Backyard Brummies do SDS Fire: Pics and Menu

Well we had a corking evening last night as the guest cooks for SDS: Fire. The weather finally raised its game and we enjoyed a quite lovely balmy summer’s evening by the canalside. In the end about 40 came along and we had a very nice time serving you guys, so thank you for making it fun. We’re really grateful to Tom Baker and Dom Clarke, of Loaf Enterprises for their help, and for Carl and the rest of the SDS team for putting on the event.

There are some brilliant photo galleries if you are interested to see what it looked like, check out the sets from Jack Spicer Adams, Yen San Li (@ysl807) and Hannah.

The menu was: Donald Link’s cajun boudin balls (pretty much as per this recipe, but with the poblano chile swapped out for a scotch bonnet) followed by Lap’s carnitas served with pineapple salsa, pickled onions and his “no gringo” naga chile salsa. Then we had Pecan-smoked jerk ribs followed by smoked wagyu brisket, baked beans and cornbread. For puds we had apple pie, with smoked ice cream which seemed to go down a treat.

Well, that’s probably it from the Backyard Brummies this year in terms of public appearances. I go back to work in a couple of weeks and, truth be told, am looking forward to cooking some non-BBQ things for a little while. But no doubt by the time grilling season comes along next year, we’ll be raring to go again! 🙂

Backyard Brummies are coming home! Last smoking session of 2012!

Like Team GB, we are still floating on air from our amazing results at our version of the Olympics – Grillstock. To recap, 1st in Chef’s Choice, 2nd in brisket, 2nd in beans, 2nd in dessert and 6th in ribs!

But we are also sad. So, so sad. Because the Backyard Brummies have never yet done a proper gig in Birmingham! And after all, we’re brummies (well, one of us is).

So we are very excited to reveal that we have teamed up – for one night only – with the Secret Dining Society and will be providing our meat-based treats at a very special event this Saturday the 18th August 2012 starting at 5pm.

The weather forecast is filthy, but I can reveal that luckily we are under cover. The weather forecast is now very fine! What could be nicer …

This will likely be your last chance in the 2012 season to get your mitts on some of our smokey treats, as well as mingling with the team where we will happily chat to you about BBQ for as long as you like.

The menu is of course a secret, but I can reveal that we will be serving some of our greatest hits!

Drinks are fully included for your £30, and virtually all the ticket price is going on meat, so you won’t go hungry.

Head over to the ticket sales page to reserve your place which are strictly limited!

Really hope to see you there, do spread the word!

Photos by @ysl807. Thanks!

Grillstock: Wagyu brisket video

One of the more amazing – and unexpected – achievements of last weekend’s Grillstock King of the Grill competiton was placing 2nd in the brisket category, behind the legendary Dr. Sweetsmoke. In this video from Homegrown Films, I give a little rundown on how we prepared our brisket. Our high placing may have something to do with the fact that we brought our own briskets – in this case two superb pieces of Welsh Wagyu from Alternative Meats. The other thing that we did was start our briskets very, very early – 1am to be precise for a 5.30pm turn-in. I was surprised to see many teams not starting their briskets until breakfast time the next day. Although you can do brisket “hot and fast”, around 275-300 F, I much prefer to do them low and slow, unfoiled until they reach about 200 F and then give them a good rest. In fact this is really important for Wagyu brisket as you want to render the fat, which in turn helps baste (well, more like confit!) the meat.

Grillstock: full results!

Part 1

Chef’s special

1. Backyard Brummies
2. Dr sweetsmoke
3. Newman’s own

Dessert

1. Gurmee Gala
2. Backyard Brummies
3. Bodean’s

BBQ Beans

1. Bodean’s
2. Backyard Brummies
3. Bone stock

Spirit of BBQ

Barbecue shack

Best dressed stand

Braising saddles

Ribs

1. Bunch of Swines
2. Dr Sweetsmoke
3. BBQ Fanatics

Brisket

1. Dr Sweetsmoke
2. Backyard Brummies
3. Butt Rub

Chicken

1. Gurmee Gala
2. BBQ Shack
3. Mad Apple

Pork shoulder

1. Bunch of Swines
2. Butt rub
3. BBQ Fanatics

King of the grill

1. Bunch of Swines!
2. Butt Rub
3. Dr Sweetsmoke
4. BBQ Fanatics
5. Gurmee Gala

Grillstock: day 2!

Here we go, grillstock day 2. Pork has been on since last night, although our smoker ran out of fuel by the morning and lost some temperature. Nothing we can’t handle, we hope. Lap has laboriously prepped his brined chicken, skins defatted and subsequently replaced. These are now going in the smoker, to turn in after midday. I’ve got my beans bubbling away in some ham stock, smoking over pecan. The sun is coming out. Now if I could just rid myself of this hangover it could be a perfect day!

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Grillstock: onto day 2

Alabama 3 are just finishing their set (play some sopranos already!) and there’s a double rainbow in the Bristol sky. A good end to a great day here I’d say. Although we’re not quite finished here. The pork has just gone on the smoker and I’m starting my BBQ beans preparation. Lap’s marinating the chicken with his trademark jerk sauce. We were very happy with everything we sent today, particularly lap’s lobster dish, the apple pie and the brisket. Hoping for good scores tomorrow. Couldn’t blog the brisket because was too busy putting it out but thanks to all the crowd who were very vocal in their support! But will post more on that tomorrow!

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Grillstock: dessert and ribs have gone!

Too hectic to blog for a while there … We sent our dessert of BBQ apple pie and smoked ice cream at 13:30 and then it was on to the ribs. These meat rounds are judged by BBQ experts and the judges are completely poker faced when presented with their boxes, so it’s very hard to gauge their opinions. One more round to go today: brisket!

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