The EGGseQuetive Council

Winchester High on the Hog

2010-04-18T10:39:00.003-05:00

What a great weekend in Winchester, TN. When we decided to head to Winchester vs. the Auburn Contest, we were really wanting to redeem ourselves after the showing we had there in 2009. Little did we know how that was going to turn out.

Kevin arrived Thursday evening and got set up. It was much easier to do by himself thanks to the new Big Green Egg Nest Handler's we installed on the XL EGGs. That coupled with the new wider base nest and the All Terrain Nest (Not an Official BGE product unfortunately) made unloading a breeze!

After getting set up, Bobby and Charlie of Team Bobby-Q arrived and we headed to the best Mexican Restaurant in Winchester....Camino Real for some good eating.

Friday, Tammy arrived after staying home to work on a paper for School and brought Sydney the Schnauzer along with her. We quickly began our prep. Being our first contest of the year and changing up some recipes we were sure to take our time with this one.

The weather was Absolutely beautiful the entire weekend which made for some great lounging times as well. After finishing our meat prep, Tammy, Bobby, Charlie and I headed back for more Mexican...I said it was good didn't I?

Saturday came along and we hit our groove. We were pleased with our new chicken recipe and how it turned out, Ribs were tasty and Pork looked good. Brisket was amazingly tender but we washed off our rub. Awards came and we took our seats.

First call, 5th in Chicken...only our 2nd in the last 2 years...then a 3rd in Ribs....1st call in that category in 2 years, then a 1st in Pork...and later to find out a 15th in Brisket. Ron Harwell was running through the top 10 and got to Reserve....The Long Dawgs....then we heard And Grand Champion...The EGGseQuetive Council....we were so excited even Sydney started barking.

Now the fun part....Tammy has been bugging me about cutting my beard...yep, the beard that has been compliment on by perfect strangers numerous times and the same one that a student called EPIC! How can I cut an Epic beard. So I made a bet with her...a 1 time bet...if we won Grand in Winchester, she could cut my beard right then and there....Well, after awards, we were back at the trailer and the clippers were brought out....No More Beard.....pictures to come....

All in All it was a great weekend!

2010 BBQ Season

2010-02-23T16:19:00.002-06:00

The first three contest entries went out in the mail today. Athens, AL, Winchester, TN, and Ashland, MS will be where the EGGseQuetive Council will drop their charcoal first. We made a slight change to the original schedule as we could not miss Winchester...too good of a contest. We are looking at possibly some other changes down the road too....stay tuned.

-Kevin

Ramblings

2010-02-17T21:20:00.002-06:00

Well...we have made our schedule out and already we are on three waiting lists. Who would have ever guessed that we would have to wait and see if we can cook in a contest when we try planning for them eight and nine months out? Anyway...we are keeping our fingers crossed that we might just get into all three of them...

Been doing some off season cooking trials lately. Still not happy with my chicken and ribs...any and all tips are appreciated...might even trade you recipes....lol. Well, off to more chicken research.

-Kevin

June and July Happenings

2009-07-18T16:50:00.002-05:00

Well, June was pretty busy with two contests in the month as well as all of the other hectic stuff that comes with the Summer months.

June 12th and 13th found us in Haleyville, AL for the 911 Festival. This is a great contest with organizers who go out of their way for the cooks. We were hoping for a dry contest as it seems that the Tour de Egg is becoming The EGG Ark tour as it has rained more than we have ever seen. Well, this weekend proved no different, however you have to throw in 78 mph straight line winds into it. We were fortunate and did not take much damage, but we can't say that about everyone as it looked like an EX-UP graveyard around the dumpsters on Saturday morning. We had a pretty decent showing with a 3rd place call in chicken and a 1st in pork. Congrats to Mike and Debbie of Lotta Bull and Scott and Suzi of SouthPork on their Grand and Reserve wins!

Two weeks later we were back in Lawrenceburg, TN. This has always seemed to be the hottest weekend of the year and this year was no different. Thursday night's Red Beans and Rice dinner was fantastic as was the Saturday breakfast. We were cooking this weekend with a Master Judge Candidate which was a lot of fun. Hopefully he learned something as I know we did. Thanks Sydney for helping out! We found ourselves making one call to the stage for Pork with a 9th place finish which we were proud of.

The EGGseQuetive Council will be taking July and August off to get ready for the beginning of the Fall 09 semester at UNA as well as take our summer PhD. course at Colorado State University. We are hoping to get rolling again in September. We know for sure that we will be in Florence for the ABA contest at McFarland Park (a palce both Tammy and I think will be one of the best spots in the country for a contest).

That's all for now....see you down the trail!

Are you kidding me??

2009-06-10T23:03:00.003-05:00

Has it really been since January that I last updated the Blog? I must appologize to the loyal reader (snicker) who has visited us on a daily basis to check up on the happenings of the EGGseQuetive Council....yes, we have been in EGGseQuetive Session, so I am not at liberty to discuss what was going on. But I can give you a brief rundown of the last few months lin the lives of the EGGseQuetive Council.

Started off the season in Mississippi...Columbus to be exact, home of the Mississippi University for Women (they are co-ed however). We had a fair showing for our first event. Beautiful location, a transformer blew in the middle of prep, no lights, no generator......wait it out.

Headed to Auburn, AL for a first time event. I did not take shop in High School, so building the Ark was out of the question as it was really needed. Take the weather out of the picture and this might be one of the top contests in the country in the future! Had some good calls in Pork and Brisket.

Winchester, TN was next on the Tour de Egg. This was the first time in four years that Kevin did not compete with Team Bobby-Q.....might want to rethink that decision in the future as we have seen better days for sure.

The 4th contest of the year saw Kevin cooking solo, well without Tammy. He did cook with a Master Judge Candidate that weekend in Athens, AL. Turned out to be a good event as the EGGseQuetive Council took their first GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP of the year.....boy was that exciting!!!

Huntsville, AL....Tammy's hometown was next. Interesting contest.........we will leave it at that.

Pulaski, TN....home of Sundrop Soda....mmmmmmmm....was our 6th contest of the year. We had some really soft ground and a not so hot finish...we will be back though as it was a very well run contest and it was nice visiting all of our friends.

On top of all of this, we both finished six more credit hours towards our PhD from Colorado State. Lots of writing, reading and time on the phone.

We have had a great time so far this year and hope to continue on with it. We appreciate all the support we get from our Sponsors and friends both on the circuit and off.

Hopefully, I can update this a little more often and share some more great times with you all!

-Kevin

New Sponsor!

2009-01-22T07:49:00.003-06:00

The EGGseQuetive Council is excited to announce that the Madhava Honey Company will be on board with us this year as a product sponsor. Tammy and I discovered their honey this past summer while in school in Colorado. We bought a few bottles of their Ambrosia - a honey made at an altitude of 10,000 feet in the Colorado Mountains. This 100% Pure unfiltered honey is the best tasting honey we have ever tasted and we now use it exclusively on our BBQ. Pay them a visit and see what all they have to offer, and if you run into us at a contest, we should have some samples for you to try!

2009 Schedule

2009-01-21T13:32:00.002-06:00

Well after talking with Tammy, the following is what our 2009 is looking like. We are hoping to keep true to this schedule although there may be times where Kevin is flying solo. So if we are in a town near you, please stop by and say hi!

2009

01/24/09 to 01/25/09 KCBS Awards Banquet Nashville, TN

03/20/09 to 03/21/09 Grilling on the River Columbus, MS

03/27/09 to 03/29/09 Bodagettabbq Auburn, AL

04/17/09 to 04/18/09 Winchester High on the Hog Winchester, TN

04/24/09 to 04/25/09 Best Buckin' Bull BBQ Athens, AL

05/01/09 to 05/02/09 Whistle Stop Festival Huntsville, AL

05/08/09 to 05/09/09 Sundrop BBQ Pulaski, TN

05/15/09 to 05/22/09 Family Vacation

06/12/09 to 06/13/09 Haleyville 9-1-1 BBQ Cookoff Haleyville, AL

06/26/09 to 06/27/09 AT&T State BBQ Championship Lawrenceburg, TN

07/06/09 to 07/14/09 Time off for Doctoral Class Work

07/15/09 to 07/19/09 Gateway Canyons Resort Big Green Egg Cooking Class Grand Junction, CO

08/08 Time off for Beginning of School Year at UNA!

09/11/09 to 09/12/09 Benton County Fair & BBQ Ashland, MS

09/18/09 to 09/19/09 Riverfest Decatur, AL

10/15/09 to 10/18/09 Eggtoberfest

Something Cool

2009-01-08T19:34:00.002-06:00

If you take the time to explore this website you may find something pretty cool!

www.gatewaycanyons.com

-Kevin

Decatur, AL

2008-09-28T11:14:00.003-05:00

This is the 4th year that Kevin has cooked in Decatur, and the third team name he has cooked under. The first year was with some local guys from the Shoals, the following two was with our old team and this year marked the FIRST year as the EGGseQuetive Council. Well, I think we finally hit on something as Decatur has been really rough to Kevin in the past. This contest also had a little kink in our normal schedule as Tammy and Kevin had to go back to Madison at noon on Friday for their class phone call. We did not get back to Decatur til after 7pm which already had us 1 hour behind our normal schedule.

We had some great neighbors as our friends Jiggy Piggy, Lotta Bull BBQ and the Haleyville Super Smokers were right across from us. Let me tell you, the slaw dogs that Jiggy Piggy had on Friday evening were awesome, Tammy and I have been making them for lunch quite often. 74 Teams turned out for this awesome event at Ingalls Harbor in Decatur. In the end, we had a pretty good weekend, taking a 4th in Pork, 2nd in Brisket (Boy that Culinary Prep is working well now!) and 4th overall. We were really excited with the outcomes for Decatur. We are already planning our upcoming season and it should be fun. We are going to be missing this for a few months but we will be back soon!

Ashland, MS

2008-09-28T11:00:00.004-05:00

We have been to Ashland before with our old team, however this marked the first time we went to the Fall contest. Tammy and I pulled in early Friday morning to find that we had choice of sites.....so naturally we picked the one with the only 30 Amp plug :) After getting things set up and the air going in the trailer, Tammy used her spare time to get caught up on reading and Kevin decided to get caugt up on some sleep. (Side note, if you have never slept in an enclosed trailer with air conditioning, it is like a cave, a very nice, cold, dark cave). We decided to bring our Schnauze Sydney along on the trip with us this time and she had a blast saying hi to everyone around.

The contest was a lot of fun. Our friends Piggin and Grinin' LLC were there as well as Candy from BBQrs Delight who won Grand that weekend (Congrats Candy!!). The contest was held in conjunction with the Benton County Fair which had all of the fair goods AND a rodeo. Well, being from Michigan, I do not know what a rodeo is and had to check it out. Bull Riding, calf roping and rodeo clowns and all...it was an experience.

In the end, we finished 5th in Chicken, 4th in Ribs and 2nd in Brisket (Our FIRST Brisket call of the year!!!!) and 3rd overall. It was a good contest and we had a lot of fun.

Updates Coming Soon!

2008-09-18T17:04:00.001-05:00

OK....we are a little bogged down with work and school. I promise a series of updates coming soon from the EGGseQuetive Council including reports from Ashland, MS and Decatur, AL along with some more fun cooking stuff! Stay Tuned!!!

-Kevin

Home From Colorado

2008-07-27T16:45:00.006-05:00

Well after two weeks in Colorado, Tammy and I are home. Class was great, wonderful people and we learned a ton. The weather was perfect! Absolutely no humidity which is a WONDERFUL thing.

While in Colorado, we discovered a few new things. One morning, I went to the Student Center to grab some breakfast. They have a Carl's Jr. there (Hardees for us in Alabama). Well, I notice something different on their breakfast menu....a Breakfast Burger. Well, being curious I had to try one.........it was like a piece of breakfast heaven on a bun!!! Take a regular hamburger bun, place a layer of Tater Tots, top that with some ketchup then a burger, add a fried egg, some bacon and cheese and there you go.....oh boy.....

Another thing we discovered was the New Belgium Brewery. Our friend Rob of ULIKA BBQ is a fan of their Fat Tire beer. I have also had lots of other friends sing its praise. So....seeing that the brewry was right down the road from our residence hall, we decided to check it out.

The tours were all filled for the day, so the guied told us to take a seat and get some free beer....yes, I said free!! One of the brewry (which happens to be employee owned and is powered by the wind - way cool and so green!) staff members came over to us and gave us a sheet and told us to pick four beers each....so we split the list and tried four different kinds.....our favorite was Sunshine Wheat....very nice and light. Fat Tire was a close second.

We found out that we will not be able to get into the Sloss Furnace Contest.....but we have sent in our registrations for Ashland, MS and Decatur, AL for the first two weeks of September. We are getting the itch to get back out and compete and look forward to seeing our friends out on the trail soon.

Higher Learning

2008-07-11T16:53:00.004-05:00

Well....Tammy and I are off tomorrow morning for two weeks of intense class for the start of our Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership at Colorado State University. We are now looking forward to four more years of classwork plus a big ole dissertation to wrap things up. I wonder if I could do something on Leadership in BBQ......anyway, we are looking forward to our first trip to Colorado and getting back in the classroom.

We will be living on campus in the Residence Halls....somthing I have not done for a while. Should be fun though. I will try and update this while we are out there when I get a free minute or two, otherwise....keep em smoking!

-Kevin

Competition Style Chicken How To

2008-07-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is close to the way we cook our chicken, it will yield some amazing chicken for you and your family and friends.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs
Pro Prep Solution
Lotta Bull UnBULLeavable Rub
Favorite Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce (We used Big Bob Gibson’s Red this time)
12 oz. Can of Chicken Broth

1. Trim fat off of the thigh.

2. Place Pro Prep Solution and appropriate amount of water in the tumbler and add chicken.
3. On your Culinary Prep, pull the vacuum until it is into the green area

4. Chicken for 20-30 minutes depending on how much chicken you have in the tumbler. We went a little over 30 minutes on this batch.

5. When the tumbling is done, remove chicken and let drain. We find that a colander in the sink works perfectly.
*Notice the color of the liquid left in the drum. Just think, you would have been ingesting that.

6. Bag up your chicken and put back into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, more is preferable.

7. After you have lit your fire in your cooker (We use a Big Green Egg set up for an indirect cook), stabilize it at 270 Degrees. Add a nice chunk of hickory wood for some more flavor.

8. Next, place your thighs skin side down on a baking sheet and liberally dust them with the Lotta Bull UnBULLeavable rub.

9. Flip them over and repeat the process on the skin side. You can lift the skin and put more rub directly on the meat if you would like. Let them sit out for about 15-20 minutes until the rub melts into the chicken.
10. Next, place your chicken thighs on your preheated smoker (Big Green Egg) and let them cook for about 90 minutes at 270 degrees. Remember, we are doing this with indirect heat.

*When you get them on the smoker, give them another dusting of rub.

11. After 90 minutes, pull the chicken off the smoker and place skin side down in a disposable lasagna type pan.

Add 8 ounces of Chicken Broth to your BBQ Sauce (We used Big Bob Gibson’s Red) and heat it until it is hot and pour it over the thighs until it is about half way up the pan.
13. Place back on the smoker and cook for about an hour until the internal temp is a minimum of 165 degrees. Try not to go much over 170 degrees. Remove and enjoy!

Lawrenceburg, TN

2008-06-29T17:52:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend! The folks in the Lawrenceburg Kiwanis Club sure do put on a top notch event. There are not too many contests out there any more that have a one fee gets your everything, but the folks in Lawrenceburg do and I am sure all of us cooks appreciate them and everything they do!

My dad and I rolled in to Lawrenceburg on Thursday afternoon to set up the trailer and get the fridge plugged in. We visited briefly with Mike and Debbie of Lotta Bull BBQ and John and Kathy of the WIld Bunch Butt Burners then headed back to the house to finish trimming our meat. We were fortunate enough to get a nice SHADY spot which was much welcomed over our last two years of direct sun.

We came back early Friday morning to get all of the major setup stuff done. I tried to smoke some bologna, but let the egg run away and had two large chared chubs....oh well. We went to the cooks meeting which was a first for my mom, and then headed back to the site to start the Anything Butt contest. My mom wanted to give it a shot so we told her to come up with something good.....Crab AuGraten....and it was good....she got a 3rd place call with it so we made her go up by herself to get the award.

A little later we got to work on our meats and everything looked good. The folks and Tammy went back home for the night and I lit the Eggs and headed to bed for a nap. Well...the air mattress had a hole in it....fun night there....anyway, got up to get things rolling and we were good to go, the Gurus did their jobs perfectly and all was perfectly on time.

Got up early to head to the cooks breakfast, full spread of Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Biscuits and Gravy..the works...I said this was a great contest. We did our thing when turns ins came around and then headed to awards.

We ended up taking a 4th in Chicken, a 1st in Pork and overall 4th. We were really proud of this finish and see things heading up for us. We were really glad to have in both of our folks for this contest, hopefully we can get them out to more down the road. We know our next for sure contest will be in September, but if we can, look for us in Birmingham in August......