Win a Masterbuilt Barbecue Smoker - Giveaway Labor Day 2010

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Masterbuilt Barbecue Smoker Giveaway

Been thinking about making the leap to barbecue smoking? Well, here's your chance with a free Masterbuilt electric bbq smoker.


This 30 inch electric smoker has a window and an inside light, so you can see how the meat is doing without peeking. You get a push button temperature and time control and an easy load wood smoker box to the side.




I've not used this Masterbuilt smoker (and - no - I don't get one or anything else for hosting the giveaway), but I have a Masterbuilt Butterball turkey fryer that I wrote about last year. The fryer is well made and easy to use, and we've enjoyed frying turkeys and boiling Frogmore Stew. So, I'd expect that this would be a solid smoker and loads of fun. If you win, you can let me know!

What's the Catch?

My contests don't come with a catch. I just list several ways to enter and hopefully something for all readers (United States) to get a slip in the bucket. I do need some way to contact you if you win (only). That can be an email or your web site or blog contact or a twitter name that I can look up. I don't collect your information, and the company just asks for the winners address to send the prize. That's it. You really can get something for nothing - easy as that.

Required Entry

To enter, just check out the Masterbuilt outdoor products store and check out the recipes. This gives you a chance to see all the neat stuff they offer including the new smoker and also will get your taste buds cranking with the collection of barbecue recipes. Then, just let me know what recipe you would like to try out if you win the smoker. There is a comment section at the bottom. Fill that in, and you're set.

Contest Newbies - Better Directions

If you've not entered contests before, don't run off. I've had three emails asking exactly how to enter.

1. Click to the Masterbuilt page and find a recipe linked off the front page that catches your eye.

2. Come back here to Barbecue Master, because the contest is actually here and not off the company page.

3. Click on "comments" at the bottom of the post. You will see a colored link with x number of comments. That is the correct link, and the number changes with more entries. When you click that, go to the bottom of the comments pop up box, and you will see the little comment box to type in.

Or, if you came direct (and see the post plus other comments), go all the way to the bottom of the post below the last comment, and you will see a link called "submit a comment." Click that, and you will see the space to leave the message.

4. Fill out the little box with the name of the recipe and also some way to get in touch.

5. Fill out the little combo of numbers and letters that pop up. That just ensures that entries are real people and not robots putting up spam.

6. I check the comments before they go live so that the blog does not have dirty links and so on. So, you won't see your entry at first. I have to be on the computer and press publish, but I do that often.

7. The extra entries below are optional. They just get you more slips in the hat. Just repeat the above if you do any of the extra entries and let me know.

Extra Entries

Once you enter with the Masterbuilt recipe in comments (just the name of your top pick), then here are some additional entries if you like to increase your odds. Again, just let me know in comments about any add on entries to the giveaway.

1. Visit my web site Yes You Can Grill and then let me know what you'd like to see there that I've not posted yet. It's my "baby" and a work in progress.

2. Follow me on twitter - @cyndiallison If you look through my buddy list, you will find a lot of terrific grill folks and barbecue people including national champions. If you already follow me THANKS and let me know. I'll count that. Old friends are great friends!

3. Look over to the right and sign up for email updates here for Barbecue Master. Those are auto through Google, and all you'll get by email will be blog post updates. You'll get other contests, recipes, and reviews about grilling and barbecue that I post from time to time.

4. Share your favorite smoker recipe. I always enjoy doing new dishes on our smoker, and I'm sure other readers do too. You can just put the recpie in the comment section.

5. Tell us about your favorite Masterbuilt moment. It can be any product that you've used before. Mine, as I mentioned, would be with the turkey fryer. I also got to interview John MeLemore (the CEO of Masterbuilt), and that was a blast talking with him and getting to know the faces behind the product.

OK. That gives you 6 possible chances to enter and win a Masterbuilt Barbecue Smoker. So, what are you waiting for? This is an easy contest, and it's a great prize. I'd be excited to win a Masterbuilt smoker myself!

When Will The Winner Be Drawn?

I'll take Masterbuilt Smoker entries through 9 pm EST of Labor Day 9-6-2010 and then have the drawing. I think I'll have my son draw this time. He is an Eagle Scout and won a Carnegie medal for heroism. He's a good kid, and he's easy to find on a Monday night.

Home Stretch

I've been writing down entries and making sure I have all the multi ones in so that everyone gets all the chances possible. Whew! This one has taken more time than I expected, but I sure appreciate all the entries. Thanks so much for visiting and making this, by far, the biggest contest I've had on my blog. And, thanks again to Masterbuilt for sponsoring.



DRUM ROLL

I allowed an extra half hour past time to make sure all entries came in on my slow boat computer, and I went and got my kid who was doing his homework (good him) to draw the name . . .

The winner is: Oshawa Ogre

Well, blow me away! He won a Dean's Dip when my Mom drew several months back. He is one lucky duck. I mean, really, what are the odds that the first to enter would win the draw especially when those slips were jumbled and tossed more times than I can count?

Lord give me the luck of Oshawa Ogre. Amen!

Enter to Win at BBQ Grail Too

Larry is giving away a smoker on Barbecue Grail. So, be sure to enter there too. His contest runs through the 15th of September 2010, so you have a little extra time there.

Giveaway - $20 from Omaha Steaks - Drawing 8-24-2010

Win a $20 Gift Certificate from Omaha Steaks

I go way back with Omaha Steaks. In fact, I don't remember when I first ordered from them, but I do remember that I had my doubts. How could a company send meat to my door and it be good stuff?

I did decide to give it a go and even talked about buying meat online at my Yes You Can Grill site. Since then, I've continued to order from Omaha Steaks, because the products are great, and they are always spot on with delivery - excellent condition and on time.

Earlier this month, I mentioned the Omaha One Hole in One contest for the month of August 2010, and I hope some of my readers are hitting the links and playing the Omaha Steaks games. What fun! Play golf - enter to win meat. Oh yes!

Now, Omaha Steaks has been kind enough to offer a $20 gift card to Barbecue Master blog readers. You can buy what you like which is always nice. But, I would mention that they sent me their filet mignons box, and that was really tender and very nice. Let me also mention that they have Potatoes au Gratin which my boys call potato balls, and they go wild for those. My younger son will almost fight his older brother over these tasty treats. So, you will find all sorts of great foods for the grill or the kitchen at Omaha Steaks.

So - How Do You Enter to Win the $20 GC from Omaha Steaks?

This contest is easy. After all, if you have to spend an hour trying to figure out the contest, you might as well just go out and buy something - right?

For a chance to win $20 from Omaha Steaks, just do one or all of the following and leave me a comment telling me what you did (or email - cyndiallison at gmail.com).

Like Omaha Steaks on Facebook!

Follow Omaha Steaks on Twitter

Tweet: "I am golfing for @omahasteaks - hole in one #OmahaSteaks!"

Again, just do any of the above and drop me a comment. You can do all three for triple entries. Just tell me what you did to enter, so I can put your slip in.

On Tuesday 8-24-2010, I'll round up my Mom for the drawing if she is not off jet setting again. If so, then I get another unbiased person like one of the church ladies to pull the name.

Simple as that. But, you need to give me some way to get in contact if you win. I do not track on my site, so give me a twitter name, email or something, so I can round you up if you win.

*Note - I need a U.S. address with this being a meat delivery company, but feel free to enter and gift a U.S. relative or friend if you're over the country line.

Best of luck!

And the winnner is - Susitravel!

Grill Charms by Leslie Haywood - Barbecue Master Getting Organized

I've known Leslie Haywood for a while now and have an interview with this neat inventor on my Yes You Can Grill site. She came up with the idea of grill charms which are similar to wine charms but go into your foods on the grill to keep track of special grill orders.

It's one thing to have an idea and get something made, and it's another story to be successful getting the word out, and Leslie has done a fabulous job in taking her invention from the drawing board to the porches of home grillers across the nation. So, I have to give a shout out and say, "You go grill charm girl!"



The grill charms come in various sets depending on what you track on your grill (or what you need to). You could, for example, get the steak set and mark the different levels of doneness.

When I won a set of Grill Charms at Oshawa Ogre's Views, News & BBQ's, I was stoked and surprised. Fred and I chat on Twitter. I saw his barbecue grill charms contest and I do some giveaways too, so I usually support other bloggers by entering. I think, probably like many others, that I'll never win. But, there have been several online contests where I have won a prize. So, I'd say, "Be sure to enter!" You never know, and it's fun to get something cool in the mail even if it is all natural toothpaste for children which I am still puzzling over. That showed up in the mail, and I have teens, but we tried it out anyway. Pretty good stuff but kind of random looking in my bathroom with no kids in the house.

The set of grill charms I selected were the spicy or not set. It includes 6 grill charms. There are two hot peppers, two peppers with flames, and two peppers with x over them (mild of course). Here I am the hot Momma, my older son likes his food spiced up but not over the top, and the younger one is mild all the way. So, this means I can mark the meats and not have to keep track of which heat level is where on the grill and then on the serving platter.



Tonight I grilled chicken, and I had a spiced up piece with Stubb's hot barbecue, one with medium, and then two for Eli with KC Masterpiece Bourbon barbecue sauce (mild but bold).

I just pressed the grill charms in. They are about the size of a dime and the back has a little squiggle bar that keeps them secure in the meat or whatever you're grilling.

Then, I put the chicken in the Traeger and worked on some syllabi for classes which start next week. I'd go check and turn the meat now and then but not often (Traeger pellet grills are low maintenance). And, I did not have to think about which one was which on the pellet grill, since they were labeled with the grill charms.



Our chicken turned out great, and there were no questions or mix ups about which ones were which heat level. I gloried in my spicy grilled chicken while Eli chowed down on his mild chicken breasts.

The grill charms cleaned up easy and look brand new even after time in a smoker. I just hand washed them in a little soapy water.

Grill charms would be great gifts for your friends who grill but also a nice treat to pick up for home. It really did make it super easy to keep track of the different sauces and heat levels. And, it's always nice to simplify when possible.

As an added bonus, these also look real neat and impress folks. My son thought they grill charms were great and sends a hug to Leslie (-: for making sure he does not accidentally end up with my spicy hot grilled chicken. We won't tell him that he sent hugs. You know how teen boys are - kind of shy (-:

Cajun Cowboy Seasoning Rub Put Some Zip in Our Grilled Kabob Chicken

Tonight I tried out a new all purpose seasoning called Cajun Cowboy which is rub style when you're talking grilling. This one is from Wyoming and says "western style," although it's a cajun type sprinkle.

Harry (my step dad) is from Wyoming, and he picked up the rub when he and my Mom went out to see his side of the family this summer. Harry's a really great guy, and he thought about me and my grilling when he was on his trip.

This rub is from Riverton so a local product for Harry (or before he moved here when he married my Mom). I've not been out there yet, but I hear Harry and Mom talk about Riverton and all the good folks there. So, I had to look up Hi Mountain Seasoning to find out more about it. It looks like their main product is jerky, but they have other products like the Cajun Cowboy rub.



I tried Cajun Cowboy on kabob grilled chicken. I also had Yanni grilling cheese and green peppers on the Fire Wire kabobs, but I seasoned the various foods in different bowls. There was some blending with the food on kabob wires, but the flavors were distinct with the food marinaded separately.

My younger son is not keen on real hot foods, so I went pretty light on the Cajun Cowboy rub. It smelled great when I opened it, but I could tell it had some kick.

I was real impressed with the chicken. Cajun Cowboy rub does have heat, but it's the pleasant versus the hurting kind of hot. Yum. I went thumbs up from the first bite.

I asked Eli what he thought. This is the test for those who can't handle much heat. He said, "That's real good chicken. Whatever you put on it makes it taste better than regular chicken." He's not a gushy kid, so that's some heap high praise.

I'll have to try out some more Hi Mountain products. This all purpose seasoning can be used on the grill as I did but can also be used with kitchen cooking or on the table like salt or pepper. It's all purpose, but I found it to be an excellent chicken grilling sprinkle. I'd have to agree with Eli that this was some of the best tasting chicken I've grilled, and goodness knows I grill a lot of chicken. Healthy. Tasty. Quick. Inexpensive. And, chicken can be dressed up with easily with various rubs and barbecue sauces.

Grilled Cheese - Yanni Blew Away the Barbecue Master with This Yummy High Melt Temp Cheese

Wow! This Yanni Grilling Cheese is Really GREAT!

I decided to grill a pack of Yanni Grilling Cheese this evening. My son has been off to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, DC, so I wanted to have an extra special grilled meal this evening to welcome him home.

The Karoun Dairies, Inc. out of California had asked if I'd like to try out a free sample of the cheese. I am often asked about cheese for grilling, and there really are not many companies out there making cheese that will withstand the heat on a grill.

The Yanni Grilling Cheese is a semi-firm white cheese and has kind of a buttery taste. It's made from all natural California milk. No growth hormones or BGH/rBST.



You can eat the Yanni cheese right from the refrigerator, fry it in a skillet, or put it on the grill. No surprise. I put mine on the grill.

Before grilling the Yanni cheese, I rubbed it with Garlic Gold Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. That's a natural olive oil with seasonings, and it's really tasty - one of my favorite grilling marinades.



I had the grill running close 400 degrees F when I put the Yanni cheese on. The temperature would have been a bit lower though (but not much), since I had to open the grill lid to put the cheese in.

After about 4 or 5 minutes I checked the cheese. It had nice grill lines and was soft but not melting all over the grill. It was easy to flip with tongs. The Yanni Grilling Cheese also, at this point, smelled really good.

With another 4 or 5 minutes, I pulled the cheese off the grill. It came off clean but was soft to the touch with the tongs.



When my son saw the Yanni Grilling Cheese, he asked if it was Greek cheese. He'd been to Greece this summer and said he had some cheese that looked similar to the Yanni cheese I'd just grilled. I told him that it was marketed as being great for Mediterranean dishes with the high melting point.

I like cheese, but I'm more likely to eat a little on a cracker and don't really go wild over cheese. My son - now he's the cheese fanatic. But, he had a kidney stone last year (age 16), so he has to watch milk products. I try to get him special cheese when he splurges. He loves the smoked gouda at Harris Teeter. There's also handmade cheese in the mountains here in North Carolina, but I have to drive up there to get it. Then, there's Yanni where you can check the map and find locations across the U.S.

My son tried the cheese. I asked him how it compared to the cheese in Greece. He is the thoughtful type. He paused for a bit. He said, "That cheese in Greece was really great, but this is better. Maybe it's the grilling. This is really super cheese."

I must say this is the best cheese I've eaten. I skipped the crackers for a change. Yanni cheese was so tasty that I did not want to water down that flavor with anything else. Oh no. I'm going to be spoiled now.

That's OK. A special treat like Yanni cheese is worth it - for sure.

*Note - The next thing I want to try is Yanni cheese on my Fire Wire bendable skewers. I need to decide what to put on there with the cheese. Hum. Maybe some lamb and tomatoes. Any other suggestions?

Win Omaha Steak Products with a Hole in One and Other Fun Contests - August 2010

Score a Hole in One and Free Steaks Too!

For all my barbecue golfing readers, I have great news. Well, it’s great news if you’re good on the links (-: And, if you’re not so great at golfing, well, that’s OK too.

Hole in One Instant Winners – Steak from Omaha Steaks

If you live in the United States and hit a Hole in One at 150 yards or better during the month of August 2010, you win four free Omaha Steaks Filet Mignons from Omaha Steaks. And, I can tell you those are sure yummy. I've written about Omaha Steaks before, and we have always enjoyed grilling with their products.

Just submit your hole in one certificate to Omaha Steaks by:

1. Facebook

2. Email: custserv@omahasteaks.com

3. Snail Mail:
Omaha Steaks10909 John Galt Blvd
P.O. Box 3300
Omaha, NE 68103

OK – You’re Not that GREAT at Golf – No Problem

If your skills at golfing, you’re not likely to hit a hole in one. That’s fine though, because Omaha Steaks has weekly contests for us.

Facebook and Twitter

For Facebook and Twitter followers of Omaha Steaks, there are Friday trivia contest. Just check in between 10 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. CST throughout August 2010. Answer the question, and you’re in the drawing for a great Omaha Steaks prize both on Facebook and Twitter every Monday during the month.

Foursquare

For all the Foursquare fanatics out there, you get an easy entry too. When you head out to the links, just tweet your check in at @OmahaSteaks and mention that you’re “golfing for Omaha Steaks,” and you’re in on the weekly drawing too.

So – What Are You Waiting For?

Here’s a great excuse to head out to the golf course and to win great products from Omaha Steaks. I’ve been grilling Omaha Steaks for years now. I thought buying meat online sounded odd to start with, but they do a great job packing up the products, and we’ve been really happy with our Omaha Steak purchases.

Enter Here at Barbecue Master for $20 on 8-24-2010 with a Giveaway Drawing

Omaha Steaks is also sponsoring a $20 gift certificate for Barbecue Master readers. Just check out the Barbecue Master Omaha Steaks contest and enter by Tuesday August 24, 2010 for a good chance to win!