My Wife (Biggi), Myself & our good friend Valerie, went to the soft opening of Good Buddies BBQ, here in Lakeland, FL. Good Buddies Restaurant & BBQ cook team are owned and operated by Joel Vann. Joel has been in the BBQ business, and on the circuit for many years, and has been very successful on all levels.
Joel & Good Buddies took GC at the TampaSam's Club qualifier.
Joel, cooking with Jaret Hatcher for team Whiskey Bent BBQ, earning GC in Venice, FL 2011. The other guys in the photo are, "Unknown".
Joel’s new restaurant & bar named “Coconuts Live Entertainment”, which features Good Buddies BBQ, is located in the lobby of the Howard Johnson at the corner of I-4 and Hwy 98, in North Lakeland, FL.
This is a full staffed restaurant, which offers a full bar and live entertainment, which is sure to be a big draw with not only hotel guest, but with locals as well.
The BBQ pork sliders were terrific!!!
After cooking BBQ all day, I was happy to see a few no-BBQ items on the menu as well, I recommend the Blue Cheese Fries.
At first glance at the menu, there are many BBQ items available that Joel has perfected on the BBQ competition circuit.He even offers his competition style chicken thighs, I WILL be going back to try out that one!!!
Good Buddies’ offers a HUGE variety of beers, I did not get to sample any, due to the fact that it was my turn to be the designated driver for the evening. It has been a long time since I have seen such a list of beer choices, I was very impressed.
The other big highlight of the evening was the great entertainment. It is obvious that Joel is willing to help support local entertainers, and give them a venue where they can bring their talents to the public.
The entertainment for the evening featured, our good friend, and all around great guy, Dorsey Odell, putting out some great originals. Dorsey is truly an unique entertainer, and always a crowd favorite. Everyone had a great time while Dorsey was on stage, and he really knows how to interact with the audience, and keep them interested. I have seen Dorsey preform a few times out at competition sites, but this was my first organized concert, he is a true professional. I have viedos for Dorsey’s performance that I will be posting in a later blog.
Dorsey Odell, and his guitar, doing his thing on stage.
Other acts for the evening included a very funny Elvis impersonator, and local talents.
Please come out and visit Joel and his friendly staff today, I know that we will be going back!!!
This looks like a fun event, sanctioned by the Florida BBQ Association, all results are from the FBA’s web-site, Click here to learn more about the Florida BBQ Association.
Great trophies for each category, GC & RCG. i heard that the chicken trophy alone weighed approx. 150lbs.
Grand Champion: Wooley Bully BBQ Mafia
Congratulations to Wooley Bully BBQ Mafia and their GC, but they also earned a score of 200 points for their pork, and by FBA scoring that is a perfect score!!! Great job!!!
Reserve Grand Champion: Forrest’s Fine Foods
A BIG congratulations to Forrest for his RGC and his great scores, it was a close one!!!
Hello all Let’s Talk Hog!!! fans, We have a great interview lined up for you all today, C-Dub’s BBQ Rub & BBQ competition team. I have known Charles & Allegra Wilson, for just over a year. I have not had the pleasure of meeting them in person, yet, but I have enjoyed watching their BBQ adventures, and corresponding with them on-line. During my short time here in the grand world of BBQ, I have come across many great folks, and Charles & Allegra, are among the top of that list.
The C-Dubs team considers themselves as a “fun and quirky BBQ rub and seasoning company” and from what I know about them, that is a very accurate description. I have tried their rubs in the past, and I do plan on doing a review in an upcoming post, if you would like to try out their great rubs for yourself, please visit there web-site at www.cdubsrub.com
Please enjoy this interview with C-Dub’s BBQ, I did!!!
LTH: Who makes up the team C-Dub’s BBQ, and where are you located?
C-Dub’s: C-Dub’s is a family and veteran run business nestled in a state best known for its coffee, Washington. Founders Charles (C-Dub) and Allegra (Alli) Wilson come from 2 different planets but met in Seattle, Washington;
Charles being from North Carolina and Allegra from Vancouver, B.C. Canada,
they were always BBQing for friends and family with requests for the ribs, brisket, and baked beans.
LTH: Where did the name C-Dub’s BBQ come from?
C-Dub’s: Charles was called C-Dub while he was in the Army, C short for Charles, Dub short for W.
C-Dub's continues serving our country.
LTH: How did C-Dub’s get started?
C-Dub’s: (Alli provided our answer to this question) We started in such a crazy way, I still can’t believe where we are at today!I worked in HR/Payroll at Weyerhaeuser for 12 years, then got laid off, so I decided I would go back to school. I decided to go into Web Development, there I met a guy taking a Small Business Program that was geared towards Veterans. C-Dub is an Army Veteran, and we registered immediately! The funny thing is, I started doing it for my jewelry business! Then on a drive to class one day, we started talking about BBQing, and we said instead of my jewelry, let’s do our rub!
LTH: What helped you decide to go into the spice business?
C-Dub’s: It’s a long story, but whenever we went to parties, dinners, potlucks etc., people asked us to cook our ribs, brisket, pulled pork, baked beans etc. The one thing they all had in common was the spice mix we made. It was a quick start; we have only been in it 1.5 years so far. We knew someone who wanted to get a space at a local fair and we went in on it, and the rest is history. We literally bottled and labeled product the day the fair opened, and we got everything going in less than a week! It was a whirlwind! We did pretty well since no one had a clue to who we were. In two weeks we hot a really good customer base, and we have been building on it since.
Some of C-Dub's famous ribs!!! Nice!!!
Some great looking brisket from C-Dub's
LTH: What are some of your long term goals for C-Dub’s BBQ?
C-Dub’s: We would love to get our rubs into more retail locations as well as restaurants. We would like to work on expanding the line to include a Sugar Free Rub and maybe one other flavor.Right now we have 3 Rubs, C-Dub’s Regular Rub, our VooDoo Rub and our Hot Wang. We would also love to focus more on cooking, but not necessarily a restaurant. At this time, Charles doesn’t want to commit the hours to a restaurant. He still wants to be able to compete and do all of the fun activities we do,like cooking for our Adopt a Unit. We have some ideas of how we want to move forward, but are keeping them under lock and key for now.
I know one short term goal for C-Dub’s BBQ, and that is getting onto season 3 of Pitmasters, please take a look at their audition video, I enjoyed it!!!
LTH: What are some of C-Dub’s BBQ recent achievements?
C-Dub’s: As far as recent, we have not cooked recently and keep missing deadlines to submit our rubs for awards. I would say the most recent achievements have been the ability to give back. We have an Adopt a Unit at Joint Base Lewis and McChord and, we cooked for our Unit when they arrived back from Afghanistan and Iraq. It was a great day! They loved the food and Charles felt great being able to reconnect as an Army Vet.
C-Dubs team, proudly serving it up for our Troops!!
Last year was our first year on the BBQ Circuit, and our best achievements were at the Canadian National BBQ Championship in Whistler BC (Alli’s college day stomping grounds!!) We won 4 awards, and it was only our 5th BBQ competition. We won:
1st Place Ribs
5th Place Chicken
4th King of the grill and New Cook
Alli showing off some awards!!
LTH: How would you describe your spices?
C-Dub’s: Our spices are all natural and organic. We use premium spices and process micro batches to insure top quality. We do not use salt as filler, so you are getting nothing but quality spices. We pride ourselves in the quality of our product.
LTH: What’s with the “Get Naked’ I see on your banners, and products? Is there a story behind that?
Charles, showing it off!!!
C-Dubs: Why yes Doug, there is a story behind the “Get Naked!” lol Where Charles comes from, when you order BBQ you say you want it Naked….no sauce….we feel that if you have a good enough BBQ Rub you don’t need sauce—so…..Get Naked!!! Sometimes to use sauce it’s to cover up a mistake, but we know there are good sauces out there, so we don’t want to offend anyone…it’s just our preference. However, we have conformed for competitions, where we also make sauces for turn-ins. We have also had an overwhelming request to bottle our rib sauce, so who knows what the future brings!!!
LTH: I plan on doing a review of your products in an upcoming blog, but do you have any recommendations on how to use your rubs?
C-Dubs: We have had our products used in a wide range other than BBQ. We use our rubs on our competition meats as well as home cooking; we like it best on Ribs and Chicken. It’s great on baking and grilling meats as well. Both our Regular and VooDoo work great on Steaks, Tilapia, Roasted Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, add a little zest to Macaroni and Cheese, Soups and a great snack on Popcorn. The Hot Wang is a very hot blend that can be used, of course, on Wings, but also in any of the ways above, it just depends on you tolerance to heat. Alli uses it in Chicken Soup, when she feels sick, it helps to clear her up. It’s great to use in Spicy Asian type meals, users in Tennessee and Texas have been known to use Hot Wang on their steaks.
C-Dub's beauty, Da Mistress great looking pit!!!
LTH: Any special recipes to use with your rubs?
C-Dub’s: Hot Wings…it is so easy!!!
5lbs. of Chicken Wings
Marinate:
1 Can Coors Beer
1 tsp. Hot Wang
Marinate overnight, if possible.
Why Coors Beer you ask??? Someone left one behind at our house and we thought let’s use that to marinate instead of one of ours! lol……funny thing is we now specifically buy Coors to marinate our chicken. You can also use Italian dressing or white wine for a marinade.
Drain well after marinating and place wings in a large bowl with a good coating of the Hot Wang Rub. (Since Hot Wang is very spicy I would start with a small amount for your first time cooking and work up from there).
How you cook them is up to you, we have tried Grilling, Smoking and Baking. All turned out great! Just make sure you cook the chicken all the way through.
When we first came out with the Hot Wang we sent it to several people throughout Canada and the U.S. for testing. One of the packages made it to Big Wayner and he did his first blog on our Hot Wang. Visit Big Wayner’s blog here
C-Dub with Myron Mixon from Jack's Old South
C-Dub with Chad Ward of Whiskey Bent BBQ.
LTH: What has been one event or occurrence, since you have been involved with your company,that has stood out for you?
C-Dubs: I think being able to have our VooDoo Rub sponsor last year’s Smoke on the Water’s USA BBQ Championship in Vegas. We got to meet a lot of great people, and got our rub out to a larger market. Being from the NW, it is hard to break through to other areas where BBQ is huge.
Second we had a recent tragedy in the neighborhood where two little boys were murdered by their Father and their Mother was already “missing” . We were able to cook for the first responders who were on scene of such a horrible act of evil. Even though we cannot take the pain away from that day, we gave back the only way we knew how, which was BBQ.
LTH: Where are your products available for folks to buy them?
C-Dubs: They can pick up any of our products on our web-site, where we are running a special right now, a Combo Pack that includes all of our rubs in a 4oz. shaker size. We have it right now for $12, reg. $15. Please visit www.cdubsrub.com or get them on the Shop Now Tab on our C-Dubs Facebook page Click here for Facebook page
A HUGE thanks to Alli and C-Dub for a great interview, I really enjoyed working with them both here on Let’s Talk Hog. I hope we can work together one day on the competition scene. I know that C-Dubs BBQ will be competing in, THE AMC EXPERIENCE, the Academy of Country Music’s inaugural country lifestyle series of events, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 30 & 31, 2012 brought to you by Smoke on the Water Productions. This will be team C-Dubs BBQ first KCBS event, and I know they will be bringing their “A” game!!! If you find yourself in Vegas on these day’s, please stop in and see C-Dub and Alli, let them know Doug sent you!!!
Having been a BBQ judge for both the FBA & KCBS, I have tasted all types of BBQ sauce. I even make my own sauce for my team. Some folks consider certain categories in a BBQ competition to be more about the sauce, and less about the meat, well that is another topic to write about, later. One thing is for sure, you must find that balanced sauce, that will complement your product,but not over power it. I found that the sauce I was making for my team did just that, over took the flavor profile, and masked the meat, so I needed to find some sauce that would still allow our flavors to shine. Rooftop Barbeque Sauce has helped me find that balance. I started using Rooftop to cut with my sauce, but I have found that the Rooftop sauce, can stand on it’s own, and I mean it can stand on it’s own at a BBQ competition as well as at home.
First a little information about Rooftop Barbeque:
Many folks wonder where Rooftop Barbeque’s name came from? I took this straight from their web-site:
Rooftop Barbeque comes from the book of Acts, in chapter 10. Peter, the apostle, was sitting on a rooftop while people were cooking dinner below him. He fell asleep and saw a vision in his dreams with a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with all kinds of unclean animals.
And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
So now we can eat pork… mmmm, pork.
Rooftop Barbeque is also a competition BBQ Team, here are a few of their upcoming competitions:
Every competition team needs a competition level sauce, something the judges will like, something sweet, with some heat, and that is exactly what Rooftop Barbeque has come up with here.
I first spoke with Andy Allen, one of the Rooftop founders, on Facebook, Click here for Facebook page I found it interesting that a team has their sauce on the market, and many folks were buzzing about this great sauce coming out of California, so I decided to give it a try. Coming from California, I figured this sauce had to have a bunch of pineapples and mangoes in it, I mean, what do they know about BBQ in California??? Apparently they know a lot about BBQ in California!!! I liked this sauce from the first taste. I always start off with the naked taste, just straight sauce.
First I pored a small amount of sauce into a ramekin, to get the true color off the sauce:
Very nice deep crimson color, this will accent the color of any type of Barbequed meat nicely.
Then I try the run test, just to help see the consistency of the sauce:
I just turned the ramekin to 90* and some of the sauce pooled, but a good portion held, which is exactly what will happen when applied to your food. Your not looking for a sauce to be so thick, that your applying paste to your product, but at the same time you do not want all the sauce (flavor) to run off the meat, and season the bottom of your grill. I was very pleased with the consistency of this sauce.
As you can see from this photo, their is a lot of flavor going on here:
The the texture is smooth, some sauces have a gritty texture, Rooftop is not like that, the texture is appealing, and you do notice small pieces of onions in the sauce. There are not many onions, not anything that I would consider chunky, that would need straining. Just a few here and there when the sauce is tasted on it’s own, but unnoticeable when applied to your food.
Now for the big one, THE TASTE:
As I stated before, I think, for a competition style sauce, judges are looking for a sweet, with a little heat, style sauce, and Rooftop Barbeque Sauce is exactly that. This sauce will offer you a great amount of flavor for your product, without blowing your head off with just heat.I will give this sauce a 3 out of 5 on the heat scale, but I am not a heat eater, so yours could be lower. I will give this sauce a 5 out of 5 for taste. I really enjoy the deep rich flavors offered by this sauce, with just a hint of heat on the back-side of your tasting the sauce.
Andy told me that they developed Rooftop Barbeque Sauce, mainly for their ribs, but I can tell you, I have tested it on the four category meats, for FBA & KCBS, and this sauce does well on all four.
If your a pepper head, who really likes the heat, this may not be the sauce for you, but if your a BBQ fan, and like to taste the flavors of, not only the sauce you have applied, but also taste the meat, then you need to do yourself a favor, and get some Rooftop Barbeque Sauce today.
Please visit our friends at Rooftop Barbeque and pick up some sauce, and check out their other products available while your there.
Yea, I thought the same thing first time I heard of a WHITE BBQ SAUCE, what, are you kidding? I
thought, “this is something I will never try”, boy was I missing out.
White BBQ Sauce is really a specialty of the Northern Alabama region, it is very popular there, and
most folks love it on chicken. White BBQ sauce did not get much recognition in other areas till, Big
Bob Gibson popularized it with his award winning BBQ restaurant and competition team.
The first time I tried making this sauce, a couple of years ago, I was not sold. It was very harsh and
overpowering. I thought, after this attempt, that I was off the sauce for good, the White sauce that is. I
took a trip to Germany to change my mind. My Mother-in-Law Thelma, made a great meal, featuring a
spectacular Roast Beef, with a White Sauce, it was the highlight of the meal. I showed her my recipe
for my White BBQ Sauce, and she said, “hey that’s very close to my sauce.” Then I learned the
secret, you must let the sauce sit for at least 24 hours after making the sauce, it will “relax” a bit after
setting in the refrigerator.
I have been working on my sauce ever since, I don’t think my recipe was exactly the same as my
Mother-in-Law’s, but I think I have come up with one very close. I have tried this on Beef, Pork &
Chicken, and like it on all. I hope you will too.
¾ Cup Mayonnaise
¼ Cup Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Sugar
1/8 Cup Vinegar, I used Apple Cider Vinegar
½ tsp Bandiola Spice, Barbecue Rub
½ tsp Black Pepper
Whisk all ingredients in a bowl, and let rest at least 24 hours before serving.
It has been a long time since I have seen such a list of beer choices, I was very impressed.
