• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Big Book of BBQ Tricks
  • Resources
  • Free E-CookBook / Newsletter
  • Smoking Meat 101 Book
  • BBQ Blueprint Book
  • Electric Smoker Cookbook
  • Wood Pellet Grill Smoker Book
  • Temperature Guide
    • Seafood
    • Pork
    • Poltry
    • Beef
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • Sitemap

Barbecue Tricks

BBQ Tips and Tricks

Tricks

August 22, 2015 Featured

Rosemary Skewers – Gettin’ Twiggy With It

rosemary.Still002
In a previous post we suggested using basil twigs as a nice addition to the smoker to add that “extra something” to your grilled meat. Here’s another barbecue trick.

 

You can use long, strong, rosemary twigs as skewers for your next elegant kebab.

 

This is a great reason to grow a large rosemary bush in your garden. They actually look and smell great and, in the right climate, they stay green most of the year. They even flower. I’ve seen many waist high rosemary bushes at restaurants and friend’s homes that produce great skewers.

 

Just strip off the leaves, except for a couple of inches at the tip. They add a rustic look and great flavor to the meat and veggies.

 

Twigs for skewers could work with many other herb plants. Experiment!
https://barbecuetricks.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/rosemarySMALL.mp4

April 27, 2014 Featured

Ten Burger Tricks and Tips – Lid Up or Down?

burrgerr

hamburger tricks

Burgers are a summertime staple in the USA.   Everybody can handle ’em.   Still – your cook out might just go a bit smoother when you are ready to take on the grill with these quick tips and tricks for America’s favorite BBQ food.

1–Keep it Together…Make your patty out of
good ground beef
.  Use some egg and bread crumbs too.  Not only will it add flavor and moisture but it will help the beef hold together.

2–Chill Out.   Pop the patty in the freezer or fridge for fifteen minutes before hitting the grill  The chill will also help em hold together.

3– The Dent.  You can help keep the patty from balling up by starting with a little dent in the center of the burger.   When the meat cooks the dent will diminish and you’ll have a flatter patty.

4—Plan Ahead.   Have all your supplies on hand.  Think through it before you put the meat on the fire.  A trip back
to the kitchen could mean disaster if there’s a flareup when you are gone…

5- Keep It Clean.   Start with a clean grill – fire it up, brush it clean… oil with towel.   The grill bits left over from Labor Day’s cookout are not flavor this time around!

6–Check Yer Lid.   Lid up?  Or down?… the rule is if the meat is thicker than your palm close the lid.  If thinner… keep your eye on it.

7 – Keep it simple.   Don’t over season.  But DO add a secret ingredient to a few patties for fun and conversation.

8–Get Cheesy.   Add the cheese at the very end…  I use Kraft American singles.

9–Is It Done Yet?  Go medium well.   It’s best to use a thermometer.  Should read about 140 in the middle of the thickest part of the meat.

10–Let It Rest — When you’re done… let it rest.   Cutting or biting in too soon will allow the savory juices to drain out onto the plate.  Plus the cheese is HOT!  Let it rest 15 minutes  it’s tough but  it’s worth the wait.

December 31, 2012 Competitions

Top Ways To Cheat at Your Next BBQ Competition

Brisket Smoke Ring

Brisket Smoke Ring

The sanctioned BBQ world is serious business.  Maybe too serious if you’ve ever seen BBQ Pit Masters on TV.  There are pages of detailed rules that are never really reviewed prior to competitions by judges or by cookers.  Some rules are regional by nature.  Like, meat categories (whole hog is hard to find outside the South). Others – like the rule for only using charcoal or gas as a heat source – is somewhat common.  I’ve even seen rules against team members drinking to excess.

If you are looking to get the upper hand and bend the rules a bit here are a few ways that competition cooks quietly get an edge.

First, start with better meat.    You can use meat that the tournament provides or bring in your own grain fed premium grade organic – more tasty – better meat.    There may or may not be fine print on “only using what the sponsor provides” but the rule is rarely enforced or even checked.  It’s more likely your meat cooler will only be checked for food safety reasons (like maintaining a cold enough temperature).   I’ve seen teams bring in top of the line Wagyu beef brisket.  It’s pricey.  But if it indeed tastes better it’s a real edge.  Some winning cookers have been known to bring in secret recipe pre-brined chicken.

Next, use electricity to help your cooking efficiency and consistency    Many big organizations (like KCBS and MIM)  forbid heat sources other than wood or charcoal.  Still it’s within guidelines to get a little electric help.  So gadgets have been designed to make charcoal (use hardwood lump for best flavor)  more reliable and consistent in temperature.    Look into retrofitting your smoker with an electric blower with a thermostat to stoke your fire up or down to the ideal temperature while you play Angry Birds in the RV.   Most common are the BBQ Guru and the Stoker.

Two Pork Butts with Money Muscle circled.  Note fat stripes.

Two Pork Butts with Money Muscle circled. Note fat stripes.

Get the most bark for your buck.  Judges like bark, that savory sweet charred crust found on great BBQ meats.    Trim your pork so you have the most and best tasting.   The “money muscle is a tucked away tube of succulence on the Boston Butt that many cooks are trying to really take advantage of for it’s tender texture and flavor.  It’s almost entirely surrounded by other parts of the butt so if you want to combine the great meat of the money muscle and the magic of great tasting bark you’ll have to trim out the money muscle before cooking.  In some competitions it’s against the rules to cook large meats in parts so you may want to simply keep it a small portion still attached to the mother ship.

Cheat the smoke ring.   It is absolutely expected for brisket and pork to have a nice smoke ring when turned in to judges.  This is formed by a chemical reaction to the smoke over low and slow temp. and time.    Some say if you put COLD meat on the smoker from the start it will enhance the ring.  We say don’t leave it to chance.    Cheat the ring by adding some curing salt to your rub like Morton’s Tender Quick.  It’s strong stuff so some cookers will coat the meat for a few hours and rinse it off before adding the tasty – bark creating rub.

detach money muscle

Semi-detaching the Money Muscle

Microwave friendly.  As stated above… cooking with fuel other than wood or coal could be against the rules so why would you need a microwave?   Well, judges like to bite into a warm piece of meat.   They also judge on smell and warm meat will always be more fragrant than cold meat.    A fifteen second zap in the box is sometimes the perfect bump to setting your entry a part.   Against the rules?  Is 15 seconds really cooking? You decide. Just silence the “beeping” and don’t let Bubba’s team see you doing it.

These rarely policed barbecue tricks may or may not be truly cheating the BBQ Rules.   Read the fine print of your rules and let your conscience be your guide.  The one rule you can not and should not bend is “marking” a box.  This is where a team has a mole in the judging tent clued in on a special trait or “mark” on a turn in box.  Don’t try.   It won’t work due to rotating judges and will probably get you disqualified or marked down in appearance points.   Instead, use care to really “present” your meat in the box.   Follow the guidance in the rules on garnish and ask around about traditional layout.   Appearance is almost always a big part of your score and it’s surprising how many cooks just plop it in the box.   Pull pork (never chop) and lay out pieces in an orderly presentation.

 

 

July 15, 2012 Featured

Corn Shucking Trick

 

 

 

Corn on the cob can be a hassle to get clean and free from silks.   Here’s a quick trick to get each cob super clean and – since this is Barbecue Tricks it’s nice to free up the grill for the meat!   Take a look.

cobUse a sharp knive and chop the bottom – rounded ends off each cob.   Keep on the husk and all.  Then give each cob… husk, silks and all a 4 minute zap in the microwave.  Add four minutes for each additional cob.

After heating you should be able to slowly (carefully with gloves – it’s HOT) squeeze out the cob.  Take a look at the two minute corn husk shucking video to see it in action.

September 2, 2008 Competitions

Winning Your First BBQ Cook Off

It can be a bit daunting… These BBQ competitions look kind of intense even with all the beer and funny t-shirts there is an underlying seriousness to it all.

After getting though our “first time” this past weekend at a Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned event we have a few tricks to get you through the first big cook off.

First, know all the rules. Head strait to the website of the organization putting on the event. In my case it was http://www.kcbs.us/. Read all the fine print. The K.C.B.S. site also has a great “Your First Cook-Off” article here.

Ask questions… start at your nearest BBQ joint. I was lucky enough to be warned about having a sanitation station. In our case a clean cooler filled with beach-water and clean rags for surface cleaning; plus a fresh water cooler with push-button spigot (upright Gatorade type worked nicely) over a bus-tray as a hand washing station. Don’t forget the hand sanitizer, paper towels and soap.

You’ll need to have a fire extinguisher. No one checked ours; but we were in an amateur division and it was on the KCBS check -off judges sheet.

You’ll need gear. Don’t be intimidated by the huge rigs of the regulars on the bar-be-que circuit. No doubt those guys have it down, but I’ve heard big contests have been won on a couple of small Webber bullet grills. Our team used a single Brinkmann “Gourmet” Charcoal Smoker and it worked great. We only had two divisions (chicken and ribs) so one smoker was easy. For next time (with additional categories of brisket and pork-butt) we’ll add a second “bullet” smoker.

Research presentation and “turn in.” Timing matters. Can you keep the meat hot up until turn-in? You’ll be given official numbered turn in boxes for your team’s entries. I’ve seen some teams use insulated pizza delivery delivery bags to help retain heat.

I had a tough time finding clear tips online. Here area few starting points:
http://www.barbecuen.com/champion.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/competitionbbqsecrets
http://www.3men.com/competition%20chicken.htm
Don’t get too drunk. Not a problem for us… but seeing that we were warned by more than one cooker… and looking at a few of the teams… It must be a common hazard.

Do a test run at home. Use exactly what you’ll be using at the competition. We didn’t used colored cocktail tooth picks (to pin down the skin on our chicken) at our home test. To our horror the green and red toothpicks we used on-site added big green and red spots in the flesh of the chicken. Green spots have got to cost some “appearance” points! We got creative with a knife and sauce.

Don’t forget the little things. There’s potentially a lot. Again KCBS has a great list to get you covered HERE under “First Cook off.” It’s a good idea to start with a hometown (but sanctioned) contest. Out of town travel creates another level of planning. You’ll be amazed how many competitions are in the state of South Carolina alone!

Be prepared. Anything can happen. It will probably rain. They won’t let your car back on the grounds. Through all of it take a few notes for next time. Plus get the judges score sheets to track your future adjustments.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome To BBQTricks!

Hey Y'all... Thanks for stopping by. I'm Bill West. I blog about BBQ and occasionally country music. When it comes to BBQ I try to find solid time saving tips and tricks to make the grilling life a bit easier. It's life hacking for the backyard cooker. Read More…

Your Gateway to Barbecue Information

This site is a member of The Smoke Ring BBQ Webring A linked list of BBQ websites

Next BBQ Site - Next 5 BBQ Sites - Prev BBQ Site - Random BBQ Site

Join the BBQ ring or browse a complete list of The Smoke Ring BBQ Webring member's BBQ sites

If you discover problems with any of The Smoke Ring BBQ Webring sites, please notify the Ringmaster

fb

Footer

DISCLOSURE:

Posts on this site may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something via one of these links you won’t pay more but the site operator gets a small commission. Or as I like to call it: “beer money.”

Copyright © 2025 — Barbecue Tricks • All rights reserved.