Mug Root Beer Cooler and BBQ Sauce Kit Contest Winners - June 2009

My sons are here with their Dad who enjoyed the Mug Root Beer sauce on ham and country style smoked pork ribs on the Traeger.


The guys drew the names for the contest before leaving for a week long kayaking trip on the coast.



Drum Roll please . . .

Here are the winners and entries. All the memories shared were fabulous, and you can see the full list and all the stories in the contest entry post.

Jan

My dad was a great griller in his day. At 92, he just supervises my brother who is a pretty fine griller himself as is his son in law. Grilling is a family tradition around here.

I remember my dad grilling tomatoes when my mother was in the hospital having my brother. That would have been over 60 years ago. His grill was homemade, of course, but served us well until we both went off to college.

Shaun

awesome idea for a contest. chef matt sent me. anways, i normally wouldn't consider nominating myself as the best griller. but boy do my kids do. there is nothing in the world ( next to taking them fishing) that my 4 boys, 9, 4(twins), and 2 love more than when dad (me) fires up the grill. they love the way i make them burgers and hotdogs in all different ways. mom even gets in on the action when i make her favorite chicken. tendy, juicy, and with the right spices. so thanks for coming up with this contest. thanks for letting me share my story.

Rob

I guess my "grilling dad hero" for the weekend would be one of my longest-term friends (~35 years) Reggie Smyre ... This father's day weekend he drove all the way down to NC from PA to attend his daughter's high school graduation, and at the large family cookout afterwards (100+ people) the cook didn't show up, so he volunteered to do all the cooking ... this involved burgers & dogs, deep-fried fish, and shish-kabobs (with his own special sauce), grilled veggies & sweet potatoes, etc. He had 2 grills going, and a kettle of oil to deep fry the fish - he went through two bottles of gas!

So, if this one wins the drawing, send the cooler to Reggie please! :)

Jim

I nominate my oldest son, Jonathan.

After my good fortune to participate in the Weber TV ad campaign, they left the new weber gas grill that was used for filming. That was in addition to the new Weber grill of my choice per the original agreement with Weber. So, I gave him that "once used" grill.

He was delighted and began to expand/extend his repertoire beyond just grilling steaks and burgers. I had taught him the basics of high heat searing and the art of judging the various degrees beyond rare through well-done. That was the easy part.

He uses marinades and dry rubs well beyond hiw dad's experience level. He has the creativity to experiment and has hit some home runs.

One was a dry rub mixture of salt, pepper, paprika, fennel and garlic. Another was marinating beef tri tip overnight in Italian Dressing spiced up with Coleman's Dry Mustard!

So I am proud to say that he is not just a "chip off the old block," but has gone beyond his dad in the use of the grill.

However, he still can't do the low/slow, genuine smoked BBQ ribs or pork butt like his father!!! :)

Thanks for the opportunity to appear on your site!

Hondaray6

I'd nominate my son Buck for the Hot griller! He's a father of 3, weighs 240, stands 6'3" and is a pussycat- except when grilling! Stand back and drool he says! LOL He likes doing roasts on indirect heat for hours...and the smell is amazing. His fav is a garlic/butter rub that he came up with (can't share the recipe cause he won't)! He also says kabobs are for sissys...but he makes them just to get the kids to eat veggies! Dang I'm tickled I raised a great griller! Now all I have to do is the corn on the cob! WooHoo!


Congratulations and thanks to everyone for entering the contest. Thanks also to Mug Root Beer for providing the coolers and barbecue sauce sets to help celebrate Father's Day.