A few weeks ago a fellow member of the BBQ Brethren asked on the forum if any one had ever tried Todd’s Dirt. They wanted to know if someone could make any type of recommendation. No one could. After visiting Todd’s website and reading about Dirt I decided to bite the bullet and buy some. A few days later the package arrived. Shipping was super fast.

Finding the time to grill something has been a challenge, but tonight I stopped at Costco on my way home from work and picked up some Tri-Tip steaks. My mom is in town and I needed to do a little cooking for her.

My first thought when opening the container of Dirt was that it smelled a great deal like Poultry Seasoning. I was a little concerned because I was cooking beef. But I decided to continue on. This isn’t a “rub” it’s a seasoning. As you can see from the first picture DIRT is loaded with herbs and spices. I’m not very good at identify herbs and spices but I could tell there was Oregano in it (it’s in the ingredient list).

The smell coming off the Weber Kettle was fantastic. I could tel already I was in for a treat.

One of the aspects of this seasoning is that it doesn’t come off on the grill like others. It sticks. After they came off the grill I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

Let me just be blunt about Todd’s Dirt. This stuff ROCKS! Everyone at the table raved about the flavors. It complimented the beef without covering up the flavor. I couldn’t believe how good this stuff is. I also ordered the “seafood” version and can’t wait to give it a try this weekend. Todd’s Dirt is also gluten and MSG free. Todd’s Dirt is available at www.toddsdirt.com. The website is a little hard to navigate so dig around until you find the spot to order. (I hope they fix this someday.)

I love smoking chuck roasts. This particular cut of beef is simply wonderful after several hours on the smoker. It provides a great “pulled” meat and the yield is fantastic.

I was at my local Sam’s Club the other day looking to purchase a couple of chuck roasts for some shredded beef tacos. I wanted to try smoking the beef to give the tacos a little different flavor profile than normal.

They had some three and four pound chuck roasts and the price was pretty competitive. I inquired about the case price and since it was over a dollar a pound cheaper I bought 53 pounds of chuck roasts.
I got the case home and inside was three cryo packs of meat. I figured they would be like buying pork butts. A couple of individual cuts of meat inside each cryo. Nope, wasn’t going to be like that. One giant cut of meat. The Chuck Roll.

After a good coating of rub the chuck roll went on the Weber Smokey Mountain. A few hours in it looked pretty good:

After 16 hours at 225 degrees I was able to pull this piece of meat of the smoker and put into the cooler for a few hours of rest before pulling it.

What was really great about cooking the Chuck Roll was that it gave me a great new yield. I probably only lost about 15% of the weight during the cooking. The marbling in the meat kept it very moist, without having to inject.

I’ve got two more of these monsters in the freezer and can’t wait to get them cooking. There’s so much you can do with leftover pulled beef. I should have some fun in the weeks to come experimenting with new dishes to serve.

When the sauce arrived and I had a chance to read the ingredients, I was curious to say the least. “Pickled Strawberries” were listed as the main ingredient and upon learning this, I started to have a little trepidation.

The sauce was so thick I couldn’t get it out of the bottle. It was similar to trying to get the first bit of catsup or mustard out of those little bottles. I had to use a butter knife to scrape it out.

The smell was not like any other sauce I’ve ever tried. The initial taste test was shocking to say the least. It was terrible. Knowing that some sauces just don’t taste good out of the bottle, I grilled up a couple of pork chops and chicken thighs to try it with food.

Folks, don’t buy this stuff. It was, without a doubt, the worst bbq product I have ever used. I’ve eaten many things in my life and it is a rare occasion that I can’t swallow what I cook. I had to spit the piece of pork chop out. Thinking it was just my taste buds, I asked my wife to try it. She had the same end result.

If it wasn’t listed on their website at www.tassleberryfarms.com, I would have thought someone was playing a practical joke on me. It was that bad. If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you know I always try to find something positive to say. I can’t find anything positive about this product.

(Photo Courtesy of Tassleberry Farms)

As I pulled up in front of the place I couldn’t help but get excited. Stacks and stacks of wood could be found on the side of the building and sweet blue smoked billowed from the chimney on top of the building. Walking into the building I could immediately smell the smell of the smoke.

My friends and I were immediately seated. We had to walk past tiffany style lamps and our table had cloth napkins. Not the normal type of bbq decor I’m used to. But with stack of wood, smoke and aroma in the place I still had high hopes.

The menu was full of great sounding items. There are several different types of combination plates to choose from. I chose the “Chef’s Special.” One beef rib, two spares, two pieces of chicken and some sausage. I was very disappointed that the plate came to the table drenched in sauce. They must ladle it on in the back. I subscribe to the theory that bbq restaurants that serve their meats already sauced are hiding something. What Smokehouse Bar-B-Que was hiding was any hint of smoke flavor. The sauce not only covered the meat it erased any hope flavor other than the sauce.

You got to also wonder about a Q joint that has wait staff that didn’t know baby backs came for a pig. Ours thought they were beef. Other than that little error the service was good and attentive, at least until we were done. Because it was the middle of the afternoon there weren’t very many patrons in the place so after we paid for our meal we just sat their talking, mostly about the “beef baby backs.” That was until the waitress informed us that she was done with her shift and she wanted to go home. And that she couldn’t go home until we left. She stood there until we left.

All and all it wasn’t what I would have expected from KC’s Best. I know, personally, a couple of hundred back-yarders that could create better bbq. Just average, at best. But then again it’s not just anywhere that you can get beef baby back ribs.

Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce is in a class by itself. It is more than a steak sauce, because of its unique flavor and the variety of uses. You can grill, cook, and marinate with it, or put it in your soups, stews, baked beans, and your other favorite dishes. Experience the Taste! - Country Bob

I’m always hesitant of any rub or sauce that makes a claim that it’s good on “anything.” Each and every item I put on my smoker and dinner table has a different flavor profile so how could one sauce taste good on everything? Well it can’t, it just can’t. And Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce is no exception. Don’t get me wrong this stuff is good, very good. But it’s not an all purpose sauce.

I gave it a try on a hamburger the first time. After looking at the sauce I was expecting an A1 type sauce which isn’t what I got. The flavor has a nice light tang to it with a good sweet after taste. It matched very well with the pickles, onions and pepper jack cheese on the burger.

The label claims it’s good on Steak, Hamburgers, Chicken, Fries and Barbecue. The hamburger claim was legitimate. I gave it a try on some regular fries and it did provide a nice flavor with the French fries, but it didn’t taste as good as old fashioned ketchup. I also took a plain old can of pork & beans and added a couple of drops. That was nice.

There was some pulled pork in the freezer that was smoked with rubbed with Plowboy’s Yardbird Rub and injected with Apple Juice. I made me up a nice pulled pork sandwich. I don’t normally sauce my pulled pork sammies but this time I gave it a try with Country Bob’s. I used a small amount and it covered up the flavor in the pork. I could still taste the smoke but any seasoning taste in the pork was gone.

I’m going to give the sauce a couple other tries. My first thought is that this sauce, for my tastes, is going to be great on hamburgers and such. (I don’t ever eat sauce on a steak) A stir fry with chicken and various vegetables is going to get a run this weekend. I’m expecting it to taste good.

Check out Country Bob’s Website for the whole story on the sauce. There are also some recipes you might want to try.

The “most popular” audition happens to be by 2007 New York State Grilling Champion and fellow BBQ Brethren member Clint Cantwell. It’s a great audition that you can watch on the Food Network.

Well if it isn’t enough to have the most popular audition video on the Food Network Clint now has gotten a small write up in the New York Post.

What I like the most about Clint’s video is that he really captures the spirit of grilling and bbq. It’s all about the food and the fun. And teasing him about the Spice Fairy comments only makes it that much more fun.

Check out Clint’s video maybe it will inspire you too.

Now that my wife and I are “empty nesters” we are enjoy trying different types of foods and flavor profiles that we couldn’t try with kids at home. We are also trying to eat healthier. Ellie Krieger’s book “The Food You Crave” has given us several great meals that don’t necessarily taste “healthy.”

Tonight we tried her Grill Thai Beef Salad. (You can find the recipe on the Food Network here)

Celeste whipped up the marinade this morning and got flank steak soaking away in what smelled like a fantastic mixture of ginger, soy and garlic chili sauce.

After getting a nice bed of goals on my trusty weber kettle I got to grilling the flank steak:

Check out the close up of the chili sauce and garlic along with other morsels of tasty goodness.

All and all this was a meal that was both satisfying and flavorful. The combination of the basil and cilantro in the salad combined with the chili sauce marinade made of a taste that satisfied my need for a little heat, but wasn’t overpowering.

Started with some whole wheat bread and light mayo. Wanted this to be as healthy as possible. Since I used “light” mayo I also figured I could use twice as much of it.

Some Spicewine season-all and the buckboard bacon:
A couple of fried eggs:

And I’ve got a sammie.

And some chips to complete lunch at home:
Me and Jasmine (the dog) enjoyed the lunch.

I love Tri-Tip Steaks from Costco. They are one of my favorite cuts of meat. I recently received a bottle of Spicewine Gourmet Blend All Seasoning direct from Jay at Spicewine. I figured there wasn’t a better thing to try it out than the Tri-Tips.

I sprinkled a good helping of the All Seasoning on the Tri-Tips and let them set out for a 10 or 15 minutes. I figured this would help the seasoning adhere to the meat just a little bit better when they hit the grill.

And put them on the trusty Weber Kettle.

After cooking for a few minutes I started basting them with a mixture of butter and the All Seasoning.

And then they were done!

Spicewine’s Gourmet Blend All Seasoning is amazing. It gave the meat a flavor that I hadn’t had before. Most All Seasoning blends have a tendency to be over-salty and will cover up the natural taste of the meat. This product really does enhance the taste of the meat. I also gave my veggies a good shake and they were fantastic too.

You can order this great product direct from Spicewine Ironworks.

I started with a store bought corned beef brisket point. I used the point because my hope was the it would have more fatty and for my purpose I didn’t want anything lean.

After soaking the corned beef in cold water for three hours, changing the water every 30 minutes I ground the corned beef up in my meat grinder. And spread it out on a sheet for stuffing.

I used Sonoma Habanero Jack cheese as a filling. Once the fatty was made I rolled it in fresh ground black pepper and smoked it with Apple wood until it reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

For a first time it came out pretty nice. Next time I’ll not use the UDS for smoking. I think the direct heat caused the meat to dry out a little much and the bottom of each fatty was a little “dark” for my taste.

All and all this was a huge success. The taste of pastrami wrapped around the cheese was a fantastic taste treat.