Here's Your Sign

We finally got our "BBQ" sign installed today. My guy that built the sign had it completed in time for our opening back in December, but he broke his collar bone and, well, we didn't get installed as planned.

I was amazed at how it looked once it was attached to the roof of the trailer. And I'm not sure if it was because of the sign, but our lunch business was BUSY. Thanks to everyone who came by today and to those repeat "cue customers, we were glad to see you, too.

By the way, I returned yesterday from Kansas City following a "meat run" to Bichelmeyer Meats and learned that my buddy Matt Bichelmeyer has to have a series of back surgeries which will keep him away from his store for an extended period of time.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Matt and his fine family hoping for a speedy and uneventful recovery. He's a great guy and I know he will do fine and be back on his feet real soon.

Burnt Ends V 2.0.1

Throughout the month of February we tried something new when it came to burnt ends; not that beef brisket burnt ends are bad, but we wondered if there was something better. And yes, Virginia, there is.

A competitor of mine recently decided to close for good. One of his customers asked me if I would consider doing something with Tri-Tip because the other guy did and he liked the flavor of the beef. I asked him what he did to the Tri-Tip and he told me, "I don't know but it was damn good." OK, I thought, that narrows it down. I searched the Internet and found a bazillion hits for Tri-Tip and began to think. A day or two later, it dawned on me: Tri-Tip and Brisket are almost the same. I kept thinking.

I knew one thing, Tri-Tip and Brisket may be related, but price wise they were in different classes. I trim my Briskets very lean, even the point where traditional burnt ends come from so why not combine the two? Why not create a burnt end from a Tri-Tip, so I did. It was magical. Now, I have customers asking me for burnt ends. Very few people knew what they were before, but now they do.

These burnt ends literally melt in your mouth. All of the fat gets rendered out and the result is smoky, tender chunks of beef that are killer.

Swing by the trailer and ask for an open face Burnt End sandwich. I guarantee you have never had anything like it. I've been BBQing a long time and they're the best I've ever had.

BBQ Beef Sliders

Providing we get our order for Slider Buns tomorrow morning, we are planning to have Wednesday's Featured Item be three BBQ beef sliders, choice of side, chips and a drink for only $7!!!

Our BBQ beef comes from our award winning brisket and burnt ends. We add our Original Recipe BBQ sauce, some purple onion and BAM! You've got one fine lunch to tackle.

Now sliders are the small "White Castle" type buns. Some call these little guys "gut bombs" but the Gang says they're better than that last minute call from the Governor.

So swing by Chain Gang BBQ tomorrow and order up!

Surfing Your Way To Good 'Cue

Did some almost month-end examination of our website tonight, www.chaingangbarbeque.com and learned some cool stuff. Our site has only been up since January 1, 2010 and so far we've had 75 visits; I'm not sure if that's good or not. But, the "hits" were over three thousand.

Over 2500 hits from the U.S., 50 from Canada and over 400 from "Unknown." The busiest days of the week for visits was Thursdays and the top page visited was "Our Menu." One last stat was the top browser was Internet Explorer, Safari (Mac) and then Firefox.

If I had Internet access at the trailer, I'd have a page to place an order, but since I don't....

Thanks to everyone who has given us a shot in January; we greatly appreciate your business.

BBQ Is A Never Ending Learning Curve

Many weeks ago, I enrolled in my second class with Mike Mills, "The Legend" of 17th Street Bar & Grill fame. My first class with Mike covered how to cook BBQ for KCBS contests; we did babyback ribs, St. Louis style ribs, pork butt and brisket. Learned many "tricks of the trade." My second class was "The Business of BBQ." Or, how to run a BBQ joint....and then some.

I gotta tell you, Mike Mills is the goodwill ambassador of BBQ. Not only does he know the art of BBQ, he's all too happy to share it with his students. He is truly a wonderful man and I consider him a friend and if nothing else is accomplished in my travels down this road, his friendship is the crown jewel in my world.

Our instructors in the class wasn't just Mike Mills, but his daughter Amy Mills-Tunnicliffe and the "Aussom Aussie" Paul Mackay and they were wonderful, too.

This photo was taken by me just before these two BBQ Pitmasters demonstrated how to cut a Brisket properly to guarantee the greatest yield from the "flat" of the Brisket.

What's Next? I Don't Want To Know

Had to pull double duty today. First off, in what seems to be a never ending string of trailer calamities, the waste water holding tank had frozen solid. Now keep in mind, we'd added some antifreeze to the tank, but it still froze solid. Another day open lost.

I rented a 150,000 BTU kerosene heater and finally got things unthawed so we can be open tomorrow. I hope folks understand, this two week arctic blast really did a number on our plans to be up and running full-time.

Meanwhile, as the heater heated I had to prepare for our first catering job tomorrow. We're doing lunch for 40 folks at The Bridge Church, where our serving trailer is located. We had gone to Sam's yesterday to get a case of Pork Butts, which they had plenty of. Problem was we opened the box to refrigerate the butts, but they weren't butts; they were babyback ribs. I even bought a Lottery scratcher game ticket today and it was a loser. Should've known.

After getting the real case of Pork Butts, I injected, seasoned and put 6 butts on the pit. Made enough baked beans to feed Cox and his army and slaw's being made tomorrow.

After the past few days, I've felt like FEMA with a BBQ pit. Warmer weather should help two things get going in the right direction, fewer problems and more customers wanting some good 'cue.

"Pitmasters" On TLC Thursdays

Now that the holidays are over, nighttime TV is getting back to normal and that goes for the series, "Pitmasters" on TLC at 9pm, Central.

If you haven't seen this show, it is interesting and entertaining, especially Jack's Old South's Myron Mixon.

This show is like being back on the cook-off circuit. TLC follows these BBQ teams around during the 2009 cook-off season. It depicts life like as it is at these contests, especially the part of the cook-offs that sent me packing and that is many teams shelve their BBQ for what the judges want. I would not no will I do that for a BBQ Judge, and I'm one of them. Your BBQ is your BBQ and if the judges like it, fine and if not, fine. You will hear the teams make reference to what the judges "are looking for." Everyone on the circuit does chicken thighs and I mean everyone. Last episode, Myron stumbled across another team that adopted Myron's style of doing thighs and that was to cook them in a muffin pan. Myron's thought was it made his thighs look uniform to the judges. This really ticked Myron off, but Myron had best prepare himself because in 2010, everybody at every KCBS cook-off will be comin' with a muffin pan in their arsenal. That cat's out of the bag.

But for a look inside the world of competition BBQ, watch this show. Myron is a hoot followed by Johnny Trigg of The Smokin' Triggers BBQ team. Trigg comes off a little grumpier while Myron's about half-a-rebel.