MIGHTY SWINE DINING

LEXINGTON BBQ BATTLE

2011-04-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

What a weekend ,downpours ,damaging winds ,cold raw temperatures but in the end it was great.We ended up with 11th in chicken,10th in ribs,1st in pork,4 th in brisket and RGC for the contest.Thanks to steve and scott of meat at slims for making this event a great despite the fact of the challenges for those 2 days .Also a huge congrats to all the teams competiting this past weekend it was a challenge for us all.Thank-you Bill from Smokin Hoggz for the use of your warm trailer and sloppy Joes and congrats on your 3 top ten finishes.

LEXINGTON 2

2011-04-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

Well its just a week away until the first bbq comp of this year.We are looking foward to it all though i forgot how much stuff we need to get done before this contest!It should be fun there is a bunch of stuff to do there including a wood cookery college in which they asked Alan and myself to do a demo.Unfortunely Alan can not do it because of work obligations so it leaves me solo (as I told alan there is always sick time).hope to see everyone there!

LEXINGTON

2011-02-20T05:44:00.000-08:00

With lots of classes being taught and lots of teams taking them and the Internet we think this season is going to be TOUGH! Lexington is 1st for a lot of teams (thanks to Steve and Scott for hosting it) we think this field will be really hard to beat.It's only 24 teams which makes it even more competitive .But like any contest it should be lots of fun getting to see all the teams again to kick off the year . We are also working on a new logo hopefully to be finished by then .Next in our sites after Lexington is Merrimack which is one of our favorite contests .Good luck to all see you in April!

2011 COMPS

2011-02-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while since i posted last so here is an update.this will be an aggressive year for Alan and myself for competitions.As you know we are both chefs and getting weekends off is pretty hard for us to do.With that being said we are competing in 6-7 contests this year we are starting out with the Lexington BBQ battle,rock-n-ribfest in Merrimack , western Maine BBQ in fryburg, mainly grilling and chilling in Eliot,Harvard fall festival in Harvard and the American royal in Kansas ..........and of course hopefully the jack.We also picked up another sponser SPITJACK.COM !!Alan and I met Bruce last year in harvard we talked about sponsership and he decided to sponser so we would like to welcome him aboard . Also we would like to metion our friends at Smokin Hoggz have gotten a new family member to there team in the way of a Backwoods Fatboy so congrats guys.Now its time to start practicing April will be here before you know it.

THE JACK

2010-10-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Quau for their GC and BBQ GURU for RCG!Also a big congrats to All the NEBS teams what a great showing for New england.Especially IQue,Lakeside Smokers,ISS!!! nic3e going.I thought watching it streaming live was a good idea except NOW i really hope we make the draw.

THE BIG CONTESTS

2010-09-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

With our win in Harvard it secures our spot for the American Royal next year and gives us a 50/50 shot of competing in the Jack Daniels Invitational ,2011,also.That being said and from what i have read there is a lot of planning involved.I'm trying to figure out whether to rent a mobile home up here or down there also what to do in the area of both places Rod gray of pellet Envy had a post about competitng for the first time but i would love to find out more.If any one has any suggestions of where to look online or email me it would be much appreciated.
Needless to say we are excited even though it is 1 year away.Alan and myself are also glad that we were able to accomplish our goals this year which was to win a GC for grilling and bbq.What a perfect end to the season.my email(sous1@comcast.net )(charlie)
Our friend Bill from Smokin Hoggz is going to compete in North Carolina this november so all our best to him .
Good luck also to our friends from ISS!!,Lakeside smokers,Ique and feeding friendz all competing in "the Jack"this year ....make New England proud again!
Also I have had a few people ask me what box number we were for peoples choice....i wish i could remember we had so many numbers with all the peoples choice plus grilling and bbq all being different numbers i wish i had kept track i will next year for sure.

RECAP

2010-09-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

Harvard fall festival was great for us as most of you know so we are very happy with that being said i would like to also congratulate all the other teams who received calls.Ique was reserve grand champion and Lakeside Smokers was third i also have to say they(Chris Hart and Mike Boisvert) are among the nicest and most complimentary people NEBS has.Thanks again to Bill,Al and Shaune from Smokin Hoggz and Jim,Moe,Dj and Anthony from Devine Swine for there constant ribbing and making the events fun and also being there when we forget stuff which seems to happen no matter how much planning we do.Now from what I've read its almost time to start planning for the Jack or the royal or both which take lots of planning.If any of the teams have any advice on what i need to plan for please email me and let me know or who have competed and what should I expect.

WOW!!!!

2010-09-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it we won GRAND CHAMPION with 3 first place calls 1 in chicken,ribs and pork.
We also felt very good about our brisket which has been up and down we seemed to fix this in Maine and it carried over to Harvard with 12th place ,which we were very happy about.We also were 3 rd overall in grilling with a second in sausage and for the second year in a row "People's choice pulled pork" winner.This has been an unbelievable end for a great year for us.Thanks to everyone for for the congratulations .It was also a great weekend for our friends from Smokin Hoggz 4th overall for grilling and 16th overall for bbq .We couldn't have asked for better weather it was just great now hoping we make the draw for the jack next year and if we don't make that off to the Royal we go.there will be photo's to follow.

HARVARD FALL FESTIVAL

2010-09-04T06:08:00.000-07:00

It's less than 2 weeks until the harvard fall festival which is one of my favorite contest.This year they are adding a grilling contest which we are excited for since our GC in merrimack we hope we have a repeat performance again and hopefully our luck carries to sunday also.I also hope the weather cooperates like last year even with the 33 degree temps at night.This year we are bringing 2 new people who want to check out what comp.bbq is all about this should be fun we will have 2 more converts soon.It's also our last comp for this year we are trying to make it 5 for next year including Delaware for Alan because he is such a huge race fan.Harvard not only to the grilling there is a people's choice event BOTH days this year which we are doing also its going to be a busy weekend but will be fun none the less.

MAINE PART 2

2010-08-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Maine was really good for us we took 3rd in blueberry dessert ,3rd in pork and a 7th overall out of a field of some REALLY good teams.Again it was our chicken that sank us but we will have it all revamped for Harvard.Not only did we have perfect weather but the Raitt farm secured for us lobster really cheap so almost every team had a steamed lobster.This is becoming on of our favorite events it keeps getting better each year.As always it was great to see all the teams we haven't seen in a while and some of the teams we got to meet.Congrats to ISS!!!for there auto into THE JACK which also turns Lakeside smokers into an auto also so congrats to Mike &Kris also.Next up Harvard which hopefully gets us into the jack for next year we'll see.

MAINE

2010-07-30T23:12:00.001-07:00

Wow cant believe it's been a month since i wrote on this blog ! Well first off i would like to congratulate Bill and the guys and girls from Smokkin hoggz for the placing in chicken at harpoon.Harpoon is the who's who's teams of NEBS so the Field of competitors is tough hopefully next year we get in.Second a BIG yeeha for Wendy and Tim of feeding friendz for there 2 day double grand and auto qualifier for the jack!!!!!As always it was great to see Mike from lakeside who always has words of encouragement for us ...thanks Mike.
Next weekend is Maine and it is up to 43 teams we are very excited to compete again and see all our friends.we are hoping to win to go to the Jack at least once ,but if not at least we will have a great time.

MERRIMACK

2010-06-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

Well Merrimack was fun great to see all the people we haven't seen in a while.Congrats to LO N' SLOW on there GC and invite to the jack.We were lucky to win GC of the grilling portion of the weekend .So we were very excited we also meet Micheal Graham of 96.9 TKK which Alan and myself are big fans of.The bbq day didn't goes as planned we were 20th out of 37 teams which we surprised that stuff looked the best (we feel) we have ever done even with the boxes being to small.So next up for us is Maine guess we go back to the drawing board.

MERRIMACK

2010-06-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well Alan and i have been doing alot of practice so we are hoping for god results in Merrimack this year.....but we'll see you never know until judging.finally got almost everything organized and ready to go .Congrats to all the teams that competed in Roc City also to our friends of Smokin' Hoggz for there fifth place dessert win. Good Luck to all our friends competing at Peter's pond this weekend we'll see you all in Merrimack.

LUNCH

2010-05-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

Just went to Abington to hang out with Bill and Al from smokin' hoggz .For lunch they took me to The Red Rose Cafe where Steve Farrin (I smell smoke) was cooking . we started of with wings and Frito pie with brisket on top it was very good.Then I got a burger which was Very good plus great fries.Now it is time to start preparing for ROCK-N-RIBFEST .We have some new methods for the chicken which we are excited for and plus we are pretty happy the way our briskets have been turning out....but that doesn't mean the judges will like them.Also good luck to the teams competing at Mann's Orchards especially the new team I met Jim from Devine Swine.

CONTESTS

2010-04-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

it was great to see Bill and Al from smokin'hoggz bbq at my new wood-grilled pizza restaurant bill was having his bumper gate extended to fit all 3 WSM's should be great for him this year.As we found out we were not accepted into harpoon this year but hopefully next year.Now that Alan is back it is time to focus on Merrimack which is our first contest this year.hope to see you there.

EASTER SUNDAY HAM

2010-04-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was full of work for me especially after a very busy restaurant week.The bright side is my family came to the restaurant for brunch and had some ham that I smoked for the brunch actually 2 fresh hams.Also i just received Dr.BBQ's new book and there are some pretty good recipes in there.Also 4 more days until teams find out about harpoon I can't wait I hope we get in. Here are some photo's of the ham being smoked and ribs I cooked at work for the staff .

WOW

2010-03-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

Wow i cant believe a month has passed.I guess i have been to busy with the new restaurant(photo's coming soon) and the new J&R grill cooks like a dream .......powered by humphrey's charcoal of course.MSD would like to say congrats to all the teams at the snowshoe .Also the new smoker construction should begin soon thanks to Chad and Nicole for that for both .We are starting to practice for our 1st contest of this year which will be the rock-n-ribfest in Merrimack new Hampshire i know its in June but it will be here quick.Also look for us in the suicide food blog soon for our review.

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2010-01-29T09:32:00.001-08:00

The new grill

GRILL

2010-01-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

Well the new J&R wood grill arrived today hopefully it will be installed monday so i can get a few photo's of it to post ....it is huge.The new restaurant should be open for Superbowl weekend which is exciting and thanks to Chad &Nicole Humphrey who will be supplying the restaurant with charcoal and wood.Talking to chad today to find out how the new smoker is progressing hope to have that ready for the spring which if that happens my backwoods competitor will be up for sale.

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2009-12-27T10:30:00.001-08:00

I built this for alan for christmas

BIG COMPETITIONS

2009-12-14T02:43:00.000-08:00

well I think we are going to compete at the royal this year.Hopefully our friends from SMOKIN HOGGZ and our sponsor Humphreys Charcoal go with us to Kansas it would be fun.Chad from humphreys also asked us about competing at Smoke on the water in march in Arkansas we'll see that would fun to especially with such a big 1st place finish.Ultimately we hope we can win a GC and go to the jack.I want to do all these comps just once....at least that's what i say now..

BBQ CULTURE

2009-12-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that the bbq culture is one unto itself as this is more of a declaration of how i see this culture.First off Alan and myself are really newcomers to this sport competing 3 years ,the 1st year 1 event ,the 2nd year becoming certified judges and judging, 3rd year 3 events and next year 5 and hopefully 7.In that time we have made a couple of good friends namely Bill and his team from SMOKIN HOGGZ (by the way if you don't know Bill he would literaly give you the shirt off his back) and even though we are all competing against one another every one i met would do the same to any other team.It seemed most evident this past week as Mike from I SMELL SMOKE passed away .On my facebook page,Steve farrins and Charlie Pini pages there was alot of support from the bbq community as a whole.From all over the country from people who did not know Mike ,including myself other than to say hi, to show there respect and support
to someone who shared the same passion for bbq as they feel themselves.Also it was evident again when the show pitmasters on tlc started it went through the community almost as fast with blogs,facebook pages and websites dedicated to all things bbq.I find myself lucky to to have met and the people I have and will meet in the future who share the same love of bbq as Alan and myself.

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2009-11-27T07:23:00.001-08:00

Cold smoker at work

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2009-11-27T07:13:00.001-08:00

A little light reading

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2009-11-27T06:59:00.001-08:00

Light reading

2009-11-25T11:11:00.001-08:00

UPDATE

2009-11-20T06:35:00.000-08:00

Well the new weber did great 2 pork butts on 1 shelf and 2 racks on the other with some room to spare. It ran a little hotter than I like but i will figure that out as i use it more.I was surprised but the bowl holds almost 3 gallons of water and the fire ring almost 1 bag of charcoal (HUMPHREY"S CHARCOAL) and ran just about 9 hours without refueling.While that was happening i built a cold smoke to attach to my smaller wsm at work to smoker all of our own bacon and other things as the menu changes.I going to give the cold smoker a dry run tomorrow to see if it will work

and also to season the barrel.

NEW TOY

2009-11-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

Well i just picked up the 22" wsm going to give it it's first trial run this week .Also we want to congratulate all the New england teams who competed and did very well at "The Jack"

.Hopefully we will be able to get there. My first hope for this year is to be accepted and compete at harpoon. I'm using my old wsm to convert to a cold smoker parttime to make bacon for work. I'm also talking with chad from humphrey's charcoal about building a new smoker similar to my backwoods but hopefully better designed.

HARVARD 2

2009-09-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

Well harvard was very fun we had 5 calls including first place peoples choice for pulled pork.Also we met up with our good friends Smokin Hoggz and had a great time with them.We also met the guy's from Dogs in smoke and hung out with them also.It was cold 34 degree's in fact so cold there was frost on my tent. With the photo's posted you will get to see what I'm talking about .

Also I want to thank Mike from lakeside smokers with all the advice he has given us about competing. Humphreys charcoal was nice enough to sponsor us so thanks to Chad and Nicole for that and thanks to bill (Smokin Hoggz )for introducing us.Unfortunately this is our last competition for this year and hopefully we will do 5 comps next year god luck to the teams going to the jack and to the teams still competing this year.

HARVARD

2009-09-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well today is the day we leave for harvard .hope all goes well I think we finally figured out the brisket but we'll see.There are 43 teams competing do date the largest one Alan and myself have competed in and a lot of them are very good teams. I try to update this weekend.

FOOTBALL

2009-09-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well last night Alan and I went to the Patriot's to watch an unbelievable game also with great seats.We met up with bill (Smokin Hoggz)and tailgated before and after the game .Bill made corn chowder ,grilled pork loin,steak tips , hot dogs and hamburgers.Alan and I brought ribs and brat's with peppers and onions.there was about 10-14 of us hanging out so it was a great time.
Now for the focus at hand which is the Harvard fall festival in Harvard mass coming up this weekend.I'm off the rest of the week to start getting some stuff done the usual stuff rub's,sauces,injections and the going to costco for the other stuff.

BACKWOODS REPAIR

2009-09-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well today i had a day off so it was time to fix the cover on my smoker .As you see by the photo's you can see the rust and the dent and also how I built the frame to reinforce it.So I'll do the final install on sat morning.

PATRIOTS

2009-08-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well next week Alan got free tickets to the patriots game so we are heading down for a tailgate party and hopefully the pats winning(which is going to be tough for Alan because it is against Buffalo his home team).Also a few of you know that on our way home from Maine the tie down on the trailer came off and crushed the top of the backwoods.But all is well Mike from backwoods sent up a new top I'm going to reinforce it with some angle iron and make that cover unbreakable...also as a side note becareful of the tops as I took mine off it was covered in rust mike said it was because it is so humid in LA that the insulation absorbs water and has you cook steam rises and settled on the top and rusted .So with the new cover BWS took the liberty and painted the inside so unless you have a backwoods built like Brendan's (Transformer bbq) ,which is all diamond plate and probably the coolest looking smoker , then you should take off the cover and repaint it.

MAINE PART 2

2009-08-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some photo's from Maine hopefully I get better about posting them.the first one is our oyster's for peoples choice we came in 4th,next is a photo of alan and I with Paul Kirk and the rest are just some from the day including Alan sleeping on sat after our turn-in because we all had a really late night (you'll see by Sean from bourbon and beale eating a scorpion from a bottle of mezcal) as I have heard before nothing good happens after 3:30 am.Also one photo of pat sleeping in the nerve of him getting up at 8:30 when I was up at 4:30 and Alan at 5:00 being that we all went to bed at around 1:30.

MAINE

2009-08-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well the Maine comp did'nt goes as planned but went pretty good overall.We took 4th in ribs which means we moved up one more notch.We had a great time with Pat (who I think is now addicted )and we also met a few more teams who where fun to talk to (2bqd,team woonage)
Thanks to jack and adam at Team woonage for the great homemade port,limoncello and jack's grappa (which we keep on hand incase we need lighter fluid).Also alan and I are starting to see how the judges are going so more practice to be had until Harvard Fall festival.

FRIDAY

2009-08-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

Well trailer is loaded everything is packed now its time to head up to Eliot ,ME to see how we fair against some really good teams.But all in all it will be a great weekend.Fri will be the check-in day and the teams saying hi and our friends from Smokin hoggz is making steak sanwiches.Sat is the people's choice(chicken wings) and the iron chef (ingredient not revealed until sat).Sat night is when we have some fun because most teams have a potluck dinner and we hang out and have fun.MSD is bringing etoufee (crawfish,shrimp,andouille sausage and tasso ham) and our friends from lakeside are doing a lobster and clam boil.With the weather holding out it should be alot of fun.

THURSDAY

2009-08-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well most of the trailer is loaded finishing it up today.Looks like we are going to have great comp. weather.Time also to finish my last minute checklist of stuff for the pantry items. Ribs we be in today everything else went into the cooler and is waiting to get there.It also should be interesting because we have never competed in an Iron Chef or people's choice so we are figuring that out as we go along.It is now up to 29 teams so hopefully we do well especially with all the practice we have been doing.

WEDNESDAY

2009-08-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days not much going on.Today is the day alot happens.First I just put 24 pcs of chicken from the freezer to have ready for sun.Next getting ready to go over alan's clean the smoker and go through the gear and check our shopping list.Hopefully we get most of the trailer loaded tonight .Alan ordered ribs those should be in tomorrow .Then tonight I'll get injections made,sauces made ,and get packed.

SATURDAY

2009-08-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dropped off 3 briskets ,3 pork butts,and 50 pcs of chicken to my friend shauna for a cookout she is having today. As far as the timeline goes here is day one.Emailed Patrick (helper for the team this weekend and total competition newbe......he has no idea how hooked he is going to get) to let him know about this weekend.Pulling out of the freezer 2 briskets and 3 pork butts to slowly defrost to have ready for sat night.

TIMELINE

2009-07-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

As next week goes it is the week of the Maine grillin& chillin bbq festival.So what I'm going to try to do is give you a day to day breakdown leading up to the day we leave.

FINALLY

2009-07-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well the mock kcbs style comp went great.we finally found what we think are good for turn-ins hopefully the judges think the same.Also Alan and I want to thank our wive's for being "widow's"

during our practice times and also all the people who have eaten ALOT of bbq these lasty couple of weeks.Last thing is to thank our friend Bill and his team Smokin Hoggz on there wins in the grilling part of Harpoon this weekend.

PRATICE AGAIN

2009-07-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Congrats to lakeside smokers again for rgc award at Harpoon! Hopefully we get to compete there next year. Getting ready to run another practice with the new rubs, injections and some new sauces .Also starting to get ready for the first catering job as luck would have we have 2 jobs and one party to cook for all the same week as Eliot.So hopefully that gives even more pratice and hopefully a gc to send us to jack daniels.

2 1/2 WEEKS

2009-07-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

First of all, Congrats to Mike and Kris of Lakeside Smokers for GC in Troy!! See you both in Maine!
Chickens came out great. Of all the different rubs and marinades, we found 2 that we really liked. Now its time to run a "mock" competition schedule to try all the different things we've tried to make sure that they all work.

CHICKEN

2009-07-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Cooking about 60 pcs of chicken on monday .we liked it but still needs work....just like most teams everyone seems to think of chicken as an after thought.hopefully we find a way that will win with the judges.We are trying 4 different marinades and 3 different rubs our sauce will stay the same.Also I wanted to thank everyone for there support and sponsorship especially Rose and Andrea for developing the logo and website for us.

BRISKETS

2009-07-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well the brisket trial went great .Alan did great manning the smoker as I had to work.....5 briskets by yourself can be a daunting task plus 4 racks of beefribs and 2 racks of st.louis just for fun.Out of 5 ,two were inedible ,thanks to a long soak in meat tenderizer.Two other's were completly good for turn-in and one was the what I hope to turn-in everytime.Next on the trial run is chicken .Eliot will be here soon.

PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE

2009-07-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

One of the things I needed to do was pratice after our disappointing score with the brisket Alan and I decided we would smoke about 5 brisket's differant ways to get the best results.So I got differant grades (choice,prime,and waygu) and we'll see what happens.Hopefully we find on that works Eliot,me will be here before you know it.

MSD'S FIRST BLOG

2009-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start this blog to keep people informed of what it takes to compete in bbq
Being a beginner myself I am bound to make tons of mistakes and if I can help
any new team out Iwould like to do that......and save some headaches.Also it is a way
for us to track our progress through trial and error.