I'm in for Saturday!


 
Harry's helper that I spoke with mentioned bringing a cooler and taking home a bunch of stuff. I'll bring hunger, coffee, questions and a camera. I figure my Samsung S20 is enough camera and easily loads up to the web and is always in my pocket. A DSLR is a bit of a distraction. I'll have to borrow some of my wifes containers and drag out a cooler. The class is held in Diamond Bar at Harry's house (I believe) and vaccination is required (but on the honor system) and masks are optional. I'll post back on the class.
 
Coffee and donuts are provided. But if you don't like plain Starbucks, bring your own.

It is a good question about advice. Get to know the other students in the class. You may end up being friends for many years to come. And BBQ friends are the best because they send you pictures of food and equipment that will make you feel culinary lust. Chances are good he will cook a very good brisket. I would save a piece and let someone in your family taste it. Then try to cook the same thing and ask your family or friend if it is the same. You can do this with any meat served in class.
 
OK. So my impression of the man is that he's a saint. A lot of people throw that term around. I'm not one of them. The man dedicates a big chunk of his life to charities. He is a man content with himself and wishes to spread happiness thru his BBQ. I think that's what we here all share with him. That connects with us BBQ people. He is instantly the cousin you had and just met.

He is high energy and knows what information to share with you because he is an natural educator. I met another man like that. He was a hunting dog trainer...not really, he was a people trainer name George Hickox, that taught people how to train dogs. Harry, like George, gets to the root of what you need to know, the "WHY". When you know the WHY, you can come up with a thousand HOWs. That is an educator. All that said, the class is too short. We need a week or a month with him.

He has 6 hours to show you how he won many championships on half a dozen or so meats. Meanwhile his helpers serve up some appetizers you'd love to serve at your next party. Jalepeno poppers, pig candy, and some others I can't recall.

He starts easy. We covered food safety first. Then it was his AP rub. Nothing earth shattering with the rub, but obviously solid. I like it and will give it a shot with my meats to get feedback. Then it was his basic BBQ sauce. Again nothing earth shattering, but solid. Actually not all that far from my sauce and we're using the same base sauce.

The class jumps around on the various stages of BBQ and is not linear. It's this way due to a number of reasons, including when the long cook time meats will finish and having the class eat and enjoy at the end, and to keep the class entertained, food safety, and the class using the techniques on the cook that we won't see finished ( the raw meats started during the class). Harry doesn't do things without thought.

Like any highly successful person in their field, Harry is a thinker, not just a do-er. He does a hell of a lot a stuff in a short time, but it is well thought out, and backed by many hours of empirical trials. He is driven to do better all the time. He says he's lazy, but he is the furthest thing from that. He is really just efficient in analyzing what is important and not important and acts on that. My guess is that he'll continue to be a winning champion, because he's a thinker that is constantly looking for the next better flavor to hit your pallet. If I took anything away from the class it's that. Seek the next better flavor. Many of us that have done BBQ for years had that drive earlier and let it plateau. Harry instilled that drive again.

If the financial nut isn't a burden, you should take this class to meet this man and take in a bit of fresh air. He's worth meeting. His BBQ is pretty damn good too.

I'll post some pix later.
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
OK. So my impression of the man is that he's a saint. A lot of people throw that term around. I'm not one of them. The man dedicates a big chunk of his life to charities. He is a man content with himself and wishes to spread happiness thru his BBQ. I think that's what we here all share with him. That connects with us BBQ people. He is instantly the cousin you had and just met.

He is high energy and knows what information to share with you because he is an natural educator. I met another man like that. He was a hunting dog trainer...not really, he was a people trainer name George Hickox, that taught people how to train dogs. Harry, like George, gets to the root of what you need to know, the "WHY". When you know the WHY, you can come up with a thousand HOWs. That is an educator. All that said, the class is too short. We need a week or a month with him.

He has 6 hours to show you how he won many championships on half a dozen or so meats. Meanwhile his helpers serve up some appetizers you'd love to serve at your next party. Jalepeno poppers, pig candy, and some others I can't recall.

He starts easy. We covered food safety first. Then it was his AP rub. Nothing earth shattering with the rub, but obviously solid. I like it and will give it a shot with my meats to get feedback. Then it was his basic BBQ sauce. Again nothing earth shattering, but solid. Actually not all that far from my sauce and we're using the same base sauce.

The class jumps around on the various stages of BBQ and is not linear. It's this way due to a number of reasons, including when the long cook time meats will finish and having the class eat and enjoy at the end, and to keep the class entertained, food safety, and the class using the techniques on the cook that we won't see finished ( the raw meats started during the class). Harry doesn't do things without thought.

Like any highly successful person in their field, Harry is a thinker, not just a do-er. He does a hell of a lot a stuff in a short time, but it is well thought out, and backed by many hours of empirical trials. He is driven to do better all the time. He says he's lazy, but he is the furthest thing from that. He is really just efficient in analyzing what is important and not important and acts on that. My guess is that he'll continue to be a winning champion, because he's a thinker that is constantly looking for the next better flavor to hit your pallet. If I took anything away from the class it's that. Seek the next better flavor. Many of us that have done BBQ for years had that drive earlier and let it plateau. Harry instilled that drive again.

If the financial nut isn't a burden, you should take this class to meet this man and take in a bit of fresh air. He's worth meeting. His BBQ is pretty damn good too.

I'll post some pix later.
Click to expand...
Awesome.
 
Some pix from the class

Something to keep the stomach from growling while class was getting rolling. Jalepeno poppers.
20220108_094143.jpg


A brisket and butt with great bark.
20220108_102457.jpg




Harry about to show a "Black Belt" tip.
20220108_102503.jpg


The class wrapping a brisket
20220108_104743.jpg



Harry explaining brisket selection and a bit about lefty and righty briskets....LOL.
20220108_115256.jpg


The big spread near the end of the class.
20220108_144422.jpg


A great man to know.
20220108_145508.jpg
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
Some pix from the class

Something to keep the stomach from growling while class was getting rolling. Jalepeno poppers.
View attachment 43033


A brisket and butt with great bark.
View attachment 43034




Harry about to show a "Black Belt" tip.
View attachment 43035


The class wrapping a brisket
View attachment 43036



Harry explaining brisket selection and a bit about lefty and righty briskets....LOL.
View attachment 43037


The big spread near the end of the class.
View attachment 43038


A great man to know.
View attachment 43039
Click to expand...
Now that's a hell of an outdoor area!
 
One of the things he asked us to do was to use at least one of his recipes as he taught it, to see if we could duplicate it. Then do something you think would be better than his. I'm currently doing some St Louis ribs, one set his recipe and one set some ad hoc idea I came up with at the store when gathering the ingredients for his recipe. I'm going to do a blind tasting with the neighbors at happy hour tonight.

Harry's on the left, mine on the right. They'll get really different at the wrap.

20220109_130949.jpg
 
So, I completed our homework task and the neighbors were my white mice in our little cul de sac happy hour.20220109_180752.jpg

I followed Harry's recipe as close as I could. It came out as I recalled from the class, but not a competition bite tender. Rather more well done as most people like them. They looked just like I recall.

My ad hoc, "do something out of your comfort zone" ribs were done about the same, in terms of coming off the bone. I made up my recipe on the fly. I started with the idea of using apple sauce as I was walking up the isle after finding Harry's ingredients. It morphed a bit and as they came off the smoker, I just thought heck, how about a hot apple pie flavor profile? So, it got brown sugar, apple sauce, cinnamon, and some clarified butter in the wrap.

BTW, I wanted to just play with the ingredients and not get into the smoke profile. So I used my RecTec 700, apple, oak, cherry blend.

20220109_172102.jpg


I was really rushed near the end to get the ribs out before I lost my test audience. So, I didn't get pix of the wrap, etc.

Here's the finished products.

Harry's recipe
20220109_182632.jpg


My "outside my comfort zone" ribs. Sorry about the presentation on these, I got in a big hurry cutting them while my white mice were standing out in the cold waiting.
20220109_182644.jpg
 
Last edited:
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
So, I completed our homework task and the neighbors were my white mice in our little cul de sac happy hour.View attachment 43200

I followed Harry's recipe as close as I could. It came out as I recalled from the class, but not a competition bite tender. Rather more well done as most people like them. They looked just like I recall.

My ad hoc, "do something out of your comfort zone" ribs were done about the same, in terms of coming off the bone. I made up my recipe on the fly. I started with the idea of using apple sauce as I was walking up the isle after finding Harry's ingredients. It morphed a bit and as they came off the smoker, I just thought heck, how about a hot apple pie flavor profile? So, it got brown sugar, apple sauce, cinnamon, and some clarified butter in the wrap.

BTW, I wanted to just play with the ingredients and not get into the smoke profile. So I used my RecTec 700, apple, oak, cherry blend.

View attachment 43201


I was really rushed near the end to get the ribs out before I lost my test audience. So, I didn't get pix of the wrap, etc.

Here's the finished products.

Harry's recipe
View attachment 43202


My "outside my comfort zone" ribs. Sorry about the presentation on these, I got in a big hurry cutting them while my white mice were standing out in the cold waiting.
View attachment 43203
Click to expand...
Both look really good!
 
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