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Think you know barbecue? Think again
July 09, 2008
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Barbecuing tips: Use wood, or if using propane, add real wood chips: “We use fruit wood, cherry, apple…but lump charcoal is not the way to go. It’s a petroleum product with all kinds of nasty stuff in it. The one thing that drives me nuts is, if you have to use charcoal, let it burn to the embers so all the petroleum burns off, but don’t add to it. I see guys add more charcoal on top of the embers and then cook on it. All that does is add petroleum by-product to your food.” - Mike Johnson When cooking, keep some spray bottles around to keep the outside of the meat moist, and the juices inside. Apple juice is a favorite for ribs, but the Anglesea crew is even trying grape juice this year on their brisket. When using a grill, “make sure the grill surface is clean, and if you want to try to add smoke, I’m not a fan of those pellets. Buy a cast metal box with a lid on it. You can get one for 10 or 15 bucks at (a home supply store) and you can add wood briquettes that don’t have petroleum in them.” – Mike Johnson A tip from the chicken champs is to cook poultry until it is 160 to 165 degrees inside. Use dummy pieces to test the temperature. Don’t poke holes in the meat that you want to be the best because you release the juices you’re trying to keep inside. “That’s why dummy pieces are used. Once the meat gets stabbed you lose moisture. I don’t understand why people do that.” – Mike Johnson BBQ and
Blues Festival starts Friday Class
is in session |
NORTH WILDWOOD – Mike Johnson and his backyard barbecue buddies used
to think they knew their way around a grill. Fire up a grill, marinate
some meat for a few minutes and dinner is served. That all changed,
however, when Johnson was asked by a New Jersey State Barbecue
Championship organizer to be a judge in their contest.
So he took the Kansas City Barbecue Society’s judging course and
Johnson, a North Wildwood Police Department sergeant, came away with an
epiphany.
“I took the class and it was the most incredible food I ever ate in my life,” he said. “I said to myself that I don’t want to eat this once a year (at the festival, which is this weekend in North Wildwood’s Anglesea district), I need to know how to make this in my back yard whenever I want.”
As long as you have a lot of time on your hands.
“This style of cooking is done at extremely low temperatures,” said the
Wildwood High class of 1982 graduate. “The boiling point for liquid is
212 degrees, so you don’t want to force moisture out of the meat by
cooking at temperatures above that. Barbecuing is cooking for hours at
around 200 degrees to keep that moisture in the meat,” whereas grilling
for a lot of people is cooking over high heat.
“For example, to cook a chicken thigh takes us five hours. It’s become a
corny phrase but you need to go low and slow,” he added. “Our ribs take
six hours, our brisket and pulled pork takes 16 hours.”
The competitors begin lighting their wood at about 10 a.m. on Saturday,
and by noon on Sunday, when they begin packaging their product for the
judges, their job is finally done. It’s an all-night process of ensuring
a steady temperature, mopping and basting the meat to keep it moist, and
checking internal temperatures on the four different products: ribs,
pork, brisket and chicken.
“We keep our grill at 200 degrees. Some go lower, some go higher; some
guys go 220 degrees to begin with and then back it down, which is not
easy to do,” he said.
This year’s contest, the 10th anniversary of the state championship –
which is attended by competitive BBQ teams from around the country – is
a chance for the local team to improve on its already impressive record.
Included in their accolades are first place for chicken twice in the
last six years, including last year, but Johnson and his team don’t rest
on their laurels.
“We’ve had success with our chicken, but brisket is really difficult at
the competition level. We had people try our brisket last year who said,
‘Man, this is really good.’ And I told them we were 25th out of 30, so
that tells you how good these guys are. Last year we took sixth with
brisket, and we want to better that this year.”
The competition requires the work of a team, which the local guys call
themselves the Anglesea Barbecue Team. Team members are Rich Schmidt,
Cliff Massie, William Creamer, Jack Madison, Chris Bustard and Gary
Coleman, who, by the way, does get a bit of ribbing (sorry) about his
name (of Diff’rent Strokes fame) from the crew members, who make sure to
keep the competition at a fun level.
“We’re just a bunch of fat guys that like to eat, that’s the truth,”
Johnson said. “At least some of us are.””
Their wives also are a big help.
“They love it. They’re right out there with us whenever we’re
barbecuing, and they help package our entries and take them to the
judges,” Johnson said.
There’s also a name for the group of wives who stand by their barbecuing
men, and they even made up T-shirts and sold a bunch of them at last
year’s festival. But being a family newspaper, we can’t publish their
name. You’ll just have to go to the festival to find out.
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed
at seitz [at] catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by
calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog
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