Dr. BBQ's REAL DEAL Competition Class
   
March 10-11, 2007, Saturday / Sunday
   
Napredak Hall
770 Montague Expressway,
San Jose California  95131

< BBqbyDan Index of Past BBQ Events & Write-ups >

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Dave & Denny Bart
 

Well, I'd like to post a BIG THANKS to Smitty for the GREAT JOB he did in setting up this class...it was great fun! Not only did we learn a great deal from Ray, it was a real joy meeting everyone. Deny and I truely enjoyed the experience. A big hats off to you Smitty, and by the way, what's your favorite drink, because I owe you one. Oh yes, and I owe Pat Burke a BIG THANKS for lending me his Backwoods...it was out-of-this-world. One more thought, someone made corn bread on Sunday afternoon. I didn't get a chance to find out who the cook was, but let me tell you, it was fantastic. Sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you in person.

Dave
 

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Laurence Hill
 

Dr BBQ did one great job, he is a great guy, thanks so much ... Smity Thanks for all your work, you done good.
Oh yes and QN4U thanks to both of you, great job on everything .
 

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Randy Freitas
 

I'd like to thank Smitty for organizing the class. It was a perfect weekend. Ray is one of the best teachers and was great about sharing what he's learned with us.

Neil, that was my Caldera Tallboy. It worked great. I usually don't set it up at night and let it run through the night. During the night, (while I was sleeping and had too many beers to get up) it burned more fuel than I thought it would. As a result, the temp dropped. Everything was ok, but it took longer to bring the brisket up to 190. They make a magnum fire box now that holds 3 times as much charcoal.
Thanks again to everyone that helped out over the weekend.
Randy
 

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Darry Smith
 

Thanks to all that helped with this past weekend's event.
Thanks also to the CBBQA and it's members for their support.
A couple of pictures can be found here as well-
http://eggsbythebay.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1158726471

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Tim Mar

The Dr. BBQ Class was great! Gina and I learned so much Ray Lampe, Brent and Kim Walton, Dan Cannon and all the other experienced cookers. If we had entered a KCBS competition without taking this class, I know I would have made several cooking timeline and presentation mistakes leading up to turn-in. The class also gave Dan Diaz, Howard Chi and I the chance to really see what that Tucker Cooker can do in a competition style environment. It was also great just meeting the people involved with CBBQA.
 

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Glen Stanley

Lessons I learned at this class:

Boy do I have some "Rookie Mistakes" to add to the list.........

#1 I have heard people say that the instructors in these classes hold back the really good information, and don’t give up their true secrets and techniques. I don’t believe this is true, and I don’t believe it was true for this class either. Dr. BBQ gave us tons of excellent information, he answered all of our questions without hesitation, and he took us through a BBQ competition the way he would go through one. I was on information overload about ½ way through the class.

Besides, the class is called “Dr. BBQ’s Real Deal Competition Class” not “ I’ll Just Give Away All My Hard Earned Techniques And Secrets That Took Me 25 Long Years To Develop Class.”

I have also heard people (who have actually attended one of these classes) say it will take years off your competition BBQ learning curve. I now know for a fact that this is the true statement.

#2 When Brent hands you one of his knives and says “Be careful, it’s REALLY sharp,” he REALLY means it. Also, those little metal serrated edges on the aluminum foil box are sharp too.

Neil, that’s not a look of intense concentration on my face in the picture, its pain and frustration. That is Brent’s knife I’m using.

#3 Even though Dr. BBQ’s rub doesn’t taste salty, it still burns pretty good when you get it in your eye, and in your cuts.

#4 Rubber medical gloves don’t provide the same level of heat protection that leather welders gloves do. I switched tasks in a hurry, and didn’t switch gloves. Damn, those metal grates get hot…..

#5 If you don’t wrap your brisket with foil the right way, and don’t take care moving it from the warmer chest to the table, all those hot juices that have accumulated inside will run out onto you leg. Damn, those juices stay hot…..

#6 This was probably the most important lesson I learned: People who are 6’-5” tall don’t work well under EZ-Ups that are raised to 6’-2” high. I think I must have hit my head about 15 times. Once, I hit it so hard I actually bit my tongue.

#7 San Jose is a long drive from Mission Viejo. It’s a REALLY long drive when your going on about an hours worth of sleep, and all you want to do is take a long hot shower, crawl into your own bed, and get about 10 hours sleep.

I drove home from this class dead tired and sore. I had cuts on my fingers and on my tongue, burns on my hands and leg, and several bumps on my head. I was sweaty, dirty, smelled like I spent the night inside someone’s chimney, and had BBQ sauce in places that I have absolutely no explanation for how it got there. And yet I drove home thinking this was one of the best times I have ever had. I learned so much, and I met so many great BBQ people. I have a new found confidence in my ability to break into this sport. And I can’t wait until this weekend so I can practice what I learned.

I also drove home thinking I should change my team name from "Smell My Butts BBQ" to "BBQ By Clutz"

I want to thank Smitty for doing such a great job making this a good experience. Every time I saw him, he was working his butt off.

Thanks to Ray Lampe for putting on such a great class. He is a very good instructor, and lots of fun to talk to, and be around.

I also want to thank Brent Walton and Dan Cannon for helping me become one with my smoker. For a while there, I had visions of running my WSM’s over with my truck…..

I would highly recommend one of these classes, especially to someone who is new to this sport. It’s much better to learn from someone else’s mistakes, than to learn from your own.
   

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Dan Cannon
 
Ditto to everything everybody said. All is true. I had a GREAT time and I learned a lot.

Thanks Darry (and your team) for doing such a great job and being so detail orientated. Everything and every detail was handled perfectly. Ray was the perfect instructor. Together your team provided a perfect environment and class. Brent & Kim were also a big help and resource to make it even extra special!

That cornbread on Sunday was absolutely fantastic!!! It really hit the spot after all the meats. The jalapeno and moisture content was really perfect. I also congratulate whoever made it and am also sorry I could not say so personally. If the recipe is not confidential I would love to learn how to do it.

Thanks again to Ray Lampe, Darry, and all the Green Egg folks for the great class and weekend.
 

Posted to cbbqa.com, the forum message area by Matt Fryer
 
Wow! Its Wednesday and I had my first day at work without dragging. What a great experience! I learned so much overnight, I wonder why I sleep at all. :)

Thanks to Ray for talking me through my first shoulder and brisket. Thanks to Kim and Brent for all their conversation and help. Dan Cannon: I will never look at my WSM the same again. I think your heating unit should only be used in Mexico re: lawsuit, but I appreciated it immensely.

Greetings out to Ed Anhorn who let me ride on his gynormous Fast Eddy, and which will mean I buy (a smaller) one. And to Harry McQueen and Sheryl Crow. And to everyone else. What a great, non-competitive introduction to competition!

Finally, Smitty, who, with his crew, made sure we all had meat, food, coffee, and a place to learn. Many thanks.

--Matt