Famous Dave's Advice on Box Prep for Barbeque Competitions

The barbeque season is starting to fire up and that means lots of rib fests and competitions! Box prep, for the novices, is the look and placement of the ribs, barbeque sauce, and garnishes in the box you present to the judges. In some barbeque contests box presentation can be very important...it is the FIRST IMPRESSION on the judges. My advice for improving your box prep skills is...look up KCBS and find out when they are having judge certification classes. Take the judging class and then offer up your services at any BBQ contest you can get into as a judge. I have been a celebrity BBQ judge at many of these rib fests and barbeque contests and have picked up great ideas on how people box up their handiwork. I have seen some interesting artistic creations with the use of curly leaf lettuce, kale or parsley...remember to check the contest rules first some require that your barbeque speak for itself!

Developing Famous Dave's Barbeque Sauces

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Originally uploaded by DavidWAnderson

I spent 25 years perfecting my award winning Famous Dave's barbecue sauces. Each sauce was really difficult to develop in its own way because they can be spicy hot, sweet, zesty, vinegary, and fruity all at the same time. Each barbecue sauce has flavor nusances enhanced by fresh grinding the seasonings the day we make the sauce ( you can learn more about this on my DVD www.BBQPitmasterSecrets.com ). To make great barbecue sauces we use fresh fruit juices and my special tomato sauce that comes from California and is processed and packed within 6 hours of being picked. Our dry seasonings are hand picked and mixed in one state and all the wet ingredients are mixed in another state and then combined at another location so that no one vendor knows what is in our barbeque sauces. I have the highest standards for my premium ingredients, in fact seasoning purveyors claim it is a badge of honor just to be able to say they supply Famous Dave's barbecue sauce.

My Barbeque Influences

Real authentic barbeque is found in the little storefront barbeque joints on the Westside of Chicago; the country roadside smokehouses found in the Carolinas, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee; and the huge mesquite pits found in Texas. I have been in over 3,000 barbeque joints in the last 35 years, and have tasted the good, the bad, and the mouthwatering! But my first love was Eddie's Ribs next to the "L" train stop in Logan Square, Chicago. As young as 8 years old, I can remember the huge glassed in wood smoker in the front window where a black gentleman pitmaster would turn the ribs that were smoldering over hickory with a huge fork before slathering a homemade sauce over these tender smoky fall off the bone ribs. The first time I tasted these tasty morsels of mouthwatering smoky ribs charred over the glowing coals of a lively hickory fire and then slathered with a brown sugar, molasses, and apple cider barbeque sauce...I knew from that instant I was going to own my own barbeque restaurant one day and I would have the best barbeque in the world!

My Favorite Famous Dave's Barbeque Sauce...

I get asked this question all the time! I think it's an absurd question...it's almost like asking a father which is his favorite child! They are all my favorites and like a father, I love each one of just the same even though they are all different in their own way. My Rich & Sassy sauce reminds me of Chicago storefront barbeque joints and is great caramelized over a big slab of hickory smoked spare ribs. The Georgia Mustard sauce reminds me of the roadside smokehouses and it is "to-die-for" over charred juicy chicken. The Texas Pit sauce reminds me of the huge stockyard mesquite pits and is delicious over 24-hour slo-smoked beef brisket. And my Sweet & Zesty reminds me of the Missouri smokehouses found in the black hill country and you'll be in hog heaven when you slather it over a smoky pulled pork sandwich topped with a dollop of zesty coleslaw! While these are my old standby sauces, I'm always experimenting and creating new sauces! This past Summer I produced a DVD, BBQ Pitmaster Secrets, on How to Make the Best Backyard Barbecue Ribs and Barbecue Sauce...I was like a kid in a candy shop creating new sauces with every day of filming...who knows what's next!

My Passion for Barbeque

To say I'm passionate about barbeque would be a complete understatement! If I am traveling down a country road and anywhere near a BBQ Joint or Smokehouse, I can feel it in my bones. It's almost as bad as a hard-core alcoholic trying to pass by a local watering hole! I love barbeque of all kinds. Just watching smoke ooze out of a black box causes me to break into a nervous sweat. I often joke… if I were to get cut… barbeque sauce would come pouring out. I am so addicted to great tasting barbeque, all you have to do is mention the name of any well-known barbeque joint in America and my taste buds will recreate the taste in my mouth.

And now my barbeque passion is spilling into the world of blogging! I created this blog to share my love for barbeque with everyone. I plan to "spill the beans" on some of my best smoking and barbeque tips & techniques as well as share what I've learned about barbeque, so grab a rack of ribs an hunker down because I've been searching for the best of the best in barbeque for over 35 years and there's a lot to tell!