Qinator

Q-inator! is shaking the dust off and hitting the trail for 2026!

First up, a new one for us - Smoke on the Falls at Noccalula Falls near Gadsden Alabama. Hope to see some old friends and make new ones... and maybe hear our name a time or two!

First smoke

Q-inator! has added a new weapon to our arsenal! A Southern Q Limo Jr XT. We hope to get it out on the battlefield before too long. First, gotta do some practice cooks...

I made my first attempt at vegetarian bbq this week. It was for an event that had several different dietary requirements including a few vegetarians. I made some imitation pulled pork with jack fruit. It got good reviews even from the meatatarians. But to me it tasted like hot slaw with bbq sauce! -M

Big meats are off, little meats are on. Needles up!

We're set up and knocking the rust off. We'll see if we still remember how to do this! Good luck to everyone competing this weekend.

Leftover brisket (is that a thing)?

Make Kings Hawaiian Brisket Sliders:

24 Kings Hawaiian rolls
Enough brisket sliced or pulled for the sandwiches
2 lrg sweet onions
12 slices thin smoked provolone cheese
1 tsp Blues Hog Raspberry Chipotle sauce
1/2 tsp Worchestershire
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
butter
Salt and pepper
Horseradish sauce

Prep- slice rolls. Slice each cheese slice into 4 equal quarters. Slice onions into thin half ring slices.

Heat brisket in au jus. Put sliced onions in large nonstick skillet with 3-6 tbsp butter and a little salt and pepper. Sauté over medium heat for 10-20 minutes until onions begin to turn translucent. Turn heat down to medium-low and continue to stir frequently. While minding onions, prep warmed brisket by slicing or pulling meat and removing any fat than place back in au jus to keep warm. Keep cooking onions till they caramelize; usually 45 mins. to an hour but can take longer (up to 2 hours). Watch the heat, too hot and they will scorch. Once they are well caramelized, add the Blues Hog, Worchestershire, and balsamic vinegar. Stir well to mix in and set aside. Open buns and lay faces up on pans. Lightly toast bun faces under broiler. Build each slider by layering meat, onions, and 2 cheese quarters (corners pointing in opposite directions) onto bottom bun. Place tops on sliders. Can optionally heat in 250 degree oven for a few minutes to melt cheese but keep an eye on the buns to avoid burning. Serve with Horseradish.

Box pics from this weekend...

We competed at the Atlanta BBQ Store Classic this weekend. Usually we spend the ride home over analyzing the scores to try to decipher the meaning in them so we can improve. Not tonight! No scores were given due to technical difficulties on the part of KCBS. This isn't the first time. This was no fault of the contest organizers, who made the difficult but correct call to cancel awards rather than getting it wrong and having to correct it later. We will find out where we placed in Monday. To Brian and Ellen Jarvis, thank you for running a great contest and being class acts.

Looking forward to this cook! Our last one of 2023....

TWO. WEEKS. AWAY.
Cu***ng Fairgrounds. NOV. 18TH.
The Atlanta BBQ Store Classic BBQ Contest and Festival!

PUBLIC EVENT SATURDAY, NOV. 18TH FROM 10:00 A.M.-4:30 P.M.

Mark your calendars for LIVE MUSIC, KIDS ZONE, and the chance to get a sneak peek into the world of competition BBQ with PEOPLE'S CHOICE on Saturday, November 18TH!

People's Choice starts from 11:00 a.m. until all Samples are gone.

What is People's Choice?- Teams will be cooking for YOU to sample their BBQ. To participate, purchase a $10 ticket to sample their food. YOU VOTE ON YOUR FAVORITE! Then Teams will get to find out who was the FAVORITE is at Awards Sat. @ 5:00 p.m. STICK AROUND SATURDAY NIGHT TO FIND OUT WHO GETS THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE TITLE AND BRAGGING RIGHTS!

***ALL PROCEEDS RAISED GO TO MEALS BY GRACE!
Details: www.absclassic.com

Running off some butts today for the BSA Scouts.

I know that some folks have been able to turn in a Prime brisket and do well. I am not one of those people. The past 2 contests we switched to Primes to see if we could save money and still score. That experiment is over. As a team, we geek out on Excel spreadsheets after every contest to analyze scores and see what works. This is why this weekend at Calhoun I went back to a pork recipe that I was using in 2020. Taking a look at all of our brisket scores for 2016 till now, I discovered that on average, Primes cost us over 10 points in scores 160.2644 vs 170.7268. They also cost us a difference of average place of 12th vs 28th. I understand that neither placement or scores are a perfect measure because of variations in scoring and number of teams, but taken together, it is worth looking at. There are some other issues to contend with such as mistakes I made and matters of time and temperature. But all in all, I think that moving away from A9s was the single most important factor. - Alan