BBQ Seattle

I spend a good amount of time in Seattle every once in a while, and during our recent trip we ate at some great bbq joints.

Smokin Petes in Ballard has a great selection and awesome food. Check it out if you're in that part of town.

Dixie's is a Seattle area institution, located in Bellevue just off the 520. Tons of personality, a great time, and "meeting The Man" is a true right of passage and will make you a Dixie's loyalist.

Update - The Comp

Ok, so it's been a while since the last blog... but I thought I owe a brief update on the Smokin in the Park competition in October 07.

The $TR8 $MOKIN' competition bbq team did not or place in any category, but we more than exceeded our goals for the event! There were a total of 36 teams of heavy hitters from the west coast, including the California state champions, the rib doctor, and several other big name teams. This was our second competition and our goals were to 1) turn in, on time for each category 2) not get last! We reached both of our goals and did quite well in a couple of the categories...

Chicken: Our best category in both 07 and 06. We placed in the top half taking out some of the best teams in the game! The secret? We cook with original $TR8 $MOKIN' bbq sauce flavored chicken thighs on our 55 Gal $TR8 $MOKER

Ribs: We could have done much better... I tried a few different techniques and just didn't produce the quality of ribs that we're known for. Lesson learned for next time!

Pulled Pork: Middle of the pack... not sure what we could have done better here. I think the judges were looking for entries that had more sauce flavoring and we try to let the meat speak for itself.

Brisket: We got screwed. I'm not a sore looser, but we produced a great brisket, maybe not a winner, but a very good piece of meet with a great smoke ring and amazing flavor. One of the judges gave us practically failing scores on appearance, taste, and tenderness and it tanked us.

Well, that's it. Stay tuned for more!