendel of Rabbi-Q through Twitter. I found the idea of kosher BBQ fascinating because when I think of BBQ I think pork. I know beef and chicken and other meats can be BBQed but it isn't everyday you hear of kosher BBQ in KCBS. Through talking with Mendel I have discovered kosher BBQ and kosher BBQ competitions. I think this is great. I love a good brisket and beef ribs along with smoked turkey and chicken. Read the interview to find out how he cooks pork for KCBS competitions and to find out more about kosher BBQ competitions.

"Prayer-dogs" and Ribs

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 Trigg of Smoking Triggers. both are great guys and fun to talk too.

Our team got to North Augusta and got set up. that night we cooked steaks for part of the cook off, supper and for the sponsors of the contest to eat. They were great. We got everything cooking and were settling in for the night but our neighbors were partying like it was 1999 and we had to ask them to turn down their music.

We were vending at this event but had decided to do “Prayer-dogs.” We gave away hotdogs and prayed with the people we gave them to. It was amazing all the things people had and have going on their lives. Some had friends missing, cancer, broken homes. All had something they needed prayer for. We gave out 130 “prayer-dogs” that day.

There was a chance of rain all day but it held off until we were packing up. Then we had to make a mad dash to get everything in the trailer.

Over all we didn’t do to well in the competition, though our ribs placed 10th, we had lots of fun and were able to encourage many people.

Last weekend we were at the Hog Happenin’ in Lincolnton, NC. We were there just to compete, have a good time and meet some new people.

The bikes at the rally were really cool and lots of interesting people went by. We had a little rain around 9:30 Friday night and it shut down all the festivities. It was a nice quite night.

Freedom Church in Lincolnton have a youth center on the square where the competition is held and they have opened it up the past few years for the BBQers to use. they have water, clean restrooms and fresh coffee. It was great to be able to get a little break in AC and talk with some really good guys.

Our ribs this time took first place and or chicken 14th. We need to work n our brisket and pork some more but we are getting there.

Things to remember:

• Lots of water for summer competitions
• Get packed before the awards ceremony
• Meet new people
• Have fun

BBQ Judging, it's tough but somebody has to do it.

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 over the rules. By this time it was 10:50 and we were to start judging at 11 because there was a sue contest too. They quickly finished up and had us go to the judging room.

I was assigned to judge the backyard category. Not bad on its own but I only got to judge chicken and ribs. Only one piece of the chicken was really good. One was rubbery and salty the others tasted like the cooks used lighter fluid and didn't let it burn off all the way. The ribs were a bit better. Three tasted really good but one of them was very tough, it could have cooked a bit longer.

It was fun and I look forward to doing it again but look forward to judging the professional teams and tasting all four of the meats.

Thoughts:
Show up on time
Take your time and taste the food
Use the water and crackers to cleanse your palate
Talk to the other judges
Have fun


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Q Season Opener

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 our name. The fireman who we met shouted it back to the person in charge of checking us in and that person heard “Kitchen Fire!” As he was a fireman, he appeared at the door pretty quick to see what was going on.

We got checked in and set up. The first surprise was that the “Anything but” was an onsite judging. We were not prepared for that. We got our plan together and Ken (our fearless leader) ran to the store for some supplies while I finished setting up. When Ken returned he got the Anything buts prepared while I went to the the cooks meeting.

I grabbed my water and headed to join my fellow competitors. I got to the meeting and sat down. As we were getting ready to start I took a BIG swig of my water only to hold it in my mouth as I read the label on the bottle; Vinegar. Boy was I surprised! No were to spit it out I had to swallow it. Vinegar is not as refreshing as it sounds.

The rest of the competition went smoothly. Overall we didn’t do well but we had our best appearance scores of any of our competitions. Now that we have the look down we will need to get our flavor profiles and tenderness nailed.

A few things we learned:

• Pre-preparation is good - REAL GOOD
• Taking only what you need saves on time and space
• Bring sleeping bags
• Don’t drink vinegar
• It is nice to be able to relax at a competition

Judging Q

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 other. I can now go to BBQ competitions and judge them.

As a team we are hoping to improve our scores at competitions by knowing what the judges are looking for. We now have a good idea of what the judges want so hopefully we can improve our overall scores. In a couple weeks we go to a cooking class to push our Q to the next level.