Not The End: A New Beginning

Folks:

It's been a while since I last blogged. Much has changed. The Hog Wild Bar-B-Q takeout is gone and I have switched to a catering-only business, working out of another location. I no longer serve sandwiches and ribs to walk-up customers.

It was a business decision. For more than a year up to my closing, business steadily declined. It finally got to the point where I could no longer afford to stay in business. Declining sales were just one of many reasons I decided to close. It was a convergence of situations and misfortunes. Gas prices steadily increased, the housing bubble burst, construction activity came to a virtual halt in Riverview, my customers lost their jobs, some customers lost their homes, and despite it all, traffic on 301 steadily worsened making it nearly impossible to get in and out of my parking lot. Add to that: thieves trying to “steal” my electric power burned out my refrigeration (twice) putting me deep in debt for repairs and lost revenue, and, finally, I was broken into (twice) and robbed, costing me hundreds of dollars to replace equipment and ruined and stolen food.

I am deeply appreciative of all the customers who visited Hog Wild over the 4 ½ years at 10715 Hwy 301 in Riverview. Thank you all. I had many good times and it was a great pleasure talking and meeting you all. Some of you have called me and expressed your regrets. I am deeply moved by that, and I commiserate. And yes, there may be other 'que joints but I agree that there is no good barbecue to be had in Riverview now (unless you hire me to cater). But take heart. I am down but not out. I have learned a lot about the business and I have been able to look back and review my mistakes and miscalculations. Hog Wild Bar-B-Q will rise again! But next time, expect it to be mo' better!

Keep you eyes open as you drive around town. Check this blog every now and then. Some day you'll sniff that familiar smoke. You'll get a hint of roasting pork, familiar seasonings. You may hear faint blues music. Follow your nose. You will be happily rewarded

Hickory

Folks:

Today I am writing about Hickory. The cat, not the wood. Hickory, pictured to the left, is a male tabby who sometime back in 2007 became the "barbecue cat" and visited me every day to get his breakfast and dinner of barbecue scraps. Hickory was one of the many feral cats that live in and around the woods and trailer park behind my business. Like all feral cats, Hickory was beset with problems: injuries, fleas, and a bad ear mite infestation that caused him to shake his head every few minutes. And he drooled a bit. But unlike most ferals, Hickory was very affectionate and tolerated me touching him and petting him. Over time I became quite fond of Hickory. I looked forward to his greeting in the early pre-dawn gloom and again in the later afternoon. Sometimes he "hung out" at the barbecue, napping on the picnic table in the back. But most of the time he'd eat and leave and reappear later. Hickory's life was generally a struggle to survive. But as I petted him and he nuzzled me at the picnic table, he'd often lightly purr. Even as he shook his head to ward off the continuous irritation in his ears, he purred. I doubt most feral cats have reason to purr. But a little kindness and attention was reason enough for him.

Alas, the day came when I had to do something about Hickory. He'd fathered many kittens in the trailer park, casually sprayed his scent about the barbecue, and engaged in hair-raising fights with other males. This all had to stop. I wanted him around, but I could not tolerate this tomcat stuff any longer. So I decided to take advantage of the ASPCA's feral cat program in which they spay/neuter the cat, give it shots, etc. for $25. I merely had to trap the cat myself, bring him in, and return later and claim him. I was willing to do all this for Hickory. I rented the trap.

"Catching" Hickory was easy. Hickory was there to greet me in the morning darkness as usual. I merely put his breakfast in the trap, held the door open, and when Hickory was inside eating, I closed the door. But Hickory was startled by that and began to cry. I loaded Hickory into my truck and soothed him by speaking the gentle, affectionate words I used when he nuzzled me. I talked to him the whole way across town and about half way there he stopped crying. As I dropped him off at 8:00 am I said to him "Bye Hickory. See you at 5:00."

Poor Hickory never made it back to the barbecue. Diagnosed with FIV, the feline version of HIV, the ASPCA was duty-bound to put Hickory down. I was informed of this when I returned to get Hickory at 5:00. So Hickory is gone. His poor, painful life came to an unceremonious end on March 3, 2008, in a strange place, surrounded by people he did not know. I am going to miss him mightily over the next few weeks, but I am happy that I was able to brighten his life a little, bring him some comfort and a bit of happiness during the time he spent with me. Goodbye Hickory. Goodbye my friend.

Jammin' the Pig in '07

Folks:

We came, we saw, we jammed. Hog Wild Bar-B-Q made its second showing at the Plant City Pig Jam in 2007. As in 2006, we worked hard, drank plenty and had a great time. Also as in 2006, the air was chilly and a fire was needed throughout the night. Fortunately the wind was not whipping like it was last year.

This year we expanded our team a little. Myself and John were still the main pitmasters, but we added "The Ladies": Patti, Carol Ann, and Kim - three friends. Melissa, my daughter, was also involved this year. Pete and Michelle, active participants last year, were once again slinging the pork. We lost Larry however, but he had other commitment and car trouble to boot.

I won't go into a play-by-play in this blog like I did last year. In actuality, this year's activities were much the same as last year's; drinking, socializing, cooking barbecue. There were a few notable exceptions which I will mention. I already mentioned the team membership changes. Last year I stayed up all night in the cold tending 2 fires (cooking and warming) while my team (John and Pete) grabbed a little sleep. This year I was able to get a few hours of sleep while my team monitored the fires. But most importantly, this year we changed the ribs. Last year I submitted excellent versions of the standard ribs we cook at Hog Wild. This year we submitted something quite different: "Guava-Rum Ribs". I cannot reveal the recipe, but let it be known that we came in 4th place in ribs in the Amateur Division. That's out of 30 teams! Which brings me to the final notable difference: this year we participated as "Amateurs" whereas last year I signed us up as "Professionals". Why? I filled out the wrong form! But it worked out in the end and made absolutely no difference at all.

I thank my hard-working team with all my heart. Without them I could not have done it. And I thank my patient customers who put up with the Riverview restaurant being closed while we competed in Plant City, and then while I travelled to Alabama for a family Thanksgiving. (BTW, we're back. We're open again. Y'all can start coming by again.)

Here are a few views and commentary of the 2007 Pig Jam.

Here's our humble set up. Nothing flashy. You can see the tent where me and Melissa slept. The Ladies adamantly insisted that I dress up our display for Pig Jam 2008 and they had some definitely good ideas along those lines. Next year's pictures ought to be better.

I cannot remember this character's name (the guy standing, that is). He stopped by our set up and chatted in almost the identical fashion as he did in '06. He's a true character. His normal job is tour guide for the Jack Daniels distillery. But he enters these KCBS BBQ cookoffs as his hobby. Here he is talking to Melissa. You cannot see it in this picture, but he carries a plastic fork in the pocket of his overalls so that he's always at the ready for tasting BBQ.

Here are The Ladies: (l to r) Kim, Patti, and Carol Ann. They provided hours of amusement, work and help. Whats more, Patti provided a huge pot of gumbo which was consumed with glee on Friday night

Here's Pete and Michelle. They showed up a little late, but eager. Unlike last year, Pete had to work and could not get Saturday off. But he and his lovely bride Michelle skedaddled out to Plant City as soon as they could. (What's Carol Ann doing back there?)

My son Geoffrey and his girlfriend Tiffany stopped by for a visit. They didn't cook any barbecue, but they ate a lot of it.

My brush with celebrity. Here I am with Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQ. He's won multiple awards, written three books, been on TV many times and is generally regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on barbecue. Here he displays some chicken he whipped up for him and his team buddies on Friday night. He was a nice guy and later he came by our camp (which was right next door), enjoyed some gumbo and chatted a bit.

Here they are! Fourth place ribs!! Hooowaahhh!! These babies look so good I can almost eat the picture!

Not Just Semantics

Folks-

What is barbecuing? What is grilling? Are they synonymous? For most people barbecuing and grilling are one in the same. But I am here to tell you that, in truth, they are quite different. Barbecuing and grilling do share some attributes. Both are done on grates, usually outdoors, and both involve the use of hot coals placed somewhere below the grate to cook meat. But that is where the similarities end.

Grilling involves high heat – that is cooking temperatures above 250 degrees (often significantly above). In a typical grill, meat “sees” the fire. In other words, the coals are placed usually directly below the meat. Intense heat radiates directly from the coals to the meat resulting in relatively short cooking times. Fat drips down from the meat into the coals, and if the cook is not careful, grease fires and flare-ups can result. However, under normal controlled grilling, the fat drips steadily on the coals, vaporizing on contact and sending up a puff of aromatic smoke and fat particles that drift up with the heat convection current and adhere themselves to the meat. This adds wonderful flavor (and color, too). Cooking times for grilling max out at around 30 minutes and are usually significantly less for many cuts of meat.

Barbecuing involves low heat – that is cooking temperatures around 250 degrees and lower. In most barbecue arrangements the meat does not “see” the fire. The fire, consisting of a bed of glowing coals, is usually placed in an adjoining chamber so that the meat is only exposed to the heat and smoke. Fat dripping from the meat is collected in a pan or channeled to a collection vessel. It never drips onto the coals. With temperatures at 250 degrees or lower, cooking times are long. The method is used primarily to flavor and tenderize tough pieces of meat. Meat is “infused” with smoke and while it’s fat melts and juices slowly move toward the surface of the meat. Cooking times for barbecuing can be anywhere from 3 to 24 hours depending upon the cut of meat and the temperature. At Hog Wild Bar-B-Q we, not surprisingly, barbecue our meat.

What’s best grilled? Steaks, chicken (yes, chicken), vegetables, most fish and shellfish, hot dogs, sausages, burgers, chops.

What’s best barbecued? Pork shoulder, ribs, beef brisket, hams, whole animals (hogs, steers, goats), turkey, certain oily-fleshed fish like mullet, salmon.

What can go either way? Chicken tastes best when grilled hot and relatively fast. But slower barbecued chicken is good too (it’s what we serve at Hog Wild). I have had many wonderful “true” barbecued ribs, but I have also had some just dandy hot grilled ribs too. Either way is fine. Just make sure you know what you’re doing.

Read All About It!

Folks –

Read any good barbecue books lately? Probably not. There haven’t been any good ones published since 1996.

Barbecue is an interesting cuisine. Its fans are passionate. Its preparations are regional. I know of no other cuisine that spawns such fervor for sanctioned cook-offs. Chili might be the only other one that comes to mind, but it’s a distance second. But in addition to all this, barbecue has found a niche in a narrow writing genre: a kind of gastronomic/travel fusion that has existed for many years, but now seems to be taken over by authors on their “barbecue quest”. In a "barbecue quest" the author tours the South and Southwest in search of “true” barbecue. He documents his adventures, describes the food, the people, the towns, the landscapes, the ‘cue joints, etc. And he inevitably discovers that “true” barbecue is everywhere and in many forms, and nobody anywhere can claim to be producing the one and only absolute “true” barbecue. Done well, it can make for some interesting reading. But, alas, most authors do not do it well.

I won’t bore you with a list of the “barbecue quest” books to stay away from. Instead I will recommend the two I believe are the very best. If you are a barbecue fan and you like the gastronomic/travel fusion genre, here are two books you MUST read:

Real Barbecue by Greg Johnson and Vince Staten. This is the granddaddy of them all. Published in 1988, this tome set the standard for most all other “barbecue quest” books to follow. And what a standard. The book is well written and engaging. The authors literally visit 100 ‘cue joints and write about each one. Sound boring? Believe me, it really isn’t. It’s a wonderful read and I heartily recommend it. It’s out of print, so copies are getting a little hard to find. It took me 4 years to get mine (and it’s autographed by one of the authors!).

Smokestack Lightning by Lolis Eric Elie and Frank Stewart. While books and articles which were little more than bad copies of Real Barbecue rolled off the presses, Elie and Stewart found a unique way to satisfy their urges to travel, eat barbecue and write about it. Smokestack Lightning was published in 1996. In Smokestack Lightning our authors do more than just visit ‘cue joints. It’s not a so much a barbecue road map as it is a charming look into the hearts and souls of the people who devote their lives to the preparation of authentic barbecue. As we read it we become acquainted with the travels and travails of the authors, as well as with the people they meet. There are plenty of descriptions of the barbecue and plenty of descriptions of the techniques. But the interactions with the various characters, their homes and lives, are unforgettable. It is truly a unique book.

Many other books like these have been written over the years. A new one just came out in July by Ray Lampe, a barbecue mover-and-shaker from Lakeland. Yes, I purchased Ray’s book and all the others, and have read them all. After all, I am a barbecue man. But I cannot truly recommend any of them above the two stand-outs I described above. Read these two and you’ve read just about all the real commentary on barbecue that can be written.

Have a good read.

A Barbecue Pilgrimage

Folks:

It's not often that I will preach from the pit about another barbecue joint. However, there are those joints out there that garner the respect of all pit masters. These are the places like Arthur Bryant's of KC, The Rendezvous Lounge of Memphis, Sonny Bryan's of Dallas, and others: the much vaunted cathedrals of 'cue, palaces of pork, meccas of meat. We have one here in Florida: Peebles Bar-B-Q in Auburndale. I don't regard them as a competitor - they're sacred barbecue holy ground. And so John and I set out last Saturday on a barbecue pilgrimage to Auburndale.

We arrived on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Peebles is a shacky-looking place sitting hard on the side of the Dixie Highway in Auburndale, inconspicuously blending in with the residences nearby. It's the kind of place you have to know about in order to go there. Unless you are a native of Auburndale you'd never stumble across it. Peebles was started in 1946 by the Peebles family who moved to the area from Georgia. Originally they served food to the locals and the citrus workers. Today the citrus workers are fewer in this area, but Peebles' reputation for excellent barbecue brings customers from far and wide. Note the sign above. They are only open 3 days a week. Whatsmore, they close for the Summer! Yet the short time they are open they pack 'em in!

Now Peebles is a no-frills kind of place. They have no A/C, do not serve desserts, do not serve chicken, have no children's menu. They don't sing Happy Birthday to you and they take only cash. It's not a restaurant for sissies. My kind of place.

Note the menu to the left. Really, to say Peebles is no-frills is to almost be overstating the issue. This menu says it all. They have pork, ribs, sliced beef. Their idea of "vegetables" is beans, slaw, and potato salad!

We took our seats and ordered. Here is a picture of John anxiously awaiting his order. Note that John is appropriately dressed. Note also the louvers behind John. In the hot months (beginning in about 3 weeks) they open these louvers for ventilation and turn on the fans. They prop the louvers open from the outide using mop handles, tree branches, whatever. This day the louvers were closed. It was pleasant enough without the ventilation.

Peebles' massive concrete-block pits sit about 10 feet from the dining area. I was able to take this photo by just standing up and taking two steps from our table. Peebles does barbecue the "right" way in my opinion. They burn wood down to coals in a separate hearth and then shovel the hot coals into the pits. They never cook over buring logs! I love the fact that you can see the pits right out in the open. Nobody else does this, to my knowledge - not even me! I really like the idea of it. Look at those ribs cooking in that pit! MMMM-mmmm!!

So here's my order: Ribs and chopped pork, beans, slaw and potato salad. John had the same. The ribs were good, but we could tell that they'd been sitting a while. Same was true of the pork. Although this somewhat diminished our enjoyment of them, it did not ruin it. Peebles clearly uses very little, if any, seasoning on their meat. At Hog Wild we utilize seasonings to great effect and wholly believe in them. Nonetheless, Peebles produces a top notch rib. The pork was tender. Both had a nice, understated smokey flavor - a flavor you can only get with coals and dripping grease. Lovely!

The sides were quite good. Slaw was chopped fine and had a simple, pleasant flavor. The beans were very molasses-y and good. The potato salad was extraordinary.

I want you to note the essential barbecue elements in the picture above: plastic plates and utensils, paper cups, paper napkins and way off to the left (you can barely see) is a plastic sandwich bag containing that barbecue staple; two slices of white bread.

In the end we decided the following: Our ribs are better. Our pork is better. Our beans are slightly better (we serve a sweeter, more tomatoey bean), the slaws are nearly identical, and their potato salad is better. But for pure barbecue ambiance, Peebles can't be beat. Not even by me! Dear reader, if you get the chance, I highly recommend a trip to Auburndale for a true barbecue experience at Peebles - Florida's oldest and most holy temple of 'cue.

BBQ Bob

Pig Jammed

Folks:
I promised I would recap the Pig Jam over a month ago. Due to some technical difficulties, I had to put it off until now. But better late than never. But before I go over all the fun and adventure we had, let me get straight to the main point: we didn't win. Didn't come close, really. But as you may remember from my previous post, I didn't enter this thing for the win, I entered it for the fun and experience. And I had plenty of both. So here's the recap:

John and I were the first Hog Wild team members to arrive. We got there around noon on Friday. Here John surveys the situation while we determine how we are going to set up. Our equipment consists of the portable BBQpit and stuff piled next to John's truck, and the stuff crammed into my Bronco.

Here's our humble set up. But it served as home for the next 30 hours. Here we drank beer, sat by the fire, talked, laughed, and whipped up some of the best BBQ we've ever done.

I took a picture of this rig to demonstrate how some of them can get kind of elaborate. This rig is certainly not the most elaborate of the bunch, but it was one of my favorites. I cannot recall the team's name.

I do recall this team's name, however. These are the Rock 'N Roll Barbecue guys. A real couple of characters. The guy on the right is the chief cook, and the guy on the left is his sidekick. Can't recall their actual names, though. These guys also didn't win, but seemed to be having a great time. They boasted trophies from many barbecue contests past.

Here we are rubbing down a couple briskets. We originally were going to let them dry marinate until around 3:00am and then start cooking them. As it happens, the weather turned very cold (colder than we expected), and we had to get cooking around 1:00am.

This lady droive by. This motorized cooler actually had beer in it. Needless to say, she was quite popular around the place.

As the sun began to set the air cooled dramatically and teams began to fire up their pits. John observed "It looks like the industrial revolution". Indeed it did. But it smelled better.

The night was cold, but people partied and cooked all night long. My team went to bed around midnight but I stayed up to mind the fire. John got up around 3:00 Saturday and went out and bought coffee. I needed it.

We woke Pete up at around 4:30. Pete, alas, had consumed too much Jim Beam the night before and had difficulty rising in the morning. Here is Pete waking from his slumber in his tent.

Saturday, after submiting our entries to the contest, we began selling barbecue to the general public. Here are some folks deciding what to buy.

Here is a shot of some beautiful barbecue cooking in the pit. On the far left is the brisket we started at 1:00am. A couple pork shoulders can be seen in the background. Another brisket started at around 3:30 am can be seen in the foreground.

I threw this picture in to show how some set ups were even smaller than ours. These guys cooked on Webers and New Braunfels outdoor pits. A regular backyard set up. But, champion barbecue can be cooked on anything.

Here's a crowd shot. I thought the crowd was good, but many of the veterans told me that the crowd was bigger last year. Seemed OK to me.

AHHH. Now that's some kinds barbecue! This pork shoulder was glazed with bourbon and brown sugar, giving it that dark "crust". But it is not burned and not dried out. This pork was pure heaven.

This is about as close as I got to a trophy. The awards ceremony was held around 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. The sun was beginning to set and the temperature was heading down. Shortly after the ceremony we broke camp and headed home. A good time was had by all.