This Journal was started in
2003 and has helped
to mold the business into what it is today!
We haven't updated this journal since the end of
2004 but we will someday!
April 2003 While attending Flight Safety in Dallas Texas, Ben visited the North Main Street Barbecue in Euless Tx. It was sooooo good, and the people were so nice, that he began discussing the how, where and why of BBQ and got the idea that he might be able to do it too. Here's some of the pictures from there:
The Restaurant (Open only on Fri-Sun) $12 Will get ya all you can eat! Sure was good!!!
Armadillo Smoker, Used for Catering
The Texas Thunder Competition Trailers! Each has a smoker and refrigerator on wheels! Used for Vending also!
This one doesn't go on the road any more, but they use it every weekend at the restaurant!
When Ben got back to NJ and showed Andrea, she liked the idea too and the process began. There's LOTS of stuff on the internet and we've included just about everything that we think might be needed to get this idea started!
May 1st (May Day) Ordered "small" 4 foot smoker from
Billy Penny at Southern Yankee BBQ in Anderson IN. Will pick it up on 15
May after Cabo vacation and visiting Tara's in Toledo.
www.sybbq.com (Read how they got started)
Here's some pictures of the 8' unit.
Ours will look similar to the 8 footer below, with a warming oven
and front grill and also be RED!
Also signed up for the NJ State Championship BBQ Cook-Off to be held in Wildwood 11-13 July. Folks from SYBBQ said they would help get prepared for the contest. Kids said they would help! Still quite disorganized, but after joining the National BBQ association and starting various subscriptions, we've learned a lot. Just received out first "smokin" cookbook and it's loaded with recipes.
9 May 2003 Tow Hitch installed on Andrea's Van! Needed to bring smoker to NJ. Accepted as a competitor in the NJ State BBQ Championships. Of course we expect to WIN!!! Waiting for details from the sponsors. The BBQ Championship is tied into the Angelesa Blues Festival, so it should be a fun weekend. (11-13 July). The eXtremeBar-B-Q website is fully up and running. Don't know exactly what we're going to use it for, but it's a great way to organize and get input from friends and family.
15 May 2003 Bummed out!! The new smoker is done but not painted and won't be ready until around Wednesday of next week. Of course we can't just sit here at Tara & Rhett's house waiting, so we've made arrangements to have it shipped to Pop's old plant (NJ Pulverizing) where they have the necessary ramp or forklift to offload it from a flat bed trailer. Very disappointing to say the least, but we want it done right with the BEST powder coat available. Home to NJ by way of Tammy's tomorrow and all the way on Sat. Guess we won't be smokin' this weekend.
22 May 2003 Tom (our neighbor) and I went to Corbo's Restaurant Supply in Asbury Park to "look at" possible equipment for the Step Van. I told him to make sure I didn't jump into anything too soon. Well, we found everything we needed at pretty good prices and I jumped anyway. We found a four month old "low boy" cooler, a triple sink, a corrugated "heated" tray holder, and a 6' table with hand sink (all made with stainless steel). We shouldn't need much more. Some bad (sort of) news. SYBBQ said they weren't able to paint the smoker RED as agreed, since the red paint just wouldn't hold up at temperature. Maybe it's good that we found that out before we got it. Anyway, I'm waiting to hear the shipping details. It will go space available asap. Here's the pictures they sent!!! Click to enlarge!
30 May 2003 We got the smoke the day before yesterday, seasoned it and then yesterday cooked 30 lbs of RIBS. I didn't have quite enough wood but they came out pretty good. I also bought a vacuum bagger and used it on 3 of the racks. Here's a couple of the pictures and you can see more when you go to the table of contents (Southern Yankee BBQ)
31 May 2003 I wasn't home to see it, but the Step Van arrived. Tom had it parked next to the garage, but Andrea really thinks it's UGLY. We have a lot of work to do on it. See Transport on the table of contents page, but here's a couple.
16 July 2003 Well I'm home and ready to work on the Step Van. There's lots to do! Especially Cleaning. Here's a couple more pictures!
Sep 2003 Found a meat wholesaler, and cooked 140 lbs of brisket. Came out really good! Of course we gave a lot of it away and vacuum bagged (and froze) the rest! Here are some of the latest pictures!
Here's some of the finished product!
Sep 2003 We went to BBQ contest in Ocean City, NJ. There were only 12 teams (we should have entered) Got some very helpful information from a very friendly group of people.
Jan 2004: Ordered our new Eureka Vista Series Tent (10 X 10) www.eurekatent.com .It's a heavy duty vinyl tent. We'll be arranging vinyl lettering to show off our colors.
Feb 2004 The tent is in the garage, banner is on it's way and it's time to set up a calendar of events that we will try to participate in. I'll also get the Step Van registered. Here's a copy of our new 3' X 10' Banner.
In 2004 we did 16 total events, a great learning experience for the whole family. More details to follow. There are plenty of pictures to show what we did.
