It’s been quite a summer. I took a well need respite from the blog scene. Now that I’ve caught up on some sleep and reset the brain, it’s time to get back to the labor of love.We cooked a couple of SCBA contests. One was called Smoke at the lodge, the other Pickin’ in The Orchard. Both were Summerville cooks, and we can’t resist the opportunity to compete in our hometown. Both cooks were whole hog and the big cooker, “Lucifer”, was the choice. She had been tested but results continued to be mixed.
Smoke at the Lodge was a great effort. Rain soaked the grounds Thursday and it looked like it would be a wet experience. Wind took over after the rains moved on. Good thing we were prepared with early site selection and good equipment. The Easy Up’s would be the biggest concern. Anytime you get big wind and portable tents together, results can be disastrous. We pulled in equipment Thursday night choosing to set up behind a garage type structure to help shield the cooker from strong currents.
The competition line up was very good. Most of the top cookers in the state were in attendance. The team line up was set. Mary, Kait, Gary Brown, and Tommy Borders would help keep the cook rolling forward. Garland and Rebecca Hudgins had family obligations, Bob Brown was working an outage in the northeast. Common Interest was in good shape.
Set up was completed, and it was time to procure the guest of honor. Careful inspection and some sorting brought out the 128 pound animal du jour. She got put up on the table about 2pm and the preparations began. The hog was trimmed, injected and rubbed in about an hour and a half
Past whole hog cooks were pushed at the end. This hog would have plenty of time to bathe in the smoke. Turn in time was scheduled for 10am Saturday morning. The hog was set in the cooker at 6pm, hoping for an 8am done time.
The Anything But Pork contest was required. I’ve been wrestling with mandatory Anything Butts and how to approach them. I understand the concept, but don’t like to be required to cook for 200. We decided to invest in Chili Dogs. They were affordable, easy, fun and delicious. They didn’t come in last place.
After ATB and a great band, it was time to settle down for the cook. Temperatures unexpectedly dropped overnight but the cooker ran like a champ. The task was to keep the temperature up. Past cooks ran long and we were aiming to meet the deadlines without raising cooker temperatures at the end.
The cooker performed beautifully. The whole hog turned out great. It was moist, tender and picture perfect. Unfortunately, the judges were not as impressed with the efforts. There were some conflicting flavors in the finished product, resulting in a 16th place finish. Better luck might come at the next contest.
Pickin’ in the Orchard followed in June. This whole hog cook was put on to raise money for the Summerville Miracle League. Miracle league is a fantastic organization and cooking to raise money for this charity tops the list at Common Interest.
The team was set: Mary, Kait and myself, Bob and Gary Brown, and Thommy Borders. Our SCBA judge, working on advancement, was Judy Haenni. Garland and Rebecca Hudgins volunteered to be Marshals for the event.
Responsibility with work reared its ugly head Friday morning and trucks didn’t get loaded until early afternoon. Naturally, the rain started right after the truck and cooker were loaded and hooked up. The short ride to the site was difficult and wet. Sites were designated, and the trailer was pulled up as close as possible and offloaded. The tent was immediately put together, and the cooker was put into place. The rain cleared as soon as the cooker was set, and only returned for a short sprinkle late in the night.
The hogs were available early afternoon. A good working weight for the cooker is about 125 pounds. A quick scan of the toe tags, a choice, and the beast was delivered to the site. The Common Interest “juju” was injected. She was slathered and rubbed, a reasonable rest period followed to allow the spices to rehydrate, and on to cooking grate she went. Our Anything Butt was red beans and rice. They were easy and flavorful. Once again, not a great show, but not last place either. We squeaked this one by.
This was not our best effort. The hog stalled on the flip, and never reached temperature. The meat was underdone and tough. The hog was at the correct temperature when we flipped. Unfortunately, it never picked up steam again and didn’t get to the temperature required for great barbecue.
I learned a valuable lesson years ago about managing a cooker. It goes something like this: Never let a cooker loose forward momentum during a cook. Never ever let the meat loose forward momentum. Both scenarios will take mega-energy to correct and the cooked meat quality will suffer tremendously. The only explanation I can come up with was that somehow during the flip, the cooker fell off and the dynamics of the meat changed and never recovered. Lessons well served and reminded frequently.
All in all both cooks were great times. I will repeat the call of the losers once again. “We had a great time, met lots of really nice people and raised money for good causes.” We will return with better plans in the future.
