Barbecue Pitmasters Was Great Last Night!

Hope all you barbecue nuts had a chance to catch last night's first episode of TLC's new cable series Barbecue Pitmasters. If you did, you probably learned some of the secrets and tips the big boys are using to create melt in your mouth barbecue that can win big money! I particularly am a sucker for reality shows, not all of them, but this one really reeled me in. I love the drama created by Paul, the cocky Texas chef who was considered the "Rookie" among the cooks. Between his flat tire, to falling asleep (Passing out? I've never seen a sober person sleep THAT hard) to bragging about kicking everyone's butts to finishing dead @#$ last I got a huge kick out of him. Then they interview him at the end and he's like, "Would I change anything for next competition? Probably not!"

OK, I'm gonna jump in here Paul, and give you a few tips. Now I don't know how they do barbecue in Texas, but the crap you turned in got you EXACTLY what you should have gotten! And if you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you got. First of all,

1) Carry a spare tire for your rig
2) Don't let your fire go out for however many hours it was out. Especially when you already lost a day and are behind schedule
3) You need to use less direct heat or something. It was difficult to tell exactly what technique you are using, but indirect heat and foil wrapping your meats after a few hours will keep them from turning BLACK!
4) KCBS judges like a little sauce on their food. You don't need to go crazy with it but a nice finishing glaze would have done wonders for the appearance and probably the flavor of your products
5) Your boxes (presentation) needed a lot of work. The main thing I noticed was that they were WAY too full and arranged haphazardly without much thought put into them. Although greenery is not technically required for KCBS, it would have helped you. Judges expect to see uniform size pieces arranged perfectly on a beautiful bed of greens.

Can't wait for next week's show. Incidentally, if you missed the show they have reruns all week. Check your tv guide!