Review - Juan del Fuego in Norman

(Norman, OK) - As we wait for the fall session of Barbecue Competition Season to fire up again we are holding forth on visits some non-barbecue places of note. Juan's is absolutely worthy of such.

We have frequent occasion to travel I-35 and have discovered ourselves making a habit of stopping in the pleasant tree-lined All-American college town of Norman (location of our sweet People's Choice 1st Place Pork Shoulder victory) to eat at this hidden gem of a spot. Yes, it's a BBQ blog. But it can't be smoked meat three meals a day EVERY day. Occasionally the palate must be cleansed, if nothing else, for the sake of perspective. Our experience dictates this is an excellent place to do just that. Besides - it is summer and it's hard to find a contest to judge anywhere near the South Plains so we've time on our hands and we've empty stomachs.

First a little back story. The namesake is one Juan Herrera whose first 15 minutes (we believe there are more to come) came as the "floor show" a couple miles to the east at the venerable, 110+ year old Diner during an episode of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives on the Food Network. While owner Mark Amspacher (deservedly) hogged the glory with Guy Fieri it was Juan in the background doing all the work. The community lost a well-loved and affable character a little more than a year after that episode aired when Mark died.

The Diner soldiers on under the eye of his family and long-time employees. We've been once since then and it is still crowded and the food is still great. The only thing we noticed missing was Juan - the Eddie Van Halen of the flattop. Asking around a bit we learned that after nearly two decades (for whatever reason - and we've heard a few) he left The Diner. Juan found a spot in a largely overlooked but tidy strip mall next to a Sam's Club on the west side of Norman, a stone's throw from I-35, and set up shop amidst comfortable tables in a bright and airy room adorned with pressed tin and images of the unibrowed countenance of Frida Kahlo.

The floor show remains. Juan is used to people watching him work his magic, he knows he's good, and he likes for us to watch. A spot at the counter is a box seat for excellence in short-order cheffery. This master is turning out the best food of his career and he's doing it his way and this time around HE is the boss.

If we've learned one thing about eating here it's that it is pretty much impossible to go wrong. The menu includes standard American breakfasts, Tex-Mex lunches, vice-versa and a number of hybrids. Best as we can tell (it'd be wrong to stop Juan and ask him when he's that busy) everything that can be home made from scratch is. For fans of The Diner's legendary flapjacks - good news - you can get 'em here too even if Marks two-time state champion chili didn't make the trip down Main Street (I would guess that is a function of Juan's respect for Mark's legacy - because you KNOW he knows the recipe by heart).

Most of the meals come with potatoes: home fries with onions, fries or hash browns (the latter two not fresh made but rather SYSCO specials - fine though). The house-made chorizo is loose and carmelized a touch on the flattop and just spicy enough to get it done without scaring away the timid or meek. There are three sauces: verde, ranchero and red -- all are Juan's own creations and they are outstanding. When Juan cooks eggs he gets them just right and when he puts them over easy on a pair of pork tamales covered in red it is sublime. The tamales boast a generous 1:1 pork to masa ratio and have to be some of the finest anywhere north of Texas.

This blog is to be continued with more photos and more food -- as we eat it. Stay tuned and check back often!

Review - Bacon Explosion

(The Plains) - It's the mid-season hiatus in the south. Not much doing between early June and September. So, emboldened by our success in Norman and not motivated enough to trek out into the heat to find a good 'cue joint we decided to do something we've been curious about for some time. The meat fattie they call the Bacon Explosion.

We had a feeling. We suspected. But all of the reviews we read disabused us of the notion that it would just be unexciting bacon and sausage flavored only by rub and sauce. They were wrong. We used the best bacon, freshly ground sausage and Butchers run and sauce (our favorites). The finished product looked just like the pictures on the website. It was not bad. Just disappointing.

Review - Dickey's BBQ Pit

(The Plains) - Not gonna say which Dickey's this was (it rhymes with Mormon Smokelahoma). Doesn't matter. All that matters is that first impressions of a decade ago were spot on. We love our dog too much to feed him what we didn't eat -- which was pretty much all of it.

Dickey's has it's roots in Dallas. This should be Red Flag Number One on account of good barbecue doesn't come from Dallas. We know the Sonny Bryan's faithful will dispute that -- and we have found Sonny's to be passable on good days as long as its from the original over there off the Harry Hines Hooker Highway -- but it is a fact. As a general rule the people of Dallas hold themselves in too high regard to do the dirty work involved in producing good smoked meat. Don't blame us -- blame Dallas.

Anyhow, sometime in the '90s this company decided to franchise and since then it has spread, inexplicably, like a cancer outward from Dallas and now apparently has locations in 41 of the Lower 48. Wow. They built a kingdom on horrible barbecue.

It wasn't until around aught-one that we first had the misfortune to darken the door of a Dickey's right there in their hometown of Dallas. Okay actually it was 30 miles away in Arlington but for the purposes of our brutal review here we'll make it Dallas. We earned that creative license by avoiding enough Dickey's locations in Dallas through the years. The meat didn't have any smoke to it. The sauce was a runny, bitter tomato sauce with some sodium nitrate added to its dirty dishwater wang. And they didn't serve pulled pork (not many Texas places did at the time -- holla Sonny!). But eventually they started serving pork -- but it was not good.

Now, here we are ten year's later at a franchise location far away and, lo and behold, they are able to perfectly re-create the recipes held so dear for so long by the Dallas Dickeys. Condolences.

--Rufus

P.S. On the upside they proudly stick people with these ugly yellow plastic refill cups to buy their loyalty. I'm grateful for this because when I see somebody with one of them I know not to bother talking barbecue with that person.

Smokin' Up a Storm Charity BBQ Challenge in Norman

(Norman, OK) - There comes a time in every judge's career, if that judge wishes to be a Master  Certified Barbecue Judge, that he or she must actually compete. Most judges scout out a team and approach them with caution and ask if they can help out at an upcoming contest. Cooks -- being generally kind and friendly  sorts -- will more often than not say yes. Even if it is to just get somebody to lug wood and stay up to monitor thermometer readings.

We are at the halfway point on our journey to Master status and we figured it was as good a time as any to get the cooking requirement out of the way. But we thought -- why cook with another team when we have all the equipment we need to compete on our own? Unable to find a good answer to that question we decided to go for it. Not only to compete -- but to compete against a huge  field in Norman and against some of the top teams in the nation. Not some small contest where finishing in the money was mostly a matter of odds -- but with half a hundred other teams including the current Top Ranked Team in the USA: Butcher BBQ out of Chandler, OK. It was a decision we would never question (okay -- maybe just briefly) as we went off in pursuit of our first (and last) Grand Championship.

Grail

This is probably a good time to mention the weather. If you've ever looked at the KCBS events page for states like Oklahoma you've probably noticed a conspicuous dearth of events between November and March. Winter, right? The "off season" in the world of barbecue (whether we agree with it or not). You've also noticed, no doubt, that ain't nothing happening between early June and September. That is on account of the ubiquitous 100° temperatures commonly experienced in the region this time of year. But they got lucky in Norman because the high on Friday was only in the upper 90s. Saturday was a balmy 104 but it was a pleasant Friday night anyway -- after the sun went down.

The sun sets over the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Norman, Oklahoma

We know all of this because cooks that don't have the fancy auto-cookers (like us) stay up all night monitoring temperature. First thing we did after seeing the kids off following the Champions of Tomorrow competition was kick the tires and light the fires to get up to temp for the brisket we'd throw on at 10 p.m. Having recently eaten the barbecue equivalent of manna at Franklin BBQ in Austin -- and having read everything we could find about the guy and his technique -- we had visions of serving the judges some brisket like that. We figured something even close would be money in the bank and was reasonably confident we could reproduce and as chief cook went in pretty confident the other fellows would share that vision.

With a local cover band belting out Skynyrd and Petty tunes we went to work trimming the fat on that brisket. Wanted to get that cap down to where there was just enough to render into the meat but not so much as to ruin the eating experience. The man says he uses half salt and half pepper over post oak and so did we. It went on farthest from the heat in our big, competition-grade horizontal offset rig. Yep -- just the one. Hey. We're cooking to get our requirement in. If we win anything it's gravy. All we need is one to get enough meat to feed judges and this is a damned fine looking brisket from the local meat cutter.

A few hours later we'd follow that with, count 'em, FIVE pork butts. Two of our own and three from the organizers for their Sponsor's Choice contest. This was to be a people's choice type event but due to oppressive and ridiculous local ordinances the folks participating had to be referred to as Sponsors. This is because the teams cooking for them don't have vendor's licenses and those are required in order to serve BBQ to the public in exchange for money. Not money that we'd keep but that would go to the Food Bank to help feed the truly hungry. Which is why we volunteered -- we really like that charity no matter what city it is in. But I digress. The rub for the butts was a super secret rub that I'm going to share with you right here. If you go to the Dollar Tree you'll see a small plastic container of something called Memphis Barbecue Rub. That's the secret. It's a dollar. And it is outstanding.

Let the person who hasn't rubbed their pork at 3 a.m. cast the first stone

Once all that was on the big smoker we had time to kick back and, since it was now quiet time, talk amongst ourselves in lowered voices over some cold PBR. We were situated next to a buddy who splits his time about 50/50 between cooking and judging. He tried to climb up in his air-conditioned rig and get a nap but eventually came out admitting he couldn't sleep because we were outside having a good time pulling an all-nighter. So we talked 'cue and we talked sports and we talked weather and we talked some more 'cue. As oh-five-hundred approached we began to pre-hydrate, first with coffee as a pick-us-up and then with water and gatorade. It was time to get the Smokenator hot for the ribs and as the sun came up and the rooster crowed it was evident today would be a hot one.

The sun also rises -- over the smoker and the portapots

Ribs were on by 6. Didn't know there were three slabs in the pack but there were. After membrane removal nobody felt like turning those spares into St. Louis cut -- so we didn't. In hindsight that was probably the biggest mistake of the whole experience. More on that further down the page.

Chicken went into a roasting pan of Parkay and bacon fat at 10 a.m. and 24 thighs that needed three hours of Thursday Night Processing -- not gonna happen. We've had drumsticks hit our judge's plate before and we liked them just fine. After a practice run the week before we felt we could at least score some solid 8s and 9s in chicken with that method on the drums.

First up at 11 was the Sponsor's Choice turn in. We pulled one of the butts and it was butter. It pulled so beautifully and had gorgeous bark. Tasted just great. Second butt -- not as easy but still great. Third but wouldn't pull -- wouldn't even cut very easily. It was tasty as could be and cooked to the perfect temperature but basically just rubber. Uh-oh. We needed to turn in three pans with a butt in each pan for this. One of our own butts had to take one for the team. Pulled it and submitted all three to the Sponsor's tent and only 5 minutes late (not like they were going to DQ us -- it was their  meat -- mostly). Now we were down to a single pork butt so it was gonna have to be good. We pulled it and wrapped it in foil and towels and put it in one of those hot bags which then went into the cooler next to the identically wrapped brisket. 

Also finding itself in the "not gonna happen" category was tweezing parsley. First of all we hate that shi...stuff. At least we hate it in competition barbecue boxes. We use it for cooking at home but when it sticks to the meat it pisses us off. Sometimes we don't get it all off and it affects the taste of the meat -- negatively. We went with regular old green leaf lettuce and it served us fine. Turn in times were coming hot and heavy and there was no time to screw around with vegetation.

Here's what they looked like:

We figured our weakest category was ribs. We hit them with some of Johnny Trigg's secret rub (Weber rub complemented with cayenne and brown sugar) and there was too much pepper. They were pretty spicy and I've seen judges get angry over that. We  liked 'em but figured they wouldn't fare well. The chicken was tasty and just fine. Solid 8s at worst, we figured. The brisket was much closer to Franklin's than we had dared hope -- the burnt ends were smoky black on the outside and juicy on the inside and melted in the mouth. Just like his! But the pork -- oh, lordy the pork. Some of the best we've ever tasted. Right up there with Whole Hog (can't believe I'm saying it but there it is). Couldn't believe we just did that. Gonna win pork!

Turn in is over -- now it's time to tear down and a buddy that was in the Sponsor's tent comes by. He says our strategy on the pork (that will remain a secret) worked -- our jar was full of tickets. Didn't say if he meant fuller than the others or anything but we took it as a good sign.

We didn't win pork. We didn't win brisket. We didn't win chicken or ribs. We didn't finish in the money in a single category. In fact it was so brutal that we actually managed a 4 (bad) in taste from one judge on the brisket! We've never awarded or seen awarded a 4. Wow. Comment cards are rare -- we managed to get them from half  of the judges in one category. They really hated our brisket and now we know why cooks don't like judges. That was good brisket. Well the burnt ends were -- perhaps we should have sampled one of those slices. Doh!

Oddly it was the ribs where we shined. Yep. They loved 'em. 16th out of 48 teams. Scored higher than Butcher, Lotta Bull and both of the teams from the BBQ Pitmasters TV show. Suppose if we'd have cut them down to SLC ribs we'd have been in the money -- maybe Top 3.

BBQ Pitmasters boys from Hot Springs

Scores? Got 'em. Check these out:

Chicken J1-889 J2-777 J3-887 J4-877 J5-767 J6-877 45/48
Ribs     J1-887 J2-898 J3-977 J4-998 J5-999 J6-877 16/48
Pork     J1-888 J2-778 J3-788 J4-877 J5-877 J6-888 41/48
Brisket J1-747 J2-666 J3-786 J4-666 J5-776 J6-787 48/48

Three comment cards on the brisket including Judge 1 who said the 4 was because it tasted burnt. Judges 3 and 5 both said it was tough although 3 did like the smoky flavor. Thanks you for the comment cards, judges. Really. It's your job to call it how you see it and we wouldn't have it any other way -- even if we don't necessarily agree. 3 and 5 went above and beyond to leave cards and it is sincerely appreciated. Which leads me to judges 2 and 4 -- both scored us 6,6,6 -- I would think that merits a card. On that note I'd be curious as to what was on the mind of Chicken Judge 5 for the 6 in flavor but what can ya do?

Overall those scores, when balanced and tallied, are good for a total score of 601.7146 -- or 41st out of 48 teams. So ya ready for the kicker? Here's the kicker. We won  the Sponsor's Choice (pork). By a lot. Nobody was even close. The judges didn't like our pork much at all but The People -- they loved  it. 

SPONSOR'S CHOICE
1. MEAT DON'T FAIL US NOW - 287
2. STEELE FAMILY BBQ - 165
3. BUTT FIRST BBQ - 146
4. SUMMER'S TIME BBQ - 125
5. Q'S YOUR DADDY  111
6. HABITUAL SMOKERS - 107
7. DISCO BALLS - 84
8. PEARL SNAP'S BBQ - 72
9. SIZZLIN BONES - 57

So there it is. We will consider it a successful outing based on four criteria:

• We got our cooking requirement in while cooking for ourselves -- the only goal we had   to achieve
• We scored higher than 4 prominent teams in ribs -- including the reigning #1 team in the nation
• We KILLED in the people's choice contest
• We had a great  time doing it -- absolutely a blast

And the cooking requirement from KCBS is a great idea. Every judge needs this perspective and needs it as soon as they can get it. The experience is invaluable and just as cooks will benefit from judging, judges will be better at what they (we) do after cooking.

Hardware, yes -- check, no because it goes to the very worthy Food Bank which is cool.

We haven't been bitten by the bug. It was fun but not as much fun as judging. So we will be back out there on the highways and byways soon. Looks like Texas on Labor Day Weekend. See you out there.

--Rufus

Review - Oklahoma Joe's in Broken Arrow

(Broken Arrow, OK) - The way the story was related to us was as follows:

There was a fellow up near Kansas City had himself a team competing in KCBS competitions around the region. He eventually found himself going head-to-head for titles with a maker of fine smokers hailing from the Tulsa area. At some point they became close friends and this equipment guru from Oklahoma -- who went by the name of, yeah, that's right, Joe -- along with the other fellow eventually forewent good sense in favor of pairing their collective skills to open a 'cue joint somewhere southwest of downtown over on the west side of the KS/MO line.

They don't just hand out awards like those two to just anyone. Those are rare. We did find it amusing that the big Memphis in May award was for beans or rub or something -- but HEY -- this is a KC jernt!

We don't know if all of that is true but we do know that somehow, in the smoke and haze and all of the awards and accolades, a sort of a mini-chain formed and that one of the handful of locations is now open next to a Bass Pro Shops in the affluent Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. We know that Joe must have wanted to come home -- even if it was just for a visit -- because we've been there. And we are glad of that.

Like most of the establishments in this Broken Arrow TIF (rogue Kialegee casinos notwithstanding) this is an attractive place.

Inside and out it says one thing -- cash money built this house. And a lot of it. But cash money builds places like Dickey's and Colter's and Luther's too and they don't make barbecue good enough for my dog. No worries with Oklahoma Joe's. Amid all of the flash and glitter is some downright excellent  barbecue. It's served up by some nice folks in a place that's spotless. Not only that but look over there by the door -- that is one cool-ass artifact. If that piece of floor could talk... I reckon it'd have some wild stories ranging from Mr. Wills all the way to the Sex Pistols and beyond.

Really though -- it is about the meat. Some folks really dig the sides and from what we could tell they won't be disappointed here. At least not with the fries and the beans. Some say anyplace tending a deep fryer isn't watching the meat. We say hire a guy to man the fryer and give us some fries! Oklahoma Joe must agree.

Funny thing I noticed here. Up in Kansas City where this place was born -- burnt ends are a staple. Here in the suburbs of T-Town they aren't on the menu. Good news though -- they are being served. When asked about them the fellow at the counter didn't hesitate and actually seemed glad that we asked about them. And the burnt end sandwiches we were served were OUT-STANDING.

We liked them enough to pretty much use the two sauces only on the fries. Meat didn't need sauce. And even though they were sandwiches there was plenty of meat. In fact we get the feeling they are in the practice of serving plenty of meat to each diner in this place because they skip the whole "asking for a to-go box" charade and just put the boxes out there near the Big Red machine, silverware and napkins (get a few of those, by the way -- you'll need them).

The do serve other meats. The brisket is moist and tender but not overcooked. The pulled pork is actually pulled - not chopped - and not mushy, overcooked pork. Very good pork considering it is found so far to the west. The ribs might be the best thing here outside of the burnt ends. Moist and tender, they pull clean from the bone meaning they are not overcooked or undercooked -- just right. Have not tried the sausage  yet. 

One final note on the music. It seemed as if it may have been coming from a CD carousel because much of it was fairly obscure -- and awesome. I seem to recall there was Robert Earl and his old roommate Lyle along with Wayne "The Train" and along with some obligatory cash -- what was it -- Robbie Fulks? Nice job.

We're proud of these guys for showing that it can be done. Good brisket in a chain. Looking forward to the next trip through the area -- or better yet to the original up in Kansas City, Kansas. We have our confirmation and we are judging the American Royal Invitiational -- so we will see you guys up in Kansas then. May see Broken Arrow in a few weeks when we travel to the NeOk (can we coin that term right here?) to take our princess to the cool aquarium they've got there.

--Rufus

Chandler Hog Wild BBQ and Chrome Fest

(Chandler, OK) - Something about this contest is just right. Sure there are lots of flies on account of the proximity of water treatment facilities. Sure its hot on account of judging being held in a pavilion in mid-June. But it's still a great contest run by some really great folks in a great Oklahoma town.

It would appear they are growing this whole festival in a proper fashion as the crowd is bigger and the teams are better. Heard a radio commercial for it and it could be that is drawing people in as word gets out. Good  music too with Stoney's brother coming down from just up the road to play it. Lots more chrome this year.

This is the hometown of Butcher BBQ and fresh of a couple of GC wins they didn't compete this year. They did cook, however. Yes they were serving up pork sandwiches with proceeds going to benefit the Chandler Chamber (the beneficiary of this particular event). Other big teams did show up though and Kosmos even pulled a 180 in pork. Very impressive although clearly our table did not have that box.

We did get a box of ribs that were probably a single 8 away from a star pin. Overall there was some fine 'cue today although we noticed that burnt ends were difficult to come by and many of the ribs were sporting membrane. What is that about? It was so tough on one rib that it was difficult to pull any meat off the bone to sample it.

Thumbs up to Kim Evans and the other folks who put on this contest. Communication is never a problem and they are clearly dedicated to improving this event year by year. Tip of the cap, y'all.

--Rufus

Review - Franklin Barbecue in Austin

It was one of those rare, late spring days in central Texas where the mid-morning temperature was still comfortable and a light Hill Country was rain falling on the windshield as we made our way from New Braunfels to the edge of downtown Austin. We came seeking the best there is. Barbecue made by a master in his prime. One of but a very few places to earn Six Stars from Full Custom Gospel. 

Despite the drizzle there was already a line forming as we pulled in just after nine o'clock. This would probably be the best time to address this whole line deal. In case you are unfamiliar -- Austin is a great town that is chock full of proud hipsters. There are so many that one might think it odd that a 'cue joint could thrive in such a climate. But this is Texas and even most of the hipsters are carnivores here. Hell yes. But line waiters? That surprises me. To see the beanie and plaid facial hair-and-piercing crowd standing in line for hours for meat -- that can only mean one thing. This is very  good meat.

Our buddy -- a Franklin Line veteran -- had arrived about 10 minutes earlier and was in line under the covered deck with his cousin who had been waiting for her chance to sample the legendary meat. And here we were. Fewer than 120 minutes separated our palates from some of the most hyped barbecue in the history of hype or barbecue.

We'd made it just in time because the line grew rapidly until it was across the length of the lot to the next street up. An employee made her way out the exit door to vend cold refreshment, sodas and beers, to anyone who might have been working up a thirst in the line. We were informed by our buddy that the line usually snakes down the wheelchair ramp in front of the door and then down the sidewalk -- but today they were allowing the early birds to park it under the roof on the patio so we might stay dry. No matter as the rain would soon give way to steamy sunshine and the line was out to its normal spot by the time we left. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

In front of us

In back of us

Farther in back of us at around 10:40 a.m.

When this is your view of the sign -- you fi'in ta eat

Our buddy -- he tells us he usually doesn't get there so early but rather plays the odds and more typically arrives around 10 or a little later hoping to find a shorter line. Sometimes he gets there around noon and says he's batting about .500 in beating that sign dreaded by so many connoisseurs and afficianados.  

Three (long) minutes after 11 the door finally opened and they ushered in the 10 folks ahead of us. One guy was pulling briskets out of the hot box and unwrapping them from the butcher paper. They were black and the wondrous aroma washed over us and we eyed the counter with mouths watering. Finally it was us and our buddy suggested that they might hook us up with a few burnt ends -- a Franklin custom which they are only too glad to oblige (unlike KC they don't have to really save burnt ends here on account of most Texas brisket enthusiasts don't really know what they are -- the poor bastards).

Classic

A shot of them with the old trailer back in the salad days

Oh, man!!!!

It looked as good as it smelled and as those nuggets hit the butcher paper on the counter in front of us we knew that this was going to be an experience the likes of which we'd never had. And it was. The light poured in and the angels sang as the perfectly rendered fat dissolved as it hit our tongues and the smoky goodness blotted out all other senses and sensibility.

The third time he asked us what it'd be we were able to shake it off and pull it together enough to mumble something about more burnt ends. Burnt end sandwich and pound of burnt ends to go. Sauce? No -- no sauce -- doesn't need it. Sides? No. Meat. Just meat.

At the table we had a chance to savor and even sample a few of the legendary Franklin hipster sauces. They are good and while we had only brisket on this visit we can imagine how that espresso sauce would be mighty tasty on some ribs. Our buddy had ribs -- big ol' spares. He says usually he just pulls the bone out with one hand although that didn't work on this visit. He actually had to pull a little showing that these ribs were not overcooked as they apparently usually are.

We washed down our sandwich with some of the requisite Big Red (official pop of BBQ, don'tcha know?) and really couldn't believe it. This place is the real deal. It is not that  good -- it is better. Believe the hype, friends and neighbors. I would stand in line for four  hours and pay twice  as much for this stuff (Aaron -- please don't raise the prices).

If you're in or going to be in Austin -- go. Don't think about it. Just do it. Go and wait. You'll be glad you did. Who knows how much longer this guy can go before he burns out on the hours or doesn't show up anymore because of his celebrity or just expands into a large chain where the 'cue is good but not legendarily great.

One of the saddest sights in all of Austin

It's your big chance. It is rare. Don't blow it.

--Rufus




No hestitation on this: