My buddy Larry over at The BBQ Grail is running a challenge to prove that MOINK isn’t just an appetizer anymore. I don’t think he was completely inspired by a post I did awhile back, but in talking to him I did find out that this sort of activity contributed towards his idea for the contest.

Unlike my previous attempt to show that MOINK can be a main course all by itself, the purpose of this challenge is to cook MOINK in the traditional fashion, then incorporate them into another main dish. There are some other rules as well such as not publishing your result before a certain date, submitting the correct number of photos in a certain format, a story about the dish, and your first-born child (ok, I made that last one up), so if you are interested get yourself over to the contest page and check it out.

Even if you don’t join, you’ll want to check back later as I’ve seen some potential entries in the past that have me scratching my head and wondering how I will top them. And if any of you have any suggestions of what you’d like to see attempted, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Were going to try something new here today. The following review was written by The Kirbdog, a long-time buddy of mine who recently moved to the Reno area in Nevada. He has been cooking for years on a variety of grills, was the first person I knew who cooked on a pellet pooper, eats out a lot, and from my experience knows good food when he tastes it. Pay no attention to the fact that all my close associates have nicknames with “dog” in them, and sit back and enjoy the review stylings of The Kirbdog.

The wife and I have been looking for good BBQ since moving to the Silver State last summer. Trying a few of the local offerings, Kinder’s, Dickie’s and a few others, to date, suffice it to say we were slightly underwhelmed by the BBQ offerings of Reno, that is until we sampled the BBQ House. Rated only 3 1/2 stars on Yelp we were a little concerned, but several of the comments were promising. Self Proclaimed “Oakland Style BBQ”, what the heck is Oakland style BBQ? Apparently, the owners learned their craft at the famous Flint’s BBQ of Oakland, ahh, now I see the connection. It’s a pity that many Flint locations have succumbed to the ways of the economy, but that’s a story for another day.

The BBQ House, could aptly be named the house of BBQ, as it can be found in a converted house on the corner of Roberts and Wells in an older part of Reno. While certainly not in the high rent district, the city is doing a nice job renovating the Wells street area. The BBQ House is classic, with red painted picnic tables outside (in the shade) to Sharpie signatures and messages from it’s patrons decorating the inside walls. This is a mural of Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland.

On to the BBQ. Wanting to sample what the BBQ House had to offer, we opted for the Pork Ribs and Beef Brisket. Let’s just say that the Pork Ribs lived up to the billing, truly “fall off the bone tender”, the ribs were nothing short of amazing. A true foody, after one bite, my wife was tossing out superlatives like “these are amazing”, “tender”, “flavorful” and “super meaty”. The wife opted for the mild sauce. It had a nice, sweet flavor to it, without being overly sugary and not a hint of spice, which suited her just fine.

I went for the Beef Brisket, flavored with their “Medium Sauce”. I much preferred their medium over the mild, thought it had a more robust BBQ flavor and definitely not as sweet, with only a hint of spiciness. Considering that the Brisket was not “fatty brisket”, I thought the meat was really moist and tender. Full of flavor, the mild BBQ Sauce was a brought out the flavor in the brisket. The BBQ House offered a number of the usual sides, we opted for the baked beans and potato salad. The Potato Salad was tasty, slightly better than store bought but no competition for my wife’s home made Potato Salad. The Baked Beans were nothing special. Not sure if they were store bought, but my most favorable descriptor would be to say they were average.

There you have it, if you’re looking for good BBQ in the Reno area, the BBQ House is the place to visit. Good people, welcoming environment and outstanding “Oakland Style” (what ever that is) BBQ.

The BBQ House
463 Roberts Street
Reno, NV 89502-2029
(775) 323-7427‎

Peace.

-Kirbdog

So there you have it, the first guest post and review on No Excuses BBQ. Hopefully it won’t be the last, but I’ll let the readers decide that for me…

This morning started out as a manic Monday, and this evening was no different. Without boring you with all the festivities at the job, I’ll stick to this evening’s topics as there is plenty to discuss. We got sauce reviews, Bubba Ho-Keg mods, and (of course) the latest meal cooked outdoors. Not necessarily in that order…

First off, the friendly neighborhood postal carrier was kind enough to deliver a large batch of Big Butz BBQ Sauce, this of the special No Butz variety. Now before I get into my (mostly) unbiased review, a little disclosure up front. I paid for this sauce, so anything I have to say about it is untainted by bribery, freebies, or other such things frowned upon by the FCC and other Big Brother agencies that seem to want to save us from ourselves.

The first thing you notice when you open the box is that whoever was writing the labels by hand had been in the sauce, and it was affecting their writing style.

This stuff is so new that Tom from Big Butz BBQ hasn’t had time to get labels printed yet. From what I can tell he is more interested in keeping up with the demand than fancy packaging. And for that we are grateful.

The other thing you should notice is the warning on the label. For those of you that don’t know what Bhut Jolokia is, I suggest you follow that link on over to Wikipedia and take a real close look at the end of that first sentence. The part about it being the hottest pepper in the world. Pay attention, this is important. This sauce is pretty spicy and should not be poured on things in large quantities like you might with ketchup and other wimpy sauces.

Understand that we like hot food in this house (cayenne pepper is a food group) and have a pretty high tolerance for spicy eats. Even so, we approached this sauce carefully. On opening the lid you get a whiff of aroma that is distinctly Big Butz. It’s sweet, smokey, and enticing. A quick dip of the finger into the sauce didn’t light my skin on fire, and a quick taste led me to believe I could get away with putting a fair amount on the main course for tonight, chicken burritos. Or soft tacos, as they get stuffed so full around here that you can’t always roll them.

As you can see from the picture, I was fairly generous with the No Butz sauce, yet restrained from going overboard. The verdict? No Butz was a huge hit as it is flavorful as well as spicy. The sweet and smoke flavor combine well with the bite from the pepper. This sauce is not for the faint of heart, but will likely become a staple around here. My wife liked it a lot, and suggested (rightfully so) that this would be an excellent sauce for pulled pork. I have some on the menu for the 4th of July, so you can bet some will make its way into the meal. At least ours, I don’t think most of the guests would be able to handle it based on previous celebrations. Bunch of wimps…

A little of this sauce will go a long way. And Liz, don’t try this at home; it will put Bob in his grave. This sauce is not for the faint of heart, but if you like spicy, you’ll want to get yourself some of this. And no, I don’t get commissions if you buy some. But tell Tom you saw the review here and had to try yourself some No Butz sauce. You have to ask for it special on his website; as of this writing he doesn’t have it listed yet. It will likely become an everyday staple around here.

Now on to other topics. Tonight was the second cook on Bubba Ho-Keg since modifying the lower vent. Since you already saw the end result of the main course, here it is cooking on the grill.

For those keeping track, those are grilled sweet white onions and jalapeno peppers in the grill basket. They were hidden under all that sauce and guacamole in the plated picture. The chicken breasts were dusted with some taco seasoning, red chili powder, and Cajun seasoning mix. I was going to add some cayenne, but figured I’d leave that out so as not to confuse the sauce tasting. And as long as we are on the topic of food from Bubba Ho-Keg tonight, grilled pineapple was for dessert. Served over vanilla ice cream, it was a welcome addition considering the heat from the main course. Other parts of my anatomy may thank me later…

I did mention a modification to Bubba Ho-Keg. I finally found a lower vent mod that was simple yet appears to be very effective at adjusting temps at the lower range of the spectrum. I took some foil duct tape (the kind recommended for HVAC applications, not the standard duct tape), cut it into triangular pieces, and applied it to the lower vent as you see in the picture below.

This is similar to those where people have cut pieces of aluminum and stuck them in the vents, but using the tape is not only easier but also seems to stick in the same place better. Although neither of the two cooks since applying were truly low-and-slow, I did notice a big difference in how the kettle responds based on vent openings. My belief is that this particular configuration will result in better low temperature control without sacrificing those extreme high temps we like so much for steaks and pizza. Time will tell…

Son of Pigdog graduated from high school yesterday, and I was invited to a celebration BBQ at his girlfriend’s house tonight. Son of Pigdog’s girlfriend, not Pigdog’s girlfriend. I don’t think his wife would have approved. Pigdog’s wife, not his son’s… Oh, never mind.

So I get there and find myself in an unusual situation. I’m not on the hook to cook anything, and I don’t really know how to behave. That lasted about 10 minutes, and then I got drafted. To cook the burgers. See if you can guess which grill I was assigned to…

That’s Pigdog prepping the hotdogs. In other words, he’s opening the package prior to throwing them on the OTS on the left. That big monster gasser on the right was my assignment for the evening. And in spite of my disinclination towards using a gasser, I didn’t embarrass myself. I even managed to get a picture of one batch of burgers as they were ready to be removed from the grill.

Nice grill marks, if I do say so myself. And no hockey pucks were served, in spite of having temps in the 700+ range ( especially after the grease from the burgers ignited). No one complained, no one got sick, and the guy that was originally supposed to man the grill got to go socialize with his buddies.

In other words, everybody won.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I’ve been in the Bay Area of California all week, and finally got the opportunity Thursday night to sneak away from work and go try out Phat Matt’s BBQ in Oakland. I’ve heard a lot about this place from Larry from The BBQ Grail and Bob from Bob’s Brew & Que, so I figured I’d take Pigdog along and go meet them for some BBQ and cobbler and see if it lived up to the hype.

Now Phat Matt’s is only three blocks from the MacArthur BART station, but we were driving in from San Jose so that wasn’t an option. Driving in was, well, not necessarily for the faint of heart as the direct route via Google Maps takes you through some interesting parts of Oakland. However once we got there we quickly forgot all about the scary drive.

The first sign you know you are at a place that serves real BBQ and ain’t fooling around is the smell. And in this case it was the smell of smoked meat that started before we even got to the door. The pit is in plain sight as you walk in; no need to ask to see it to confirm that real smoking is going on.

The second sign is the actual sign over the counter. Any place that brags that it is “so good you’ll want to slap yo mama” better live up to it.

Turns out they weren’t just whistling Dixie. Phat Matt and Charlotte know how to treat their customers and turn out some good eats. In spite of warnings from Larry and Bob, both Pigdog and I ordered the 4-meat combo. Let me give you fair warning, this is not a sampler plate where they give you a bite or two of four different meats. This is a platter with 4 full servings of each meat. I opted for pulled pork, brisket, ribs, and pulled chicken.

As you can see, it comes with two sides, a plate of bread, and sauce, and there is a lot of meat on that serving platter that is masquerading as a dinner plate.

Overall, the quality and flavor of the food was outstanding. The pulled pork was the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant, and stood alone without any need for sauce. The ribs were good, cooked Memphis style (dry), and went very well with the sauce (which I asked for on the side). The pulled chicken was moist and tender, had a nice smoke flavor, and was very tasty when combined with the sauce. The brisket had a nice smoke ring and was cooked to perfection, especially given the challenges of serving it in a restaurant. There is a real art in keeping brisket moist and flavorful without turning it into mush while holding it ready for an entire evening; Phat Matt has figured out how to do this.

Pigdog opted for the tri-tip instead of the pulled chicken. He said it was very tasty, but a bit on the dry side. Other than that, he ate until he couldn’t eat anymore, and then ate some more. I think that was his way of giving his stamp of approval to the meal.

As to the sides and the sauce, they were a nice complement to the meal. The potato salad was very good and clearly not that sweet stuff that restaurants get from the supply stores. The beans were better than average but not spectacular, but at the end of the meal they were all gone. I had the spicy sauce in spite of the warnings, but found that although it had a real good flavor and nice bite, it didn’t leave me sweating like they warned me it would. Then again, I have a high tolerance for spicy foods and seek them out; the average person might want to give the mild sauce a try first before diving into the spicy. The sauce was excellent with the ribs and chicken; none was needed for the pulled pork and brisket.

Then it was time for some dessert, and Charlotte brought out a special strawberry cobbler made in honor of Bob’s birthday.

It turns out she was using us a guinea pigs to see if she should make the strawberry cobbler again. I’m pretty sure it will become a staple on the menu, just like the peach cobbler already is. We got to try both, and as much as I liked the peach cobbler I’d heard so much about, the strawberry may be better. It was a great way to finish off the meal and I highly recommend it to all who go there.

As BBQ restaurants go, Phat Matt’s is one of the best I’ve been to, and I will definitely go again the next time I am in the Bay Area and have an evening free. The prices are reasonable, the food is outstanding, and the people are some of the nicest on the planet. What more could you ask for?

Took a bit of walking, but look what we found.

The inside of the restaurant was more than a bit disappointing, especially after looking at their web site pictures. The walls were drab, empty of pictures, and badly in need of a fresh coat of paint. Or maybe some soap and water. It was dinner time, but the place was pretty empty, possibly a result of the open sign being turned around the wrong way. Undeterred by all this (and having walked two miles to get there), we sat down and placed our order. I decided to have a combo plate with 1/4 chicken, 1/2 rack of ribs, and pulled pork. It was served with a side of chips (fries) and cole slaw.

In short, the pulled pork was fairly tasteless and required sauce from the table. The sauce choices were Bodean’s house brand, and weren’t bad in spite of being rather on the thin side and not tasting all that different (one was hickory, the other chipotle). The ribs were tiny, but surprisingly good and properly cooked. The meat came away clean from the bone yet left a proper bite mark. About the only complaint I had with them is that like the rest of the meal they were lukewarm and not hot. The chicken was disappointing; no real smoke flavor, small pieces, and rubbery skin.

My wife, brave soul that she is (after all, she did marry me and is still around after 15 years) ordered their “famous” burnt ends.

We also had a side of BBQ beans. Seemed like the thing to do…

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It’s no secret that I like to BBQ for other people. And that I am deeply appreciative of those that serve in our Armed Forces so that I can enjoy all the freedoms we are afforded in this country. I might not agree with the decisions as to where they are sent, but I have an enormous respect for their service to this country. Now if I could just find a way to thank them with BBQ…

It turns out there is a way to do this even though I don’t live anywhere near a military base. Pete Benac, a fellow BBQ fanatic and Twitterholic (@SpiritBBQ) runs an organization called American Spirit BBQ.

American Spirit BBQ is part of a nationwide movement called Operation BBQ. Their mission is to cater military homecoming and farewell events free of charge as a small way of saying thanks for a thankless job. All of this is done by donations. 100% of the money they collect goes directly to feeding the brave men and women of our armed forces. Pete and other volunteers take care of all the cooking and serving of food; no one is making a dime off of this.

The other day we sent them a donation to assist them with their mission and to support what we feel is a worthy cause. I’d like to suggest that this is an opportunity for all of you reading this to do the same. You can find out more about upcoming events on their Facebook page, or go directly to their home page and make a donation. It’s easy, click on the donate button and use either Paypal or a credit card.

Come on, you know you want to. It’s for a good cause, and it is tax-deductible. Give a soldier a plate of BBQ. We don’t ask for much around here and don’t bother you with a lot of ads and other commercial interests, so humor us and go give a few bucks. I know times are tough for a lot of folks out there, but sacrifice the cost of a cup of coffee or two for those that are willing to sacrifice life and limb for your freedom.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Edmund Burke:

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

We now return you to your regular BBQ programming…

Hey look, we’re a celebrity! I was lucky enough to be featured on this week’s show of the Celebrity Grill podcast. JM and I had a blast yapping about all sorts of meats, veggies, and the history of trashbag taters.

You can download the podcast directly from iTunes or listen to it on the Celebrity Grill site. Don’t forget to check out some of his previous guests; I feel honored to be in the same company with folks like Danielle Dimovski (aka DivaQ, the Queen of BBQ) and Scott Roberts (a true Chilihead).

So what are you waiting for? Get on over there and see if I managed to make a fool out of myself.

Robert King, a Southern California BBQ caterer who runs DR’s BBQ (pronounced Dee Arrrrrr’s; I’m guessing he knows when International Speak Like a Pirate Day is) has issued a “barbecue manifesto” on his blog. In it he explains that he is incensed by multiple references to “crockpot barbecue” on Twitter over the past couple of days, and then goes on to describe himself as a “barbecue snob”.

Robert, I believe you are being a bit too harsh on yourself. In fact, I think you have just earned yourself a spot in the priesthood of the Church of Que. As you’ve pointed out elsewhere on your site:

Pulled pork does not come in a tub with sauce at the grocery store.

There is no such thing as a McShizzle Rib sandwich. Sorry it’s pressed meat.

If you bake meat and put some sauce on it that is not called barbecue. It’s called oven meat with sauce.

Welcome aboard Brother! Now go make some burnt-end offerings in the smoke and go forth to smite the practitioners of FauxQue. They truly know not what they do…

No, we didn’t lose our minds over the pizza cooked on Bubba Ho-Keg tonight, but we did have some fun after dinner. The doctor was in tonight, something he does annually for his alma mater Reed College. Dr. Demento, that is…

Every year he shows up, does a few lectures/shows featuring some aspect of his career in radio and (of course) a nice sampling of the novelty videos and music he is so well known for. Every year we attempt to go to at least one of the nights; this year the wife got kitchen passes for the previous two nights while I corralled the kiddies, and last night we drug the whole family along for a retrospective of his career.

By now you’re likely wondering what all this has to do with barbecue, pizza, or the usual nonsense that we carry on about here. Well, that’s what I was asked to do (barbecue some pizza) rather than go out to eat. So, armed with a couple of bags of TJ’s pizza dough and a refrigerator full of potential pizza toppings, off I went to fire up Bubba Ho-Keg and make sure we had plenty of gas for the festivities.

First up was a sage sausage, mushroom, and olive pizza on an herb crust with homemade pizza sauce and sprinkled with shredded parmesan cheese. As you can see from the picture, round is a shape I am still working on…

Next was a variation on a Hawaiian pizza; chopped pork loin (leftover from last night) was substituted for Canadian bacon. Beyond that, it was the standard ingredients (sauce, pineapple, and cheese) on a whole wheat crust.

All in all it was a very rewarding evening. Pizza and good times with family and an added bonus of the good doctor. Here’s hoping he comes back again next year…