Out with the old...

In early April of 2012, Daren and I first opened the doors to Colorado BBQ Outfitters (CBO) and it's been a wild ride ever since.

Our first location at York and Academy was perfect. Small location to start, lower costs and in a location of town we liked. However, after 4 1/2 years we quickly grew out of that space.

How we fit everything after 4 years in that tiny space is beyond me but we did it. 

Now we are located in a space that is 1 1/2 times bigger than our old location at 5921 N. Academy Blvd 80918 which is on the Northeast corner of Vickers and Academy in the Erindale Square Shopping Center. 

Now we have nothing but room! We are excited to fill this space up with product that our customers want over the next 5 years. 

Although I miss the old location now and then, the new space has so much to offer for us. 

We have room to do customer-centric activities! We are gearing up our Best of BBQ class on the 21st of Sept and will be having a grand RE-opening on October 22nd so keep an eye out for details of that event.

Dan MacDonald

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

719-465-1041

Big guy versus the little guy

I have owned my own small retail business now for almost 5 years.

I have seen it all with regard to consumer behavior.

Some want cheap and some don't mind paying more for better quality. Some only buy from local business and some shop online religiously. Everyone is different.

I am in my fifties and tend to want some customer service with my product. I don't mind pay a few dollars more if I can talk to someone and get insight about the product.

My two millennial boys who will do their own research online and then shop at the cheapest place.  My oldest son worked at Best Buy and would tell me he saw repeatedly young people going in to the store to touch and feel the product but then would go home and order it online. As a result, Best Buy now offers a match price policy with Amazon to stay alive.

Most small businesses are aware that their customer base can shop online for less; however, you often pay shipping and have to wait for that product. Many small businesses also know that consumers are impatient and want their items right away so we way that against the cost it is offered online. The trick is to not only stay competitive but offer that which online shopping doesn't. ie, customer service, answering questions, giving opinion on product lines, training on products and most importantly being able to see and "kick the tires" of a product. 

We have all heard the plea to shop local. The money stays in your local community and your money is not lining the pockets of a CEO making millions a year but rather helping a neighbor pay his mortgage or put his kids through college. It isn't just about keeping money local. It is about getting what you pay for. 

If that product you bought online doesn't meet your expectations, that is when the rubber hits the road as far as customer service and the hoops you jump through to get your situation resolved. 

So before shopping online for every product, go out and stop by a local business and pick their brain. Tell them you found something cheaper. Many times, they will match or come close to the price being offered and you get to take that product home today! 

Dan M.

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

Cold Smoking made easy!

We are in the throws of winter. The time where the weather gets cold and the snow starts blowing. It is also the time of year many people choose to cold smoke their food. 

What is cold smoking? Put simply, it is applying smoke to foods with little or no heat. (Below 140 degrees Fahrenheit per the FDA) 

There are many reason people cold smoke. Maybe they like to smoke their own cheese. Or maybe they like to "pre-smoke" their meat before they freeze it so when they cook it later the smoke flavor is already infused. 

IT IS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT COLD SMOKING MEAT, IF NOT DONE CORRECTLY, CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS. I do not, as a general practice cold smoke meat for the most part. If I do choose to cold smoke I keep my temperature a bit higher to avoid contamination problems. Meathead from AmazingRibs.com sums it up well with this article: Cold Smoking Meat. What you don't want to do is create a breeding ground for bacteria. This can be done with improper temps and not curing your meats before smoking. 

My personal favorite foods to cold smoke are cheese and nuts. To keep this blog simple, I am going to focus on cold smoking  these items. 

First, you need a way to provide smoke without heat. How do you get smoke without heat you ask? Well, the first way is to have the heat source away from your food but "route" the smoke to the food. If you are the McGuyver type, there are many DIY cold smoke techniques out there. One example is this way: DIY Cold Smoker

If you are like me and can barely use a screwdriver; well, you are in luck! There are products on the market now that make cold smoker so easy. For example, the A-Maze-N Pellet Tubes have been a big hit. Simple put some food grade wood pellets in the tube, light it with a torch and Voila; you have smoke without heat. We sell many different variations of these types of products. 

This happens to be my favorite way of cold smoking. Using these products you can smoke your food in a cardboard box if you want! 

As I mentioned, I love cold smoking cheeses. I just buy my cheese in bulk at a membership club such as Sam's or Costco. I prefer to cut the cheese up in smaller chunks to allow the smoke to fully penetrate the cheese. I place the cheese on a grilling mesh that looks like this:

This allows for easy cleanup and keeps the cheese off of my cooking grids. Once I get my pellet tube smoking, I simply place it in the smoking chamber and let it go. Cheese only takes about 30 minutes to an hour to smoke. Colder days in winter work great for this but not to cold so your cheese does not freeze. The trick is not to have it freeze but at the same time not have it so hot that it "sweats". 

Once you have smoked your cheese (or nuts, or veggies or whatever you choose to smoke), you just place it in zip lock bags and put it in the fridge. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT! Allowing it to sit in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 weeks lets the smoke even out through the cheese and "mellows" the flavor. No one wants to eat cheese that tastes like an ash tray. 

Cold smoking is really just that simple. Remember, cold smoking meats can be very dangerous and is not for the beginner smoker. I suggest trying cheese or nuts first. 

For any questions on cold smoking, please visit us at Colorado BBQ Outfitters and we can assist you with the proper products that will make cold smoking your food not only easy but a palatable outcome. 

Dan

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

Happy New Year!

It has been some time since I have put some thoughts or shared ideas via this blog. It is so easy to get caught up in day to day operations and forget to blog some of my ideas or share new products out there in the barbecue and grilling worlds. I hope to strive to do better in 2016.

Well, another year has passed! I cannot believe that CBO has been in business almost 4 years! First of all, let me thank all of our customers, friends and family for all of their love and support in Colorado BBQ Outfitters. Daren and I are so grateful for the people we have around us. Our business continues to grow each year!

Last year saw sales growth as well as our only competitor closing up shop which certainly helped sales!

2016 brings so many more opportunities for us! First of all, our lease ends in May. We are currently searching for bigger locations to expand to. While initially we were going to stay in the north part of town, we are now thinking of other options such as a bigger location more central or maybe even two locations; one north and one south to accommodate all of our customers in El Paso County and outlying areas. We should have this narrowed down in the next month and will certainly share what we will do with everyone then.

We continue to change out and bring in new products all the time. We are excited to bring in some new lines of grills as well as other accessories to offer more variety to our loyal customers.

I hope to offer more advanced classes as well as maybe some workshops as well on the weekends. We are always looking for new ways to sample our products also.

I am excited to have a new grand opening when we decide where we will be moving and celebrate with everyone. More details to come on that.

Daren and I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season and new year celebration! Let's all look forward to 2016 and the possibilities it will bring all of us.

Dan

Customers are awesome

I get to the store a bit early today and notice a car parked outside and wondering if they are waiting for me to open.

I go ahead and open the store and sure enough she walks up to the door. She asks me if I carry Miner's Mix Wholly Chipotle. Of course we do! She buys 3 bottles because she has come all the way from Pueblo to get it.

We start talking and she tells me she makes the best apple pie crust. Naturally I ask her if she is willing to share her recipe. She not only says of course but proceeds to write it down for me. Her name is Karen and she gives me her phone number in case I have any questions. She is in the store so long that her husband comes in to make sure she is ok. What a sweetheart.

Next a customer comes in riding a Harley. We get to talking about motorcycles and I tell him I had my motorcycle license before my car license. He tells me about the motorcycles he had back in the day that would be worth a fortune now. He is a retired cop from Texas. We talked about good places to get barbecue in town and both agreed that we make the best bbq in town!

While talking with him a lady walks into the store. I ask her if she has any questions and she says she found what she was looking for which was Dizzy Pig seasoning. She had driven down from Parker to get it. She begins to tell me she is from Michigan so I ask here as I grew up there. Come to find out, she is from Tawas City which is a little town about 10 miles south of Oscoda an even smaller town where I spent the 70s. We reminisce for awhile before she says she will definitely be back.

Do I make a lot of money owning my own bbq store. No. Do I get huge tax breaks owning my own bbq store. No. Do I meet the nicest people owning my own bbq store. YES. And that is why I do it.


Dan MacDonald
Colorado BBQ Outfitters

BBQ Myths

This time of year is when customers come in asking about all the crazy things they either heard from great grand pappy or the internet when it comes to barbecue.

The bbq world is full of myths. Some seem feasible while others are just plain ridiculous.

One of my all time favorites is soaking wood in water before you smoke with it. First of all, water does not penetrate wood otherwise we would not have made boats out of wood for centuries. The actual penetration is about 3% according to Meathead of Amazing Ribs.  Secondly, wood will not smoke while it is wet. The moisture will vaporize in the wood but that moisture must evaporate before the wood will actually start to smolder which is where the smoke comes from. So, if you want to prolong the time for your wood to start smoking, then soak it. Lastly, guess what happens to charcoal when you add wet wood to it... it drops in temperature. This could prolong your cook unnecessarily.

Final decision on soaking wood: try it both ways and see which works best since every smoker is different. Chances are, you won't need to soak that wood before your cook. Note: grilling planks are the exception to the rule as they usually sit directly over open flame which will catch the wood on fire. Make sure you soak your grilling planks before putting them directly over fire.

Another great myth is that searing a steak will "lock in the juices". We can thank our good friend Alton Brown for debunking this one. If this were the case, a non seared steak would weigh less after cooking than a seared steak. Studies show us this is not the case. Here is the video proving such: Searing steak myth  Please do not try and get your grill up to 600 degrees F or above to "sear a steak". Chances are you will damage your grill doing this.

This next one isn't so much a myth as the issue isn't as bad as the media would have you think. There have been a few cases of bristles from cheaply made bbq brushes documented. In all cases, the bristles were from either home-made brushes or very cheap brushes. The answer is to use bristle-less brushes or make sure you buy your brushes from a reputable dealer. Here is an example of a bristle-less bbq brush:

Cooking a piece of meat is another common barbecue myth. Again, Meathead from Amazing Ribs debunks this one. According to Meathead, the muscle fibers of meat are way to tight to allow any juices to run down INSIDE the meat during the cook. The juices will keep the outside moist as it will run down and around the meat but not inside. So fat cap up, or fat cap down.. doesn't matter. 

There are many more. Want to find them out? Come in to the store and talk to Dan about them or take one of our barbecue classes. :)

Dan 

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

A chicken treated right, will treat you right!

It's been awhile since I have blogged. Time to get back on the horse!

Today's topic is the beloved chicken. It is an incredibly easy and awesome type of meat to barbecue.

There are a few popular ways to cook a chicken:

1. Whole - usually called "beer can chicken" which eludes to sitting the whole chicken down on a can of beer and then placing it on the grill to be cooked whole. The theory is that the fragrance and steam from the liquid in the can will impart flavor to the chicken. We here at Colorado BBQ Outfitters has a great selection of beer can chicken products.

2. Cut in pieces - most of the "pros" will tell you this is a better way to bbq chicken than whole. It cooks evenly and you are assured usually of doneness. One of my favorite chicken items to smoke and/or cook are wings. Super easy and a big favorite! Colorado BBQ Outfitters carries a wing rack that makes cooking wings a piece of cake!

3. Spatchcocked or Splayed - this involves cutting out the back bone of the chicken and laying it out flat and cooking it that way. One simple method is to splay the chicken and place a foil wrapped brick on it while it is cooking. It will keep it flat and cook it more evenly.

My personal favorite is spatchcocked. I feel it cooks similar to whole but more evenly and thoroughly.

Few tips with regard to grilling/barbequing chicken:
1. Always put any seasoning UNDER the skin between the skin and the meat. The skin acts as a scuba suit so the flavoring on top of the skin will not reach the meat. With two fingers separate the skin from the meat and run your fingers up inside the skin to create a space between. Then stuff your seasoning or whatnot on the meat under the skin.
2. When checking internal temperature, check in three areas: breast, armpit, and thigh. One part of the chicken may be more done than another and we do not want anyone to get sick from your chicken!
3. To get that "golden look" after cooking, you can brush some extra virgin olive oil on the outside of the chicken while cooking.
4. Squeeze oranges or lemons over the skin of the chicken if cooking it over direct heat. This will keep the skin from drying out.
5. Assuming you have cleaned and oiled your grates before cooking, if the chicken sticks, it is not ready to be turned. Give it a few minutes and it will release.

Chicken can be grilled (direct heat) or bbq'd (low and slow heat). It is simple to do and the family will love it!

Add some sauce on the table and enjoy!

Colorado BBQ Outfitters
6850 N. Academy Blvd
719-465-1041