A couple of months ago, I posted a quick review on Oak Ridge Rubs.I’m still using these great rubs and am most impressed by the fact that they have blends specific for venison and other game meat. This company is cool enough that I wanted to learn more from Mike Trump, the owner. Thanks to Mike for taking the time to answer these questions. This was a great interview! ~DRR

1.What made you want to get into the BBQ rub business?

This is a long story but, the quick answer is God. Let me elaborate..

I guess I’ve always had a natural talent for cooking. When I was as young as 10 years old, a childhood friend and I would make homemade barbecue sauce in mom’s kitchen. It was pretty nasty stuff, but we sure thought it was great! A few years later I got my first smoker, a Brinkmann charcoal smoker, or ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann) as they are lovingly referred to in BBQ circles. It took me several years before I could actually produce something I was proud of off that cooker. I ended up going through two of them, then moved up to an Oklahoma Joe offset smoker. My BBQ started getting pretty good, and family and friends would rave about it. It was at this time, around 1999-2000, that I started making my own rub.

By the summer of 2002, I had worked up enough courage and bbq acumen to feel ready to enter my first KCBS barbecue contest. We ended up getting a first place call in pork ribs with a perfect score! From that point forward, I was hooked. I wasn’t a very prolific bbq competitor, only competing in a couple contests each year, but we always ended up getting called for a top-ten ribbon in at least one category every contest we entered. In 2005, I swapped out the Oklahoma Joe cooker for a 2000 lb. trailer-mounted Lang model 84 Deluxe, and started doing bigger and bigger cooks for friends and family. By 2006, I was doing small to medium sized bbq catering gigs on the side, and soon found with a growing family I no longer had the time to compete. It was during this time I began to feel God leading me to do something bigger with this gift of BBQ He’d given me, but I didn’t know exactly what, nor was I totally open to the idea yet, either.

Fast-forward one year to our 2008 bow hunting deer camp. I had secretly been working on a new venison rub to wow my hunting buddies. Little did I know, but this would end up being a turning point and the catalyst in pushing me to go public with my rubs. The meal was quite simple; venison backstraps, cut into 1½” thick medallions, brushed with extra virgin olive oil and liberally coated with this new venison rub. I grilled them over hardwood coals to a perfect medium rare. They were exquisite. The new rub didn’t try to cover up the flavor of the venison. Instead, it harmonized with the natural flavors perfectly in a way that elevated them to brand new levels. My hunting buddies were so utterly and completely blown away by the flavors, I realized then that I might be on to something big.

It was also at this time that God started to work in my wife and I’s personal lives in a completely different way. We both began to feel His leading to adopt a child. Not just any adoption, but an international adoption from Ethiopia. We prayed and struggled with this decision for a long time; finally yielding to God’s leading and began the adoption process. However, as international adoptions are very expensive, we were stopped short by a lack of financial resources.

Meanwhile, God continued to impress upon me that I needed to move forward with this barbecue rub business idea. So, in February of 2010, my wife and I formed Oakridge BBQ LLC. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of blessing after blessing. The business is growing at a very rapid rate and we are beginning to see God’s plan unfold.

A key part of our business model, that is a direct outgrowth of our life’s experiences to date, is to give at least 10% of our business’ profit to support local, national and international global outreach programs that focus on homelessness and orphans. And, in time, it is our hope that someday through the fruits of this business venture or God’s blessings elsewhere, we will be able to adopt internationally as well.

2.One thing that intrigued me was your rubs for wild game. What’s different about rubs for wild game, vs. “regular” rubs?

Do you remember the old grade school comeback “It takes one to know one”? I think that a similar logic applies here

Before I developed our two Oakridge BBQ wild game rubs, it seemed to me that the vast majority of rub manufacturers out there treated wild game as an afterthought; merely just something parenthetical to be added to the litany of other intended uses printed on their labels. As a matter of fact, based on our market research, you can literally count with one hand the number of rub manufacturers who have developed any spice rub products specifically for wild game.

I think the reason for this is most rub manufacturers don’t hunt nor do they eat venison or other wild game meats. Sure, they can say their product “works” on wild game, but I doubt if any of them have ever tried it. And to my knowledge, only a very few products have ever been developed specifically for it.

Our perspective is different. I am an avid hunter, and have been one for over 20 years. Not only am I familiar with taste of venison and other wild game meats, I happen to love them. It was with this knowledge and a great deal of culinary research, that I developed our two spice rub blends specifically to go hand-in-hand with wild game meats of all kinds. It’s all about the special ingredients we use and their ability to accentuate the natural sweetness and succulence of wild game without drowning out any of the natural flavors. It works so well, in just the past year and a half since its release; our Venison Rub has already been dubbed “The Best Venison Rub on the Planet” by our customers and our Game Bird & Chicken rub has developed an equal following.

3.What’s your favorite product?

Wow! That’s like asking me who’s my favorite kid Of course, I love them all. However, just like children, each has its own personality and each is better at one thing than another. For steaks, it’s really hard to beat our new Santa Maria Steak Seasoning. And for brisket, pulled pork or ribs, our Competition Beef & Pork rub is very, very good. Our Secret Weapon rub is outstanding on pork and chicken as well. Then, you have our Game Bird & Chicken rub, which is fabulous on just about every game bird imaginable as well as chicken too. Plus, it’s our go-to rub for just about anything else non-meat related, like baked potatoes, French fries, onion rings, grilled vegetables, seafood, scrambled eggs, biscuits & gravy, you name it. Finally, you have our Venison rub, which excels on all kinds of venison, not just whitetails… elk, moose, caribou, fallow deer, speed goats, mule deer, etc., etc., etc.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot our newest rub – our Limited Edition Habanero Death Dust! This stuff is just flat out awesome too! It packs a big punch. For those folks who like it HOT, this rub delivers in a big way. Loads of flavor, plus a surge of habanero chile heat that stays with you for a long time! Better get this stuff quick, though. Because, we’re only making a limited number of these and they’re already almost half-way gone!

4.OK, you have company coming and they aren’t big BBQ fans, not big meat eaters. What are you cooking, to “Wow” them and win them over?
I suppose grilled chicken is always a safe bet, but I think I’d do something unique that would be sure to get their attention.

One of the perks of owning a bbq rub business is you get the opportunity to cook lots of new things. Recently, I have been experimenting with skirt steaks and our new Santa Maria rub, and a few weeks ago we made Tacos de Carne Asada. These were absolutely phenomenal. Skirt steak is similar to flank steak, but it’s texture is more tender and juicy and it packs a huge amount of beef flavor. Basic preparation is simple, just trim the skirt steaks, apply a liberal coating of Oakridge BBQ Santa Maria Steak Seasoning to both sides, and then drench them in fresh-squeezed lime juice. Allow the steaks to marinate in this mixture in the fridge for an hour. Then, grill them to medium rare over a very hot hard wood fire. Drizzle the juice of more fresh limes on the skirt steaks as you grill them. Allow the skirt steaks to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing them across the grain on a bias (45º angle). Now, just build your tacos with fresh corn tortillas, sliced skirt steaks, some Monterrey Jack cheese and a dollop of fresh pico de gallo salsa. They end up looking like this, and dang were they good!

5.What’s your biggest seller?
By the numbers, our Competition Beef & Pork rub is our #1 seller, followed very closely by our Secret Weapon and Game Bird & Chicken rubs. However, that’s almost unfair to say because our Santa Maria rub wasn’t released until earlier this year, we sell the heck out of our Venison rub during the hunting season, and we’ve sold over 15 cases of our new Limited Edition Habanero Death Dust in just the past 5 weeks… Suffice to say, each rub has its own very loyal following and all are selling very well!

I would also like to mention we take great pride (and pleasure) in sponsoring over 20 of the very best Professional Barbecue Teams from across the country. Their performance this year using our spices has so vastly out-performed even our greatest expectations; we would like to personally thank each and every one of them from the bottom of our hearts! As of October 6th, they have managed to amass a total of 192 top-ten calls across all four main meat categories (chicken, pork, ribs and brisket) as well as numerous top-ten placements over entire contests!

6.What’s your best advice for people new to smoking?
To quote Charlie Papazian, “Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew.”

Far too often, folks new to smoking get too wrapped up in all the details; What smoker to buy?, what woods to use?, what temp to cook at?, briquettes or lump?, should I foil or not?, is it smoking or is it barbecue, etc., etc., etc.

My first advice to anyone getting started in low & slow cooking is to relax! Don’t sweat the details. Go out and buy a Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) and some charcoal and just dive right in. Don’t expect to make competition quality food right away, but expect to get better with each cooking session, because that’s just how it happens. Low & slow cooking is easy, but it takes time, so don’t rush it.

My second word of advice is to learn how to build and maintain a clean burning fire. This is almost as important as relaxing and not sweating the details. Unfortunately, this is one detail you can’t skip. If your smoker looks like an old coal locomotive taking on a steep grade, your fire isn’t running right… The only smoke you should see coming out of your smoker is a thin line of blueish-white smoke. Any more than that, especially for long periods of time during the cook, will mean bitter, over-smoked meat when you’re finished.

Finally, my last piece of advice is to get on the internet and spend some serious time reading everything that is posted in The BBQ Brethren forum and Ray Basso’s BBQ Forum. The wealth of information shared on these forums will shorten your learning curve exponentially.

7.Do you hunt too? What’s your favorite thing to hunt?

Do I hunt??? Oh heck yeah!

I’m a die-hard bow hunter, but I also greatly enjoy spring turkey hunting and hunting deer with my rifle, handgun and muzzleloader as well. I actually have a degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia in Wildlife Biology and Management. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a job in that field when I graduated college, but now I get to practice my wildlife management skills on my folk’s farm in NW Missouri.
I grew up hunting squirrels and rabbits, and started bow hunting when I was around 15 years old. Because I couldn’t’ drive yet, my mom would have to drop me off at the nearby Army Corps. of Engineer’s land and then come pick me up after dark… Over the years, I’ve hunted just about everything that can be hunted ni Missouri. Now, I primarily hunt whitetails and Eastern wild turkeys. I’d love to hunt other species, but I just don’t have the time right now. Here’s some pics of me with few of my kills from over the past couple years

My 2011 January bow-killed turkey. I almost doubled on birds during this hunt, but my second long beard got up and flew away after the shot and couldn’t be located. This one wasn’t so lucky-

My biggest bow-kill to date, measuring in at 171 3/8” Gross. I’m in street clothes in this picture because I made an iffy liver shot and it took us 2 solid days of searching to find this deer…

Thanks again to Mike for taking the time to answer some questions. Please – be sure to have a look at his website: Oak Ridge BBQ

Awhile back I posted a review about a real cool product – Dr Drip coffee. This was a quaility product and an interesting concept so I wanted to learn more. Below is an interview with Dr. Drip Co-Founder, Jesse Gordon. Thanks to Mr Gordon for taking the time to check in with us! ~DRR
Interview with Dr. Drip Co-founder, Jesse Gordon

1) Cool concept – how did you come up with it?
My father and I both love brewed coffee and saw a need for a simple, portable single serve coffee option. Neither one of us enjoys the coffee that comes from expensive single-serve brewing machines – we also realized that a considerable amount of waste is created by them. It got us thinking there must be a better way.

After considerable thought, we decided that a portable all-in-one pour over coffee filter would not only be convenient and provide high-quality, brewed coffee, but it could be environmentally friendly as well.

2)Which came first – the coffee business or the filter concept?
That’s like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. For us, they came together. Dr. Drip would not exist without the filter system.

3)How have sales been?
We’re thrilled with the reception of Dr. Drip since its launch in June. We’re seeing a lot of purchasing activity and chatter through our social media channels and are looking forward to Dr. Drip becoming the public’s coffee of choice.

4)Do you have other coffee products, or just Dr. Drip?
At this point, our only product is Dr. Drip. We remain passionate about getting Dr. Drip into as many hands and on top of as many cups as possible. We are confident that once people try it, they will be hooked.

5)What is next for your company? Other coffee blends, new drip concepts or something totally in a new direction?
We are always looking at new coffee growers, regions and blends. At this point, however, we are continuing to keep our focus on the Doctor.

6)What are some interesting things about the coffee business that may surprise my readers?
Many people drink coffee simply to get them started in the morning or keep them awake throughout the day. However, drinking that cup or two of coffee can actually be GOOD for you. New studies are coming out every day describing the health benefits of coffee – from anti-aging properties to the prevention of disease, cancer, strokes…even Alzheimer’s!

7)Is this how you make your living? If not, what is your career field?
My father used to own a fashion hosiery company and has a business background. I am an attorney and an entrepreneur at heart. Although I currently still practice law, I am hopeful that the continued success of Dr. Drip will allow me to focus solely on the coffee business.

8 )What have been some things that were unexpected or challenging, in marketing your product?
So far people have embraced the brand and we have really begun by deploying street teams and taking advantage of sampling opportunities. We’ve been active on the social media front and, while the main point of sales is through our website, we certainly would love broad distribution in stores across the country.

9)Are you worldwide?
At this point we are only offering Dr. Drip domestically. We hope to expand in to other markets in the near future.

I tried this coffee and it was great. Would make a great addition to your grub, when packing for a camping trip. Read more about them here: About Dr. Drip

A huge “Thank You” to Bob , the man behind RavensBark BBQ Sauce. Bob was kind enough to send me his sauces to try and I gotta say – “So far, so good”! You can read my review of The Bumble-B here. I have also tried The General and it is an awesome sauce as well – vinegary, peppery, tangy goodness! Bob has an interesting product combo of toffee and BBQ sauce. Speaking with him on the phone, I could tell he would make a great interview.

1. Toffee and BBQ sauce – quite the combo! How did that evolve, and which came first?
RavensBark produces English Toffee and BBQ Sauce. We were founded in 2008 and have had fun growing our business. Our company began making English Toffee only. We developed and produce 4 flavors that is the result of years of gift giving to friends, family and co-workers. Our flavors are; The Original, The Blondie, The Milkman and The Ravenator.

Part of our business plan includes gift packaging for corporate accounts. We custom package our products with your logo or slogan of choice and ship as holiday gifts, customer gifts, incentives for employees and more. It has been a significant source of our business to this point. We have always produced our product with great care and concern for quality and feedback from that mission led us to our next chapter.

Why BBQ Sauce? One of our customers approached us with an idea. They had just given our Toffee to their customers for the holidays, had rave reviews, and wanted to do a mid-year giveaway to customers. The idea of BBQ Sauce was posed. We’re a Texas based company, and Texas knows and loves BBQ. So, from a family recipe, we developed our 4 flavor product line and have been providing it as part of our corporate gift giving as well. Our sauce flavors are; The General, The Bumble-B, The Hickory and The Firehouse.

2. Where did the name RavensBark come from?
I have always admired companies and products that have “characters” as pitchmen. One of my favorite characters in life is Raven. Raven is my great companion, an accomplished hunter, a dog who rarely barks and above all, a real character. English Toffee was the first product line of our company and it is often referred to as “Bark” because of its appearance. Raven and her absent barking joined forces with our Toffee to become RavensBark. Today, she is barking up a storm spreading the word about RavensBark. Look for Raven to become more prominent in representing our products, maybe as a bee-keeper gathering the honey for The Bumble-B, or as a Fire-dog to the rescue of those in need of our fiery sauce, The Firehouse.

3. Which sauce is your biggest seller? Which is your personal favorite?
To date, The General lives up to its name leading the pack, but the numbers are extremely close. The Firehouse is the dark horse of the group, but its niche with those who love and feel the need for heat keeps it very popular. Favorites are hard to choose. Because The General is very close to the original family recipe that got us started, it would be hard not to be connected to it the most.

4. What has been your biggest surprise and/or challenge since you started producing your sauces?
It may just be us, but strong search results on the Internet were a much bigger challenge than I anticipated. It has been part of our plan that we have not yet mastered and want to improve upon. We are open to all economically feasible ideas.

5. Once you finalize a recipe, do you keep trying to improve it, or do you stop adjusting, after its locked in?
Customer feedback is a very important part of delivering a quality product that is well liked and we take the positive comments and constructive criticism seriously. We also trust our instincts and believe you can over analyze flavors. For the BBQ sauce, our goal was to take traditional BBQ sauce flavor, make it bold and develop several flavor profiles from that initial concept. That has yielded our current 4-flavor lineup. We hope everyone enjoys them.

6. What does the future hold for RavensBark? More product lines? Different flavors of sauce?
We have a good compliment of products today and are beginning to distribute our products regionally. We expect to take what we’ve learned so far and grow our product lines to national distribution, while maintaining quality, personal service and attention to detail. We have some ideas on expanding our flavor selection and will do so when the timing is right. Stay tuned.

7. For people who have never heard of your sauce or company, what would you want them to know?
We are proud of our product and want you to be as well. Give us a try. If you are not completely satisfied, we will make it right for you.

8. Have a favorite recipe or technique you’d like to share with my readers?
We are in the process of developing a recipe page on our site, so please take a peek at our website periodically for some delicious ideas. As for technique, Raven would tell you that good BBQ is a marathon, not a sprint. When you have painstakingly spent several hours or even overnight preparing a gorgeous piece of meat, please don’t forget the sauce. While we hope that sauce is RavensBark, even more importantly, make sure it is added to the meat in the last 10-20 minutes of cooking so the sugars in the sauce don’t burn.

Thanks again, Bob!

Well, hopefully you read my recent review of DreamCoast’s coffee. As a follow-up, I asked the owner Darlene Brown, if she could do an interview. I have to say, this is one of the most informative interviews I have done, on either of my websites. This is really interesting stuff! I hope you enjoy it, and most of all – if you like coffee, please have a look at DreamCoast. If they don’t carry it in your store – be sure and ask! ~DRR

1. How in the world did you ever get into coffee roasting?
I got my first sip of fresh roasted coffee from an airport kiosk in my hometown of Chicago several years ago. From that point forward that’s all I drank. I later moved to Los Angeles and fortunately lived close to a small coffee shop that used local roasters. While in LA I experimented with home roasting. I tried baking beans in the oven, roasting them in a cast iron skillet, and ultimately an old West Bend corn popper that I found at a garage sale. I thought it was fun but ultimately I kept getting my beans from my local coffee shop. When I relocated to PHX I wasn’t close to shops using locally roasted coffee. So I started roasting my own in earnest. After a lot of research I decided on drum roasting because and found a company called RK Drums. They manufacture a kit that includes a perforated stainless steel drum on a spit which is used on a gas bbq grill. My first batches were horrible but I was still hooked. I was able to have my fresh roasted coffee whenever I pleased. I started out roasting for myself and a few friends. When my the mining company I was working for closed I had more time to roast and was soon roasting for family, friends and friends of friends.

2. Without giving away any trade secrets, could you walk us through the process of roasting? What are the variables? What are the batch sizes?
The purpose of roasting beans (the simple explanation) is to remove the remaining water in the coffee bean and release the flavor. So in essence roasting kinda ‘boils the liquids out’ of a coffee bean. Somewhere around a internal temperature of 400F the bean will have expanded to to the point where sheds the bulk of it’s skin or ‘chaff’ and moisture is depleted. This is signaled by a loud crack similar to popcorn popping. The actual coffee roasting takes place after this point. Desired roast levels, type of coffee, style of roasting all come into play after this point but generally speaking you coffee should go thru 1st crack as a minimum. Using a profile – a preset time frame to roast the coffee is standard but as a artisan roasted I also rely on the senses in addition to thermometers,timers and profiles. Sound and smell are very important to me while roasting. I rely on them more than equipment most of the time. Also I don’t roast anything larger than 3.5 lbs in a 4lb roaster so I have a lot of control over every bag I roast. It’s more work than larger commercial roasting but its fun and I can be more creative.

3. How do you find and select vendors of coffee beans? Do you get to visit their operations?
Talking with other roasters has been the most popular way to vendors for me Checking out threads on coffee and roasting forums and good old fashion online research have worked too. I use a couple of vendors. My primary vendor is here in the Phoenix area so I am able to go to his facility. There’s not a lot to see – A roasting machine and bags of beans but I get an opportunity to get details on the beans and talk shop. I like beans that come from older estates, co-ops and farming communities and villages that employ environmental friendly farming practices in the coffee growing regions of the world. These are often good quality beans because of the consistency of their growth and production. And of course fair trade and organic beans whenever possible.

4. What has been your biggest challenge in marketing your products?
I sell online so it’s more challenging to get the product out in front of people, get it into the hands of folks you know would like it when there isn’t a physical location for them to go to, though that’s probably the problem any new business has.

5. What is something that people might find surprising about your business?
People are always surprised when I tell them I roast coffee. I asked someone why once and they said “I thought coffee was only roasted in big factories. Surprise! There are machines that homeroasters used that fit on the kitchen counter top.

6. For people who haven’t heard about your company, what would you want them to know?
I think I would want people to know that I exist for one but also that I’m a gateway to a great coffee experience. Buying fresh roasted coffee and brewing at home is a way to get great tasting coffee, experience different types of coffee than you would find in your grocery store or local cafe, and save money by cutting down on those trips to the cafe. I have a few customers who came to me because of that reason.

7. What’s next for DreamCoast Coffee? More roasts? More marketing of existing roasts? What are your priorities in growing your business over the next few years?
I’m working on creating some more blends – espresso that’s on the lighter side of intense, another breakfast blend and a coffee with peppers. This summer I decided to try my hand some coffee rubs using coffee as a base and they were pretty impressive so I may be adding those to the product line. I would like to see my product on the shelves of specialty and gourmet grocery stores in the region at a minimum. My ultimate goal is to open a string of Bohemian style cafes, that feature live Contemporary Jazz performances, and small theater acts like one man plays or ensembles, and comedy, featuring local artisan baked goods and dishes and of course coffee roasted fresh on the premises. I would like a string of them across the country but each one should be organic to the location they’re in. That would be cool .

Thanks again to Darlene for taking the time to answer some questions! You can view all of their cyrrent blends and buy online here: DreamCoast Store

Hopefully you read my recent review of Rick Browne’s great cookbook 1001 Best Grilling Recipes. Well, I was tickled to death that his publishing company found me and offered his book; I’m even more excited that Rick agreed to an interview! It was very cool catching up with him and learning more.

1.Wow – 1000 Recipes! Did you have more than 1000 to start, or was it a challenge to find that many which met your standards?
I had about 450-500 to start, worked up the rest from my notes and other cookbooks.

2.For a recipe to make this book, what are some of the criteria you were looking for?
Something that is easy to cook, is appetizing and attractive, and something hunters and fishermen would love to try; aimed at getting them to try new recipes – things they hadn’t thought of doing with game, game birds or fish.

3.When one is asked to write a cookbook – are you really expected to test all of these personally, or do you merely compile them?
I’ve tested many but after writing 11 cookbooks, and cooking for my TV Series on PBS (Barbecue America), and on the Outdoor Channel (Ready, Aim…Grill) – I pretty much know what works.

4. What are a couple of your favorites?
Chocolate Moose, Grilled Buffalo Ribeye Steaks with Roquefort Butter, Grouse Smothered in Sour Cream, Grilled Salmon Steaks with Hazelnut Crust, Wild Turkey Enchiladas

5.As the “Grill Master of the Universe” is it your favorite way to cook? Do you ever use regular methods?
I use every possible method of cooking, bbq over wood, charcoal, briquesttes, electric and gas – conventional ovens – campfires – solar bbq’s – you name it I’ve cooked on it.

6.You were a photojournalist for a long time; is this (food media) where you are most comfortable?
I’m very comfortable here but love wildlife photography, photojournalism, environmental portraits and travel photography – have made a living doing all of these in the past

7.For people new to BBQ’ing – what are some of the most common mistakes?
Don’t keep lifting the lid to check what you’re cooking (you lose valuable heat) – Buy and use a good meat thermometer– don’t put the sauce on what you’re cooking until the last 5-10 minutes (if at all) want the taste of the fish, fowl or meat to come through first. Sauces are there to enhance the flavor and I often serve mine on the side.

8.Do you enjoy wild game often? Have a favorite?
Whenever I can, I love elk, moose, venison, rabbit, wild boar, wild turkey, duck, pheasant, grouse, antelope, etc. Just about everything.

9.What is next for you?
Working on a book entitled “A Century of Restaurants”, where I have driven more than 40,000 miles across the country to profile 100 of America’s oldest restaurants (all between 100-300 years old) for Andrews McMeel Publishing, it’s due out in June 2012. A massive undertaking. Also bringing Grillin’ Wild to life as a TV cooking series on the Sportsmen Channel. And also bringing Barbecue America back to public TV after a two-year hiatus to work on the above projects. It will be my 8th season cooking barbecue, and we’ll be doing “Big City BBQ” in places you would not expect world-class barbecue: New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Phew! I’m tired already.

Thanks again to Rick for taking the time to answer some questions. You can visit Rick’s site here: Rick Browne, PhB

WOW! I have more interviews coming. More product reviews. More company profiles of some really neat companies. I have added some more links on the sidebar – please check out the “Friends” and “Partners” categories.

If you make a sauce, a rub, a cooking device or something associated with outdoor cooking – and would like to have a professional, thorough review done – please contact me! Your review will include links, photos, you name it!I even review coffee (now) and do book reviews as well.

If you have friends who like outdoor cooking, smoking, ‘Que – please send along my link to them or have them follow me on Twitter! Lots of cool things coming, not only here but on the Desert Rat Blog as well!

Hopefully you read my last post where I sang the praises of theSweetwater Spice Company and their amazing brines. I’m having a ball experimenting with these magic elixirs. They are awesome. I am even more pleased to offer this interview with Scott Sapire, the man behind the brine.

1. How long have you been selling brine?We had our first sale, to Wiggy’s Liquors on 6th Street in Austin, TX in April 2007.

2. Tell us a bit about your journey to where you are today – selling BBQ bath on a commercial basis
As a journey it’s been bumpy, winding, and thrilling, not necessarily in that order. Starting a company is a challenge in and of itself; doing so through a Recession is another thing all together. That said, constraint fosters creativity and we’ve won a lot of hands with the cards we’ve been dealt.

I would advise anyone who wishes to take that great leap to do so because the greater the challenge, the greater the reward. I would also advise them to start slow and small – get your legs under you before you try to run. In other words, keep your day job until the resources are there to command success when you hit the market.

3. With all of the rubs and sauces out there – why brines?
It made my barbecue better, plain and simple. When I moved to Los Angeles from Austin I searched high and low for Texas style barbecue, ultimately resorting to making it myself. It wasn’t very good at first and brining it made the difference.

Sauces and rubs taste great, but when it comes to making better barbecue brines are superior tenderizers and provide a margin for error so the meat stays juicy even if overcooked

4. Is there anything you don’t recommend brining?
I do not recommend brining scallops if you intend to sear them. The brine will force them to hold on their own juices and in the short cooking time for a scallop the extra steam can prevent a nice sear from forming.

5. For the outdoor chef or BBQ fanatic that has never used brine – what do you tell them?
This is not rocket science. Just soak your meat in BBQ BATH or FAJITA BATH for the recommended time – eg 20 minutes for chicken pieces – and it’s ready to go. Once removed from the brine bath the meat is seasoned, tenderized, and has extra protection from drying out.

You can make your own brines and season the meat on your own, just as one can make their own marinades and barbecue sauces. My goal is to make it easy and delicious.

6. What’s your favorite product?
The Smoked Habanero BBQ BATH. This is the one I reach for most often. It has a nice heat, but it’s not overwhelming. For people who love spice, it’s only a 6 out of 10 which allows for the sweetness of the apple juice and tamarind to come through, as well as notes of cinnamon and cumin to round out the palate. The heat sneaks up from the back, sits on your lips and tells you to reach for an ice cold beverage but that’s all.

7. Have a favorite recipe or technique you’d like to share?
We won 3rd Place at the Fiery Food Challenge with our baked hot wings – beating out 41 fried wings in the process. To make, simply soak the wings in the Smoked Habanero brine for 20 minutes then place in a 350 degree oven – on middle rack – for 15 minutes. At this point turn oven up to broil and brown the skins while still on the middle rack – the apple juice will help the skin caramelize.

One can brine 5 lbs of wings in a gallon size ziploc – and after 20 minutes you can swap out batches – cook one while brining another and within an hour you can make 15 lbs of baked hot wings of the highest caliber.

8. What’s next for Sweetwater Spice – more brine flavors or something else?
We have some new brine flavors we’d like to release throughout the year – CAJUN SPICE for our TURKEY BATH line, MOCHA JALOKIA flavor to our FAJITA BATH line, and SERRANO LIME MOJITO and ORANGE GARLIC MOJO to our BBQ BATH line.

We are also in development with a totally new line of products (which you’ll get a sneak peak at sometime in December) but mum is the word for now!

Thanks to Scott for taking the time to answer some questions. I can’t stress enough that folks should just try one of his products. Your meat will be juicy and tender, the flavor will be obviously there but not overpowering. I can almost guarantee you that you will be buying more! Poke around their website too. There’s some neat stuff hidden there – like these cool RECIPES

When I first started down the road of smoking 9and blogging about it), I sent out a number of introductions to various companies found in the smoking/rub/sauce/grilling world. One of the first people to respond was Gloria Cabada-Leman from the Carolina Sauce Company. Gloria generously sent me a bottle of Apple Butter BBQ sauce to try – it was awesome – and also agreed to a future interview. Her husband Greg, she told me, was a master at cooking wild game, and Gloria suggested I interview Greg as well. Absolutely! I want to thank Greg Leman for taking the time to answer some questions.

1. Gloria says ‘you’re the man” when it comes to wild game. What are some of your favorite game meats to cook?

I cook venison the most because that’s what we have a lot of around here. Backstrap cut into 2 inch slices marinated in Happy Sauce and grilled to medium rare is probably my favorite, although lately I’m liking venison sliders with caramelized onions and garlic and goat cheese. Doves, ducks, geese, wild boar, and rabbits are on the menu at the right time of year. My father and I killed a moose in Ontario back in 2003 and that fed us for a couple of years.

2. Any chance you could share a favorite recipe or technique with my readers?

Venison sliders. Even well prepared venison burgers have a pretty strong taste, but this recipe accents that taste to provide a wonderful combination.

Form small patties of ground venison about a half inch thick and 3 inches in diameter. Place on a well lubed plate (cooking spray such as Pam), spray the exposed side and season with Peg Pen Original. Put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour to form well — I usually do the prep in the morning so I can throw dinner together quickly.

Sautee 2 cloves of minced garlic with a 1/4 stick of butter, then put on low heat and add a large chopped sweet onion. Cook covered until the onions are mostly caramelized. Take the cover off and increase heat when the burgers hit the grill to cook off most of the liquid. Stir frequently. We’re going for dark caramelization, but not dried out and burned.

Grill the burgers on high heat, 2-3 minutes on the first slide and flip. Crumble goat cheese on the burgers and cover to get a partial melt. Place burgers on toasted potato slider rolls and add onions. Makes a great appetizer, party snack, or meal. Whether or not you tell your city slicker friends they just ate venison is up to you, because they won’t know.

3. What are some of the common mistakes you see with care and preparation/cooking of game?

The worst is a deer that gets thrown on the ground after a hunt while the hunters go have breakfast and come back to clean it. Especially early in the season when the weather is warm. You owe it to the animal to get it processed and into the cooler ASAP.

If all you have is a cooler to chill your deer, get some racks and silicon cutting boards. Put the ice on the bottom of the cooler and the venison on top of the boards. Water logged venison is quite unappetizing.

Cut all the silver skin and fat out of your venison before you package it for freezing.

For doves and early season ducks/geese bring a cooler and put your birds on ice instead of your game bag.

4. OK, you’ve got company coming and they’re “kinda down” with the whole eating wild meat thing. You have one meal to win them over – whatcha serving?

Appetizer: Grilled bacon wrapped dove breast on a bed of lettuce with Mamma T’s Olive Oil Vinaigrette (http://carolinasauce.stores.yahoo.net/matsoloilvi.html).
Main Course: Grilled Venison backstrap in Happy Sauce. Spicy creamed spinach and barbeque beans.
Dessert: Grilled peaches with butter and brown sugar and ice cream.

I have a hunting buddy that refused to eat venison. He gave me all of the deer he killed. One night I was cooking up some “beef tips” in camp and let him try a plate. Afterwards I told him it was venison in Happy Sauce — in fact it was from the deer he gave me that morning. Ever since, he’s declared that he’ll eat venison as long as I cook it.

5. Can you talk about some of the similarities and differences between cooking wild game and “regular” meat?

Wild game is really not that different. Most people overcook game because they think it’s going to be tough or too strong. Game generally needs a little more careful treatment with marinades and sauces, but overcooked venison will taste just as bad as overcooked Wagyu beef. The main difference with wild game is that you’re going to need to add some complementary flavors to the strong taste.

6. What’s your favorite thing to hunt?

Wow, tough question. I spend the most time deer hunting, but that’s because that’s the longest season we have here in NC. Turkey hunting is the most exciting, and goose/duck hunting is the best for fellowship because you can sit in the blind and talk until the birds show up. But I mostly enjoy hanging around camp afterwards with my buddies. I don’t have to kill anything to have a good time, but venison tenderloin with eggs is a mighty fine breakfast.

I did a 10 day moose hunt in northwestern Ontario with my father back in 2003 — that was the best hunt I was ever on and it was cold, windy, snowing, and I didn’t even pull the trigger.

7. What’s the dream hunt you haven’t been on yet?

A sheep hunt in Alaska. I spent a few years working on the 911 system for Anchorage and made trips there every month. I got to do a lot of salmon fishing, but I never had enough time to go hunting.

I turned down a chance several years ago to go on a Kudu hunt for free in South Africa on the farm of a business associate because I didn’t think I could take two weeks off and have been kicking myself ever since.

I want to thank Greg for taking the time to answer some questions. Lots of great info there. As an aside, Greg and Gloria have been instrumental in getting Operation Sauce Drop off of the ground. A program that ships sauce to our troops overseas. If you’ve ever eaten MRE’s, you know that some zesty sauce from home would be a gift from heaven. The program is in need of donations – please visit their site and consider supporting them.

Finally, look for an interview with Gloria in the future. Visit their site – you will be astounded with the variety of sauces, rubs and more.

I’m hoping you read the first installment of my interview with Obie. Below is the 2nd Part. Thanks again to Obie for taking part, and teaching so many people about BBQ – especially me!

7. There are a ton of different types of smokers out there. What advice do you have on how to select a new smoker/griller? Especially for new people?
Once again, I’ve covered this on the website already, but an here’s an update. 1. Determine required capacity. How many people do you normally feed? How often are you gonna cook for a big group? If it’s only once or twice a year, you really don’t need enough capacity to feed an army. Cook ahead and re-heat. If you do it right, I defy anyone to tell it’s been reheated. If you buy too big you’ll pay extra up front and with a smoker you use a lot more fuel (which ain’t cheap) heating up the space you don’t need. 2. Are you most likely to be grilling, or smoking, or both? If you mostly grill, get a good grill and cheap little water-pan smoker. You really only need the smoker for the smoke flavor—you can do most of the actual cooking in your oven, after you get the requisite smoke. If you’re planning on spending less than $1000, you prob’ly don’t want a horizontal smoker, go with a vertical design. Hey, heat rises, use a design that puts the meat above the fire and the physics work for you. THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE is good control of the airflow. You need adjustable vents on both the inflow and outflowing air. The difference between a campfire and a blast furnace is air control.

8. Since going commercial, what has been your biggest surprise in marketing/selling your products?
Personally, my biggest surprise was how much I enjoyed working the retail shop. Frankly, this wasn’t supposed to be my gig—I had a small but profitable glass biz and my wife (happily, now ex-wife) was supposed to do the spices but she flaked and dropped the ball, after we had actually spent the money to buy it. I had to pick up the pieces or take the loss, so I jumped in…and found I LOVED it. Whoodathunkit? T’other surprise was how some buyers just flat don’t care about quality–only mark-up. Seems particularly endemic in the grocery biz where it’s ONLY about product what sells the most.

9. What’s your favorite thing to eat out of the smoker?
Don’t really have a fave. Smoked prime rib is always a crowd-pleaser, plus all the usual suspects…brisket, ribs, turkey, ham (hoo boy do I have a good ham & turkey recipes!), whole pork loin is so easy and goes so far…don’t care much for pulled pork–too much work for what you get.

10. Besides cooking, running your business and mentoring new people – what other pastimes or hobbies do you enjoy?
MUSIC I personally don’t have much talent for making music, but I love music. I was 13 when the Beatles hit these shores, and spent my youth with Cream, Hendrix, Big Brother, The Doors, The Byrds, Mothers of Invention, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc, etc. I became a rabid Deadhead, marveling at a rock band improvising like a jazz band. In ’72 or so I bought my first LP that featured a steel guitar: Comander Cody &/t Lost Planet Airmen’s “Lost in the Ozone” and then just a year later Willie Nelson brought the hippies and the rednecks together down in Austin and started the Cosmic Cowboy movement (Willie, Waylon, Rusty Wier, Steve Fromholtz, Guy Clark, Willis Allen Ramsey, etc) and I knew I’d found a real home. The Cosmic Cowboy thing fell apart after a few years and what was left in rock seemed like it was only Springsteen, The Eagles and bunch of clueless Eagle impersonators all fronted by guys trying to sing really high so they sounded like women. Ick. I was so desperate that I started listening to Jazz. Then in ’85 I found KNON playing country-rock, featuring guys who sang like men, and I was back on board. The rebirth of the ol Cosmic Cowboy scene became “Texas Music” with regional artists dominating a new movement epicentered in Austin again, and really started taking off. It’s gone through many labels but today it’s called “Americanna”, and features artists from all over the country. In ’05, much to my amazement, I was offered the chance to DJ at KNON-FM, and I began the “Texas Cooking” show, named for a song by Guy Clark….

A quick explanation here: KNON is one of the rarest creatures in this country—a true INDEPENDENT radio station. We have no paid DJ’s…everybody that does a show is a volunteer–someone who loves the music so much that we’ll do our show for free. We’re formatted kinda like a college station with many different shows each showcasing a different type of music, including blues, gospel, hip-hop (or whatever), head-banger heavy metal, Cajun, rockabilly, American Indian, the longest running Grateful Dead show in the US, reggae, jazz, etc, etc. No commercials, we’re a non-profit, community-supported station, and raise a good bit of our funding through pledge drives 4 times a year.
Most importantly, we have no programming directors, which means all the DJ’s are real DJ’s, we get to choose our own music. I don’t require approval from some idiot bean-counter in a suit, if I like it and it fits, I can play it on my show—and that goes for all the shows. What a concept! We play music based on merit, not money or promotional machinery. Nice. KNON streams at www.knon.org.

I am the Tuesday Renegade Radio DJ, and am on 4-6 PM CST, and define my show as “Country-rockin’ honky-tonk stomp, & roadhouse with a twang”. I average 30 songs in two hours, with emphasis on what’s new in the genre. I highly recommend tuning in between 4 and 6 Mon-Fri—all the shows are first-rate, and all the dj’s are amatures. Listening to us screw-up on air (we all do) is just a little comic relief. You will catch the best music around on KNON–period. Oh, and FYI, Don O who does the Texas BBQ Blog is a Blues DJ at KNON–every Fri 6-8 PM CST. Small world.

I want to thank Obie again, for taking me under his wing. He’s been an awesome souce of info, fun to talk to, and the products he sent me to try are top notch. You’ll see lots of references to his products throughout my posts. Please visit his site www.obiecue.com and please have a listen to his radio station as well! ~Dry Rubbed Rat

I want to thank Obie from Obie-Cue. I need to thank him for a number of things. When I first started this blog, Obie was one of the first people to respond to me. In my e-mails with him, he was funny, engaging, and obviously knew a LOT about smoking, and a lot about Q’ing. It became apparent that he loves to pass this knowledge on to all who may seek it. He also sent me some of his fantastic rubs to try, and they have already been mentioned in several posts. His products are superb. Finally, Obie has been patient in answering my interview questions, and very engaging. I hope you will visit his site, and maybe try some of his products. You won’t be disappointed. I’m splitting the interview into two parts, as I asked Obie a bunch of questions. Please enjoy, and pay Obie a visit. ~The Dry Rubbed Rat

1. How did you get started in barbecue? How long have you been at it? I’ve had meat seasonings in my line since day one, but I had no background in BBQ, as I’d been a veggie. When I heard that Trader’s Village was hosting a BBQ cook off I entered in 1986, hoping to promote my seasonings. I sucked – bad. Happily I was better at making new friends than cooking BBQ so I started going to the meetings of the NORTH TEXAS BBQ COOKERS ASSOCIATION. NTBCA was the first BBQ Cookers association in the country, pre-dating KCBS. Bob (2X4) Herring was one of the top cookers, a truly unique individual (don’t get me started on 2X4 stories), and Bob took me under his wing and taught me the basics of his method. So in a sense I actually started my BBQ career in 86, but truly I didn’t really enter a cook off until 87 and I hit 10Th brisket. I was ruined. I got serious about competing and took my first National Title in 1990 (1st Chicken, Meridian TX Invitational) and won chicken at the Jack Daniels in 91. I’m proudest of being a Founding Father and past Pres of the IBCA, (International BBQ Cookers Association) the preeminent BBQ sanctioning body in Texas. We changed the face of cook offs in Texas by promoting a standardized judging format so you’re always assured of clean judging at an IBCA sanctioned cook off. That didn’t exist in Texas before us.

2. What made you decide to start selling your products? It’s a long involved story of how I got in the spice biz, but the short version is I got into the spice biz ’cause a friend and co-worker wanted to move to Austin back when there were NO employment opportunities down there. So, he looked to buy a small biz and thus create his job, but didn’t have the bucks to do it alone. He found a guy with a spice biz & a restaurant route with a little flea market operation where he sold bulk spices, cheap. There wasn’t anyplace to buy bulk or buy cheap in Austin back then, so he did pretty well. So in 1985 I went in with my bud, bought out the guy and took half the inventory to Dallas and I was in the spice biz!! Opened up a little spice shop in the biggest flea market in the central US, a place called Trader’s Village. Soon I found that there were a LOT of places to buy bulk spices in Dallas, and no matter how much cheaper and fresher my stock was, when mama ran out of nutmeg, like she did every 6 years, she’d just hammer down to whatever store was closest, even if it meant paying an extra buck to get crap from Kroger, instead of waiting until she got back my way again. I was working two jobs, putting in 70+ hours a week and not making squat on the spice business. Then I figured it out; that if I sold a blend, a unique product that you couldn’t get anywhere else, then people would come back to ME. Ah-Ha! I dumped a bunch of stuff that didn’t move and started developing my unique blends. Happily, I was perfectly suited to do that. I’d just spent years working in laboratories–I have a BS in Biology, minored in Chem–and knew how to combine scientific methodology with a long background of intuitive, experimental cooking. So to answer your question, I was already in the biz when I started selling my seasonings.

3. What is your best-selling product? What is your favorite product? Ah an easy one. Overall, Sweet Rub is my best seller with Steakmaker a very close second. Fact: People may brag about their ribs or brisket, but they eat a helluva lot more chicken, steak and burgers. Personal Fave? Depends on what I’m cooking and my mood. I use half a dozen different things on chicken, depending on what goes best with the side dishes, Variety–always lookin’ for more variety so dinner doesn’t get boring. Fave Brisket BigBull’s, Fave rib SweetNHeat, Chicken- Sweet Rub; grilled pork chop Celerbration or Beaumont. Grilled fish – Sunshine. You can get all my recommendations on my website www.obiecue.com. Click on the very top button labeled “Whatcha Cookin?” and get all our preferences. Of course while you’re there, you should read the recipes and and smoker recommendations

4. Besides smoking and grilling, do you enjoy other cooking methods? Got started frying and stir-frying, gradually improving and learning spices–but never following recipes–always just winging it. Back when I was a big football fan (Go Cowboys!) and dedicated couch potato, every Sunday I discovered I could bake a big batch of bread and only miss a few minutes of game time, so I wasn’t being a useless beer-sotted slob every Sunday, I was a beer-sotted BAKER–much better. So cooking in general came first. BBQ came much later because when I started cooking I was a vegetarian. I’m a better BBQer these days ’cause I was a veggie-biter back then, because without the big broad flavors of meat to hide your screw-ups you have to be very precise with your seasonings. You’re also very motivated to season so you can make all that hay taste like food.

5. In our e-mails, your passion to teach was apparent. Tell my readers about your mission to teach BBQ, and some of the ways you accomplish that. Teaching is sharing information, and all the best things in life, love, friendship, music, great meals, etc. are best when they’re shared. Besides, a lot of what I know was handed down to me, so I pass it on. Plus, it’s a kick when you see that light turn on in somebody’s eyes, when all of a sudden they get it-boom!-suddenly it all makes sense!. From a commercial standpoint, my core business is helping other people cook better–that’s the whole point of selling rubs and seasonings–so if I can provide the whole package–the product AND the technique–and you suddenly start cooking a whole LOT better…you’ll prob’ly think I’m smarter than I am and I’ll get a life-long customer. It’s a classic win-win.

Where and how do I teach? I teach all day every day in my retail store, and been doing that for 25 years. We actually keep a continuous cooking demo going at all times. Plus, EVERYTHING that 2X4 taught me, (I was mentored by Bob (2X4) Herring, who was one of the top competitive cooks in North Texas at the time.).and a bunch of nifty tricks that I figured out on my own (I was a damn good cook already when I started BBQ’n.) is in the “RECIPES” section on my website at www.obiecue.com. If you want to cook like a champion, bring it on! The info is all there, and it ain’t rocket science. It’s really pretty easy. The rest is up to you, reader. Get off your dead duff and build a fire!

6. What is the most common mistake that new folks make? The same mistake that a lot of cooks in general make…Not knowing if it’s done. It’s either undercooked or overdone and never consistent. There’s just too damn many factors to consider–the weather, the exact temp of that fire as opposed to last week’s fire…the thickness and temperature of the meat…yada yada Too much mental strain. Stick a damn thermometer in it. Read the numbers. Relax. That’s the reason that rule #1 on my Tips page is get a meat thermometer!!

Thanks again to Obie – look for Part II next week!