TIPPYQ

Here are a few pictures of TIPPYQ, our new cooking trailer. We do a lot of camping as a family and had a nice travel trailer. It took two comps of loading the smokers and gear in and out of the pickup and camper last fall to realize I didn't want to do that 10 times a year. So the search began for a toy hauler that would fit the family for camping and would accomodate my BBQ stuff...I found this a couple of hours away at a dealer in Wisconsin. Its a monster @ 37' long, but its got everything we need (I think I can get into most comps in this area with it, just gonna cost a bit more).

The garage area is a 10' long.We've got a lot of work to do to get her ready to head to Jefferson City Mo in April. I have a small Fridge and a row of cabinets ready for the right side and a stainless table for the left. I'm still looking for a 60" or smaller 3 bay sink to go in front of the stainless table. There are no outlets in the garage so I plan to run conduit for outlets and additional lights. I am also planning to convert the fuel station that is mounted in the frame under where the sink will go to a grey water tank for the sink drain.

I will post a couple more pics when we get it done!

2008 Recap

Following our success in Carpenter we decided to try our hand at the real deal. We began looking for a KCBS sanctioned competition in the area. After comparing schedules we decided to enter the Ben Biken BBQ Bash in Sparta Wisconsin. We had a great time in Sparta and were amazed at our finish...out of 25 teams we placed:

16th in Chicken with a 148.57
5th in Ribs with a 158.85
2nd in Pork with a 164.57
2nd in Brisket with a 163.57
2nd place overall with a 635.43

Needless to say we were very pleased(with the exception of the dried-out chicken)!

With winter fast approaching I decided to try to get one more competition in before the snow flew. This time I would take my family to the Barn Burner BBQ in Libertyville Illinios. Before heading to Libertyville I decided that I "needed" another smoker! So a couple of weeks before the trip I purchased a Backwoods Fatboy to go along with my Party. The Fatboy is very similar to the Party, its slighty bigger, better insulated, holds more coal, and more meat. The weather was a bit cold overnight and it was a long trip but we still managed to have a great time. We came back down to earth a bit results wise...out of 32 teams:

11th in Chicken with a 155.42
21st in Ribs with a 144
9th in Pork with a 153.71
3rd in Brisket with a 157.14
11th overall with a 610.28

I was happy with the results, I thought the scores were about right with the exception of the ribs. They were by far the best ribs I have ever made, but thats the way it goes I guess!

The Begining

Before 2009 starts I thought I would get you up to speed on how I got to this point! In 2007 I bought a cheap offset Chargriller smoker and started experimenting. We do a lot a camping and the smoker started making trips with us to the campground. I started reading about BBQ on the Internet (my wife would say at a disturbing rate) and I was hooked.

I bought a Backwoods Party Smoker in the early spring of 2008, if I was going to compete I had to have a real smoker :). I practiced all summer in preparation for a non-sanctioned event that was to be held in Carpenter Iowa in August. I recruited my brother-in-law Brian and my Cousin Jeff as the crew (they would like to be known as the All Natural Smokin' Crew, named for their favorite cheap swill, Natural Light). The plan going into Carpenter was that if we didn't embarrass ourselves we would hit a KCBS sanctioned competition in the fall. We ended up as Grand Champions and a monster was officially born....we were hooked.

Welcome to TippyCanoe BBQ

With the 2009 competition season quickly approaching I thought I would start this blog and use it as a way to track our results and share our experiences. We are planning to start the year off in Jefferson City Mo on April 17th. In the next couple of weeks I will post our 2009 schedule.