BBQ Jew

I recently received a free BBQ Dragon to review.  Although it may sound like a prop from HBO’s Game of Thrones, the BBQ Dragon is a real product intended to help backyard cooks start their fires more quickly and with less huffing and puffing.

The BBQ Dragon is a small fan roughly the shape and size of a hair dryer, and attached to a sturdy, flexible stem with a clamp at the base to connect it to your fire pit, grill, or smoker.  Powered by batteries, the BBQ Dragon blows air on your coals to help them catch fire faster.  Straightforward, clever, and… effective or just a lot of (hot) air?

According to the product’s promotional email: “BBQ Dragon takes a simple concept – adding oxygen to fire – and puts some power behind it.  Why sit and blow on your charcoal, or wave dishware at it to create a breeze to supply more air? BBQ Dragon points a steady stream of fire-fueling oxygen directly onto your charcoal, so it’s grill-ready in under 10 minutes – hotter and faster than ever! Don’t leave your grilling to chance – mechanize your charcoal’s oxygen supply with BBQ Dragon!”  Exclamation points abound.

The website takes the hype a giant step further, calling the BBQ Dragon, “The biggest revolution in barbecue since lump charcoal.”  I have to admit to being dubious of products that are pitched with such reckless abandon, but leaving my skepticism aside I put the BBQ Dragon through its paces, trying it on charcoal and on kindling and wood in a backyard fire pit (picture inset).

The BBQ Dragon worked as advertised, adding oxygen to the fire without need for huffing and puffing.  The flames started to roar fast and the coals/wood heated up quickly.  (The trade off for the reduced burden on your lungs is a fairly noisy fan even at the lowest speed setting.)  Priced at $49.99 plus shipping, the BBQ Dragon is a pricey accessory, and certainly one I’d place in the “fun but not essential” category.  Still, it’s a clever idea and can help if you’re like me and your fire building skills could use an assist.  Plus, if all else fails you can point it at your friends and dry their hair.

By the way, it’s interesting to note that the BBQ Dragon was developed using Kickstarter funds, with a successful campaign that crowd sourced over a hundred thousand dollars.  Pretty neat, if you ask me.  Why didn’t I think of that?

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As I’ve written before, my BBQ time is mostly focused on TrueCue.org these days.  If you’ve yet to check out the site, or haven’t been in a few weeks, check it out now.  We overhauled the website and have a solid list of wood-cooking barbecue restaurants in NC.  Below are a couple of pictures from a recent True ‘Cue restaurant certification tour (the grand old dame Stamey’s in Greensboro at top, and the quite new Speedy Lohr’s on Hwy 8 in Lexington at bottom):

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One of the things that’s surprised me most about running a food blog is how many PR lists one gets on.  Not a week goes by without an offer to review a book, test a recipe, get a free sample of a product, and so on.  I’ve become a bit jaded and rarely reply.  But the email I got a few weeks ago caught my eye:

“Porky, eat out a lot?

 What’s worse than a splotch of balsamic vinegar that does a Jackson Pollock knock-off on your shirt or tie?

For those men or women who like everything to be just so and are tired of staining their clothing when they have lunch….Mike Tanney has invented the perfect accessory for anyone who likes to look immaculate all day long… The product is called Dress Tiez ™ and it is brand new. Created by Mike, who was tired of replacing his expensive Hermes stained ties. Now there’s the perfect gift for foodies and all of us who appreciate leaving a meal without looking like we walked off a battlefield.

 *Stylish, fashionable and suitable for fine restaurants

*Halts stains from pasta sauce, red wine, olive oil etc and is machine washable

*Is portable and comes with its own matching pouch and is gift boxed.

*Comes in 19 different styles and colors

*Can be monogrammed or personalized

Visit: www.DressTiez.com

Please let me know if you would like to receive a complimentary sample to review.”

Needless to say, I couldn’t pass this rare opportunity up.  After all, eating BBQ gets messy, even when sticking to the vinegar-sauced North Carolina variety.  If I had a dollar for every shirt I’ve ruined with grease stains from eating trays of BBQ I’d have enough money to, well, buy another tray.

I requested a free sample DressTiez (the brand name doesn’t work well for singular usage, but I didn’t order a plural amount), and a few days later I was in business.  Rather than subject myself to potential public humiliation, I invited a friend over and asked him to make a fool out of himself for the good of you readers.  (Well, I asked his wife too but she was too demure.) Inset is Cody “Whole Hog” Marshall–friend, neighbor, and now genuine hero–test driving a DressTiez with about two pounds of my home-smoked barbecue in front of him.

As you can tell, the DressTiez is not actually a tie at all.  This came as a surprise to me when I opened the package.  It is a bib.  Perhaps DressBib didn’t have a good ring to it.  I prefer to call it a Man Bib.  You may call it something else if you wish.

I’m not sure what else to say about the DressTiez.  It’s interesting, it’s functional (though it leaves some neckline exposed), it’s polyester, and it’s definitely a conversation starter.  You should read this review, and you must watch this video ad to fully understand the product, if that is even possible.

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Sad news from Lexington, where Joe Cope of Smokey Joe’s BBQ has passed away.  From the restaurant’s Facebook page:

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