We'd like to thanks the wonderful folks at CNN for including us in their feature story on competition barbecue.  It's always a pleasure to share our thoughts, recipes and tips!  Here's a quick excerpt from the story, as well as 10 tips for taking your July 4th barbecue or grill out over the top. 

And for those visiting our site for the very first time, be sure to spend some time digging around a bit.  We've got a host of recipes, something we call TGI Frydays (where we deep fry everything from Cadbury creme eggs to a Bacon Explosion), interviews with notable barbecue personalities and whatever else we decide to cover while in between contests.


Grill, baby, grill: BBQ competitions are hot
By A. Pawlowski

(CNN) -- Of all the great sports of summer, only one leavescompetitors covered with sauce, smelling like smoke and clutchingtrophies with charcoal under their fingernails.

Barbecue -- the staple of gatherings with friends and family onhot, lazy days -- has become serious business for amateur cooks whowant to prove nobody does it better.

Not content to keep theirskills confined to backyards, these competitive foodies hit the roadloaded up with meat, equipment and secret recipes to challengelike-minded aficionados in hundreds of barbecue competitions each year.

"I don't play golf, I don't really have any other hobbies, so I own alot of grills and smokers, and this is my fun," said iReporter ClintCantwell of Garden City, New York.

Cantwell, 39, is the founder of the Smoke In Da Eye team and winner of last year's New York State BBQ Championship.

Born in Texas and married to a woman from Memphis, Tennessee -- tworegions famous for their barbecue --Cantwell said the fare has alwaysbeen part of his family life. He began entering contests in 2006 andnow competes in about six a year, enough to fill a trophy room on thethird floor of his house with awards and medals. iReport.com: Watch Cantwell prepare a grilled stuffed meatloaf.

(click here to continue reading)

Smoke In Da Eye's 10 Tips to Making Your Outdoor Cook Sizzle

Light my fire. While countless individuals willfire up their charcoal grills this holiday weekend with a heavy dose oflighter fluid, an inexpensive charcoal chimney and a crumpled sheet ofnewspaper provides a much more effective starter and your food won’tsmell like a burning car engine.

Tool time.One of the most effective and multipurpose tools one can have whengrilling is a set of long handled tongs. In addition to allowing you toflip those steaks and burgers while remaining safely away from theflames, they’re also useful as a grate cleaner (grasp a ball of tinfoilin the tongs and scrub the grates clean) or to oil the grill (grasp aball of paper towels dipped in vegetable oil and wipe away).

Be one with the grill.The more you use it, the more comfortable you’ll be trying items otherthan hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. By knowing its hot spots,how temperatures react when you open and close the lid, and othernuances, you’ll be cooking up grilled pizzas and rack of lamb in notime.

It’s the bomb. When cooking on a gasgrill, bring depth of flavor by wrapping a handful of wood chips(available at most hardware stores and major grocery chains) in adouble layer of foil, poking a few holes in the foil, and placing thepacket under the grates. The chips will slowly smolder, releasingflavorful smoke from this inexpensive “smoke bomb” while ensuring aquick cleanup.

Flipping out.While most people insist on poking, twisting and flipping grilled itemsevery 15 seconds, resist the urge and limit turns to no more than twoper side. Meat, fish or poultry that normally stick to the grates willrelease naturally, while the food will be able to absorb all the greatcolor and flavor the grill has to offer.

On the rise.Just because your beautiful steak or pork chops is done grillingdoesn’t mean it’s finished cooking. Due to carryover heat, internaltemperatures will increase roughly 10 more degrees after being removedfrom the heat, meaning a medium-rare steak should be pulled at 125-130degrees rather than the desired 135-140 degrees.

Going against the grain.Finding ways to take tougher cuts of meat over the top is central tothe art of grilling and barbecue. But despite having the perfect recipeand the perfect execution, your brisket, flank steak or flat iron steakis still going to taste like a dry, chewy shoe if you don’t slice itacross the fibrous grains that run through the meat.

The juice is loose.The cooking is complete and now it’s time to eat. Or is it? By lettingthe meat rest 10 minutes, the internal juices have time to reabsorbrather then flow all over your cutting board. The result will be a moretender and juicy meal.

The doctor is in. Createyour own “signature” barbecue sauce by adding layers of sweet (fruitjuice, fruit preserves, honey, and/or molasses), heat (ground pepperssuch as chipotle or ancho), and tartness (apple cider vinegar) to yourfavorite store bought brand.

Make PETA proud.Grilling doesn’t have to be an all protein affair. Impress your friendsand family by poking several holes into a disposable aluminum pan andthrowing in cauliflower florets, sweet potato slices, halved figs orcountless other fruits and vegetables along with some olive oil andseasoning. Heat the pan over medium-high heat, tossing the contentsperiodically until carmelized and tender.

- SmokeInDaEye.com, Home of Bigger, Badder, Bolder BBQ