The finished product

My first attempt at cooking a hog was a near disaster. The hog was too big for my cooker and about half of the poor creature never got above 120*. Here is the first successful hog we've done. As you can see we pay no attention to presentation. Pic quality is embarrassing - but the sucker was good

The pig was 62 lbs and was done in 6 hours. Butts were 200 and hams 190. The only thing left to do is make a removable grate so that we can turn the hog towards the end of the cook.

Pig's on!

Time to get ready for the BarbeQlossal in June. We got a small hog so that we could do some experimenting. Here's Mark with a new toy!

Some trimming - that's a dovetail saw. It works great!

My two oldest sons helped with the rub. They named the hog "Ned"

Ready to cook.

I'll post more pics of the finished hog tomorrow.

Smoked Chicken

My wife loves pulled smoked chicken. Since it's cheaper than buying her roses I'm always willing to make some for her when she gets a craving!

Our new team logos

A good ol' time in Georgia with Jack's Old South

I have no idea how to put these pics in the proper order. However, here are a few pics from my time at Jack's Old South cooking school:

Here's the crew - a great bunch of folks!

Here's the obligatory pic of me and my teammate, Jeff (I'm on the left, Jeff's on the right) with the man in black.

Some lessons in trimming

More lessons. 

Myron Mixon and David Hair. David, besides being the skinniest BBQ cook in the world is one the funniest human beings alive.

Hog prep

Lots of folks will say that competition BBQ is not for eating - it's for judging. That may be true of ribs and chicken. But the hog, pork butt and brisket I ate at Myron's was some of the best food I have ever had.

Smoked Turkey Snow Day

Had a little snow today. Temps were around 20* and windy. So I smoked a turkey.

Brined 8 hours in 2 gallons of water, 2 cups kosher salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, and an undetermined amount of leftover hog rub.

Smoked 2 hours @ 300-350 with Wild Cherry chips (thanks Diva Q!)

Finished in oven for 1.5 hours @ 325.

I'm going to let this thing sit and will finally get a bite of it when I get back from work tonight.

Until next time....

The UFC meets BBQ - A match made in heaven!

My competition BBQ team, Holy and Oly's BBQ, is sponsoring Nate Mohr in his UFC 93 fight on January 17, 2009. The fight is taking place in Dublin, Ireland. Nate is an undercard fighter so his will be one of the first shown. The fight can be seen on pay per view. Look for our name on his trunks!

I'm not sponsoring Nate for any exposure in the BBQ world. Fact is, our team doesn't even have a webpage. But I believe in him - and I have known him since he was in high-school. Join me in wishing him luck - and praying that neither Nate, nor his opponent, suffer an injury.

Here is a video of some of his fights: