New T-Shirts

With a new logo we will be printing new t-shirts. Please send me an email if you are interested. ulikabbq at gmail.com

Right now the cost will be around $15, but the more we order the price will go down.

Ulika BBQ Update: New Logo

We are going into our 5th season of competition bbq and we felt that it was time for a new logo. We wanted to have something that branded us more as a competition bbq team. The Mrs. did her magic and we present to you this:

BBQ on TV

If you don't stay up till the wee hours of the morning you might have missed this.

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: KC Masterpiece Original

While KC Masterpiece is certainly far removed from the historic beginnings of Kansas City barbecue, it was, for better or worse, the beginning of a stereotype. As anyone who has dined in Kansas City's fine barbecue establishments will tell you, there are many kinds of barbecue sauce to be found. When I visited Arthur Bryant's and Gates, neither of their sauces tasted anything like KC Masterpiece. Yet when people talk about "Kansas City style" barbecue sauce, they usually mean thick, molasses-sweetened, and smokey. And that's what KC Masterpiece was when Rich Davis created it in 1977.

Like Kraft, KC Masterpiece has spawned a variety of different flavors over the years - Honey, Hot 'n Spicy, Hickory Brown Sugar, Mesquite, Hickory, and Sweet & Tangy. But again, we'll stick to the original here.

First of all, this is just about the thickest barbecue sauce I've encountered. I almost felt as though I could turn the opened bottle upside down like they do with Blizzards at Dairy Queen. It's some seriously viscous stuff. Its color is dark brown, both from the molasses and caramel coloring, and it's got a bright shine to it. The mouthfeel is completely smooth, with no bits of anything in the mix.

The flavor is better than I expected. It's certainly not going to make you forget your favorite barbecue sauce, but compared to that abomination that I tasted last week, it's not bad. The first thing you taste is quick burst of bright sweetness, which gives way to a more brooding molasses sweetness and a teensy bit of vinegar tang. And in the end, this sauce does actually leave you with a little bit of heat that will get a nice mild burn going if you have enough of it.

Overall, as with almost all mass-marketed barbecue sauces, this sauce is dominated by sweetness. But for a mass-marketed sauce, you could do a lot worse.

Grade: B-

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Kraft Original

Yes, you read that right. Kraft. I wanted to start 2010 off with some barbecue sauces that you can find at the grocery (or as some of you would call it, the supermarket). Not all of them will be as ubiquitous as Kraft, but I figure this is a good place to start.

In the 1950s, J.L. Kraft Co was one of the first companies to sell barbecue sauce on a nationwide basis. Since then, many many companies have followed suit, but Kraft is still the most dominant player in the barbecue sauce market - their current market share hovers around 44 percent!

They have created a seemingly endless number of "flavors" - Honey, Thick 'n Spicy, Hickory Smoke, Mesquite Smoke, Light (only 30 calories), Brown Sugar, Honey Roasted Garlic, Hot, Char-Grill - and that's not even all. But for purposes of a review, I figured I'd stick with the original.

You maybe wouldn't have guessed it from this sauce's dark brown color, but this sauce is KETCHUPY. It tastes like really sweet Ketchup. There are faint hints of smoke flavor and vinegary tang and some onion and mustard, but I feel like I'm reaching to even mention them. The sauce is extremely thick and smooth, with no textural variety. Overall, this stuff is just way too one dimensional, and the one dimension isn't even executed well. And by the way, that dark color comes from "caramel color."

Grade: D

Where you been?

I guess you can tell that updating the blog more frequently was not one of my New Years resolutions, but I will try to do better.


Here are some things to look forward to in 2010
The opening of the new Martin's BBQ - ummmm whole hog is coming to Middle Tennessee
Taquería tour down Nolensville Rd - with a fully functional map to guide you along the way
The first bbq contest of the year - Smoke on the Water in Little Rock with $100,000 up for grabs
and more of your favorites from BBQ Sauce of the Week and Friday Night Slice

Since it is Thursday, I will leave you with this:
R.I.P Vic

Apostrophe Catastrophes

Merry Christmas from the Family

Does this sound familiar?

BBQ SAUCES OF THE YEAR!

We reviewed 40 barbecue sauces this year. It being the end of the year, we thought that it would be a good idea to do a roundup of the best ones that we came across this year. The following list is in no particular order. 

Smithfield's Grilling & Dipping Sauce - Nice simple vinegar-based sauce. 

Cajun Island Sweet Blackened Sauce - Funky Cajun-Asian concoction. 

RedRum Golden BBQ Sauce - Hot hot hot! 

Bill's Black Label BBQ Sauce - Unique peppery Piedmont-style sauce. 

Bone Suckin' Sauce - Another fantastic vinegar-based sauce. 

The Slabs Kyle Style BBQ Sauce - Thicker sweet and spicy sauce. 

Sauer's Barbecue Sauce - Great tangy tomatoey sauce, not too sweet. 

Smoky Mountain Smokers Barbecue Sauce - Delicious sweet and savory sauce.

Thank you for reading this year! Barbecue Sauce of the Week will return in 2010!

On the Next Episode of BBQ Pitmasters......

Myron gets shigged....



Tuffy gets organized....



Pablo Diablo BBQ comes in last place again....

Christmas Gift Ideas: Ghetto Gourmet

Cookin' with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price
by Artis Leon "Coolio" Ivey, Jr.

THERE'S ONLY ONE THING THAT COOLIO'S BEEN DOING LONGER THAN RAPPING: COOKING

Coolio started making thirty-minute meals when he was ten years old and has since developed a whole new cuisine: Ghetto Gourmet. His recipes are built around solid comfort foods with a healthy twist that don't break the bank. Start your Ghetto Gourmet adventure with some "Soul Rolls," follow-up with "Finger-Lickin', Rib-Stickin', Fall-Off-the-Bone-and-into-Your-Mouth Chicken," and finish off with "Banana Ba-ba-ba-bread" sweetened with golden honey. Chapters such as "How to Become a Kitchen Pimp," "Chillin' and Grillin'," and "Pasta Like a Rasta" will guide you through creating 5 star meals at a 1 star price. You can't find fusions like Blasian (black Asian) or Ghettalian (ghetto Italian) in restaurants, but you can have them cooking away in your kitchen faster and easier than ordering takeout. As Coolio says, "All you need is a little bit of food, and a little bit of know-how."

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Fork 'n Halo Original Sin

First of all, I love the packaging and product name of this sauce. It's a very clean-looking label, a memorable brand name, and a great name for this basic version - "Original Sin" (other sauces in this line are called "Heavenly Hickory" and "Fire & Brimstone"). The sauce is manufactured by Wicked Good Barbecue (with the name "Wicked Good," could they be from anywhere but Massachusetts?).

The sauce itself has a very bright flavor - lots of fresh tomato, with notes of apple and mustard. It's also got a lot of sweetness, courtesy of honey and molasses. There is a mild amount of heat, too. The texture is thick and smooth, with a dark, dark amber color. Overall, this is a decent barbecue sauce with a very distinct personality.

Grade: B

New Design On The Way

We're redesigning the blog!

We apologize for any problems during the transition.

BBQ Pitmasters on TLC

Tonight the BBQ Pitmasters series debuts on TLC. There is great anticipation from within the bbq community, and it will be interesting to see how the show is perceived by the general viewing public. I have been checking out some of the tweets and there are some mixed emotions about the promo.

The show will feature seven competitors, following them at five KCBS events as well as the Big Pig Jig and a grandiose finale tabbed the Johnny Trigg Shootout.

Here are the five KCBS events:

Smokin' in Mesquite Nevada Open BBQ Championship - Mesquite, NV
Decatur Jaycees 15th Annual Riverfest - Decatur, AL
Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off - Murphysboro, IL
30th Annual American Royal Barbecue - Kansas City, MO
Diamond State BBQ Championship - Dover, DE

Here is the lineup of the featured competitors with my own commentary:

Paul Petersen is competing as PABLO DIABLO BBQ. Petersen is a classically trained chef that is competing in bbq competitions for the first time as part of this show. He will be cooking on a new Klose pit, but I think the viewers will see that there is a lot more to bbq than just being a good chef. Don't let me spoil it for you, but he definitely doesn't dominate the competition. Knowing that he finished DAL or close to it, it will be interesting to see how the show plays this out.

Lee Ann Whippen, aka Token, of Wood Chicks BBQ is the only female in the competition. This offers the obvious Man vs. Woman in a male dominated competition storyline, but Lee Ann is not someone that was just pulled off the street. She has competed for several years and has won several competitions all across the country. Lee Ann cooks on Big Green Eggs and I think that she will relate to most of the viewers.

Jamie Geer of Jambo Pits just might have to change his phone number after this show airs, because three of his pits will be prominently featured on this show (Jamie, Tuffy, and Johnny). I don't know all that much about Jamie other than his pits have one more contest than any other cooker.

Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke is the owner of Q Barbeque, and the 2007 KCBS Team of the Year. That year, Tuffy won six contests and he still manages to win several contests a year while opening a new bbq restaurant. Tuffy is a really nice guy and it will be interesting to see if the show plays him out to be a nice guy or a bad guy.

Johnny Trigg of Smokin Triggers is so often called the "grandfather of bbq" that it is becoming cliche. Johnny is what you think of when you think of a Texan, and I would say that it is a safe bet that the show will play up his Texas roots.

Harry Soo of Slap Yo Daddy BBQ is most famous for taking first place in all four categories at the Way Out West BBQ Championship in Stockton, CA. Being from California, Harry will be playing the role of the "outsider" considering he does not fit the primary stereotype of a BBQ Pitmaster.

Myron Mixon of Jack's Old South is definitely going to be portrayed as the bad boy of the show. Don't be fooled though - the all black look is not something that was done up for this show. That is his full time look. Myron is a three time winner of Memphis in May, and at the Murphysboro MBN contest he got a chance to strut his stuff.

So tune in tomorrow night at 9pm CST. I will also try to post my thoughts after each episode.

For more information on the show check out this great interview with the executive producer John Markus.

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Mary's Gourmet Original

When you read the ingredients and you see both brown sugar and high fructose corn syrup before any kind of tomato or vinegar related ingredient is listed, you know you're in for a sweet sauce. Such is the case with Mary's Gourmet Foods Original BBQ Sauce. Lord knows I like it sweet, but this is too much. It starts sweet, transitions to sweet, and finishes sweet. There's a hint of vinegar and tomato, but literally not much else. And honestly, I'm not wild about the texture of the sauce either. It's thick as thick can be. Very gloppy. If you took this stuff out of the refrigerator, it would be nearly the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Not recommended.

Grade: D

November Pumpkin, Part 5: Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

My pumpkin pie recipe (oddly, like many of my recipes) came together by accident. I was trying to follow a simple recipe for pumpkin pie, but I misread and messed up the spices, I dumped in a can of sweetened milk instead of evaporated milk...but the pie was a hit. Give it a try with your fresh pumpkin in your favorite pie crust.

The INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
2 cups of pumpkin mush
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1 can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

The Pumpkin Pie FILLING:

Beat your eggs in a stand mixer. Beat in the pumpkin, sugar, spices and sweetened milk. Pour the mixture into a standard, 9-inch unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 425 degrees for the first 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Bake for another 50 minutes. (You may need to use foil or a pie crust shield around the edges towards the end, I did.)


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!