Smokehouse 72

2010 Recap

2011-01-09T10:08:00.005-06:00

Hi all. Hope you all had happy and safe holidays. With the new year upon us, Smokehouse 72 is in their planning mode for the 2011 BBQ season but let us recap what happen in 2010.

It started out with the team purchasing a trailer to convert into a competition rig. We are happy to say the conversion went very well and nobody lost a digit during the process. This trailer started out as a 1978 27’ travel trailer that we completely gutted and equipped with a prep area, a wash bay area and 4 bunks. If you missed the transformation video, you can see it here.

The new rig worked out great! The inaugural contest would start out in Council Bluffs, Ia. early in May and were we glad we had the trailer as the temps plummeted into the upper 30’s over night. It was great to have a warm place to sleep and prep our product. As for the contest, we finished with a 10^th place overall with a 6^th place in Chicken and 3^rd place in a people choice chicken wing contest. We thought this was a pretty good start given that we didn’t have time to practice all winter long, or so we thought.

Up next, we took the trip up to Minnesota for the Minnesota in May BBQ contest held in Austin. This is were we our lack of practice over the winter reared its ugly head. This was the first contest that we did not receive a call in the top 10 for over a year! It was devastating and makes for a long drive back home. The highlight of the weekend was watching Ricks boy, Evan, get Reserve Grand Champion in his kids Q chicken contest. He had a swagger in his step for weeks after that and with good reason; he did better than we did on chicken. Congratulations Evan!

Onto a contest close to home, we entered the Smokin in the Junction Contest in Valley Junction. We were happy to be so close but found quickly that being close was not going to be in our favor. Make it 2 in a row with a no call! By this time we were getting frustrated cause we had thought we put our best foot forward. We needed to get something going, not just for us but also for our sponsors. They deserve it.

Our next shot for a call was also a close contest held in State Center, Ia. This contest is typically a pretty good contest for us so we went in with high hopes. Late Friday afternoon we had a thunderstorm move through and just dumped on us but we were high and dry prepping meats in that new rig. We had noticed that the ribs so far this year had a fat layer that we didn’t care for so we bought extra ribs for this contest to have a better choice. We were rewarded with a 9^th place call in ribs and 13^th overall! Finally, the monkey is off our back.

Next up was the Iowa State BBQ Championship in Marshalltown. This time we decided to change our ribs and pork vendors and see if we can get a better product. This decision turned out to be a good move as we ended up with a 1^st place call in ribs, a 6^th place call in pork and 6^th place overall finish out of a line up of 70 teams.

We were pleased that the pork had come around since our next stop would be the XII annual Butt to Butt invitational in Shannon, Ill. We had been excited about this trip since getting the invite the year before by winning Pork in Marshalltown. The Butt to Butt is the best of the best pork cooks in the nation and also is the Illinois State BBQ Championship held the next day. Again, we were not disappointed but there is always room for improvement. For the Butt to Butt we finished 5^th and for the Illinois Championship we finished 16^th overall with a 5^th place in Ribs.

Back to Iowa for our next contests. We were on to Waterloo and LaPorte City the next week for our Iowa double header. This is a pretty tiring contest with cooking one contest in Waterloo then packing up and hauling to LaPorte City to do it all over again. In Waterloo we hit the chicken again this year with a 2^nd place call. All other calls were high enough to give us 16^th overall. Then it was LaPorte City. We didn’t fare so well here getting our 3^rd no call of the year. We’d just caulk this one up to being tired.

The next on the list was an out of state contest in Laurie, Mo. I would be on a family vacation during this contest so it was up to Jay, Rick and Bob to bring home some hardware. Sorry to say there was no hardware and our 4^th no call of the year but they did placed 13^th in pork out of a very strong field of competitors. All in all they told me this was a great contest in a park setting. The only draw backs’ being it’s on a hill and it happened to be very hot that weekend. Lucky for the AC in the rig.

Back to Iowa the Kiwanis BBQ contest held in Nevada. Another close one! This has been a popular contest for our sponsors to stop by and see us in action. We got back on track with the calls on this contest with an 8^th place in Ribs and a 3^rd place in the pork finishing 15^th overall.

Then we head just 7 miles west to our next contest in Ames. This was a first year contest held in downtown Ames during the All American weekend on Labor Day weekend. It was a very well run contest for the first year with a lot of focus on the cooks. We were hoping for a good showing being so close to home and also being a first year contest. But can you say number 5? 5^th no call of the year bit us in the butt for sure. This was going to be our last contest of the year but because of the finish we thought we should go somewhere else for redemption.

We chose to go to Omaha, Neb. for the River City Round up. We had heard good things about this contest and the coordinators have been trying to get us there for the past few years so we thought what the heck. This was just me and Jay cooking this contest as Bob was on vacation and Rick had to work, but we did have a friend (Rick)from Council Bluffs that came over to lend a hand. Our focus was just fine tuning things before we put it all to sleep before the end of the season. We also decided to do the side dish contest since it was included in the entry fee and we have a pretty good baked bean recipe that has brought home some trophies. A rain and wind storm came in over night and challenged our cooking skills, and temperature probes as it turns out. Every one of our temperature probes were acting up so we needed to borrow one form a neighbor (thanks Pat!). Luck moved in as the sun came out and we went on to the awards. We placed 2^nd in side dish (baked beans), 2^nd in Ribs and 5^th in pork finishing 6^th overall! That was a good finish to the season!

All in all it was a trying season with all the no calls but this winter is dedicated to practice. If anybody needs some pork, pork ribs, chicken or brisket cooked, let me know and we can practice while we cook for you. Free of charge or course, you just pay for the meat and seasoning.

Here’s looking forward to a great 2011!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-28T07:53:00.002-06:00

To all of our followers, friends and family. Smokehouse 72 would like to wish you all a Happy and safe New Year. See you at the smoker in 2011.

Smokehouse 72 BBQ

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-21T06:46:00.002-06:00

Team Smokehouse 72 BBQ would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving this year.

River City Round-Up Results

2010-09-28T07:16:00.003-05:00

Nebraska won’t soon forget Iowa BBQ cooks as the Iowa teams that made the trip had a pretty strong showing at the River City Round-Up held in Omaha this past weekend.
This contest was held in parking lot D of the Qwest center and in conjunction with the Rodeo that was being held all weekend. We also had a great view of the new stadium being built for the College World Series.

Jay and I left my place around 8:30 Friday morning heading for Omaha. We could have done without the head wind that day but it started to die down as we got closer to Nebraska. We arrived at our spot for the weekend around 12:30 (we had a few stops to make). Since it was just the 2 of us it took a bit longer to set up but wasn’t too bad. We were ready to prep meat by 2, so we were right on schedule.

My buddy Rick showed up at 5 to stay with us and help out. He turned out to be the night watch and box runner. It started raining around 2:00 am and didn’t stop till 2:00pm. Since it was raining and he was having trouble sleeping, Rick decided to stay up after 2. Probably a good thing he stayed up to watch things as almost all our thermometers were acting up due to the rain. First time I have had that happen, or it’s the first time we’ve noticed it.

We also entered a side dish in this contest. We have a pretty good baked bean recipe that has won many ribbons so we thought we’d give it a shot again. Presentation was anything goes as long it fits in a 9x9 clamshell box so we got a small pumpkin, cored it out and placed it on a bed of dried pinto beans. We filled the pumpkin with baked beans, closed the lid and sent it in. The colors looked great, we just hoped the judges thought so too. Wish we had a picture of it.

Next we sent in the Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket. At the end of the Rib turn in, my niece Nikki and her boy friend Wil and some other friends came out to see us. It was nice of them to stop and hang with us for the afternoon. We sent them home with a couple of big pans of food before they left.
The sun broke out just in time for the awards and when all was done, below is the results from a field of 51 teams.

2nd - Side Dish ( Baked Beans )
16th – Chicken
2nd – Ribs
5th – Pork
30th – Brisket
6th - Overall

As this looks to be the end of the year for us, we would like to thank our sponsors, friends and family for their support this year.

Smokehouse 72

West Bound!

2010-09-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

With nothing else on the docket, the River City Round-up in Omaha, Nebraska looks to be the last contest of the season for team Smokehouse 72. The River City Round-Up will be held this weekend, September 24^th – 25^th at the Qwest Center in Omaha. This is our first trip to Nebraska and to this contest so there’s not much we know about it yet. We have heard from other teams that it is a really great and fun contest.

It’s going to be a busy weekend as Bob and Rick have other commitments so it’s just Jay and I. I have a friend over in Council Bluffs that will be out so hopefully we can recruit him for some box running or be the dish bitch. Be ready Rick!

The last couple weeks off gave us time to adjust our brisket recipe. I think we hit on something good so keep your fingers crossed and pray for a good table.

We hope for strong finish and ending the season strong. Keep an eye on the site for updates and wish us luck.

Smokehouse 72

2010-09-12T08:11:00.000-05:00

Iowa is done. We competed in 2 contests the last couple of weekends in Iowa, one in Nevada and the other in Ames. In Nevada, we placed 15^th overall with a 3^rd place call in Pork and an 8^th place call in Ribs. We also did a Friday night peoples choice ABT (Atomic Buffalo Turd) contest and placed 3^rd in that event. For those that don’t know, ABT’s are a bacon wrapped jalapeno stuffed with cheese, very good. Along with the ABT’s, we cooked up some pork lion and beef ribs to give out. We had a lot of complements on all the food and a lot of people walking about trying samples.

On to Ames. We thought we put out some great product here but the judges didn’t agree our best showing was in ribs at 11^th. The pork we thought was better than the prior week placed 25^th!? Who knows? Out of the 34 team field, we were stuck at the 19^th spot. Not what we were looking for but that’s what we’ll take if we want to cook in Iowa. If you didn’t know, the best BBQ cooks in America are from Iowa.

Our last contest of the year is coming up on September 24^th and 25^th. This contest is the River City Round up held in Omaha, Nebraska. We are adjusting our brisket recipe just a bit for this contest so keep your figures crossed it was the right direction. Wish us luck!

2010-08-23T12:19:00.000-05:00

My vacation over so it’s time to prepare for a final push in the BBQ season for that elusive Grand Championship.
While I was gone, Jay, Rick and Bob entered the Hillbilly BBQ contest in Lauri, Missouri. It was a long haul for them but Jay say’s it was a really nice contest in a campground type setting in the Ozarks of Missouri. They traveled down to Lauri early Thursday morning to make it an extended weekend and returned on Sunday. Out of the 60 teams they finished a respectable 26th. Here is how the rest scored.

Chicken – 34th
Ribs – 40th
Pork – 13th
Brisket – 26th

Pretty good showing overall by the guys, congrats on their fine finish! On a selfish point, I’m glad to see they still need me to do the ribs.
Coming up we have 2 local contests. August 27th and 28th will be the Kiwanis BBQ contest in Nevada, Ia. and on September 3rd and 4th, we will be in Ames, Ia. at the All American Weekend BBQ Contest. This is your chance to come see us in action so don’t miss it. Pick a contest you would like to visit us at and shoot me an email letting me know you’ll be stopping by.

Smokehouse 72

2010-07-28T12:37:00.006-05:00

Things have been pretty busy around here so sorry for the delay on the post for those following our season. July 16th – July 18th was our latest contests held in Waterloo and LaPorte City, Ia. Being these contests were only about 20 miles apart, they were held back to back. Meaning, the Waterloo contest was held from Friday to Saturday and LaPorte City was Saturday to Sunday. Busy, Busy.
The team arrived in Waterloo around 11am to set up and prep meats for the night. The whole team was at hand for this contest, which is a good thing since Jay and I took off later that afternoon to go help our eldest brother celebrate his 50th birthday. That meant the team wouldn’t miss a beat with Rick and Bob taking care of the pits and we also had a Certified BBQ Judge that was shadowing us for the night. Mike (the judge) wanted to spend the night and see how our cookers work. Fine by me, we could use the help since we had two contests to do. Jay and I arrived back to the site around 10pm with the pits running right on temp.
By morning, the cookers were still on target and we were up to get the ribs and chicken going. Same process as always for the ribs but Jay was bound and determined to get the chicken pulled up and tried a couple of new tweaks. Everything coming off the cookers that day was very good, even the judge that was with us would give us his estimate of flavors and provide tips on presentation. Mike tried a sample of all our product and would have scored them all pretty high.. Well, except for the chicken. He wasn’t real “wowed” by the chicken. Anyway, we will see at awards how it comes together.
After our turn in for Brisket, we packed up and took off for LaPorte City to unload. I think we were like the 3rd team there from Waterloo. We packed up quick! Dropped the trailer off and took off for Waterloo for the awards. Results from a field of 41 are below.

Chicken – 2nd

Ribs – 18th

Pork - 19th

Brisket – 31st

Overall – 16th

As you can see, what we thought was the weakest turned out to be the strongest finish. That’s the way it works most of the time so we weren’t surprised but it surprised Mike. On to LaPorte City.

Heres a picture of our sign at Waterloo. We just got the Ribs sign from winning ribs at Marshalltown.

At LaPorte City we were already behind so we decided to put the meats on later and cook hotter, we’ve done this before so it was nothing new. We also did a People’s Choice Pork loin which was supplied to us by the event coordinator. Don’t know how we fared on that since no score sheets were given out and it was winner take all. At least it didn’t cost us anything but time and charcoal.
We spent the evening getting ready for the morning and relaxing after the Waterloo contest. Luckily, we were set up near the band and we could just sit in our area and listen and watch people mull about. About 3:30am I get a text from Wendy saying there are some strong winds on the way so Rick and I are up to tie down the canopy and awnings. If we would have got the winds that Ames got that night, our ties down would have been the only thing left from the awnings. Lucky for us that the storm past by with just minor wind and a little rain.
We were back up at 6am getting the pits ready again for the ribs and chicken and again, everything cooked on target even with the late start on the big meats. The ribs struggled just a bit to make temp but they turned out pretty well I thought. As meats were done and turn in completed, it was time for us to pack up and get ready for another day of awards. This day we weren’t so lucky. Results from the field of 25 teams.

Chicken – 19th

Ribs – 14th

Pork – 17th

Brisket – 14th

Overall – 17th

Middle of the pack, sometimes it just turns out that way once in awhile. We just need to learn from it and rebound at the next competition.
The competition for Smokehouse 72 will be in the state of Missouri at Laurie on August 6th & 7th. This is the first time for us to be at this contest and the first time this year in Missouri. I will be on a family vacation in Florida so Jay, Rick and Bob will handle this one. I’m the rib cook and have supplied them with the recipes I use, so one of them will take on that responsibility. They did just fine without me before so it shouldn’t be any problem. Good luck to them all!

Until next time, Smoke On!
Smokehouse 72

Shannon Recap

2010-07-12T14:27:00.003-05:00

That was an experience! There always seem to be something new that comes up at contests and this one is no exception. The Butt to Butt Invitational would kick off the event on Friday night leading on to the Illinois State BBQ Championship on Saturday. We showed up on Thursday to get checked in and prep our meats for the Butt to Butt. As we found out later that afternoon, the hosts, Mike and Teresa Lake invite all that show on Thursday to a Steak supper at their place. They supplied the steaks, sides, desserts and drinks. We even had our steaks cooked by TLC Pitmaster, Johnny Trigg. It was a fun evening to chat with other competitors and relax a bit before going back to our site to start cooking.
After supper, we turned our attention to the Butt to Butt contest. We arrived back at our site and prepared the pits to cook all night. We cooked 4 butts for this contest, we normally do 2 but since we had space, we thought we should fill it up to give us a better shot. We placed the butts on early Friday morning to be done by the 5pm turn in. The turn in and awards are different with the Butt to Butt versus a normal KCBS contest. They provide us with a box runner for turn ins and judging is done by all 10 judges regardless the amount of teams. At this contest, although 11 were invited, only 6 teams made it to compete. During the awards all teams are brought up front and the contest organizer would announce the results starting with 5th, then 4th and up to 2nd. This would leave 2 teams standing. One of them would be the winner and the other would be last place. Not really were a team would want to be but being there were only 6 teams out of the 61 teams there that even qualified, it would be an honor just to be in the mix. So the announcement starts off with 5th place….SMOKEHOUSE 72 is called. We didn’t win but we didn’t need to stand being one of the last. As they called each team, each person gave out a sigh of relief as they exited left. Congratulations go to Iowa Smokey D’s for the Butt to Butt win.
After awards it was back to our site to get ready for the Championship. Actually, we had the meats on for the Saturday contest before we went up for awards for the Butt to Butt. So it was just dial in the temps and go to bed.
We were back up at 5:30 to get the ribs on and wrap the big meats. Everything seemed to be running pretty smooth with just a few adjustments over night. Chicken went on around 10 and the big meats starting to come off to be held in the cambro till turn in.
Once turn-in came around at noon everything was looking and smelling great. As with any other KCBS contest, chicken starts us off, followed up by Ribs, Pork, Brisket, and ending with a sausage category. Sausage was not a mandatory entry but we tried it anyway.
When the smoke settled, we were left with the following results out of 61 teams.

18th – Chicken
6th – Ribs
24th – Pork
38th – Brisket
11th - Sausage
16th - Overall

Next up is a back to back contest at Waterloo and La Porte City this Friday/Saturday and Saturday/Sunday.
Also, Friday marks the 50th birthday of our brother, Rick. Happy Birthday Bro!!!

Smoke On!
Smokehouse 72

Butt to Butt XII

2010-07-04T07:42:00.003-05:00

The Shannon, Illinois contest is coming up this week starting Thursday July 8th with the Butt to Butt XII and ending with the Shannon, Ill State Championship on Saturday. The Butt to Butt is an invitational Pork butt only contest. This means each team invited to cook the Butt to Butt has won the Pork category at a contest selected by the Butt to Butt organizers. The following is a list of the teams invited.

Team - Contests Won

Pellet Envy - Hammond, LA
Pork Pullin Plowboys - Butt to Butt XI Champion
Iowa's Smokey D's - IL State Championship, Shannon, Ill
I Smell Smoke - GAB Invitational
Emerald Buffalo - Jefferson City, Mo
Smokehouse '72 - Iowa State Championship, Marshalltown, IA
Jerry King Midland, TX - American Royal Open, Kansas City, Mo
Little Pig Town - KCBS Pork Team of the Year
Swamp Boys - Jack Daniels BBQ Championship, Lynchburg, Tn.

We are honored to be a part of this field of champions and excited to be cooking the Butt to Butt this year. Even if we come in last, it's going to be an awesome trip.

Wish us luck and keep an eye out for updates.

Smokehouse 72

Marshalltown News and Reviews

2010-06-27T20:59:00.004-05:00

The Iowa State BBQ championship in Marshalltown has come to an end this past weekend.

We showed up Friday afternoon to set up camp. It was only me and Jay to start with as Rick was off to Green Bay to celebrate his birthday with friends. Bob showed up later that afternoon to lend a hand. We were set up next to friends Pat and Christy Harmeyer from Dirty Pig BBQ, it’s always fun to be in good company when at a contest.

The trailer was a great asset to have as it was a hot and rainy weekend. The rain didn’t help the cookers as it got some water inside and dropped the temps a bit but we pulled them under the canopy and the temps recovered nicely. Come morning with the rain just pass and the air temperatures starting to climb, I was up early to get the ribs going and dry a few things out. Again, thank God we have air in the trailer.

Turn ins were a little different this time since Rick (Cookie) was gone. Jay, Bob and I split the job of box running with me running the chicken and brisket and Jay taking the pork and Bob took the ribs to the turn in table. We weren’t late on any turn ins so that was a plus.

The results at the end of the day are as follows:

Chicken 34^th
Ribs 1^st
Pork 6^th
Brisket 35^th
Overall 6^th

It was a great day for us and it was especially great to get the pork back on track as our next contest will be the Butt to Butt contest in Shannon, Ill. Keep your eye on the website and our Facebook page for updates for the upcoming event.

Happy Q’n

Smokehouse 72

State Center Results and Reviews

2010-06-21T10:07:00.002-05:00

Well the few weeks off and the tweaking of recipes seems to be going in the right direction. The State Center Rose Festival and BBQ contest was held this past weekend with 29 teams competing for the grand prize. We went into the contest knowing it would be tough but our main focus was to improve from the previous contest and ready ourselves for the fast approaching Butt to Butt contest in Shannon, Ill. on July 8th.
The trailer was set up around 10am Friday morning in our usual spot at the Northwest end of the block. We like this spot because of the amount of shade we have in the afternoon and the proximity to the bathrooms, the bands set up nearby and the parade route goes right by us. It’s like we have a front row seat to the whole show. Having the prep area in our trailer now proved to be a plus as well. As storms moved through the area we were able to keep everything dry and concentrate on prepping the meat instead of fighting off the rain and wind.
After working on prepping the ribs for some time and not liking what I was getting, we made the decision to get another pack of ribs to work with. Most of you that have followed us in the past know that the rib category is one of our strongest categories but this year has been a struggle with our supplier changing packers. The ribs have been fatty and trimmed uneven so it’s been a lot of work to get something that looks presentable. The second set of ribs we purchased looked much better.
Through the night, the cookers ran great and the rain held off so that was a good thing. Come 5am and I’m up to get a cooker going for the ribs and to get the pork butts wrapped. The ribs went on at 6am and I let them go till 9 when I checked them for the first time. They did not look good at all. I typically look for a specific color and the color was not even close. So close the lid and let them go another hour after which they looked a lot better. The chicken went on around 10 and would be the first to be turned in at noon.
Chicken ended up with a nice color, the bite through skin we were after and a pretty good flavor so in the box it went for the first run. Ribs were next up at 12:30 and these too had great color, pretty good flavor but I felt the tenderness was not even close. They could have been cooked another half hour was my thoughts, but I’m not the judge. Placing them in the box was a pain in the butt since they did not fit, the greens were getting messed up by me pulling the ribs back out. Finally, I just laid 5 ribs in the back and Bob suggested laying 2 arced in the front. Great idea Bob!
Pork turned out pretty good but we were limited in the pieces we could use. We did a lot of picking through to get some good chunks to place in the box. Then the last turn in of the day was brisket which we felt was the strongest entry of the day. Very good!

On to awards at 3, here is where we finished.

Chicken – 12th
Ribs – 9th
Pork – 12th
Brisket – 18th
Overall – 13th.

See where everbody finished here -> State Center Results
We were happy. A good rebound from the last contest and hopefully it will slingshot us into the future.
Next up is Marshalltown this weekend. Wish us luck!

2010-06-10T12:42:00.002-05:00

Been awhile since I’ve been on to post anything but not much has happened since the last post. Not much being a contest in Valley Junction where we were humbled and amazed by the scores we received. Those scores were not in our favor and told us we had a little adjusting to do before going on to the next contest. I don’t think things were as far off as it seemed at the time so just a slight tweaking should do the trick. You never want to change up a recipe too drastically without trying it at home first.
We have till June 18th and 19th before our next contest so it gives us plenty of time to practice. Some of that practicing will go on this weekend when we cook pork for the Immune Deficiency Foundation Golf outing. This will be the 4th year we have donated our time and BBQ expertise to feed the golfers that took their day for a good cause. Here’s a little more on Immune Deficiency.
As I stated, June 18th and 19th is our next contest and will be held in State Center, Ia. during their annual Rose Festival. We have done this contest every year since we started in competition, this contest being the very first. It’s a nice close contest which starts out Friday night with a public vote chili contest, which we have done very well in past contests. This year, however, we will be focusing on our contest meats instead of the chili for Friday night. Maybe we’ll just do some judging instead. Typically on Friday, there are a few bands playing and a few booths set up selling things as well. On Saturday, there is a parade that starts at 10 and lasts till noon I think. It’s typically just getting done as we turn in our first meat entry. After the parade, there will be a band set up playing while the public strolls around sampling some of the best BBQ the city has seen.
This brings up a whole new subject, the public. Being a contest cook and also being on the other side of the table as the public observer, I know what the people are looking for, FREE FOOD! Can’t say as I blame them either, it’s great to be able to sample outstanding BBQ. But on the other side of the table I also know what the contestants have put into their BBQ. The meats are not handed to them; it’s paid for by them for the competition. So if you’re at a BBQ competition in the future, please be respectful of the cook’s area. Just don’t walk on in and take samples, ask if it’s alright to have a sample. It may be free to you but it’s not free for them and most contestants don’t have restaurants or catering businesses to promote. Also, be aware that in most cases the BBQ team does not have to give out samples. Believe me, I’ve seen almost everything to the point where we used police tape to keep the public out while we did our contest meats. I even had one person try to take a sample from the turn in meat.
Enough of my rambling, honestly, we like to see people at contests so don’t be afraid to stop in and say hi. If we have samples ready, we’ll let you try it.

Until next time..Smoke on!
Smokehouse 72

Minnesota in May Results and Review

2010-05-17T12:21:00.005-05:00

The Minnesota in May BBQ contest was held this past weekend in Austin, Mn. This is one or our favorite contests to hit so it was a no brainer that we were going to this one. We arrived to our site shortly after noon and set up next to friends, Bavarian BBQ Boys, from Afton, Mn.

We prepped the meats and got them ready for the over night cook.

Rick's son, Evan, came along on this trip to do the Kids Q which was held on Friday night. Evan was in the 11-15 age group and needed to cook chicken. He cooked chicken thighs on the Weber Kettle. He mixed up his own sauce and a put on the rub he wanted to use. It was up to the kids to do the whole thing with exception to starting the fires which the parents need to help.

His chicken looked excellent when it was done, to bad we didn't have enough to try it. His awards would be the following day along with our awards.

Over night, the cookers ran steady temps and the meats were spot on come morning. Couldn't have asked for much better. Saturday morning we got the ribs going and the chicken was to follow later that morning.

Turn ins came along with chicken at noon, ribs at 12:30, Pork at 1:00 and Brisket at 1:30. They also had dessert and anything butt but we didn't enter those contests.

Overall, we were pretty happy with the turn ins with exception of the chicken. We tried a new process with the chicken and it didn't seem to work out, doesn't hurt to try I guess.
Everything done and turned in, it was time to pack up and get ready for the awards. I must say that packing up with the new trailer is a lot easier. Awards were held at 3:30 starting with the kids Q. We were happy to hear Evan recieved the award for Reserve Grand Champion with his chicken. Well done Evan!
On to the awards for us. We didn't fair so well, below are the results out of a 53 team field.

Chicken - 48th
Ribs - 19th
Pork - 16th
Brisket - 26th
Overall - 26th

Not bad overall but not what we expected after a night where everything ran great. Anyway, on to Valley Junction!

Smokehouse 72

Council Bluffs News and Results

2010-05-09T05:46:00.004-05:00

Well the first competition and the maiden voyage of the new Smokehouse rig is in the bag. Although it wasn't exactly what we wanted, it was a respectable showing coming out the gates.
We pulled out early Friday morning with the idea of taking it slow and checking the trailer every so often to make sure things were going to ride alright. After a few stops, it became apparent that all was going to be alright. We arrived in Council Bluffs around 10:30 am hoping that we can get into our spot. Our friend and BBQ neighbor for the weekend, Ryan Newstrom from team Big T'z Q'cru called me and asked how close were we. At that point we were only 10 minutes away, he said "I'm still hooked up to my trailer, I'll wait till you get here so you can get in." That was great news. Thanks Ryan!
After getting set up Friday afternoon we moved on to prepping the big meats. As the weather was cold and very windy, the new inside prep station was really nice. We quickly fell in love with the trailer we spent so many hours on to build.
As night fell, so did the temperatures. Again, having a heated place to work and sleep was great! We decided to cook the peoples choice Chicken wing contest that evening. We typically don't do peoples choice but since it was free to enter and they supplied the wings, we really wasn't out much.
We put the big meats on the cookers around 9pm and those would stay over night with a few checks on them in the middle of the night. Everything seamed to be cooking a little slower than normal, I chalk this up to the weather.
By 6am, we were back up to get the ribs going and prep the chicken to go on later that morning. Saturday, although cold, looked to be a less windy and a more sunny day.
12 noon came on soon enough and this would mean the first turn in of the year. Chicken is always the first up, then ribs at 12:30, Pork at 1:00 and the brisket rounds off the 4 meats with a 1:30 entry.
At 3pm, we went to the awards ceremony to get the results of the day. First they would announce the top 3 winners of the Friday night Peoples choice chicken wing contest. We were pleasantly awarded 3rd place out of the 19 teams that competed in the wing contest.
Next they moved on to announce the 4 main meat categories. Below are our results out of 37 teams.

Chicken - 6th
Ribs - 17th
Pork - 13th
Brisket - 17th
Overall - 10th

We were happy to be in the top 10 kicking off the season. We look forward to next weekend when we will be up in Austin, Mn at the Minnesota BBQ Championship. Keep an eye out for next weeks results and wish us another good showing.

Team Smokehouse 72

Welcome Martin Construction!

2010-05-05T06:25:00.003-05:00

Smokehouse 72 would like to welcome our newest sponsor for this year, Martin Construction. Martin Construction has been around many years and provides quailty construction in all they build. Thank you for your support this year!

Welcome Sponsors!

2010-05-03T06:41:00.003-05:00

We would like to welcome the following sponsors for the 2010 BBQ season.

Returning sponsor, Front Porch Travel has committed to another year with Smokehouse 72 BBQ team. Visit Front Porch Travel's easy to use website to book your next flight, cruise, hotel, or even to order those flowers for mothers day.

We also welcome Vivid Images as a new sponsor for this year. For an example of some of their work take a look at our BBQ trailer. The vinyls on the trailer was done by Jamie at Vivid Images. The print quality is outstanding and appilcation could'nt be easier.

One more week!

2010-04-30T08:51:00.003-05:00

It was a long winter for all of us, now it's time to cook!
Next weekend (May 7th and 8th) we start the year off in Council Bluffs, Ia at the BBQ in the Bluffs contest. This contest is held downtown in Bayless Park. A nice park area with a water feature and areas for bands to set up. We have competed in this contest once before 2 years ago and had some pretty good calls that day as I remember it.
This will be the inaugural trip for the new competition trailer, we are both excited and nervous about this trek. Nervous about the things that could go wrong, mechanical or otherwise. And excited to be back out cooking and using the trailer. I'm sure it's going to take a couple of competitions to get things where we want them and to get the trailer completely stocked with what we want on board.
The vinyls are getting made this week for all the sponsors who have committed to help us this year. Those will be on the trailer by Thursday night right before we take off Friday morning.
Wish us luck.

Addition to the website.
You may or may not of noticed, but I have created an Online Store for people to purchase Smokehouse 72 apparel and items. There are many items to choose from so please take a look.

Ponderosa BBQ Audition

2010-04-26T15:04:00.002-05:00

Cable television TLC has a series call "Pitmasters". They recently were accepting audtion tapes from BBQ teams around the world. One of those auditons is a good buddy of team Smokehouse 72 from Des Moines, Moe Cason of Ponderosa BBQ. He sent in his tape to be considered for the show and I think he has a great shot. Good Luck big Moe!.

Heres Moe's Audition.
Ponderosa BBQ

Welcome back Electric Wholesale!

2010-04-13T09:43:00.002-05:00

Electric Wholesale Co. has committed to another year with Smokehouse 72. We are glad to have them on board once again as we look to smoke our competition this year.
Thank you Electric Wholesale!

On another note. The unveiling of the new Competition BBQ trailer is only a few short weeks away.. Stay tuned!!

Smokehouse 72 BBQ Rig

2010-04-13T07:06:00.005-05:00

I've been saying to look for new things to come, Well it's hear. Like I have said in my previous posts, we had bought a trailer last year and spent the winter converting it to a BBQ competition sleeper/prep kitchen. See the video below which shows the progression of the project.

Coming down to the wire

2010-03-31T06:45:00.011-05:00

The season is drawing closer and closer for team Smokehouse 72. We will be starting our season out this year in Iowa at BBQ in the Bluffs held in Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 7th - 8th. It will be a welcome changed after that long long winter.
To keep us busy over the winter, the team have been working on their new bbq trailer. This trailer is turning out to be a good looking unit with all the features we need or wanted to help us get a quality product to the judges and bring home those ribbons and cash.
The inside is just about done. The rig features 4 bunks towards the back of the unit with small storage spaces for each of us to put our things during competitions. As you move forward out of the bunk area, you will see a deep sink that is tied into a 30 gallon fresh water tank and 6 gallon gas water heater. The sink area is also surrounded by multiple cabinet area storage and lots of counter space. On the opposite side you find a bench that will fold out to a 5th bed for visitors who want to stay over with us. This side also has storage areas. On forward you will see a full size refrigerator to house our competition meats and a cambro food storage container to hold our product safely once it has been cooked. Opposite of the fridge is the door and a white dry erase board to easily track our cooking times and product temperatures. Moving to the front of the unit is the prep station with enough room for 2 of us to comfortabley be prepping our contest meats on a deep counter top. On each side are cabinets to hold the knives,cutting boards, pans and any other utensil we may need for prep or finishing. Above the prep station is a shelf that will hold all the spices and rubs used. The flooring will feature a continuous vinyl floor back to the bench which then will transition into a commercial carpet to give a homey feel.
Thanks to Rick and Bob 2 weeks ago while Jay and I spent the weekend in Kansas City taking a BBQ class to learn some new tips and tricks, the rig is now painted. Now that the paint is done, we installed the awning, put on new marker lights, and installed all the flooring. We have also order the Smokehouse 72 decal to be install on each side of the trailer. All sponsors that pay $250 will have vinyl letters on the side of the trailer as well.
The official unveiling is only weeks away. ......Stay tuned!

We would also like to thank returning sponsors, Burks Balms and Easy Camping RV. They have both signed on to another year with a winning team. We aslo welcome back our main sponsor, Power Source Electric who is deditcated to helping us bring home the trohpies.

We two sponsorship options this year.
$125 - You'll be on the website and receive a 10% discount on any catering.
$250 - You'll be on the website, embossed on the trailer and a 20% discount on any catering.
Contact me with any interests.

Rays - email or call me at 515-291-1236.

Smokehouse 72 in Africa

2010-03-06T19:37:00.006-06:00

Recently my wife, Wendy, made her second trip to Mali, Africa with Medicine for Mail. A little back ground, Wendy is the director of the Master of Public Health Program at Des Moines University and has had the fortune to travel with Medicine for Mali to help with the health care problem in that country. This was her third trip to Africa, twice to Mali and once to Tanzania. While she was packing for her last trip, she was looking for items to give as gifts for some of the members of the Malian team. Smokehouse 72 BBQ team donated 3 tee shirts for the journey.
Below is a picture of Sekou Sangare (Say-Koo San-ger-ray) dawning his new gift from the team. Sekou is the Malian public health educator for Medicine for Mali.

Below is a picture of Wendy and Sekou standing with Nfali (middle) and his parents. Nfali (n-fall-e) also received a tee shirt from Smokehouse 72.
During Wendy's first trip to Mali, she came across Nfali who had a terrible abscessed tooth. His parents where told a year prior of his tooth infection but were unable to pay for any procedure so the infection grew to the point that his jaw was swollen and the infection had broken through his skin and was draining down his neck. At this point he was at least 30 days from dying of the infection. Wendy and one other Medicine for Mali personnel pooled $75 each to have Nfali get medicine to be fixed.

Here is a link to the news article that run in the local paper. Africa Article

It's official!. Invite is in.

2010-02-09T20:36:00.007-06:00

This week Smokehouse 72 received their invite to the Illinois BBQ Butt to Butt Championship.
Because of our Pork Butt win in Marshalltown last year, we were selected to cook in the 13th annual Butt to Butt championship held in Shannon, Illinois on July 7th. The Butt to Butt is a selection of 10 of the top pork cookers in the country going head to head. We are honored to be a part of this tough crowd. We'll keep you posted as the date draws near.
The season will start before we know it, stay tuned for more exciting news to come.

(click the form to enlarge and read)

Season Review

2009-11-23T12:20:00.002-06:00

Our Competition BBQ’s for the 2009 season is complete and with your help, it was a successful union of two teams to become an elite player in the Midwest BBQ circuit.
Our journey started back in January of 2009 when discussions of a possibly merger between BBQ Council Competition Cooking team and Shotgun BBQ began. BBQ Council (Ray Ringgenberg) a 6 year veteran of the circuit and his brother Shotgun BBQ (Jay Ringgenberg) another BBQ veteran made the merger complete on January 28th, 2009. Our hopes were to bring the best out of each team and bring them together.

Now came the time for planning comps, getting sponsors, and putting together equipment. As we held our first meeting for competition planning it became clear we could use more help. Rick Dodd approached us with interest of joining the team. We welcomed Rick as he had experience in competitions and is a public relations liaison for our sponsors. Rick also helped with the pork this year and fine tuned his art to bring the team 2 first place trophies in Pork. Later, Bob Lowery expressed his interest in joining up with the team. Bob had about 2 years experience in competitions and showed willingness to learn more so we welcomed him aboard to complete the team. Bob proved to be a great asset to the team with his organizational skills, cleanliness, and is a wonderful cook in his own right.

Now that the team was together and our planning was done it was time for the first competition. We chose the Apple Blossom BBQ contest in St. Joseph, Mo. to be our inagarraul contest in hopes of building cohesiveness before entering the Iowa competitions. We finished with a 5th place showing out of 70 plus teams. We didn’t know it at the time, but this score will become relevant at a future Missouri contest.

Next out of the gate was Minnesota in May held in Austin, Mn. My son Jackson joined us for this contest as there was a Kids Q he wanted to compete in and it gets him away from his sisters for the weekend. I’m not sure which was more important to him. Anyway, this contest again had 70 quality teams that came out to give us their best. We walked away with a 7th place in Ribs and a 14th overall showing, but my son stole the show as he took the Reserve Grand Championship of the Kids Q. Must get the cooking skills from his old man.

After impressive showings out of state, it’s now on to Iowa contests. We start the Iowa leg by cooking the Great Pork BarbeQ’lossal held in Des Moines, Ia. This contest is a little different in that we cook all pork. No chicken or Brisket at this one, however, we did cook a whole hog as a 4th category. We ended up placing 8th in that whole hog and that was the only call we heard that day. We were happy to place so high in a category we don’t normally cook.

Our next Iowa contest was State Center, Iowa at the Rose Festival. This contest is typically good to us every year and this year didn’t prove to be any different as we placed 5th overall. Chicken was 7th, Ribs placed 6th and Pork got its first call of the year with a 3rd place showing.
The Iowa State BBQ Championship held in Marshalltown is next on the list. This contest is the official contest of the Iowa BBQ society and seems to be a really popular contest among Iowans and neighboring states. We went in hoping to keep a run going in Pork and we did just that placing 1st in pork this time and ending up with a 13th place finish amounst the 70 plus teams in attendance.

We started July off with a small contest in Colo, Iowa at the Colo Crossroads Festival. Bob and I would cook this one against 11 of some of the best teams in Iowa. Bob cooked the chicken placing 4th and I worked on the Ribs and Pork loin getting 2nd in each category. We ended up getting Reserve Grand Champion of this contest.

On to our back to back BBQ weekend. These are 2 contests held on the same weekend. Waterloo BBQ’loo is from Friday to Saturday and BBQ in the Park in LaPorte City, Ia. is from Saturday to Sunday. The Waterloo contest featured us being interviewed by KCRG TV from Cedar Rapids. This was a stressful situation that I don’t think we need to do again. We got our first brisket call of the year here with a 3rd place and we also turned in a side dish of baked beans for this contest which placed 3rd. After the turn ins in Waterloo, it was off to La Porte City to do it all over again. This time we were rewarded with a first place in Ribs.

With the economy the way it’s been and some flooding from last year in Eastern Iowa, 3 Iowa contests cancelled their events for the year, this left open dates to fill in. I mentioned earlier the relevance of the 5th place showing in St. Joseph at the being of the year. Here is where that ties in. We found a contest in Excelsior Springs, Mo. that combined with the St. Joseph contest to detrime the Northern Missouri Champion. We thought, “Hey, we have a shot, let’s do it.” We drove to Excelsior Springs, Mo. and put on our best of the year. We Placed 2nd in Ribs, 6th in Chicken and 4th overall. That score in combination with the St. Joseph score gave us the Northern Missouri Reserve Grand Championship.

Our Iowa contests finished up in Nevada with the Kiwanis BBQ Contest held at the fairgrounds. The pork for this contest hit again getting a 1st place call and finished 7th overall out of a field of 40 teams. For this contest we also donated our Pork and Brisket to Krysilis Homes for developmentally challenged persons. Below are a list of some of the accomplishments.

Our efforts were not concentrated solely on competitions this year. In addition to the donation to Kryisilis Homes we also donated our catering time to the Immune Deficiency foundation for it’s annual fundraiser/golf outing.

Looking to the future, Smokehouse 72 has purchased their own BBQ trailer to be used for next year. This trailer will have the wash bays, prep station and cutting areas inside to eliminate the possibility of outside contamination. It will be fitted with 4 bunks for sleeping, AC, and a full refrigerator. The team name and team sponsors will be embossed on the outside of the trailer for all to see during travels and at competitions.

All in all, this year went really well and we want to thank all of our sponsors for the support they provided us for the year. We hope to have you back for another season.
Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to all.