Memorial Day Cook-Off…Put On Your Big Boy Pants!

[Panhead John]

Hot off the heels of Steve B ‘s highly successful Mr. Bones Memorial Cook, I was wondering what we can do for Memorial Day weekend in 2 months. One thing we haven’t done together yet is….brisket! I was thinking that with a full 2 months notice, this would give everyone time to procure products and plan for something like this. A group Cook Off with brisket to start the official summer BBQ season would be great! Or would it? I know most of the folks here are introverted and hate giving their opinions, but I’d really like to hear your thoughts on this. I’ve got a Prime Snake River Farms brisket in the freezer just waiting to hit the Bronco….courtesy of my Secret Santa buddy ecowper

I have no doubt that most of the folks here can handle the cook part, but there might be other factors which could be a deterrent for participating, such as cost or whatever. One small drawback for me and maybe a few others could be just the fact it’s too much meat for one/two people. But….I’ve decided I’m either gonna cook just the point and do something with the flat later….or I’ll cook the whole thing and give some away to neighbors.

Not to get too far ahead, but another cook we can do….for July 4th is hamburgers and hot dogs. I’ve seen some very creative and beautiful burger and dogs pics from you guys! This would be fun to see what everyone does, creatively speaking. The 4th falls on a Tuesday this year, so doing a brisket cook then might not work for a lot of folks. But anyway, July 4th burgers and dogs go together like peanut butter and jelly…

If we’re ever gonna do a brisket group cook, Memorial Day Weekend would be a good choice IMO, everyone has 4 days, Fri thru Mon. What say y’all?

[mrteddyprincess]

Memorial Day around here involves the Indy 500 on the Sunday of that weekend. I could do a brisket cook on Monday or send you a pic of a Hoosier Pork Tenderloin sandwich from the track on race day...Either way, count me in! Brian

(Or another thought. I could go to the race and hold up a sign that says, "Panhead John wants to see your BRISKETS" and then I could send you pics of what that might evoke...)

[Steve R.]

Change that sign to BUTTS and see what kind of responses you get. Or don't. 😉

[xaugievike]

go to the Coke Lot the night before the race and hold that sign up. Please take pictures or nobody will believe your stories.

[Alan Brice]

I think I'll go for "lemme see yer briskies!" ;-)) (sorry I got carried away.)

[tstalafuse]

Panhead John I am doing a fund raising KCBS comp cook for the VFW that weekend in Castle Rock, CO. raising funds for military service dogs, so you know everyone will get my best. A full on Brisket, Pork Butt, Spare Ribs, and Chicken show.. I double dog dare everyone to give you best in all categories! That is right, a Double Dog Dare to anyone coming for this comp..

[Sweaty Paul]

Double Dog Dare...things just got real!

[Clawbear57]

Do I hear a Triple Dog Dare?

[Panhead John]

We’ll be expecting pics for sure!

[jfmorris]

Sounds fun. But most of my summer holiday weekend cooks will be pool parties, and involve burgers, dogs and maybe brats or chicken, by the pool. I'll have to get a vote from the family if they prefer brisket before I commit sacrilege of not having standard cookout fare on one of our 3 big pool days (Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day).

[Panhead John]

mrteddyprincess I like the way you think! jfmorris This would also be a good time to fire up the ol’ Stickburner?

[jfmorris]

Panhead John Hmmm. Not sure where you are going with this... Fire the stick burner to cook the burgers I make from ground brisket? I think mrteddyprincess gave me a way to participate in a brisket cook by making burgers out of it, which means smash burgers on the flat top!

[Panhead John]

Oh, Ok….I was thinking you were gonna do half a brisket on the stick burner and the other 1/2 ground for the burgers….never mind. 😂

[RiverJeff]

Sounds like a lot of fun I have cooked only 2 briskets in my life both the dog wouldn't eat them! I think 1 more and it would my third, third time is to be a charm! Count me IN!

[RiverJeff]

Starting to feel all alone with ya John guess we need to get a life or someone else in ours..

[Mosca]

Once it clicks, it clicks. I’ve eaten a few mistakes, too. I’ve found that the more I relax and think, “It’s just a big hunk of meat. Cook it,” the better the brisket is.

[Panhead John]

Hey Jeff, we’re doin just fine I think, long way to go on opinions.

[efincoop]

I love the idea John, but.... the trouble with holiday weekends is, well, they are holiday weekends. People may be traveling or away from their cookers back home. Memorial day for us typically involves a family get together up at our family camp. I can cook up there, but I'm way more limited based on the grill I have available. Don't get me wrong, the wheels are already turning as to how I can pull this off, but I wanted to offer up the idea of possible picking a non-holiday weekend, like the weekend following memorial day, or any other weekend that sounds good.

Just my 2 cents

Coop

[Panhead John]

You mean……some people have a life? 😂 Thanks Coop, appreciate that, duly noted!

[Mosca]

That’s actually already in the plans.

SRF Gold, 17.6lbs.

[Jim White]

Hmmmmm.

If, and that's a big if, my dream outdoor kitchen is finished in time, we are likely to host a big event (the end of season get-together for the supper club which normally meets in smaller groups) for the church that weekend. I've done butts for this group several times and pork loin once, but never brisket. I'm guessing the LSG Adjustable could handle enough brisket for the group this would draw (normally 30-40ish, but lots of folks know about the new build so that may bring more, but some may be travelling for the holiday, so no idea, but maybe up to 50 folks?). I'll need to look at the math for amount of meat and see how the building schedule goes.

When given candidate dates for the event last night when I was chatting with one of the organizers, she offered May 6 or May 27. I told her the 6th was out since I would be "out of town".

So I can't say yes or no at this time. Put me down as a waffle.

[Jim White]

CaptainMike My best bet right now is that it could be done before I head to North Carolina. Electricians finished up today and plumber is due Wednesday (contractor is mad he can't get him for tomorrow, but one between subs isn't bad).

[Jim White]

Well, then. It turns out the church event is May 20, not Memorial Day weekend, so I get to put the cooker to work two weekends in a row whether the kitchen is finished or not.

[Panhead John]

Alright Jimbo! I’ll remove you from the waffle list and put you on the confirmed list. 🥸

[CaptainMike]

I'll see what I can do. Collette is doing a big 3-day craft fair that weekend and I'm her roadie. It's held in the next town over so I might be able to pull it off using the pellet pooper.

[Panhead John]

Ok Captain, but just be advised that you’re on the “waffle” list until we hear otherwise. 🤓

[CaptainMike]

Nobody puts baby in the corner!

[DavidNorcross]

I am in and looking forward to it!

[DavidNorcross]

I am thinking of speedo’s Panhead John .

[Panhead John]

You too?

[DesertRaider]

If Panhead John and DavidNorcross follow through on their threat, er, promise of wearing speedos, I'm going to ask this one be a "no photo" event. For the sake of the children!

[smokin fool]

No problemo here, will do my best....
....price a brisket up here may have to sell the house....
but its worth it.

[Alan Brice]

I could be mistaken, don't they run Indy 500 & Charlotte 600 that weekend ? On the same day?!? BACK2BACK.

[smokin fool]

Affirmative on that, not sure of the exact start times but Indy is 11ish local time and the 600 is 7ish local time.
I dunno I just can't get into Indycar racing anymore since the amalgamation and format change years ago. Nascar I'm barely hanging in here, this car of tomorrow or whatever its called does exactly nothing for me.

[Panhead John]

Don’t know Alan….🧐

[Smoke n Beers]

I love the idea! As stated by @efincoop, the only issue I see is that this is a holiday weekend and many people have annual rituals, celebrations & traditions. Jan (my wife) & I currently have no plans (subject to change...at any time). However, I think there may be a better response if we did a pre or post Memorial Day date? Just a thought.

[Rob whatever]

I’m in. If Smoking Fool can do it on a non-Canadian holiday, I can make it happen as well.

Great idea, John. Thanks.

rob

[smokin fool]

Pretty sure your Memorial Day and our Victoria Day, aka the May 2 4 long weekend, share the same weekend, at any rate we'll make it work.

[Alan Brice]

Last monday in May, the 29th

[smokin fool]

Just checked our Victoria Day is May 22nd so a week apart, at any rate will make it work.

[Panhead John]

Good deal, thanks everyone and keep the comments coming! It seems like everyone is fine with doing a brisket but we have a few concerns with it being a holiday weekend and some folks might be out of town or busy with other plans. We always want to do something like this that can involve the most people of course. We don’t want anyone to feel left out. My first thoughts are this….let’s start our cook the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, when most people can do theirs, but keep it going to include the next weekend too! If you can’t do it Memorial Day weekend, we’ll include all the next week and wrap it up the next Sunday. More time = more fun! ….…

Sound like a plan?

[Alan Brice]

Sounds like a plan!