Operation BBQ Relief - What It Is Like To Be A Volunteer

In the past few weeks, "my back yard", the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding areas have been ravaged by wild fires.  My family's cabin on the Carolina side of the mountains was spared but up the street, the Wayah Bald fire tower built in the 1930's was burned.  On the Tennessee side, Gatlinburg was hit full force with the firestorm whipped into a rage with hurricane force winds.  Ultimately, 14 people have lost their lives and 2,400 homes and businesses were destroyed.

During times of distress like this, Fred Rogers, used to assure children...perhaps more so, adults...to look for the helpers.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to work side by side with those helpers as Operation BBQ Relief deployed at ground zero in Gatlinburg, Tennessee to feed the thousands of people who were forced from their homes and the brave first responders who were still battling the ongoing fires.  I looked into the eyes of children who had lost EVERYTHING except the clothes they had on. I saw the 1,000 yard stare on the faces of adults who were trying to figure out where to begin to start over. It was gut wrenching to witness.

But in the middle of the confusion, despair, and exhaustion that was around us, I could look to my immediate left or right and see those helpers.  Helpers from the local area handing a hot meal to soot covered fire fighters.  Helpers who drove overnight from Indiana because they saw a need. The helper who came to help because he wanted to do something meaningful for his 50th birthday. Helpers who left their families and businesses to come help strangers in need.  I saw the best of people in the worst of times.

I have talked about Operation BBQ Relief on many occasions, asking you to donate money or volunteer your time. I thought I would share what it is like to volunteer at an Operation BBQ Relief deployment, in hopes that you will SIGN UP NOW for possible future deployments or DONATE NOW.

No surprise, at first there is confusion.  We local BBQ teams were ready to roll on the first day, chomping at the bit to help, but it's not that simple.  It was an active disaster and you have to coordinate not only with everyone at OBR but also the local, state, and federal authorities. Paradise Que lead the charge for us local teams trying to assess what, where, who, and when was needed.  We just had to trust the OBR team - this isn't their first rodeo and they know what they are doing.  Out of initial chaos, you start to see the plan come together quickly. Be patient, young OBR jedi.

This was my first volunteer experience with Operation BBQ Relief.

We were set up at the main evacuation center at the Rocky Top Sports Complex.  This is the shelter for the people evacuated from Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and a center for the first responders.

Operation BBQ Relief partnered with The Zac Brown Band's Southern Ground for this relief event. They brought in this bad ass trailer which is a 53 foot long commercial kitchen complete with a walk in refrigerated unit and a huge covered dining area.

The Disaster Response Team of Operation BBQ Relief brought in two trailers of Old Hickory Pits - enough to crank out over 20,000 meals a day.  That's not a guess...they have done more than that in a given day many times.

Jason W of Backdraft Barbecue in Virginia loading on more food into one of the Old Hickory Pits.

Mick and Nick!  Mick Chessor (left) left his vineyards at Grinders Switch Winery halfway across the State to come cook for OBR. Nick, another great competition cook, came over from Mississppi.

The Operation BBQ Team knows numbers. They were constantly counting, tracking, and planning portions and meals.  Joey Rusek of Backdraft BBQ and Tommy Houston of Checkered Pig, both Virginia teams down to help out.

Alexis and I worked the service line.  On the first day, we were in the back of the house boxing up the hot meals and we had a pick up station out front.

We could crank out batches like this in just a few minutes. Sometimes we were stocking the front pick up area.  Other times, we were making an order to be delivered off site.  Things can go slow for a few minutes then suddenly they need an order of 100 meals to go.

The Zac Brown Band's Southern Ground Tailgate unit was phenomenal. The commercial kitchen was great and the service area out front gave first responders a place to sit, eat, and restore their energy. 

A group of massage therapists were on hand to give free massages to evacuees and first responders. I didn't get the name of the school/business doing this.  If anyone knows, please let me know so I can update this.

What impressed me was the sheer number of agencies responding to this event and not just the big cities. Del Rio is a small town out in Cocke County with a population of just over 2,000. 

Here are 21 different fire departments that happened to be in the parking lot on Friday when I had a few minutes on break.  This doesn't include Knoxville, Gatlinburg, the military, or the many police departments that also responded. This was a mass response and every community was pitching in, even small volunteer units like Sale Creek down near Chattanooga.

Not sure where this fire truck was from but it's obviously designed for fighting in remote locations.

My favorite logo of them all, this is from the Sevier County Wildland Task Force vehicle.

Thank you to all of the amazing people and organizations that donated supplies.  It was greatly appreciated by the evacuees, first responders, and volunteers.  

Every time groups came in from the field, we were ready to feed them.

I've never known much about the Zac Brown Band or their music, mainly because I'm old and not cool, but I can tell you that they are some great people!

With BBQ taking hours and hours to cook, the back of the house was always working on something. If we were serving lunch, they were already hours into getting dinner service ready. 

Better shot showing the cooking area set up behind the Southern Ground's trailer.

Jamie Guay (right) took time away from Flat Rock Wood Room in Hendersonville, NC to come help feed folks on the front lines.  Like I said, most of the volunteers left their businesses to help.

It was very cold but the food was always hot!

We met and worked with so many great people, I wish that I could list everyone involved.

Every one of the BBQ cooks at this event rock but egos did not get in the way. We all just did whatever needed to get done. Restock supplies, empty trash, build boxes....you name it and someone was stepping up to do it.

Our friend, John Molloy of Dead End BBQ, came out to help.  He and I worked the service line together.  Forgive the goofy look on my face but I was trying to take a selfie with gloves on my hands, it was COLD!

Nick checking pork loins on the Old Hickory Pit.  Zoom in and you'll see his custom Operation BBQ Relief Thermapen is reading 143°f, just about perfect.

I've never been so happy to be a part of feeding people.

The crews were very grateful to be receiving hot meals from some of the best BBQ cooks in the country.  It was like Alvin and the Chipmunks - we were thanking them, they were thanking us.

The cook team loading up another batch of pork shoulders for the next day's service.  Sorry for the blurry pics but 1) it was low light and 2) these guys NEVER STOP MOVING! 

The weather turned grey and gloomy the next 2 days but the rain was desperately needed so it was welcomed with open arms.

When the front of the house volunteers weren't actively serving meals, we were doing other things like moving hundreds of crates of bread, reconfiguring table set ups, and things like that.

Saturday we volunteers set up a service line out front because of the imminent rain.  Most volunteers worked in 4 hour blocks, Alexis and I stayed from start to finish, so we got to work with a lot of fantastic people throughout the day.  So many had their own story of how/why they got involved with this event.  

That's me in the Nibble Me This hoodie on the right.  I stole this from the OBR Facebook page but I am pretty sure that the photo credit goes to Webb Sanderson of BOH-FOH.  

Fires were actively jumping within site of us.  Notice the puff of smoke in the bottom right corner along the black line.  It had been burning and helicopters were dropping water on it.  Suddenly the fire plume on the left middle popped up.

The cook squad decided to make a little inter-squad BBQ competition to lighten the mood and have some fun.  The competition was specifically pork butts only and you only got to access your meat 4 times during the night- two looks, a wrap, and to pull it.  In addition to bragging rights, the winner got this amazing, world class BBQ trophy :)  

Jason Cole (Hot Cole's BBQ) stands as security while John Wheeler (Memphis BBQ Company co-owner) and Jamie Guay tabulate the judge's scores.  Yeah, we actually had 6 CBJ's on site so Alexis and 5 other judges scored this "mostly" along KCBS methods.

Time for the "awards ceremony".

John Wheeler and Tommy Houston were the emcees.  And the winner of the First Annual Gatlinburg Operation BBQ Relief Classic is.....

Jay Frankovich of the local BBQ competition team  'Merica Smokers.    We met Jay this past year after he relocated to East Tennessee from Texas (I think, Texas, right?).  Great family and a formidable competitor.

This is just one of the many crews with whom we volunteered.  Like I said, we met so many cool, wonderful people from nearby and all over the country.

There were so many volunteers that there is no way I could mention them all but these two deserve special thanks.  Melanie Edmonds (Paradise Que BBQ) and April Bryan (Q We Do) were absolute rock stars. They coordinated all of the volunteers for the event which is kind of like trying to herd wet cats that were just taken off of ADHD medicine. This was way more than just getting people to show up - it was coordinating the activities of every non-cook volunteer and working with the back of the house to ensure everything flowed smoothly.  

John Wheeler (center right) and Tommy Houston (far right) with two men from the Oak Ridge Fire Department.  John and Tommy were the ones in charge of this deployment, making sure that everything came together.  These guys had a tough job and ran it perfectly.  

I would not hesitate to volunteer for Operation BBQ Relief again, I would do it in a heart beat.  I know people don't volunteer based on "what's in it for me" but....here's what is in it for you:

1. You get to meet some of the best people in your area - let's face it, only good people are going to be selfless enough to do this.  
2. You get to reduce suffering in a real and meaningful way rather than sitting at home and "wishing there was something we could do".  I mean Facebook likes are cool and all but they don't put a warm meal in someone's belly.
3. If you are a BBQ cook, you get to work "in the trenches" with some of the best BBQ cooks in the country.  I had several conversations with different pitmasters about techniques and ideas.
4. The BBQ competition circuit is already a family. But when you work together at something like this, you develop a special bond with your fellow competition teams.

Long story short, I'm a better person for having worked with these people.  

Operation BBQ Relief formed in the debris of the Joplin tornado disaster and has gone on in that short time to feed over 1 million meals to people in the wake of disasters.  Unlike some relief organizations, the officers of Operation BBQ Relief receive ZERO SALARY so your cash donations go directly to helping people in need - not fancy offices or exorbitant salaries.  I am NOT a spokesman for OBR and don't speak for them, I'm just a volunteer and these are my observations. You can DONATE or VOLUNTEER at their website.

Blogger Summit at the World Food Championships 2016 - Orange Beach Alabama Day 1

I was fortunate enough to attend the Blogger Summit at the World Food Championships in Orange Beach last month.  I was excited not only about getting to see the competition itself but also learning about food trends, culinary science, and becoming a certified E.A.T. food judge.  

I drove down to beautiful Orange Beach, Alabama on Sunday and had the entire 3 bedroom, beach front condo to myself.  They put us up at Turquoise Place, which are absolutely beautiful vacation condos.  

As soon as I walked in and saw the kitchen with Subzero and Wolf appliances, I thought, "Yeah....I can 'make do' with this."

I had some food prep to do for a photo shoot scheduled for the following day, so I popped a cold beer and got to work.

The first day of the Blogger Summit included sessions that surprised me with how much I learned.

Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Tourism

We were welcomed to the Gulf Coast by Kay Maghan, the Public Relations Manager for Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama. There is a reason why 6.1 million guests visit each year, creating over 48,000 travel jobs with 1.3 billion dollars in wages.   I have been coming to this area since 1985 and we have family in the area, so I already knew about the stunning white sand beaches, amazing fishing, fine dining, and the incredible year round outdoor activities.  We love this area and always look forward to our several visits each year.

If you haven't checked this area out before or if you belong to an organization looking for a place to have a conference, the Gulf Coast must be on your list, trust me.  Here's a personal tip from me - check out the off season months. Sure, you save money that way but it's a great time to visit because the beaches take on a different look, it's not crowded, and you get to feel like a local. 

The beaches of the Gulf Coast are famous for their white sand beaches.  The sand is so fine and pure that it literally squeaks underneath your feet.  Being a tourism locale like our nearby Great Smoky Mountains here at home, the entire area is geared towards making your visit spectacular. 

I am a beach rat and was on the beach before I could even walk.  Anyone who lives at the beach knows that during the winter months, visiting the beach is a special treat. When I lived on Florida's East coast, I loved walking on the beach when a Nor'easter would roll in.

Luxury Coffee Break - Cup of Luxury

One of the perks of being a food blogger is that we get treated to luxuries that a lot of people would never imagine and that I probably could not afford.  Case in point, on our coffee break we got to try a extremely special hand picked, hand washed, and hand roasted coffee from coffee purveyor, Cup of Luxury.  Did I mention, this particular coffee runs $1,200 per pound?

I waited until everyone else got theirs because I am not a coffee drinker.  I knew the nuances of this fine coffee would be lost on me the same way the intricacies of grade A5 Kobe beef would be wasted on a vegetarian. But I still wasn't going to pass it up :)

Oyster Farming Revolution

Dr. Bill "Dr Oyster" Walton from the Auburn University Shellfish Lab came to talk to us about the growing practice of oyster farming. I'm a geek and was fascinated by this session. I grew up on the waterways of Florida where oysters all over the place, so I was curious as to why anyone would bother to farm an oyster.  The short answer turns out to be quality control and creating a premium oyster are why oyster farming is taking off.

The long answer had a scientific yet easy to understand explanation.  Here are the take aways that I had from the session.

• Traditional methods used the waterway bottom for growing the oysters in either private or public beds.  
• They would seed these with "spat" (for lack of a better term, think oyster eggs) on old oyster shells.
• These traditional beds are subject to fouling and overset.
• The newer farming raises the oysters "off bottom" where they are grown suspended in the water.
• This helps keep the oysters clean and free of fouling.
• The "off bottom" farming simulates and extra long low tide where the oyster uses it's muscles more to stay closed tight, creating a premium oyster.
• Off bottom farming provides benefits like regulating the shoreline, acting as a water filter, and creating habitat.
• Instead of leaving things to nature and chance, off bottom farming lets the farmers chose the ideal environment to grow the best oysters, including water flow, oxygen levels, and perfect salinity.
• This farming trend is taking off, in Alabama there were no such farms in 2008 and now there are 13.  Louisiana and Florida are following in suit.
• On bottom oysters tend to go to canners while off bottom oysters are the premium oysters you get in fine dining establishments.

This session was surprisingly one of my favorites. I only say "surprisingly" because I've never even thought about how oysters get on your plate. But Bill has such a passion for this that you can't help but to catch his enthusiasm for oyster farming.

BroTorch Food Trend

The folks at Hormel gave us a fiery introduction to a twist on the food trend of blow torch cooking....the BroTorch!  They weren't sure they were going to be able to pull it off because of the winds roaring off of the Gulf.  The Orange Beach Fire Department was on scene and had to give the thumbs up.  After testing, talking, more testing, more huddled talking, it was finally a go!

Why yes, that is two rakes with a bunch of hot dogs on them....how else do YOU make chili dogs for 2 dozen of your friends at one time?

Okay, no, they don't expect you to do that. It's a publicity thing, not an instructional video.  But you can do your own BroTorching at home.  

Eric Harland, of the MadPig BBQ competition team, demonstrates ways to cook at home using a hand held torch.  Here he is grilling strips of flank steak on top of a pineapple.

I might have to make myself one of these just for fun.  I wonder if the same attachment would fit a MAPpro gas cylinder. MAPpro burns hotter than the propane that they used and propane can sputter when held inverted whereas I understand MAPpro does not.

Keynote Speech - Mike McCloud

At lunch, Mike McCloud, CEO of the World Food Championships, came to talk to us about the championships and the phenomenon of food sport.  At this event, 430 teams, some 1,421 chefs from 48 states and 14 countries are all in Orange Beach to claim their share of a $350,000 prize purse.

The way it works is that teams have to qualify via competition events for one of 9 categories.  This year the 9 categories are bacon, burger, chili, dessert, recipe (breakfast), sandwich, seafood, steak, and of course, BBQ.

Republished with permission from the World Food Championships.

For the opening round, the teams have to cook a structured dish and their signature dish. Their signature dish is most likely what got them there and the structure dish is just making sure they aren't a one trick pony.  The top 10 of each category go on to compete against each other.  Then the 9 category winners compete against each other for a grand prize of $100,000.  Yeah, that's a chunk of change.  The BBQ section is different but I'll cover that in it's own post.

Wampler's Sausage: Farm to Future
This session blew me away.  Wampler's Sausage is a company based in Lenoir City, TN, just a stone's throw from our home in West Knox county.  That's not what blew me away.  What did is that they are leading the way in renewable energy and will be energy independent in 2017.

Ted Wampler explains how their family farm grew from a simple farm in 1935 to a cutting edge facility that is about to become fully energy independent.  That's incredible.

They started with solar power in 2009 and now are using a innovative biomass process to generate the electricity to run their plants. They are working with Dr Sam Wheeler and Proton Power to run these scalable generators for clean energy.  Even more insane is that a byproduct of these biomass systems is graphene, which is a material that is the future.  Graphene has the potential to blow the silicon chip for computer processing and more.

I was impressed with how much Wampler's is all about reducing water use, increase recycling, and reduce waste both on the processing and customer end. They aren't just talking the talk, they are speaking with their wallet.

Food Styling for Social Media - Michael Sewell

The WFC brought photographer extraordinaire, Michael Sewell, to coach us through a food photography session.  

Michael Sewell demonstrating his approaches to food photograpy.

Then they cut us loose to shoot our own recipes that we had created using Saucy Mama's products.

It was fun chaos, food bloggers everywhere looking for the best lighting, angles, backdrops, and more.

My recipe is Cashew Ginger Chicken Spring Rolls that I made using Saucy Mama's Sesame Ginger Dressing.

What a day!  Coming up is Day 2 when we spend the day on a field trip to Bayou la Batre learning about the Alabama seafood industry.

Lobster Eggs Benedict

[FTC Disclosure:  I received no compensation for this post and I'm not contracted by Smithfield Foods or their PR firm.  However, in full disclosure, they did take me on two trips this year.]

When we were in Smithfield, VA, we had breakfast at the Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Cafe. One of the items on the menu was Lobster Eggs Benedict and of course, almost everyone in our party opted for that dish. It was a split biscuit topped with ham, eggs fried over easy, Hollandaise sauce and of course, lobster. 

Lobster Eggs Benedict as served at the Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Cafe in Smithfield VA.

 As I was eating it, I told myself I would be making it at home and staying true to my word, here it is.

I'm sure that you guessed we made this on our grills instead of inside.  You were right.  Here's what we did.

First we started with Alexis making pan style buttermilk biscuits.  She did that on one of our ceramic kamado grills set up with an Adjustable Rig but you could also use any type of indirect set up for the kamado grill, such as a plate setter or heat deflector.  It is best to bake them high up in the kamado so you take advantage of the heat reflecting down.

Look how moist and flaky these biscuits turn out.  I love them this way instead of the typical round biscuits.

Next I made a Hollandaise sauce.  I beat about 5 egg yolks and a splash of cold water until frothy. I put that over a double broiler and whisked in clarified butter until doubled in volume. Then I seasoned it with lemon juice, cayenne, and a bit of salt.  Use a thermos or double insulated mug to keep your Hollandaise warm. That way you don't have to worry about splitting it when heating it back up.

Next I baked 6 eggs in a muffin pan. I seasoned them with a little BBQ rub and salt. This was indirect on a ceramic kamado grill running 350°f.  I bake them until the egg whites are set, about 15 to 20 minutes.  

While the eggs baked, I prepped the lobster.  I just split open a thawed tail, removed the meat, and cut it into bite sized chunks.

Tip:  Seafood proteins are wimps. They can't handle heat at all before they start to degrade, so always keep seafood as cold as possible until the last minute you use them.

I put the lobster bits in the muffin pan, poured warm clarified butter over them and put them back in the grill for just another few minutes. 

Because the butter was already warm, it only took a few minutes for the lobster to get done which is an internal temperature of 135°f.

We had ordered a nice Charles Henry Gray ham but that was for Thanksgiving and I wasn't touching it before the big day, Alexis would have killed me. So instead I ran to the store and picked up a ready to eat Smithfield Anytime Boneless Ham.

Once everything is is cooked, it's just a matter of putting it all together.  Split the biscuit and top it with sliced ham, 2 eggs, lobster and the Hollandaise sauce.

As great as theirs was....I have to say mine was a wee bit better myself :)   Now I just want to try it again using some of the leftover Charles Henry Gray country ham that we had for Thanksgiving.