ABC’s Shark Tank was an amazing experience. The recent news that the Mark Burnett ABC reality show Shark Tank has been renewed for a 2nd season has the Internet buzzing. We’ve been getting questions from all across the nation asking what the Shark Tank Effect has been like for our small company. When Pork Barrel BBQ appeared we were only in a few stores – now we are in over 1,000 stores in 38 states, and our Pork Barrel BBQ Restaurant will be opening this November 2010. We can’t understate the impact the show and Barbara Corcoran investing in Pork Barrel BBQ had over the past year. If you haven’t watched the show, there is a panel of Sharks, made up of Barbara Corcoran, Kevin Harrington, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, and for Season 2 guest Jeff Foxworthy. Upstarts like Pork Barrel BBQ are given the opportunity to pitch their company to this collection of impressive business men and women. We had the honor of getting an investment from the Real Estate Mogul Barbara Corcoran, but not before she implied that Pork Barrel BBQ’s President Heath Hall looked like our pig logo – all on national television. Check out the video of our experience here:
We also had the opportunity for a follow-up that featured Pork Barrel BBQ getting into Costco and the ground-breaking of our Pork Barrel BBQ restaurant.
Here was the video that started it all, the Pork Barrel BBQ audition video:
Late in 2009, we traveled with the Sharks to ring the closing bell on NASDAQ. Pork Barrel BBQ Founder Heath Hall asks the Sharks if they wish they had joined Barbara Corcoran and invested in Pork Barrel BBQ – funny candid clips of Sharks Barbara Corcoran, Kevin Harrington, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, and Kevin O’Leary.
Pork Barrel BBQ on Good Morning America Jobs Club with Tory Johnson talking about their experience on the show and what it is like to work with someone as energetic as Barbara Corcoran.
To see more of our experience, visit our Facebook page with exclusive Behind the Scenes photos.
Smoke in Da Eye BBQ’s Clint Cantwell talks with Heath Hall about his championship BBQ team, and life as a BBQ and social media guru. Clint Cantwell does an amazing job on his Smoke in Da Eye Blog of capturing BBQ footage, creating BBQ recipes, and showing what it takes to be successful on the BBQ circuit. Be sure to follow Clint Cantwell’s blog and visit his Smoke in Da Eye website! HUGE thanks Clint Cantwell for taking the time to sit down with Pork Barrel BBQ!
Rod Gray of the Pellet Envy competition BBQ team won Grand Reserve Champion at the Michigan State BBQ Championships this past weekend in Brooklyn, MI. We had the distinct opportunity to cook with Rod Gray and his Pellet Envy team at the Michigan State BBQ Championships and had an amazing time. Rod Gray’s Pellet Envy Team was the 2009 KCBS Team of the Year, and he and his wife Sheri Gray are the most winning couple in BBQ history with Pellet Envy. Rod Gray is widely known in BBQ circles as the “Hardest Working Man in BBQ.” Rod Gray is in a select group of world champion BBQ’ers like Johnny Trigg from Smokin’ Triggers BBQ, Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke, and Pat Burke and Mike Mills of Apple City Barbecue. Rod cooks on a Geer pit (known as a Jambo Pit), his is one of the first pits made by famed smoker builder Jamie Geer (check him out at www.JamboPits.com). He is one of a rare breed of professional BBQ’ers who travel the country competing and helping to spread the word about barbecue. Here are some photos from the Michigan Championship:
All American Spice Rub Grilled Vegetable Ratatouille Recipe
2 zucchini squash, cut into quarters lengthwise
2 yellow squash, cut into quarters lengthwise
2 eggplants, cut into ½ inch think rounds
2 red onions, cut into ½ inch think rounds
4 bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange, & 1 green), stemmed, seeded and cut into quarters
2 pints Baby Bella mushrooms
1 pint cherry tomatoes , left whole
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons Pork Barrel BBQ’s All American Spice Rub
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Preheat your grill to a medium-high temperature. We prefer charcoal, but you can also use a gas grill for this vegetable ratatouille recipe.
Place all of your cut vegetables and the mushrooms and tomatoes in a large bowl and pour the ½ cup of olive oil over the vegetables (toss and coat thoroughly).
Season vegetables with Pork Barrel BBQ’s All American Spice Rub (toss and coat thoroughly) for this vegetable ratatouille recipe.
Place vegetables on the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes per side (tomatoes should be removed when you turn the vegetables over).
On a cutting board coarsely chop your vegetables and move them to a large serving bowl.
Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, oregano and basil to the grilled vegetables in the serving bowl and gently mix together. Serve at room temperature.
Huge storms hit Alexandria, Virginia and the Del Ray neighborhood last night, knocking out power, toppling trees and crushing several cars. I have lived in Del Ray Virginia for 7 years, and I’ve never seen the area so damaged. Mayor Bill Eulillestated that winds with gusts of 75 miles per hour struck the Del Ray and Old Town Alexandria area, causing more significant storm and weather damage that we received during Hurricane Isabelle and the massive snow storms from this winter. It was actually very somber driving around the Del Ray neighborhood, which boasts some great places like the Dairy Godmother, Evening Star, Cheestique, St. Elmos (and soon Pork Barrel BBQ’s first restaurant), and surveying the damage from the thunderstorms that made Alexandria the epicenter of its wrath. I took some photos and videos to show some of the storm damage, but they can’t capture how widespread it really is. SEND US YOUR PHOTOS TO porkbarrelbbq@gmail.com and we will add them to this post with photo credits.
BBQ Chicken Recipe:
Place the chicken on a cookie sheet and pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Rub 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil onto each chicken half covering the entire surface area of the meat. Rub 2 tablespoons of Pork Barrel BBQ All American Spice Rub onto each chicken half, covering the entire surface area of the meat. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is sitting get the charcoal grill ready. We recommend using 100% hardwood charcoal, in lump or briquette form, and we strongly encourage you to use a charcoal chimney to light the charcoal (stay away from lighter fluid if at all possible). The charcoal is ready to use when it has burned to a white ash. Place the coals on one side of the grill leaving an area of the grill open to cook the chicken over indirect heat with no coals underneath the meat.
After getting the coals arranged place the lid on the grill and let the grill reach a temperature of 325 degrees. Once the grill has reached 325 degrees you are ready to place the chicken in the grill. This is also the time you will want to add the hickory and oak chunks onto the coals.
Keep an eye on the grill and make sure it maintains a temperature around 325 degrees. If you like your chicken with a littlePork Barrel BBQ Sauce, coat the chicken with Pork Barrel BBQ Original or Sweet Sauce with about 3 minutes remaining, and flip once to ensure barbeque sauce coats both sides. When the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees (this will occur about 45 minutes to an hour into the cooking process) remove the chicken from the grill and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Serve with Pork Barrel BBQ Original and Sweet BBQ Sauce on the side.
Love Char-Broil BBQ grills? We had the great honor to meet Larry Gaian from TheBBQGrail.com to talk about his experience with the new Char-Broil INFRARED grill. This is another post in the series of our amazing experiences at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to visit TheBBQGrail.com we strongly encourage you to visit his blog if you are interested in topics like barbecue sauce, barbecue recipes and how to cook anything on a barbecue grill (especially a Char-Broil grill). Larry Gaian is a real BBQ genius and we were very excited to get the chance to meet Larry at the Memphis in May barbecue competition while he was with the Char-Broil BBQ grill team. Larry is creator of MOINK balls – what is a MOINK ball? Visit http://thebbqgrail.com/2010/07/19/2010-moink-ball-challenge/ to learn about them and the 2010 MOINK Ball Challenge! Be sure to check out this great video of Pork Barrel BBQ Heath Hall and The BBQ Grails Larry Gaian talking about the new Char-Broil grill.
Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce Tops Men’s Health Magazine Blog Bottled BBQ Favorites
Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 22, 2010
Men’s Health Magazine recently dubbed Pork Barrel BBQ the favorite among bottled barbecue sauces. Taste testers and sauce aficionados picked Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce over several other big name bbq brands currently available on supermarket shelves.
After sorting through a selection of bbq brands of best-selling sauces like Kraft’s Bullseye, Sweet Baby Rays, Annie’s Naturals Organic and Stone Levitation Ale BBQ, the sauce samplers at Men’s Health blog selected Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce as their number one go-to grilling favorite.
The judges were split over preferences for sweet and smoky BBQ, ending in a tie between Pork Barrel BBQ’s Original Sauce for its smoky and “aromatic flavor” and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s (http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/)Sensuous Slathering sweet sauce. Men’s Health Magazine Guy Gourmet blogger Paul Kita wrote about Pork Barrel BBQ Original Sauce – “If you like your sauce smoky, go with Pork Barrel … This is your go-to flovor sidekick for chicken off the grill.”
Pork Barrel BBQ is quickly becoming the preferred bbq sauce for the backyard bbq’er. Since the company started selling BBQ sauces in 2009, all types of bbq’ers – from serious smokers to casual grillers – have taken notice of the sensational sauces. Pork Barrel BBQ’s Original and Sweet sauces have taken home several top awards from the Kansas City Barbecue Society and Memphis in May competitions, including winning the “People’s Choice” award at the prestigious annual Safeway National BBQ Battle in Washington, D.C.
In less than one year since their appearance on the ABC and Mark Burnett reality show Shark Tank, the company has experienced huge growth, and their Pork Barrel BBQ Sauces and Spice Rub are now carried in 1,000 stores in 40 states. Preparations are underway for opening a restaurant in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia this fall.
People nationwide can try these award winning sauces for themselves by purchasing them at their local grocery stores such as Safeway, Whole Foods, Schnucks, Harris Teeter and Cost Plus World Market. To find stores near you that carry Pork Barrel BBQ products, visit the online store locator and interactive map at http://www.porkbarrelbbq.com/store-locations.
“We are honored to be voted a favorite bottled bbq sauce by Men’s Health Magazine blog taste testers,” said Brett Thompson, CEO and co-founder Pork Barrel BBQ. “Our Pork Barrel BBQ sauces are available at grocery stores nationwide, and we hope folks will continue to make our award winning sauces a part of their backyard BBQ’s with family and friends.”
For recipes and BBQ tips, visit www.porkbarrelbbq.com/recipe (http://www.porkbarrelbbq.com/recipe).
About Pork Barrel BBQ
Pork Barrel BBQ was founded in December 2008 during the peak of the economic crisis to prove that a company not owned or operated by the federal government could succeed, and that if you had a good idea, it was still possible to grab a piece of the American Dream. Pork Barrel BBQ founders, Heath Hall and Brett Thompson, ran the company out of the basement of their houses, selling their award winning BBQ one bottle at a time. In less than one year, their Pork Barrel BBQ Sauces and Spice Rub are now carried in over 1,000 stores in 40 states. Throughout their journey, they have stayed true to their mission – to unite the nation through the great tradition of BBQ, and bring bipartisan flavor to your next meal. The Pork Barrel BBQ Competition BBQ Team entered its first contest, The Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle, in June 2009, and walked away with two trophies – Second Place in the “Nations Best BBQ Sauce Contest” and Fourth Place for their pulled pork in the Memphis In May portion of the contest. Since then, the team has won multiple awards, including the “People’s Choice” award for best bbq sauce in 2010 and other notable Memphis and May and Kansas City Barbecue Society bbq competition accolades. For more information, visit www.PorkBarrelBBQ.com.
It’s been a busy summer for Heath Hall and Brett Thompson with Pork Barrel BBQ – but if you are worried that they are resting too much, don’t worry, just check Google Street View to confirm that Pork Barrel BBQ is always working selling BBQ. Here is a Google Street View shot of co-founder Heath Hall loading his car with Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce and Barbeque Rub – take note of the Google StreetView shot of the Pork Barrel BBQ logo. We thank Google for their promotion of Pork Barrel BBQ, and hope Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin place a large order of Pork Barrel BBQ soon.
Some say legends are born – that an opportunity in time presents itself and the stars align and transfer one from a position of commonality into a legend. As a kid I was sure my transformational moment would come in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, a three ball two strike count with my team down no less than three runs in the pivotal game seven of the most important World Series in the history of baseball. With one swift swing of the bat I’d go from a who is he to a legend – that’s how legends can be born.
Others say legends are made – that one can’t go unnoticed for too long if they keep repeating greatness. These are the folks who go about their business not seeking the recognition they deserve, no, they go about their business simply doing what they know how to do at the highest possible level it can be done. Sooner or later people start talking and the legend starts growing. These are legends built over time and many accolades, accolades that are not achieved by the alignment of stars, but through hard work, dedication and skill – that’s how legends can be made.
The word legend is often thrown around without much consideration – after all, if we were all legends none of us could actually be one. What cannot be argued is that barbecue has legends, both born and made. Pork Barrel BBQ was fortunate enough to cross paths with several of them at this years Memphis in May.
It was a hot Wednesday afternoon, as sticky as a good sweet BBQ sauce, as we pulled into our site and struggled to keep cool. At first glance, we failed to note just who our neighbor for the weekend was. At the time there was just too much going on and we were trying to track our rented picket fence down (how would we survive our first Memphis in May without a rented picket fence we were asking ourselves?). The fence finally came, the Weber Smokey Mountains were all set up and the heat of the day began to subside, finally giving us a chance at repose and the time to take note of our surroundings. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we had won the lottery, heck you might have thought we had already won Memphis in May – in many ways maybe we had.
Just inches from our three Weber Smokey Mountains stood the beautiful trailer of Tower Rock BBQ out of Murphysboro, IL. Yes, the Tower Rock BBQ lead by Pat Burke of Apple City Barbecue Fame where he won three World Championships at Memphis in May with his partner Mike Mills. Our first meeting came on Thursday morning and we knew from that moment on we were in for a special weekend.
Pat and his crew showered us rookie’s with their generous hospitality – not only can he cook a mean pork shoulder, he can cook one heck of a bacon and egg sandwich! It was a great honor for us to learn some of Pat’s tips and tricks – he is an encyclopedia of BBQ and truly a legend.
In one year of BBQ competitions Pat and his Apple City team won 14 of the 17 contests they entered – it is clear that his legendary status was made by repeating greatness. Pat was kind enough to take some time to talk BBQ with Pork Barrel BBQ - here is that interview.
Stay tuned for more of our Memphis in May Scrapbook and an interview with Pat’s Apple City teammate Mike Mills, another legend of BBQ.
