Wilfred Reinke

BBQ Joint Review of Southern Soul Barbeque in St. Simon Island Georgia – 1 year later

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:47:11 +0000

During my first Southern Expedition in Jan/Feb 2011 I stopped by Southern Soul Barbeque at the advice of Kevin from Kevin’s BBQ Joints website.

That was some recomondation let me tell you what! I loved that BBQ Joint as you can tell if you read my review from last year of Southern Soul Barbeque.

Owners Harrison and Griffin were great hosts and showed me around and treated me to a nice meal which was a sampler plate.

Well here it is a year later and once again I am on my way to Florida and originally I had planned to maybe drop by again on my way home but was not sure how busy my travel schedule would be.

I arrived and walked in with Coolio and my camera (yeah I get some pretty wild stares when I do that lol) And was greeted by a lovely lady at the counter to whom I asked… “Where are the owners?” and she replied that she was one! Oh so I asked specificly for Griffin or Harrison and was told that they had gone out and may be back later and introduced herself as Kitty Sapp, Harrison’s wife.

Kitty Sapp, Harrison's wife, a pleasure to talk to

I told her who I was and she had recongnized me from last year and was sorry that the boys were not in, but in hindsight that was ok, It was still disapointing not to see the guys but Kitty was a splended host and took great care of me and Coolio.

She asked if I would like something to eat and I ordered the Burnt Ends which was her recomondation as her favourite meal. So that and 2 sides (Mac & Cheese and Brunswick Stew) and I had myself a meal!

And what a meal it was, the Burnt End’s were amazing, so tender but with a tremendous bark.

I had the Brunswick Stew last year and it was just as amazing this time around!

Brunswick Stew can be a meal in itself....

The different textures and flavours all in one bowl are heaven and could be a meal in itself! The Mac & Cheese was very good as well.

I appreciate when a BBQ Joint puts out a choice of Sauces at every table so that I can try various ones and also be able to choose the amount of sauce I want to use.

Southern Soul has 4 fantastic Sauces that they make themselves.

I mentioned earlier I had to get some sauce to bring home so I picked up 4 bottles.

I did not frame this pic well but I did happen to catch all 3 of the Counter Gals in the background a bonus that I did not notice.

A better framed shot of the sauce, and Coolio wants to taste it!

I had a great time after my lunch looking around at all of the pictures and displays in the restaurant and talking some more with Kitty. I have to tell ya I started to tear up when I noticed one of the pigs on a shelf I asked if the pig was the one that was scorched in the video that I linked on last years post and Kitty said yes it was that someone had cleaned him up the best they could.

Coolio told me it was an honour to stand next to that famous pig

To understand what I mean you have to watch the video which I will post again below because it is so powerful!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S9PZsREkL0

You have to pay specific attention to the part starting at 2 minutes 40 seconds, I really felt a little overcome when I had Coolio stand next to that pig and snapped the picture, that touched me, maybe I am too sentimental. Mind you I have been known to shed a tear watching Extreme Home Makeover so it may not be that out of character for me.

Below are some more various pics that I took on this visit, and below that will be the Social Media links…

Social Media Links….

Southern Soul Barbeque Website

Southern Soul on Facebook

Follow @southernsoulbbq on Twitter

Review of Huntin’ Camp Bar B Q & Grill in Travelers Nest, SC – Dinner with Jay Prince

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:06:52 +0000

After having a fine BBQ lunch with Wayne Brown and Steven Gibbs at Queen City Q in Charlotte, North Carolina was finished I then continued South towards Florida with my next stop planned to be in Greenville, South Carolina,

Now it was only a two hour drive and you may be thinking why only drive a couple of hours if I am going to Florida? Well I wanted to meet another one of my on-line friends Jay Prince whom a lot of you will know on twitter as @Prince_of_Q the who is the BBQ Tools & Tech Reviewer for the website BBQ Sauce Reviews.

He lives about 20 minutes away from Greenville so I checked into the Days Inn and relaxed for an hour then left for Travelers Rest, SC to meet Jay at the Huntin’ Camp Bar B Q & Grill for Dinner.

The Huntin’ Camp is located at 2221 Hwy 25 North Travelers Rest, SC 29690

Sorry it is a nitetime pic and not very clear, but a great looking building, very rustic

I arrived at 6:30 and I thought It was a very cool looking building that reminds me of a log cabin, great looking place that gives you the feeling of being in a rustic place but yet very clean and fresh looking.

This restaurant is the first BBQ joint I have been too that offered an all you can eat BBQ Buffet, and I have to tell ya, I love the concept!

Ribs were not part of the buffet but the food that was available was filled with good choices so that no one could possibly leave hungry. Though Jay did mention that if your willing to pay a little extra you can get Ribs added to your meal.

My bill was under $13.00 for the Buffet and I really got my money’s worth, infact I consider it a real bargain!!!

Jay did not know it was a dinner for 3 lol

I normally take notes when do a restaurant review but I was not alone and with my first time meeting Jay, I was more involved with teh conversation and the food was really just there, So this will not be an depth review of the restaurant.

The Self Serve BBQ Buffet

I will tell you that the Chicken was really tasty and was perfetly cooked and juicy with nice skin. I also enjoyed the Pulled Pork and the sauces they had were a good compliment. The Baked Beans were tasty, maybe kind of average, but good. The Potato Salad was enjoyable but being of German decent I prefer my Potato Salad warm rather than chilled.

Below is one of my favorite pics I have taken in a while. They had about 4 of these little pigs on top of the buffet and I think they are so cool! no to mention the look on the cook’s face is priceless!

My first plate of goodness

Desert was awesome and also included in the buffet, I went back for seconds on that. A Sweet Potato Soufflé and a Peach Cobler kind of dish.

As you can see the decor of this Restaurant is pleasing and somfortable.

Myself and Jay just before leaving, thanks to a server for taking the picture

The two hours with Jay went by in a flash, but it was so good to get to meet someone in person that I had talked to so often in the BBQ Social Media community.

It is so interesting to be able to go on a trip like this and stop at so many places along the way and get to be able to not only meet people for the first time but at the same time that you already feel that you know well. Friendships get strengthened and results in an even closer knit sence of family develops.

Social Media Links…

Huntin’ Camp Website huntincampbbqandgrill.com

Huntin’ Camp e-mail huntincamp@huntincampbbqandgrill.com

BBQ Sauce Reviews Website (Jay’s Techie portion)

eMail for Jay princeofq@bbbsaucereviews.com

Jay Prince on Facebook

@Prince_of_Q on Twitter

Review of a NEW BBQ Joint -Queen City Q – Charlotte NC along with Wayne Brown & Steven Gibbs

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:03:45 +0000

There were so many things that I was looking forward to during my Southern Expedtion 2.0 trip down to the south.

But near the top of that list was once again spending some time with my friend Wayne Brown aka @brownkw on twitter.

And like myself Wayne is a BBQ Blog Writer that has a passion for the sport, the products and the people.

I had met Big Wayner last year when a bunch of us bloggers got together to do a joint review of the Lexington #1 BBQ Joint which was such a fun experience that I wanted to do it once more.

After my visit to the Cheerwine plant in Salisbury to get my fix I drove an hour down the road to Charlotte, North Carolina where I met Wayne along with another blogger that Steven Gibbs at a new BBQ Joint Queen City Q that Wayne discovered was only a 15 minute walk from his office. In fact the restaurant opened for the first time only.

I got there at around one in the afternoon, with Wayne and Steven waiting for my arrival. with some samples of Queen City Q’s Brisket ready for me to sample.

There were two variations one sauced and grilled and the other sauced afterwards, I enjoyed both but my preference was the one that was grilled. A great start to the visit.

From left to right, Wayne Brown, Steve Gibbs and myself

After catching up with Wayne for a bit and getting to know Steve it was time to order some lunch, Wayne went with the Pulled Pork while Steven and I each ordered a plate of 4 bones of Ribs with 2 sides.

Lunch is servedWayne's mealSteve's Rib PlateMy lunchClose up look at my ribs,, yum!Even closer view of a single rib2nd from left is Pitmaster Boone

I liked that the Pitmaster for Queen City Q stopped by our table to intruduce himself and answer any questions we had. It was obvious that Boone was very experienced and capable to produce excellent product but more than that he had a perfect personality to be a host that the customers can get to know and feel compfortable around.

Boone, had done this before using his skills to open other restaurants and his recipes are still being used and loved.

Where did Boone get his recipes? well they have been handed down from previous generations and they have been standing the test of time.

Included in those recipes are the sauces used by Queen City Q that include…..

Uncle Jeff’s South Carolina Mustard, an Eastern Vinegar and Popo’s Red Rib Sauce.

I was a little bit off of my game as I meant to ask more about the smoking process but the only information that I can tell you is that they use a 600 lb. Southern Pride Smoker.

But I can tell you that I thought the Ribs were wonderful, the correct amount of smoke and and the flavour from their seasoning was spot on!

For my sides I had some scrumptious Mac & Cheese along with Collard Greens which I had for the first time last year around this time at Southern Soul BBQ in Georgia.

At under $10.00 lunch was very affordable.

A view of the rest of the restaurant

All three of us were in aggreement that the food here at Queen City Q is worthy and should do very well in Charlotte. Till now they have had a soft opening of the restaurant seving the lunch crowd.

I thought that since I was having lunch with two fellow bloggers I would ask them both to say a few words about their experience.

First up is my good friend Wayne Brown….

Ever since meeting up with Fred last year at Lexington #1, I started looking forward to his next venture down from the Great White North. When I got word last week that he would be coming through the area, we immediately made plans to eat at a BBQ joint here in Charlotte. In classic style, plans changed the day of his arrival, and Steve Gibbs (@Q4Fun on Twitter) was able to join us as we all checked out the newest BBQ restaurant in Charlotte – Queen City Q.

The only downside to today’s rendezvous was that we were on a limited time schedule; otherwise I’m certain we could have stayed there for hours! We ate… we drank (water and tea)… we laughed and had a great time. The food was excellent all the way around. I highly recommend the pulled pork, mac & cheese, and BBQ slaw! And if Fred comes through your area, make it a point to have him stop in your area for some ‘que!

Wayne Brown

brownkw@gmail.com

http://bigwaynerbbq.wordpress.com

Here with his thoughts is Steven Gibbs

This week I had the pleasure to meet @OshawaOgre and hang out with him and @Brownkw for about an hour at a new BBQ joint in Charlotte. We had a good time talking about BBQ, eating BBQ and talking to the pitmaster of Queen City Q. I always love to see the waitstaffs reactions when I take pictures of my food but to see their faces when three of us were taking pictures was priceless.

We had a good tweetup and a fun time. Queen City Q has good BBQ and good BBQ is best when shared with friends.

Thanks again and check out my blog at http://q4fun.blogspot.com/

Steve Gibbs

My thanks to both Steve and Wayne for supplying me with your thoughts.

I hope that all of my readers will follow both of these fine fine men.

Atomosphere in the restaurant is great with it’s big screen TV’s and compfortable seating and decor.

The staff were very friendly and quick to serve.

On the way out we spoke with Bryan Meredith for a few moments, he is one of the owners and is the face of the restaurant on Twitter and Facebook.

I feel that Queen City Q is well on its way to becoming a very popular choice for this white colar area of Charlotte.

Here is Big Wayner’s blog post on our visit

And Steve’s too

Social media links…

Queen City Q Website

Queen City Q Facebook page

Queen City Q on Twitter @theQclt

Wayne Brown’s Facebook Page

@brownkw on Twitter

Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog

Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog on Facebook

Steven Gibbs on Facebook

Steven Gibbs Blog

@Q4Fun on Twitter

Gibbs Design website

Just had to get me some more Cheerwine from Salisbury, North Carolina

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:50:14 +0000

If you read about last years Southern Expedition you know that I discovered Cheewine and got hooked on it.

Read my blog post from January 2011 for all of the back ground!

Well on Day 2 of this years Southern Expedition I had to make a trip to the Cheerwine Warehouse in Salisbury North Carolina

1413 Jake Alexander Blvd W
Salisbury, NC 28147

(704) 636-2191

First thing that I found out was that putting that address in the GPS brings you about 5 miles away from the plant so I had to call them and get directions. Last year when I found the warehouse it was by accident just driving by, but that was on a Sunday and Salisbury is like a ghost town on Sunday’s, reminds me of Ontario in the 1980′s when everything is closed on Sunday but it is wide open at home now.

I wanted to go to the warehouse and stock up on Cheerwine to bring home and I was there on a Tuesday morning and had a couple of hours to kill before meeting frineds Wayne and Steve for lunch in Charlotte NC.

I stepped into the office at Cheerwine and the staff in the office was so helpful and cheerful (pun intended!!)

As you can see in these pics they have some cool Cheerwine decorations there.

Alice is the Executive Administrative Assistant for Carolina Beverage and she was amazing to chat with and I was able to learn alot about the company through her.

I asked if I could place an order for 5 cases of the cheerwine in the 24 glass 12oz bottles. and I was surprised that they only cost me $17.00 per case! that is only $0.70 a bottle! Well worth it for sure!

Cheerwine for the longest time was only available in North Carolina and South Carolina and a few small places in a couple of other States but Alice tells me that after getting an agreement with Pepsi they will now be in even more markets in the States like Kentucky and Florida. I also found out who a distributer is in Buffalo New York so in the future I may have to do some cross border shopping!

After paying for my order of 5 cases I was asked to go to the shipping door out back and one of the guys would fill my order.

Jason was a great guy that quickly pulled my order together and even loaded it in to Das Auto for me

Jason about to load my order, Thanks very much!

And I have to tell y’all that It sure does fell great when people like Jason show the respect to people by being so polite, It would feel wierd being called Sir back home but that is common here in the South.

Next I asked about some Cheerwine Merchandise and Alice directed me to a drug store on South Main Street in Salisbury that carrys a lot of their stuff, so I drove over there and got some really cool items and the 2 ladies in the store were wonderful people.

If you ever get a chance to try a bottle of Cheerwine do so, it is so so good!

BBQ Joint Review – Q Barbeque one of Tuffy Stone’s Restaurants in Midlothian, Virginia

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:29:07 +0000

Ah, the start of my second annual Southern Expedition which I have dubbed 2.0 is underway and off to a fantastic start.

Just like last year I am driving down to Florida for my vactaion which will include a lot of BBQ and time spent with many friends including stops in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia along the way.

Originaly my plan was to drive from Oshawa direct to Salisbury, North Carolina. Salisbury has a lot of fond memories from last years trip as the area has some fantastic BBQ and I met a lot of great people here last year. Plus it it is almost exactly the halfway point between Oshawa and my parents home in North Fort Myers, Florida.

However while driving in West Virginia I stopped for fuel and thought that since I was making such great time that I would stop for dinner along the way.

There are two BBQ Joints that I really wanted to try in this part of the country this year and those are the Pit in Raliegh, NC which is famous for their Whole Hog and also Tuffy Stone’s new Restaurant “Q” in Virginia. After punching them both into my GPS I decided that I would hit Tuffy’s on the way down perhaps saving the Pit for my trip back.

In order to get there I had to take Hwy 250 South which took me through the mountains and that was such a senic drive though a little frightning with the hairpin curves and foggy conditions in spots. Would going 5 hours out of my way be worth it? Read on….

Coolio and I about to walk in to the Q

I arrived just after 5 pm and with the restaurant being located in what looks to be a fairly new complex that includes a bunch of Big Bix Stores (hense the street name Walmart Way) One thing that if your going to want to visit, When I entered 2700 Walmart Way into my GPS it auto corrected it to 999 Walmart Way. It does say 2077 on the front of the building but the GPS and the road sign says 999 a little strange, but you can not miss the place either way.

I was impressed by the shear size of the restaurant. This is no “hole in the wall” joint. This is one classy looking BBQ Restaurant!!!

I have to say that I really like the design elements in the brand. I have been in the Graphics trade since 1977 and I tend to look at how people brand their producs. The logo for Q is simple but yet so perfect.

I also had a look at Q’s take-out menu and Catering flyer and and the art design is crip and clean easy to read but also elegant.

I started my trip leaving Oshawa, Ontario Canada at 4;30 am and along the way I had some PB&J sandwiches and a few snacks only so by dinner time I was ready to eat a nice meal.

Manager of Q Tuffy's right hand man Rick along with yours truly

I spoke with the restaurant manager Rick who told me he has known Tuffy Stone the owner for 24 years, If your not familiar with Tuffy, he starred in the American Pitmasters BBQ TV show a couple of years back and has won countless awards at BBQ cometitions as I found out by looking around the restaurant, his awards are all over the place, and many of them are very high placing awards including 1 real beauty from a 1st place at Mephis in May.

Memphis in May is a huge contest and that is one honkin great looking piece of hardware!

For more photos of the trophies that are displayed in the restaurant just look at the bottom of this post. Makes wonder how many awards he has won since he has two other restaurants.

Unfortunately Tuffy was not in the Midlothian location on this day he was at his one of his other two restaurants, but Rick was a great guy to talk to, I can quickly tell that Tuffy made a great choice in having Rick manage the place, I was going to say Joint but that would not do the restaurant justice, it is a “Place”. I have heard from many a sources that Tuffy is one of the really good guys in BBQ, now that is saying something as I have always said that the people in the BBQ community are the best group of people that I have ever had the pleasure to be involved with.

Rick mentioned to me that the reason Tuffy’s wife married him was because she found him to be the best person she had ever met in her life, and even today she still feels that way. I am sorry to of missed the chance to meet Tuffy, but perhaps someday I will get the chance, I understand he will be at PigFest in Lakeland this week-end, Hope to meet him there as I will be heading over on Friday.

So what did I have to eat you ask?

I ordered the Brisket sandwich along with Mac & Cheese and Hushpuppies. To drink Sa-Weet Tea was my choice.

One thing I like is that you can get a small or a larger portion size on your meals and I chose the smaller one since I knew that I was going to be eating BBQ twice the next day when I met up with Wayne Brown in Charlotte, North Carolina for lunch and then with Jay Prince for dinner in Travler’s Nest, South Carolina.

The Brisket was chopped rather than sliced, I appreciated that rather than saucing the meat heavingly they have a choice of three sauces that you can add yourself ready right there on every table.

Original Hot-Zing and Sa-Weet Sauces to give you the choice of taste

I added some of the original sauce to one side of the sandwich and the Sa-Weet to the other. A nice bold flavour for both that ads nice flavour to the meat but does not cover up the taste of the meat. I am so glad that my love of BBQ in the last 2 years has got me away from just splattering some Ketchup over almost any meal, now I can truly taste what I am eating and enjoy the hard work that is done by BBQ Pitmasters.

The Hushpuppies were perfect, I am not a fan of any of the Hushpuppies I have had to this point in Canada but when I was in NC last year I became a fan, and the ones here at Q were so tasty, fluffy in the inside and a thin crunchy crust that is cooked to a perfect texture. I could eat those all day!

The Mac & Cheese was a perfect match to the meat and I enjoyed the slaw that has some zing to it but yet not an over powering Vineagar taste like I have seen too often in other joints.

The staff at the restaurant were super, they brought my meal to my table when it was ready and made sure to check with me to see how it was. Theyalso helped me out by taking a couple of shots with my camera. I had to wait a minute or two for that as they tended to a couple of orders Making sure to give all of their customers the freshest product possible. I would much rather see that than attend to me and have others having to wait. In fact they still apologized to me for making me wait and it was only a couple of minutes, good on them!!

In talking some more with Rick he told me that everything on the menue is made fresh except for only the Fries and Onion Rings and I could taste that in the BBQ and the sides that I had.

Social Media Links….

Q Barbeque Website

Like the Q Barbeque page on Facebook

Follow @Q_Barbeque on Twitter

Tuffy Stone’s personal Facebook Page

Other pics from the Midlothian location including merchandise displays and more awards.

Guest Post by Annette A. Penney – My Specialty is Social Media, Not Sauce! – Her review of Draper’s BBQ A.P. Rub

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:32:19 +0000

As I am packing for my 2nd annual trip down south that I call “My Southern Expedition 2.0″ I was disappointed that I did not have time to write a blog post this week even though I have lots to write about I was very pressed for time.

But to my rescue comes a friend of mine Annette A. Penney who sent me this piece today which I am truly honoured to post for her.

Annette is the founder of Inspire and Acquire, a full-service social media marketing agency with a team of experienced professionals providing graphic design, website development, business and marketing consulting, content creation, and strategies to enhance online presence to businesses around the world.

Inspire and Acquire Website

Connect with Annette on LinkedIn

Inspire and Acquire’s Facebook Page

Follow Annette on Twitter

Email questions & inquiries to Annette

My Specialty is Social Media, Not Sauce!

Yesterday was an exciting day at my house. My granddaughter Faith was over for the day when FedEx left a package at my front door from Draper’s BBQ! We excitedly opened the package and Faith immediately began playing with the bottles of sauce and rub. but all I could think of was….. “I can’t wait to try these products!” – she just wants to play with the stuff!

Tonight I finally had the opportunity to try one of the great products Shane Draper sent me from Draper’s BBQ: the famous Draper’s BBQ A.P. Rub. It was only last month that I said to my good friend Fred (owner of this blog), “You know the one thing I don’t understand yet about BBQ? RUBS! What do you do with them, what’s their purpose, which ones are good??!!” Yesterday Shane mentioned that I could use Draper’s A.P. Rub on popcorn to add flavour and keep the snack low-fat. Awesome – I eat popcorn all of the time! But tonight…… tonight I was going to use it on chicken! And not in the way you would probably think. Check out what I did!

I had 4 pieces of lightly breaded butterflied chicken breasts. My plan was to sprinkle the Draper’s BBQ A.P. rub on both sides of the chicken and pan fry it. When I opened up the jar the powerful aroma of the rub really surprised me. I mean this in the best way possible. Not ‘knock you off your feet’ potent that is overpowering but powerful as in …… fresh! I thought for a few moments about what the aroma made me think of and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it and then it occurred to me. It’s what I would smell in a BBQ restaurant. Real. Genuine. Authentic. As Rachel Ray would say, “YummO!!!”

According to my plan, I sprinkled the rub over the chicken breasts while the grapeseed oil was heating in the pan. Most of my life I used olive oil for frying but I started using grapeseed oil a year ago because I was told by a chef that this is the oil you can heat to high temperatures and it doesn’t degrade the oil. I gingerly placed the chicken breasts in the pan, waited for the indicator that they were cooked on one side (the ‘cooked whiteness’ moves up the sides of the chicken), sprinkled more rub on the uncooked side, and flipped the pieces over. This is the result:

Does that look dee-lish or what? I served the chicken with baked potato with tofu sour cream (I know what you’re thinking….. yuck – it’s actually really good!) and peaches and cream corn. A good old-fashioned meal. I did make one error in judgment though: the aroma of the rub is so fresh (seriously, you have to experience this to believe it) that I underestimated how much to sprinkle on the chicken. After the chicken was cooked I did a second light sprinkling and it was just perfect! Next time I will be more generous with the rub.

Let’s face it, we all have days (most of mine) when we are pressed for time and can’t prepare gourmet meals. The Draper’s BBQ A.P. Rub is a deliciously quick way to cook chicken and your taste buds will thank you (and then you can thank me for the recommendation haha).

An enormous thank you goes out to Shane Draper of Draper’s BBQ who so promptly sent a gift package this week for Fred and I to share.

My many thanks to Annette for not only filling a void in my blog but also for showing me a way to get that BBQ taste in a meal that looks scrumptious and is easy to prepare.

I would also like to thank Shane Draper for supplying Annette and I with some of his fine product to promote and enjoy.

I previously wrote a review on Draper’s BBQ products which you can read here.

You can follow Shane on his twitter account @drapersbbq

Friend Shane Draper on Facebook

Visit Draper’s BBQ Website

or like Draper’s BBQ on Facebook

News Bites – Cactus BBQ & Grill thinks outside of the box to raise capital to reopen BBQ Joint

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:07:27 +0000

Every morning I scan news stories on the interweb looking for interesting tidbits from the world of BBQ.

Today this story at StatesmanJournal.com written by Winston Ross of the Associated Press caught my eye and I wanted to bring it to your attention.

Florence restaurateur offers cheap food to investors

I found it interesting since I have friends that own BBQ Restaurants and others that hope to one day open their own BBQ Joint, I believe it is important to follow dreams but still know that this business is not one that is all glory.

Will this idea at Cactus BBQ work? Will this tactic be tried by others as well?, Time will tell but at least they are giving it a go.

Review – Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce – Canadian Sauce with a Southern taste

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:16:55 +0000

Anyone that knows me will also know that I think the world of a local BBQ Team here in Oshawa that is tearing up the Ontario RibFest circuit.

My buddy Rob Butler along with his wife Donna Darling run Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ selling BBQ to the masses from early June til mid September in a variety of shows in the Southern Ontario area.

Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ started working shows in 2009 half way through the season by getting a phone call from the organizers of the Toronto Ribfest one week prior to opening saying that one of the Ribbers had backed out last minute which made an opening for Horn Dawgs. Having only a few days to prepare for a show that sees literately 100,000 people enter the park in a 4 day week-end was an emotional time no doubt but through it all serving over 1000 racks of Ribs, Rob earned the honour of winning 1st place for sauce at the event!

Since then Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ has gained a reputation of being known for their sauce by winning awards fro their sauce at most of the RibFest shows ever since.

For those of you not familiar with how RibFests work in Canada I will give you a rough idea but compared to BBQ Comps in the States they are vastly different.

Doug Francis of Hogs Gone Wild cooking ribs for the Lakeland Pigfest in Florida

A lot of my readers will know about KCBS types of BBQ Competitions where many teams will compete for cash prizes, awards and Grand Championships by cooking in 4 categories…. Ribs, Chicken, Pork and Brisket and the competitors cook in small quantities just for the judges and perhaps at some events also do some vending, most of these BBQ comps start late on a Friday afternoon ending with the judging at around 7pm on Saturday night. A good example of this is the Lakeland, Florida PigFest in Late January which I attended in 2011 and will welcome me again later this month for another visit.

Chad Ward of Whiskey Bent BBQ in Lakeland Florida cooking at Pigfest, do not let the smaller smoker fool ya, the Green Mountain Grills are awesome Pellet Smokin Grills

(I am looking forward to seeing my friends from Whiskey Bent BBQ and Hogs Gone Wild along with a bunch of the other 150 teams that will be competing.

Signage is done a little different in the KCBS style events in the states than at a RibFest in Canada as most teams have a few banners but they are lower to the ground and in Canada the banners are used to really grab the attention of the consumers.

Also pro teams that have sponsors will also fly their colours during their cooks.

But RibFests here in Ontario Canada are quite different. Unlike the comps in the US that are sanctioned by a governing body such as the KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) or FBA (Florida BBQ Association) and other similar outfits, most Ribfests are put on by local charitable groups such as The Rotary Club.

Toronto RibFest

Guelph RibFest

Depending on the size of the town and expected crowds the number of Ribbers are limited , any where from 5 Ribbers at the smaller shows and up to 19 teams at Canada’s Largest RibFest which is held in Burlington, Ontario which is accepted as the biggest RibFest in Canada and if you win awards there you are known to be the best in Canada.

Having crowds that can number over 100,000 visitors during a weekend means that the Ribbers are kept very busy vending for the crowds smoking and selling over 1000 racks in the process. not to mention also smoking a couple of hundred Pork Butts for delicious pulled Pork Pork sandwiches along with Chicken as well. Some Ribbers will also vend Beef Ribs and Brisket sandwiches. Sides are normally Beans and Slaw.

While there is judging it is done with a combination of a panel of celebrity judges and also the visitors determine the Peoples Choice Awards.

There are no cash prizes only the trophies and the ability to have bragging rights which is very important as award winners do attract more crowds at the shows following.

Click to view full size

As I mentioned earlier Horn Dawgs have been winning all kinds of awards most of which are for their BBQ Sauce which mid season 2011 has begun retail production and here in the Oshawa area has really been flying off the shelves. Rob has had no problem getting Butcher shops and other retail outlets to add the Horn Dawgs BBQ Sauce to their product shelves.

Remember I had told you that the Burlington RibFest was the Best in Canada? well in the 3 years that Horn Dawgs were in the Burlington RibFest with 19 teams competing the Horn Dawgs won a Second Place in Ribs, a Second Place in Sauce and in 2010 they took 1st in Sauce which was the feather in their cap.

The week after Burlington is the last Ribfest of the year for Horn Dawgs in their home town of Oshawa, Ontario and in 2011 They won the RibFest equivalent of a Grand Championship taking 1st place in both Ribs and Sauce.

Also in 2011 there was a pro BBQ team in the South USA that was a middle ranked team that even though they had great BBQ they were not able to break through and win and competitions, so to change it up they contacted Horn Dawgs after hearing how popular their sauce was and Rob sent a gallon of sauce down to that team (I am not divulging the name of the team since it was not made public) But at the teams State Championship they won the GC using Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce!

But by now your probably thinking yeah Fred but what do you think about the sauce….

Horn Dawgs Manda Slater gets pretty saucy while slathering Ribs

I have been going to RibFests since 2008 and I met the Horn Dawgs in 2010 and ever since I honestly have to say that Horn Dawgs is my personal favourite BBQ Sauce. I have tried all the RibFest Ribbers sauces at one time or another and some are very very good no doubt and I also have tried some sauces from other parts of North America as well but the flavour profile from the Horn Dawgs is perfect for me.

Bob Sedlak along with wife Susan and their son Ben ready to chow down at the 2011 Bowmanville Ribfest

And my friends I must add too, Good friends Bob and Susan Sedlak use it as their go to sauce and even though I visit them and bring with me a new sauce that I am reviewing they always go back to Horn Dawgs, which they buy at Kyle Meats in Bowmanville.

Horn Dawgs Rob Butler, Donna Darling and Annette Penney with her first bottle of Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce

My friend Annette Penney from Inspire & Acquire also got turned on to Horn Dawgs this past summer in Guelph and she and her daughter rave about it still and has ordered 2 more bottles.

How would I describe the sauce????

Well I would say it is a 50/50 split of a tomato based sauce and a vinegar based sauce that is a nice blend of sweetness but with a bold spice to it, not hot…

Just very flavourful I have had it on Ribs which caramelizes very well on the Grill. and it is wonderful on chicken too, but my personal favourite is when used on Pulled Pork

Horn Dawgs Pulled Pork as served by Manda Slater

Whether you get served to you at Ribfest or use it on your own Pulled Pork made at home I love it on a bun sauced up and topped with some home made coleslaw!!!!

A couple of other foods that I tried the Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce on, YUM!

Coolio gets all excited about food with Horn Dawgs on it, just a grilled sausage Coolio but your right it is really tasty!

Re-heated chicken strips, so much better with some HDSBS to dip with!

A great friend of mine in Florida, Chad Ward who is the Pitmaster for Whiskey Bent BBQ has a informative weekly Internet Radio show and Chad reviewed the Horn Dawgs BBQ Sauce back on September 20th 2011 <<<—— Click to Listen (Horn Dawgs review starts at 72 minute mark)

To follow that up, on December 27th Rob was a guest on the Whiskey Bent BBQ “In the Pit” Radio show on Blog talk radio and he talked about the sauce with Chad Ward and the boys also talked about what Canadian RibFests are like…. great 45 minute interview.

Chad’s show is number one in ratings on Blog Talk Radio in the food category. You can listen to the December 27th show here…

Look for more reviews of Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce in the coming weeks as I am bringing a case of sauce with me down south and will be sharing it with my blogging friends that I will be meeting up with. (when they become available I will link them here)

Social Media Links…..

Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Website

Follow @horndawgsBBQ on Twitter

Find Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ on Facebook

Friend Rob Butler on Facebook

Friend Donna Darling on Facebook

Ontario RibFest Schedule

Whiskey Bent BBQ Website

Whiskey Bent BBQ Facebook Fan Page

Whiskey Bent Personal Facebook page

Follow @WhiskeyBentBBQ on Twitter

Hogs Gone Wild Website

News Bites – Social Media ignites into a battle of words Atlanta BBQ Joint fights back against bad review

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:40:42 +0000

My oh my what a web we sometimes weave!

Social Media is a very strong tool and in the BBQ world and yesterday I have seen a perfect example of the power that can be shown.

Only Mother Nature can dish out storms better than Social Networking can.

This story is mind blowing, and as a blog writer and a reviewer it reminds me of the power that the average Joe or Joanne has nowadays .

I found this story while catching up on some surfing of BBQ related news items.

click on the screen shot to go to the story

As Morse Diggs reported Stephanie Stuck and her husband went to a BBQ Joint for dinner in Atlanta called BBQ Boners and did not like the experience and posted a review on Yelp which is an online review forum for restaurant.

Well after seeing the review the BBQ Joint owner fought back in an attempt to discredit her on Facebook, which in a mere 24 hours started a war of words with both sides being either supported or attacked.

Now to be fair I am not taking sides here and I can see points made by both parties. I just wanted to talk about the bigger story here and that is do we over play our power and what is our right to free speech and where do we draw the lines on what we can say when it could hurt the lives of others?

When I do a review I try to be objective but I do not want to be hurtful or mean, I do not consider myself to be a critic, as even the word critic to me implies that you need to be critical and find fault.

Is it my job to say if something is not agreeable to me that i have to tell everyone to stay away? I think not.

What I strive for is to give information and my opinion based on facts and then let the reader decide if it is something that they would like to try for themselves.

That is not to say that I will not point out any flaws that I can see in a product or service that in my opinion could be improved upon. I think that any business order would like to receive constructive comments in order to better themselves. I am always sure to point out all of the good that I see even if the overall performance may be lacking.

It is interesting that earlier in the day I was discussing with a friend that in general when people take the time to post comments on a product or a service, it is more often than not that people will make that effort if they are pissed off or unsatisfied. As a society if people are happy they will not go out of their way to say so, but get disrespected and look out the gloves come off!

Here is a link to a blog that has already crowned this story as the

Worst Use Of Social Media of 2012: Boners BBQ

Click above to go to the Un Marketing Blog which is a very in depth look at the story, but warning there are a couple of 4 letter words in it.

News Bite – Press Release by Jarico Inc. – Dimples BBQ Sauce Selected as 2011′s Best Mild Tomato Sauce

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:06:37 +0000

Dimples is a BBQ Sauce that I had the pleasure to test & review in August 2011 and I can see how they were able to do so great in winning this award.

Click to read my review

Click on the screen shot below to go directly to the Press Release.

Click to be directed to the site of this press release

Review of The SKrAPr – Tested on my Masterbuilt Smoker and my freezer – Marketed by Annette Penney

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:03:46 +0000

First of all, I would like to say Happy New Year to all of my readers, I have taken a couple of weeks off during the holidays from writing but I hope to produce a few posts before I head down south on my second annual Southern Expedition later this month.

One of my blogs best supporters have been the people from The SKrAPr led by their Director of Social Marketing, Annette Penney.

Annette has done a fantastic job of spreading the word about The SKrAPr family of products using Twitter, Facebook and also guesting on various Internet Radio Shows across North America, It seems to me that the BBQ Community has embraced Annette and she is affectionately known as The SKrAPr Lady.

I first met Annette in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario at a BBQ Restaurant called Hog Tails where we ended up doing a joint review of the place and she also introduced me to The SKrAPr product line.

My little buddy Coolio shows off the SKrAPr products

I learned that Annette runs her own company Inspire & Acquire specializing in Social Media Marketing and Website Development. It was her company Inspire & Acquire that developed and maintained The SKrApr’s Social Media.

Having known her now for the last the last 5 months has opened my eyes to how important Social Media is to developing a brand.

Annette has accomplished this with her work on The SKrAPr in essence becoming the face for the product. And get this…. with the new product The GrILLr developed by The SKrAPr she has made the product a household name in the BBQ Community and to this point The GrILLr has not even been put out on store shelves, but everyone in the BBQ Community either knows about it has tested on or is begging to getting one! (as a side note I would without hesitation recommend Annette Penney and her company Inspire & Acquire to any business that wants to grow their Social Media presence, she is that good!) Links will follow at the end of this post

I first tested The SPrEADr which has replaced the butter knife in my home and also tested The GrILLr which is the ideal tool for cleaning BBQ Grills and Grates.

But today I want to take a step back and tell you about the original product The SKrAPr itself.

This hand held cleaning tool first came on the market after a successful pitch on the Canadian TV show Dragon’s Den (Similar to the series in the US known a Shark Tank)

The tool was most well known for cleaning glass top stoves with out scratching it, but it was soon found to be great for cleaning any smooth service with ease.

I do not have a Glass top stove but I found plenty of uses for it in my home including cleaning dried paint from windows along with the inside of my oven door and the glass door of my Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse.

Below are a couple of pics that I took just today cleaning my Smoker door which had not been done in a couple of months.

But with a spray bottle that only contained water and using the pocket sized SKrAPr Jr. both the door frame and the glass in the door cleaned up in a snap.

My Smoker door before

SKrAPr Jr. on the job

Handy tool you can take anywhere

The door frame is going to look like new!

It worked pretty good dry but with a quick spray of water, even better!

I used to use grease cutting chemicals and a rag but it made a heck of a mess. Using The SKrAPr and water was easy and not using chemicals makes me happy knowing that I will not contaminate my food the next time I smoke!

The best thing is you do not need any harsh chemicals, it can be used dry or with ordinary water, so that is great for the environment.

A couple of other great uses for The SKrAPr that I found was to clean off stubborn stickers/labels as you can see here on this Laser Printer that I bought at Value Village awhile back.

Many times these stickers are a major pain to remove and I first tried using my thumbnail but it came off in little bits and was leaving all of that residue behind. But then I remembered that I had The SKrAPr so I gave that a try and it worked perfectly. The best thing was it did not scratch the surface at all and I did not have to clean my fingernails.

Then just the other day on Facebook someone asked if anyone had tried The SKrAPr on a frosted car windshield, I wished I had thought about it about a week ago when we had freezing rain here in Oshawa and I broke my snow brush trying to get the ice off of 3 cars in my driveway, I know that with how strong the material in The SKrAPr is that it would taken off that ice build up in moments, and you can not break this thing! I will be sure to use it after our next storm.

But what I was able to tell that person on Facebook was that I have used my SKrAPr to clean my food freezer which had a pretty good build-up of ice in it.

I have to tell you a story from back in the late 1970′s when I was working for Deco Adhesives in Toronto (which by the way was owned by the present Mayor of Toronto Father Doug Ford and is still owned by the Ford Family) and while I was there I one time had to defrost the shops fridge and I used a metal scraper to do the job, what a mistake that was, it scratched up the inside of that fridge and then I slipped with it and I actually punctured the wall of the fridge causing all of the freon to escape ruining the companies fridge.

Back to my freezer, in the past I have tried to use a edge of a ruler or a paint scraper to chip away the ice and it was a tough tough job and I ended up using hot water to melt the ice or unplugging the freezer and waiting for the ice to melt. But this time I did not want to do that as I had a lot of food that could not sit out that long.

So I grabbed my trusty SKrAPr and within 5 minutes had SKrAPED the entire inside of the freezer and not a scratch to it and did not even need water!

You can watch a short video I made while I was using it, and I did that holding the camera in one hand and SKrAPING with the other. It was that easy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tslx77yvhKM

You can find The SKrAPr in great retailers like Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Kitchen Plus, Bath & Beyond to name a few here in Canada and many outlets in the United States.

For a complete list you can find retailers from the SKrApr website.

It should be noted that I have received my SKrAPr products at no charge and I did all testing honestly and these opinions are my own, I also do get support for my blog from The SKrAPr but this did not nor would not influence my opinions whatsoever.

Check out The SKrAPr website

Follow @TheSKrAPr on Twitter

Find The SKrAPr on Facebook

Follow @InspiredAnnette on Twitter

Check out Inspire & Acquire’s website

Find Inspire & Acquire on Facebook

You can help me win Tailgating Recipe of the year contest with my MOINK Balls

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:11:38 +0000

As my regular readers know, I am more than willing to help others promoting their Blogs, Products and even the People of the BBQ Community.

Today I am asking for others to promote me!, I entered a contest called the Tailgaters Recipe of the Year. and there are some really cool prizes available to the winner.

I decided to enter the recipe that I use for MOINK Balls it is perfect for tailgating and thanks the man that coined the phrase “MOINKS” Larry Gaian, this recipe has gained world wide promotion and is a regular item on most BBQ’ers must make lists!

The contest voting runs until January 1st 2012 and I would appreciate if you could vote as often as the site allows and please tell your friends about it.

Please click on the screen shot below to be directed to the voting page for the contest. you do not have to register or anything, just click on my VOTE button, simple and easy!

Please click on the above screen shot to go to the contest voting page

What do BBQ Writers do for fun near Christmas??? We Disco of course :)

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:55:27 +0000

All work and no play makes it tough to continue to put out top quality content for our blogs and or Social media. So to lessen our chances of suffering from writers block we like to get our hair permed, get out our best polyester clothes, platform shoes and boogie the night away.

Join Hanneke, Wayne, Rich and myself as we celebrate the Christmas season with some fast paced disco music.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Click on this pic to go to the link at JibJab

If you do not know us please check us out at these sites

Hanneke Eerden on Facebook, Twitter @hanneke158 and her foodie website The Dutchess Cooks

Annette Penney on Facebook, Twitter @InspiredAnnette and her Social Media Management website Inspire & Acquire and also at The SKrAPr on Facebook

Wayne Brown on Facebook, Twitter @brownkw and his website Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog

Richard Wachtel on his Facebook, Twitter @GrillinwRich and his website Grilling with Rich

Wilfred Reinke on my Facebook, Twitter @OshawaOgre and my website Oshawa Ogre’s Views, News & BBQ’s

Book Review – Barbecue Lover’s Guide To Austin by Gloria Corral + Give-a-way

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:31:48 +0000

Coolio with a new BBQ book to browse through

I was contacted by the publicist for Music Box Media, Melissa Cox asking if I would be interested in reviewing a BBQ Joint book written by Gloria Corral called Barbecue Lover’s Guide To Austin.

Well with my passion for all things BBQ how could I possibly say no?

Shortly there after I received my copy in the mail.

This is Gloria Corral’s first book and to me she has produced a guide that is really well thought out and put together.

Her idea of how the information should be presented makes sense and is easy enough to read at a glance but yet have a lot of information in the book to give the reader an educated head start before checking out the BBQ Joint for themselves.

The book starts out with her acknowledging the people that helped her to make the book possible. For starters the operators of the BBQ Joints then talks a bit about her friends, writing coach and her husband.

It sure is a lot easier in this line of work if you have the support of your family and friends!

What Gloria did was break down Austin Texas into 9 sections including Downtown, East Austin, South Austin, North Austin & of course West Austin.

(By the way this is not part of the book but did you know where the term “NEWS” came from? it is the initials for North, East, West & South)

She then adds chapters that include Northwest Austin, The Round Rock Area, Joints in the Outskirts and a section for those that are New in Town.

Each of the area chapters in the guide start with a list of the Joints in that area along with a map that is flagged with all of the BBQ Joints

In the back of the book is a BBQ Trivia section with 10 questions to test your Barbecue knowledge and an Index that gives you at a glance the page numbers for each of the BBQ Joints mentioned in the book.

Only the cover is in colour the entire insides are printed in B&W but that is ok with me as it gives the guide an old fashioned feel that I enjoyed.

The pictures are really drawings and I loved the way that artist Elizabeth Prins illustrated the BBQ Signs and or BBQ Buildings, to me this is better than a photograph of the building or sign. It really does give it that feel of Texas. Gloria hit a 180 with that decision. (180 is a perfect score in BBQ comps in the KCBS if you did not get that reference)

When you open the guide you see that each BBQ Joint is allotted two pages in the guide, on the left page is the illustration along with the BBQ Restaurants street address, phone number, hours of operation, website and methods of payment. Then on the right side is Gloria’s description of the food and also describing the atmosphere and the people that run the joints, all in three to four paragraphs.

This is a scan I made of just one of the 2 page spreads from the guide to show the template used

Gloria’s descriptions are not at all like what you would expect from a food critic, she is not critical at all so if your looking for that this book is not for you.

The author instead paints us a picture of what it is like in the restaurant and for me makes me wish that I could join her for lunch or dinner at each and every one of the joints in the guide.

Price of the Barbecue Lover’s Guide to Austin is $9.95

While I was reading the book I wrote back to Melissa and asked if I could ask a few questions of the Author Gloria Corral which she obliged me with.

Here are those questions and Gloria’s answers in her own words.

1. What has the experience of writing your very first book given to you as far as personal satisfaction?
Writing this first book has given me the confidence to write another book. BBQ Lover’s Guide 2nd edition is in the works with recipes and opinions.
2. In my own experience if there was one thing that really stands out to me about BBQ it is not as simple as being just a type of food it is part of a life style and it is the family type of togetherness of the people in the BBQ community that makes it very special, have you sensed that in writing your book?, and perhaps you could expand on that thought.
I definitely agree. I go into detail about that in the introduction of my book (pages 2-3). I was motivated to write this book because of the the rich BBQ culture in Central Texas.

3. Have you also made this book available in eReader format?
An eReader version is in the works. It will be available in January 2012.
4. What was the toughest challenge in writing the BBQ Lovers Guide?
My biggest challenge was not being critical and looking at every aspect of this process with an open mind. I found it wonderfully fulfilling watching the men and women labor at their craft. Smoking meat in the 100 degree summer heat is not an easy task. I always found something good to eat even if it was not the best.
5. Any thoughts of expanding the guide to other cities, and or States?
Yes, I have thought of doing BBQ Lover’s Guide in both other cities and States. I will need to win the lottery before I hit that road. I wrote and published the book independently, so it was a quite costly.

6. Have you ever been to a professional BBQ Competition? If they have them in the Austin area I would think it would be a natural event to promote the book and sell copies to BBQ fans.
I have been to BBQ competitions! I love the one on the 4th of July in Lake Placid, NY. I’ve met several local competitors and when I ask if they have been to this or that joint, I find that they don’t go out to eat BBQ. I get a warm reception from them when I show them the book. Perhaps it’s because I can talk about meat and sauce with some experience. One would expect to sell books at an event like this but selling books even for 10 bucks doesn’t happen at events! I can usually sell a few. Though the most I have sold at an event is around 10. We have a lot of great BBQ festivals in Austin including the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival and ManUp’s Gettin’ Sauced.

7. Where is the book available for purchase other than the books website?
The book is available on my website at bbqloversguide.com, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and in Austin at the Whole Foods flagship store, Book People, Waterloo Records, Whole Earth Provisions, Austin Visitors Center, Johnstone Men’ store in the Four Seasons Hotel and Fresh Plus Market.

8. Any final thoughts that you would like to say to my readers?

If you have the pleasure to visit Austin I hope you will indulge in a BBQ crawl!

If you do not know what a BBQ Crawl is I looked it up on the books website and here Gloria explains it.

I thank both Gloria and Melissa in giving me the opportunity to check out the Barbecue Lover’s guide to Austin and I look forward to seeing the second edition when it is completed, I also hope that she will one day get to do more guides for other cities and States, I think that would be awesome!!! Gloria is really on to something with this publication.

My quick thoughts on the book…

This book as the title suggests is a guide, something that would be wonderful to pick up at say a Austin Visitor Information Center for instance.
The cover is very colorful and I love that they did an artistic cover design using BBQ Signs.
As a guide it is very easy to search in the book for restaurants since each joint has a 2 page spread.
Artwork and overall design of the book is eye pleasing and consistent.
Information includes the address, phone number, hours of operation, website and methods of payment.
Every section of the book also has a list of the joints covered in that section on the left and a map with the restaurants flagged on the right.
The size of the guide is ideal for keeping in the glove-box of your car.
Empty space that you can make your own notes in the book.

Here are some Social media contact information for the book.

Barbecue Lover’s Website

Book Author’s e-mail address gloria@bbqloversguide.com

Gloria Corral on twitter @bbqloversguide

Barbecue Lover’s Guide on Facebook

Barbecue Lover’s Guide Blog

Publicist Melissa Cox can be contacted by e-mail melissa@musicboxmedia.com

Would you like to get a free copy of this book? (the prizes have been awarded)

Well Gloria was kind enough to allow me to give away 3 copies of the Barbecue Lover’s Guide To Austin

But the winners will have to work for it.

The first 3 people to leave me a comment below that can successfully name one of the BBQ Joints that is written about in the book will have one sent to them directly.

But not Stubb’s BBQ as I showed you that one above, I do not want to make this too easy for you!

Oh and not just the name, I also want the address of the joint.

I know what your thinking how could you possibly know which BBQ Joints are in the book?

Well I am thinking you could do some research and start a guessing game.

If your really stuck maybe you need me to help you????? Well you can click this link.

Please note that I will not allow duplicate answers, in other words your guess can not be one that another reader has guessed in my comments, it must be an original guess.

There are only 3 copies available for this give-away so get your answers in quick.

Update….

We have all 3 winners awarded

1st to answer correctly was Denise Lynn of Boise, Idaho who knew that Salt Lick Bar-B-Que 18300 FM 1826 Driftwood TX was featured in the book

and 2nd Donna Darling of Oshawa, Ontario that guessed right with County Line On the Hill Bar-B-Q 6500 w Bee Cave Rd Austin TX

The final winner is Drew an Austin, Texas local who knew that House Park BBQ was at 900 W 12th in Austin

For anyone else that was hoping to get in on the give-away, I am sorry however make sure to look for the book at the website above.

A huge thank-you to Gloria Corral and Melissa Cox for allowing me the privilege of reviewing the book and supplying the 3 prizes as well

Now that I have finished my review I went to look at what some of my other blogger friends have said about the book when they also did reviews of the Barbecue Lover’s Guide to Austin.

I saw the links earlier as they did their reviews before I wrote mine but I resisted the urge to read theirs so not to cloud my own judgement.

It seems though that all of us have some similar thoughts.

Here are links to those blogs.

Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog

Diva Q

The BBQ Grail

BBQ Jew

Nucking Futs Mama takes her family for BBQ and it hits the fan!

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:30:37 +0000

When I am in down time just surfing the web to have a few laughs (or as some would say “Shits and Giggles”) one of my go to sites would have to be the Nucking Futs Mama blog.

It is a very popular blog where Jennifer Marshall gives us a little peak into her family’s life with comedy, talking about her twins and her family pet Goatdog.

This is the @nuckingfutsmama, click the pic to go to her twitter page

You may be asking yourself, why is Fred talking about a Mommy Blog on his BBQ blog?

Well since you asked….

I was looking at her latest blog post and she was talking about a BBQ joint that her family went to and why possibly they may never let her return to it.

Let’s just say my earlier comment that I was looking for “Shits and Giggles” really applies to this post…. literately!

Have a look for yourself by clicking on the screen shot below…

Click to be taken to the blog post

I have been a faithful reader of Jennifer’s blog for over a year and if you need some laughs make sure to check it out regular like, it is not much about BBQ but it is about life and how she deals with it all the while allowing us to laugh at her expense. but we laugh with her not at her.

You can also find Jennifer on the Nucking Futs Mama Facebook page

Damn it…. I wanted to be a Broad

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:23:28 +0000

I was looking forward to yesterday for over a month!

I was contacted in November by Ms. D of the Burger Broads and asked if I would like to be included in their last Burger Joint review of 2011 over at Dangerous Dan’s at 714 Queen Street East in Toronto

Well Hell Yeah!!!

I had been a fan of the Burger Broads for a while now after seeing a few of their videos which are fresh and and exciting, you just never know what one of these Broads are going to say or do!

Now normally I do not call women Broads, as that can get a guy in a heap of trouble!!! But these ladies embrace the term Broads and are proud of it.

For those of my readers that have not yet heard of the Burger Broads they are a club of women that have a passion for Burgers and scour the city of Toronto looking for the best burger joints that are not franchised.

But it is not just about the Burgers, it is also about the Broads and the fun had by them while reviewing, it is just as much about their journey as it is the food.

It is also important for them to tell the story behind the burgers.

Have a look at some of their videos and you will see what I mean.

Click this Screen Shot to be directed to the Burger Broads Video page

Currently there are 32 Burger Broads in membership, Hmmm since Burgers are made from Beef should we perhaps call them a herd of Broads?

For most reviews two of the Burger Broads would be sent to a location in order to film the review with the Burger Joint knowing ahead of time that they would be coming and being filmed.

Their goal is to achieve a Burgasm , they love their burgers messy and in fact they “relish” it

These Broads have a slogan…..

Now on this day it was to be a very special shoot as it would be the last video being shot for the year and not 2… not 3 … not 4… not 5… but 6 Burger Broads were going to be visiting Dangerous Dan’s and as a surprise to even the Broads in attendance your Oshawa Ogre was joining them to take part in the review. The restaurant is closed every Monday but Ms. D had arranged a month ago that they would open the doors just for our group as a private function, not open to the public. The event was scheduled to be from 2pm -5pm.

Well I show up at 1:50 and waiting outside the door is Burger Broad Jewel but the restaurant is locked and dark. we chat for a few minutes and one by one the other 5 Burger Broads and Ms. D appear along with the camera crew. and needless to say they were not thrilled that no one from the restaurant showed up.

The inside of Dangerous Dan's, too bad the best I could do was take a picture through the window.

Looking in the window it looked promising too, all of the seats in the restaurant were made from cars bucket seats and van seats, some fronts some rears and different fabrics.

I suggested I take a couple of pics outside of Dangerous Dan’s before we go and then Ms. D presented me with a gift, a Burger Broads T-Shirt!, which I just had to put on of course.

A locked up Dangerous Dan's, but look what is outside wanting in!!!

Yes Coolio was lucky enough to get his picture taken with 5 Burger Broads

But I had 6!!!!!!, and here I thought that Coolio was more of a ladies man lol

The 6 Broads with me are Joj-jo, Zane, Lori, Sharon, Candy and Jewel

Whoops!!!! I was Broadsided by the Kissing Bandit

The above shot is nothing new for Sharon as she has done this before as I found on the Burger Broads Facebook page….

But we were not going to let that disappointment get us down, we discussed a plan B of going to another Burger Joint but with out planning ahead it would not of worked so instead we just headed down the street to the Prohibition Gastropub & Oyster Bar. 696 Queen St East. Toronto, for lunch and a drink for a couple of hours.

Pulled Pork Fromage, Very tasty!

The Pubs menu had some very interesting items on the menu like Bison and others, but I chose to have the Pulled Pork Fromage which was served with Fries and the way it was prepared on toasted bread which was amazing.

Later Ms. D tweeted this on Twitter

The owner of Dangerous Dan’s did call Ms. D to say how sorry they were to mess up, they are making plans and are hoping to re-schedule sometime in February another vid shooting after I get back from my second annual Southern Expedition to Florida.

We did not get to do a Burger Joint Review but I was able to make 9 new friends… so that is still a great day!

Social media information for the Burger Broads….

Burger Broads on Twitter @BurgerBroads

Burger Broads on Facebook

Burger Broads on Vimeo (Watch their vids here)

Burger Broads Website

Burger Broads Merchandise Store

e-mail burgerbroads@gmail.com

2011 Guelph, Ontario RibFest and The SKrAPr Lady handing out GrILLrs to the Ribbers

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:52:05 +0000

Having been to 11 RibFests during the 2011 season I had just realized that I had not yet written my review of the event that was held in Guelph back in late August.

I figure since here it is December you could all appreciate some pictures that you have not seen reminding us of a warm weekend from the summer.

And how could I forget, as it was a great event that was memorable. With fantastic weather and and mouth watering BBQ’d food.

As I arrived I first wandered around just outside of the RibFest to look at lots of really cool muscle cars and hot rods that were competing in a car show. I am not sure if the RibFest attracted the car enthusiasts or the car show attracted some hungry BBQ fans but either way it was a great match to get everyone down to the park!

I had also arranged to meet with Annette Penney who was visiting a RibFest for the very first time. Annette is the Social Media Director for the SKrAPr that makes a Grill cleaning product that is ideal for this kind of event.

I have a GrILLr and it is the perfect BBQ cleaning product for the backyarder or the professional BBQ'er

The GrILLr is a compact tool that works wonders cleaning BBQ Grills and Grates being able to get in and around all of the tight spots to scrape off any build ups of charred meats and sauces.

After meeting Annette for the first time about a month earlier when we co authored a review for Hog Tails BBQ Restaurant in Kitchener, I convinced her that bringing the GrILLr and handing them out to all of the professional Ribber teams would be a great fit for a product that was not yet on the open market at the time and having the pros test it out was a no-brainer.

Annette met me about 40 minutes after I arrived and I introduced her to the various Rib teams working the Guelph show.

SKrAPr representative Annette Penney presenting Donna Darling-Butler of the Horn Dawgs with her GrILLr Gift

Phil Watts of Billy Bones was thrilled to get his very own GrILLr from Annette

Boss Hogs BBQ May of won the big trophy at the show but to get a SKrAPr GrILLr as well was a nice bonus win!

Judging by all of the trophies that Cabby's BBQ has garnered over the past 20 or so years I bet they have spent a lot of hours cleaning their grills... Perhaps the GrILLr that Anntte gave them will make their job a little easier.

There were great crowds at the Guelph RibFest just as there are at all of the summer events across Ontario, most Ribfests average between 50,000 to 150,000 visitors over a 3 or 4 day week-end.

There is more than just BBQ at a RibFest, there are tons of vendors and while your having a relaxing day there is also live music on the stage to keep people around and make them happy.

And that is all well and good but What really draws you in is the sweet smell of Pork, Chicken and Beef being smoked for hours and hours and then finished over charcoal with each ribbers own blend of BBQ sauce.

Dnna and Rob Butler gave Annette Penney a bottle of their Gluten Free BBQ Sauce that just started being produced as a retail product after a couple of years of demand from customers.

Not saying that the Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ Sauce is popular but they sold 900 bottles of sauce in just a couple of weeks! and this is the same sauce that won them many awards across Ontario during the last 3 years including being voted Canada’s Best BBQ Sauce in 2010 in Burlington.

Horn Dawgs makes a fine BBQ, Pulled Pork, Ribs and Chicken being so popular but the other Ribbers also have great Barbecue as well and that is what is so great at these shows, having anywhere from 6 to 19 ribbers at these events and giving the crowds the opportunity to taste for themselves and to vote for their favorites.

Matti of Pistol Pete's showing us a great rack of ribs!

Nothing like BBQ food finished over hot coals or hardwood after being smoked

Josh of Tennesee Fatbacks pulling another rack of delicous ribs off the grill!

AJ has the right idea.... Dig right into those Bad Wolf Ribs

Mare Savoie and owner Phil Watts of Billy Bones, Always very poular team at RibFests

Silver Bullet's Jacob and look he has Ribs too, I sense a pattern developing

Paul showing off the Blazin BBQ Ribhouse product, are you hungry yet?

Adam squirts some delicous sweet Boss Hog Sauce on those ribs, one wuestion anyone seen Daisy Duke?

Devon is the grillman for Crabby's BBQ Shack, They do their Ribs a little different, baking them rather than smoking before being finished on the grill.

Booby and Manda serving up ribs for Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ

It was then Awards time as organizers announce who won trophies for having the best judged BBQ 3 categories and also who was voted to be the Peoples Choice winner.

Kerry Radder about to start the award ceremony

Ribbers stand on stage hoping to get called out for an award which goes a long way to promoting their teams for the next show

Boss Hog with a 3rd place for chicken

Rob Butler of Horn Dawgs accepts his trophy for 3rd place sauce

Silver Bullet had a great day 1st place Chicken & 1st place in Ribs and also Sauce!

Billy Bones also walked away with 3 trophies, consistant 2nd place finishes in Sauce, Chicken & Ribs

Some of the winners posing for a quick picture before getting back to work

Boss Hog really proud to have won the Peoples Choice for best over alll Ribber, that is a cool looking trophy!

Final Results

Chicken

1st – Silver Bullet

2nd – Billy Bones

3rd – Boss Hog

Sauce

1st – Silver Bullet

2nd – Billy Bones

3rd – Horn Dawgs Smokin BBQ

Ribs

1st – Silver Bullet

2nd – Billy Bones

3rd – Pistol Pete’s

Peoples Choice – Overall

Winner – Boss Hog

Runner up – Silver Bullet

Donna & Rob Butler with another trophy to add to their growing collection

Before leaving Donna was nice enough to take a picture of myself with Annette

I was drawn to some historic information from the local area that goes way back!

As I was exiting the park I thought about taking the train but then I would not have anyway of getting my car home

The kids love this train that is in the park and gives them rides

All Aboard!

And who does not like to watch their kids on an old fashioned Merry-Go-Round?

Deck the halls with BBQ Bloggers Fa La La La La La La La . Another JibJab starring the Ogre & Friends

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:37:49 +0000

As Christmas gets closer we are hearing more and more holiday music on the radio but the five of us decided it was time to Rock the house!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Watch the video right here on this page by clicking above and LET’S ROCK!!!

Now if only we could all of hair like that again lol

You can also click on this picture to got to the original link to the video

If you do not know us please check us out at these sites

Lead Singer – Hanneke Eerden on Facebook, Twitter @hanneke158 and her foodie website The Dutchess Cooks

Drummer – Annette Penney on Facebook, Twitter @InspiredAnnette and her Social Media Management website Inspire & Acquire and also at The SKrAPr on Facebook

Electric Axe – Wayne Brown on Facebook, Twitter @brownkw and his website Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog

Guitar Hero – Richard Wachtel on his Facebook, Twitter @GrillinwRich and his website Grilling with Rich

Pickin & Grinin’ (yup that is my smile) Wilfred Reinke on my Facebook, Twitter @OshawaOgre and my website Oshawa Ogre’s Views, News & BBQ’s

There will be at least one more Christmas videos to come but the next one will be going back a few decades.

We try and review the Slow & Low Pulled Pork from President’s Choice Recipe to Riches Show on Food Network (Frozen Food)

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:19:38 +0000

Thanks to my buddy Joe Simeunovich for giving me a call a few nights ago to tell me about a TV show on the Food Network here in Canada called Recipe to Riches.

The premise of the show being that people submit their recipes and the judges pick the top three in seven different categories and out of each three finalists they do a couple of challenges to decide who wins each episode.

The winner of each episode get $25,000 and their recipe gets made into a President’s Choice product that goes to market the week-end following the airing of the show.

The winner also goes to the final show where they can win $250,000.

I had missed the previous 6 episodes but I did catch the seventh and in this episode the category was Entrees and the final three foods were Lobster Mac & Cheese a braised Lamb and every BBQ’ers favorite Pulled Pork.

The winner of this episode was the Pulled Pork presented by Robert Luft from British Columbia which I thought was great since Pulled Pork is really getting popular here North of the border showing up in many restaurants and even fast food joints like Quiznos with their own Pulled Pork Sub.

Original logo for testing that was not used in final product

During the show one of the challenges was to hand out your product and Robert had the chance to work with a marketing team and they came up with a logo that in the end was not used because they did not think it was a good idea to market a cartoon pig that was smoking a cigar (which I am ok with since I know how fun BBQ Team logos can be and it shows that the pork is smoked.)

It was intended that the Pulled Pork would be un-sauced and in a bag that can be boiled for 15 minutes and then served with your favourite sauce and could be used in many ways.

Having smoked pulled pork that you can prepare yourself in 15 minutes seems like a great idea but how would it compare to what we are used to in a traditional Pulled Pork Sandwich?

Well a couple of days later the Slow & Low Pulled Pork was indeed on the display at Loblaw Supermarket and Joe and I stopped by and picked up a couple of boxes.

Joe in front of the Recipe to Riches freezer in Loblaw

Hmmm more thought could of gone into the cartoon

They drew the cartoon of Robert holding a rack of ribs….. strange since the meat is from the shoulder blade.

While I was taking some pics a lot of people were drawn to the display and we talked with a few of them and it seems to be that this way of promoting new frozen foods is indeed a great marketing tool.

They even advertise the show at the grocery store so double bang for the buck, great cross promotion by advertising the TV show at the store and the President’s Choice Brand on the show!

So that night was my regular Saturday night visit with Bob, Susan and Herman at Bob’s house so I brought the box with me to give it a try.

The Pork out of the box

Into a pot for 15 minutes on medium low heat

As you can see the Pork is SAUCED!!! So already they are going against the plan, on the package it says it is “Seasoned, boneless pork shoulder blade in a tangy-sweet tomato based sauce”

There were two pouches of the meat in the box and for $7.00 I guess it is ok for what it is.

Served on a bun with some slaw

I took this picture then realized I needed to serve four people not three so I skimmed some from the others to make the forth.

Susan wanted with out the bun but Herman, Bob and I each had on a bun and with slaw which was made by Susan (Thanks for that

As far as the taste?

Well we all agreed it was ok though nothing to get excited about and the sauce was alright one that would be best for the masses I suppose.

I did not see any bark mixed in with the pork which many people would of liked to see and taste. The meats texture was more mushy than I would of liked.

It is a good option for a frozen dinner but still would not be compared with a pork butt that I smoke myself.

But because there is very little available in a quick Pulled Pork that you can have at home in minutes, I can indeed see a market for this and it may do very well.

Below are a couple of scans I made from the box so that you can read it all clearly. (Remember you can click on any of my pics to see the image full size)

To look at the Recipe to Riches Website and watch the vids (though if your in the States I am not sure if you can view) please check out the Food Network.ca Recipe for Riches Website where you can also see the other winning products from the previous 6 episodes. And viewers can vote on the winning recipe in the final later this week.

The creator of the recipe is on Facebook Robert (Bobby) Luft.

You can also follow Robert on his Twitter account @BobbyLuft

And the show also has it’s own Facebook page Recipe to Riches and Twitter Page @RecipetoRiches.

The SKrAPr Lady insisted that her and the BBQ Elves decorate the Christmas Tree (GrILLr presents have to go under it)

Wilfred Reinke aka @OshawaOgre — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:42:21 +0000

Click on this pic to go to the Direct video link

Annette Penny aka The SKrAPr Lady loves this time of year and was telling me that it was time to put up the tree so I gathered up the BBQ Elves and we pulled out the decorations to bring the holiday spirit into her home and the SKrAPr office.

And what is the most wanted Christmas gift this holiday season? It has got to be the SKrAPr GrILLr Please take a moment after watching the video to click on the ad for the GrILLr Facebook page in my right sidebar As they are one of my sponsors and they would love to have you visit their facebook page and comment about this post, as would I

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

If you do not know us please check us out at these sites

Hanneke Eerden on Facebook, Twitter @hanneke158 and her website The Dutchess Cooks

Annette Penney on Facebook, Twitter @InspiredAnnette and her website Inspire & Acquire and also at The SKrAPr on Facebook

Wayne Brown on Facebook, Twitter @brownkw and his website Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog

Richard Wachtel on his Facebook, Twitter @GrillinwRich and his website Grilling with Rich

Wilfred Reinke on my Facebook, Twitter @OshawaOgre and my website Oshawa Ogre’s Views, News & BBQ’s