Big Fat Daddy's Famous BBQ Barbecue Barbeque Pit Beef Got Beef? ®

We are All Americans! 2019-2021 Pandemic Recap

2022-02-24T21:01:00.002-05:00

Well, we hadn't posted on this blog in awhile, and we also just found out that our auto-update service was bugged, and all this time we thought you were able to see our Instagram photos for a nice little smile, but the pages were blank, and we are so sorry for that. Here we are sending you a little photo love.

Big Fat Dsddy's From our Instagram

Good help is hard to find these days, but it's a little scary that even digital apps stopped working properly LOL and we apologize for that. As for us, a victory as business we survived through the pandemic, but it has been bittersweet for us, as so many things have changed, and we don't often take time to write our thoughts, This year IS the big 40. Big Fat Daddy's 40 Year Anniversary is fast approaching and what we hope is the start of our final chapter. We survived the pandemic with the help of our local community, as we were forced to morph our food to curbside pickup in lieu of many of our usual 30+ year events having to be cancelled.. We thank all of those who stood by us during that time and got us over the hump. We came up with odd menu items just to make our customers smile. The pizza porker below, had a unique taste, but we ask you what's better than pizza and pork?

We came up with funny meals just to make people smile, like the Pizza Porker!

Sadly, the pandemic has wrecked so many things. The financial impact has been devastating on the small business during the past two years. We've seen so many of our friends in this industry, lose their businesses, bars and restaurants forced to shut down (in some states) never able to regroup. It is sad to see people lose everything they worked for all those years. Not to mention the cost of food and shortages, they exist because of lack of workers to move the product. At one a food company could not deliver to restaurants, because they were trying to fill hospital orders first and did not have the drivers. We had to run to the Restaurant Store, which was limited quantities of items. Even Walmart was out of bleach and almost all of their Dawn, essential items for foodservice.

Who can forget these days? Location: Walmart, Newberrytown PA Pandemic

Due to lack of workforce, many larger companies now being able to pay top dollar to just get people to show up for work, which leaves small mom and pops doing everything themselves. Larger companies like the Big A are probably doing well considering most things we order form home. We urge the small business owner to try to reinvent themselves and ask that you support them in their struggle, because it's real.

Suffice to say, what we can't understand is how some states never shut down at all. Companies were a victim of the state in which they lived. For instance, in Pennsylvania, they may have not survived, but in Florida, they stayed open and are still thriving. Why are the two states so different?

Curbside Caboose : We had to morph with the times.

We've seen the pandemic and subsequent shutdowns impact and break the minds of many people we know, including children. Children who come to the stand are real talkative. They then tell us their story. They told us how they weren't allowed to see their best friends, or others who missed out on graduations, dances, etc. These events are supposed to be some of the happiest times in their lives. How can you make up for this? One child told us his parents were fighting with his teachers about parental rights whether to have control over their children wearing a mask or not. Wow. Out of the mouths of babes. He should be worrying about what game to play, what sports to sign up for, or how good his burger is, but instead his mind is on things he cannot understand. It was heartbreaking to hear the stories. What a mess the whole ordeal has been. Kids have told us that they are having issues with the distance learning and have failed classes because of it. We tell them to stay positive, things will get better. We hope that is the truth.

Vegan Salad, for a catering job.

It kills us to see HOW PEOPLE BROKE. Even the strongest somtimes, the recovered alcoholics who took a tumble off the wagon, ex-smokers start smoking again and the people who used to be straight are addicted to hard drugs. Covid has broken so many people during this pandemic it's not funny. Mentally it is taxing on the mind to wonder if life will ever return to somewhat normal? We sure hope so. Depending on where you live, it has been normal the whole time. More importantly, many have lost loved ones during the pandemic. We hear stories from friends and customers that their loved ones went into a hospital or into a nursing home, and they were not able to visit, only to wonder if they had visited and cheered them on to get better, would the outcome have been different. Many deaths Covid related, and our hearts go out to you.

God Bless America!

We don't have the answers here, we only can tell you that when we go state to state and see the difference in rules and regulations, we can tell it does not make any sense. Some places are living in restricted controlled zones and have had so many mandates on gatherings, masks, etc such as the state our business is in, whereas other states have had nothing to this magnitude. Maybe Dr. Oz has a point...

Which is right, and which is wrong? Perhaps it's up to your personal opinion.

The one big mistake we are all making is hating each other for having different beliefs.

Our hope is you think long and hard about this. We are all Americans. That guy down the street used to come to your cookout, but now you hate him because he has a (insert political candidate name) sign on his lawn. WHY? Because the media wants you to? You should respect his opinion, shake on it, and never talk politics again. Because we are all Americans. One big family here in the USA, and we will have different beliefs. We should not let anything divide us, not color, not race, not religion and not voting preferences or the type of steak we eat (blue, rare, medium, well, burnt to hell, or none at all....)

We do not think the media helps at all. Back when we were starting in business maybe before some of you were born, the TV stations had news which all showed the same events, in full, not edited, often LIVE reported events. In this case, if the President give a speech, you watched the whole news and nothing else, and then you made up your own mind.

America is supposed to be the home of the free, land of the brave. We are made up of all walks of life here, and many people's grandparents came from other countries, moved to America, and now are Americans.

So today we ask that you be brave and call your friend you haven't talked to in two years because you disagreed on something. Be free and stand united with those who don't agree with the same things you do, respect the fact they can have an opinion different than your own. Talk about this fact to each other and your kids, that's it's okay to be different sides, but in the end of the day, WE should stand tall together as you are all Americans. We look forward to the 2022 year in business with lots of changes. We aren't as young as we once were. We welcomed a grandbaby <3 and some of our priorities have changed. We are doing limited events but to look forward to the smiles on your faces. Please remember, we love you all, red, green or blue, and we hope that perhaps in 2022 strengthens the unity of America.

God Bless America! For as f***cked up as some things seem right now, don't be fooled, The United States of America is still the best place on Earth!

Please see our full schedule at BigFatDaddys.com/curbside

Big Fat Daddy’s Instagram Post

2019-05-05T09:10:00.001-04:00

via Instagram I am pleased to share this event which had been a local event for us for “decades”. Rob and Lucy Wood’s @spoutwoodfarm Faerie Festival had brought smiles to so many children’s faces bringing a world of imagination alive all in the while promoting an eco friendly zero waste life! Now with all endings as you know come new beginnings so here it is : This new Summer Solstice festival has emerged. It will be in my hometown of Baltimore folks and I am happy to be a part of it and raise money for a good cause - see you there with my famous crab bowls and beef delicious food . Bring your kids and tell some friends to make this event a success ! For more info check out @marshypointnaturecenter http://marshypoint.org or http://spoutwood.org see you June 22-23rd 2019. Let the magic begin... . . . . #fairy #faerie #faeries #renaissancefestival #renaissancefestival #cosplay #cosplaygirl #cosplaysexy #fairyfestival #festival #baltimore #baltimoreevents #events #eventspaces #june #happenings #festival #festivals #compost #zerowaste #nature #dressup #markyourcalendar #foodie #food #festivals #festivales #baltimoreeats #baltimorecounty #parents #baltimorefaeriefaire #ecofriendly

Big Fat Daddy’s Instagram Post

2019-05-04T12:10:00.001-04:00

via Instagram

Big Fat Daddy’s Instagram Post

2019-05-04T11:10:00.003-04:00

via Instagram Big azzz Texas Burgers all angus meat here no fatty shrinkage ... maybe the next guy is selling frozen but absolutely Not here.... healthy red meat fresh patted dabbed w my special dry rib and off to you on a #brioche roll. Yummy Yummy in your tummy! Coming to a town near you! . . . . #meat #angus #burger #burgers #cheeseburger #cheeseburgers #delicious #food #foodporn #foodie #foodiesofinstagram #foodgasm #foodphotography #breakfast #burgerfest #hamburger #foodiegram #bigfatdaddys #big #beef #beefeater #healthyfood #carnivore #bigass #lunch #lunchtime

Steamed Crabs in Baltimore Instagram BigFatDaddys Natty Boh

2019-03-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

Steamed Crabs and Natty Boh : Baltimore Tradition

Sure has been a long time since I posted. I have a slew of pictures I will be posting to my instagram soon. It's quicker and easier for me to use my @BigFatDaddys Instagram on the road . I hope you will follow me!

Recently I took my daughter out for crabs at Mr. Bill's Terrace Inn in Baltimore for steamed crabs. I have been going there as long as I can remember. They always have great steamed crabs, with the Old Bay put on heavy but it's good.
In fact, it's hard to get good crabs this time of year with demand for Mardi Gras, etc.

View this post on Instagram

Crabs , Steamed Crabs, From Baltimore Hon. This is how we do it...loaded with @oldbay_seasoning .... ... Crack! Pick! Eat! Drink! Talk! Repeat! .... Shout out to anyone who loves seafood or Baltimore tag them below! ... Crabs from Mr. Bills Terrace Inn , Baltimore County MD. <essex> I was lucky to get good crabs because of this time of the year. . . . . #seafood #baltimore #diningroom #dinner #maryland #baltimore #eats #crabs #steamedcrabs #♥️ #food #foodie #east #marylandcrabs #dinnerdate #baltimorecounty #restaurant #oldbay #oldbayseasoning #rocksalt #seasoning #yum #foodporn #foodphotography

A post shared by Big Fat Daddy's (@bigfatdaddys) on Mar 2, 2019 at 5:45pm PST

xxxxx

For those of you who aren't East Coast steamed crab eaters, I guess the best part of eating steamed crabs is the talking and picking. It is a THANG that you have to get used to.

Your hands will get dirty,
You will have crab seasoning all over you (and your shirt, and probably your chair leaving you wondering how did it get on my chair?)
Even after washing your hands you will smell like crabs after (use some lemon based soap to kill this)
You will be thirsty, so drink plenty of water after eating crabs before you go to bed. This is due to the rock salt and Old Bay seasoning which contains salt.
While eating crabs in Baltimore, try some Natty Boh, it's a tradition!

Mostly eating steamed crabs in Baltimore is a tradition. It brings family together and cherished time to catch up on busy life.

I would love for you to visit my steamed crab posts below on Instagram, and tell me where is your favorite spot in Baltimore? I have even in the past enjoyed Crab Quarters in Essex and The Barn in Parkville, but haven't even been there in ages or know if they still have crabs.

The crabs above were in my opinion more like a medium in the old days, but they were sold as large, for $75/dozen. They were packed full of meat and a lot of picking but good and delicious.

I remember the days when crabs were $35 a dozen in the 80's but now expect to pay $90 and up for Jumbo or really large crabs.

For a Baltimore foodie, real love is steamed crabs.

View this post on Instagram

me and my beautiful daughter Liz. always take time out for family! its easy to get caught up in work but family time is quality time . had dinner at Bills Terrace Inn in Bmore that’s one of my fave eating spots ! best crabs ever ! . i am so proud of her🤩 hard worker in food like her dad lol😘 she manages a restaurant 🍎🍉🍒🍅 and has a real talent for painting👩‍🎨 she just started teaching paint classes anyone in baltimore should check her out @peacelovepaint01 and take a class . . . yes yes that IS a #bulldog tshirt . when is the last time u hugged your daughter? #wordsofwisdom —->do it more often . #daughter #daughters #fatherdaughterdance #father #fatherdaughter #love #family #familyguy #baltimore #bully #familytime #instalove #dinnerdate #familylife #familytime👪

A post shared by Big Fat Daddy's (@bigfatdaddys) on Mar 1, 2019 at 4:50am PST

Big Fat Daddy's featured in the New York Journal

2017-06-27T18:38:00.000-04:00

Special Thanks to the NY Journal blog for posting an article on Big Fat Daddy's. Looks like they seen Wayne Schafer, owner, on Let's Talk Live......this article is mostly true, back in the days before Food Network's shows and internet craze, back when the internet was on Dial-Up, Steven came eating our small roadwide stand and the rest was history. Back in that day, a newspaper, or magazine like Saveur could change your world. It did ours. Thanks so much to our New York Roots meaning those who helped us along the way! Although we have never attended a fair or festival in the Big Apple, it is our hope one day to do so!

Article: http://thenyjournal.com/big-fat-daddys-pork-bbq-grew-new-york-roots

2017-06-26T18:51:00.000-04:00

Recently Wayne went to Los Angeles to discuss possible franchising of Big Fat Daddy's as shown here in the LA Journal! Currently founder Wayne Schafer retains all rights to Big Fat Daddy's and there are no franchises....yet....

In case you didn't know, Big Fat Daddy's spent 30 years in Baltimore, originally starting as a roadside restaurant specializing in Pit Beef....soon taking the show on the road. Now Wayne Schafer's enterprise is located in Manchester, PA. Unfortunately, t closed to the public! This multi acre property encompasses a private catering kitchen, pit master compound and office space tucked quietly away in a countryside setting. Wayne does fairs, festivals, food vending, special appearances, pit master classes and catering events.

Specializing in :
Barbecue
Pork BBQ
Texas Beef
Ribs and Platters
Roasted Corn
and everything you need to make your guests smile!

Need to book us? Text or call today! 410.908.9241

Big Fat Daddy's Sweet BBQ Pork Rub Recipe Let's talk Live

2017-06-05T05:45:00.000-04:00

Check it out!

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tbs cumin
1/2 cup kosher salt
3 tbs smoked paprika
2 tbs white pepper
1 tbs mustard powder
2 tbs honey powder
2 tbs cinnamon
Stir gently

Big Fat Daddy's Famous Pit Beef

2017-05-25T16:46:00.000-04:00

Famous pit beef, how good is this? +Big Fat Daddy's ©BigFatDaddy's

Big Fat Daddy's famous pit beef goes through a five step process before it hits your tummy. Wayne is careful in his meat selection. Although many articles are written that we use top round, indeed we do not. Our special selection of meat is cut into small quadrants (always the same way for years) and marinated several days in our famous dry rub seasoning.

Our seasoning is all natural and made in small batch quantities, fresh spices which contains no anti-caking agents. Dry rubbing keeps the flavor in. The pieces are then refrigerated for safe keeping.

They are braised and cook over high heat, general a fire box or barrel smoker, using wood. More keys are that wood is used to add the smokey taste, never a smokey additive or seasoning. Wayne currently uses oak and apple, peach and some others.

Pit beef seared and bursting with flavor only at ©BigFatDaddy's

The flavorful hunks are turned constantly over high heat, searing the outside making a nice "bark" yet sealing in the flavor. The insides are medium rare to rare.

The next step is the resting process where the meat is resting in order to retain the medium rare on the inside and well done on the outside. This we have implemented highest quality standards to ensure all HACCP procedures are being met, before we slice it paper thin.

Big Fat Daddys famous pit beef ©BigFatDaddy's

At the festival you will see it going on the grill medium rare, but doesn't take long to hit well done. It doesn't matter, the meat is so flavorful you will enjoy it on our subs including having it cheesesteak style with yummy peppers and onions.

Big Fat Daddy's has been doing pit beef for over 35 years, and is considered an expert in dry rub seasoning.

Call us to book your company party or catering event today!
410-908-9241
Cindy

2017-05-01T18:55:00.000-04:00

Shout out to our friends and family who helped us with the Interstate BBQ Festival. Wannabe Pennsylvania Pitmaster Austin was onsite posing behind the camera to get his photo taken. Austin works full time with his dad designing plastic parts, but on the weekends he likes to cook up some q....The photographer over at Herald Mall Media has some great BBQ photos for sale, go to this link to snag one: Herald Mall Media News

Big Fat Daddy's Catering Food Vendor

2016-05-20T09:22:00.001-04:00

Big Fat Daddy's Ferrante' Sweet Rope Sausage

It's been awhile. This season is off to a wet start! Blah! We have had rain and snow on weekends in April and May and we are hoping for some dry sunshine! Here are some recent photos from us grilling it up at events!

We can set up stands at your event, rain or shine!

Rain or shine we'll get the food ready for your catering event or show on time! Don't forget we cater to large parties in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and more!

Grilling Lamb for Gyros / Pit Lamb

Smoking Turkey Legs

Call us for a free quote today! 410-908-9241 (Business Inquiries Only)

The Colossal CrabCake w/ Pit Beef on Food Network

2015-09-16T09:09:00.001-04:00

@noahcappe and @BigFatDaddys enjoying The Colossal tonight on @CookingChannel 10pm EST #CarnivalEats pic.twitter.com/6VVgwWygq8
— Carnival Eats (@CarnivalEats) September 10, 2015

You can watch Wayne's 2nd appearance on Cooking Channel's Carnival Eats showing Noah Cappe how to make the Colossal Got Beef? Crab Cake......airing now on Season 2. If you missed the first episode don't worry, you can see it from Silver Dollar to Brandywine...

TUNE IN

September 17, 2015 3:00 PM
September 20, 2015 7:00 PM
September 26, 2015 2:30 AM
September 26, 2015 10:30 PM

Pit Beef Baltimore's Barbeque BBQ Barbecue

2015-07-01T08:54:00.000-04:00

Aside from putting my watermark, this photo remains untouched.

Big Fat Daddy's Famous Pit Beef

Back before the days of Dine in Diners and Dives, Steven Raichlen (Primal Grill, The Barbecue Bible) came to my pit beef stand, which was a tiny restaurant housed on Route 40 in Rosedale for a sandwich. The printed publicity in newspapers and magazines that followed pretty much changed everything. Back in those days pit beef stands were everywhere.

I use the whole flank of bottom round.

A pit beef stand is basically an oversized barn type building that grills the grub inside and serves you at the window. My late brother Brian & I We took it a step further to ensure customers were cozy in the winter. They used to sit in our oversized heated tent and get our free salad bar in cold Baltimore winters. Our meal deal back then cost $5.25, you got a nice sandwich, fries, a drink and all you can eat salad bar. Believe it or not that was high priced compared to other places, and we did a lot of business. I still use bottom round for the most part, as it

The important part is the dry rub.

Pit Beef

My pit beef is grilled and seared over hardwoods at high temperatures yet the key is the dry rub marination process. I have a dry rub guide here. You must have a professional meat slicer to slice it paper thin, pile it high on a kaiser bun. Top with bbq, horseradish or a mix of horseradish and mayo, and thinly sliced white onions. Oh yeah, this is Baltimore's version of Barbecue.

Big Fat Daddy's rare Pit Beef Sliced Paper Thin

Side Dishes

Fries go great with pit beef, for a healthy alternative you can find out how to make delicious sweet potato fries.

How to Make Pit Beef:

Whole Hog on the Myron Mixon Smoker MMS48

2015-06-23T00:42:00.000-04:00

Whole Hog Slider pulled from the hog.

Whole Hog on the Myron Mixon Smoker

Well as you know when I got my Myron Mixon smoker this past winter and I did seven meals over the course of two weeks. I really tried to find something that the Smoker wasn't good at, and I failed. I'm being honest when I say this smoker you can't go wrong. I really think the water technology can save even the worst cook out there. So far I've posted about Turkey, Stuffed Lobster, and Myron's Bacon Wrapped Chicken recipe. My fourth meal was whole hog.

Now, I wasn't going for pretty and garnish, I wanted to process it and eat it. This swine was from the local butcher shop. When ordering hogs, you can get skin or or off. Usually they need a week or so notice. Additionally whole hog is sweet tasting and when you cook it fresh there is no comparison. I pumped him full of injection before I smoked him, which kept him moist inside.

It held the hog perfectly.

I put a new log on about every 45 minutes to maintain temps. The pig stops are a nice addition.

The ribs looked so good....almost ready.

Processing the hog is easy, the meat falls off the bones and is pink from smoking. Bark gives good flavor. I added some of my favorite BBQ sauce.

I made Pork Nachos!

Fresh Hog BBQ Sandwiches

The hog literally started frozen weighing in about 70 lbs but yielded me much less actual pork, total yield about 20 pounds of pulled pork plus the ribs. I picked him clean. Now, you can freeze your pork in air tight bags and it will keep the fresh flavor for months.

Now, I don't just eat barbecue and hogs. I try to balance my diet in many ways eating fresh fruits, salads and veggies along the way. I even use My Yogurt Maker to make fresh yogurt.

Got Beef? ® Big Fat Daddys Crabcake Cooking Channel Filming

2015-06-17T13:33:00.001-04:00

Filming with Noah Cappe for Food Network's Carnival Eats Season 2

Food Network Filming

I finished up filming for my second appearance on Food Network's Carnival Eats with host Noah Cappe. Alibi Entertainment produces this show for them. This time I was at the Brandywine Strawberry Festival and offered a new dish I created, the Colossal Got Beef ?® Crabcake. As you know I was filmed on Season 1 for my Famous Crab Dip.

Filming Area. Lots going on.

Carnival Eats Filming Notification

My Colossal Got Beef? ® Crab Cake

This new concoction, my friends is a Maryland Style Crabcake topped with my famous dry rubbed pit beef, bacon, provolone, cheddar and Famous Crab Dip. A burst of flavors in your mouth means you get to taste all the famous foods I offer in one: Pit beef, Crab Dip and Crab Cake. These were a big hit this year at the festival and I had a hell of a time filming.

Maryland Crabcake Big Fat Daddy's Style

Pit Beef - Bottom Round w/ Marbling

My hot crab dip on top this new cake is delicious.

The segment took a few hours to film, it was hotter than a hot buttermilk biscuit on a warm sunny day even though we started early. I was tired from working so much and had to say a little camera shy. Noah and the film crew are simply great, Spencer and team are great to work with.

Horsing Around with Noah Cappe

Noah, Spencer from Alibi Entertainment and Joe Arvay from Brandywine

A lot of people call and ask why I don't have a restaurant anymore and get upset they have to follow me to the fairs and festivals to try my food. When I first started I did. The Big Fat Daddy's Famous Pit Beef (shack) was a restaurant on Route 40 in Baltimore, back then my brother and I worked crazy hours seven days a week. After all the publicity trying to get the restaurant to keep running and do fairs, festivals and catering was too much.

Boss : Wayne Schafer

I'm glad that Alibi had me back on the second year of Carnival Eats. Look for my episodes:

Season 1 Viva Vienna!
Season 2 Brandwyine Strawberry Festival

Carnival Eats airs on Food Network's Cooking Channel, Thursdays at 10PM EST, but you can find a full schedule here. In case you don't know about the show, they go from Festivals to Fairs in search of the best and most unique foods. Some include five star recipes, or totally unthinkable creations. They tape in US and Canada so seeing regional foods is interesting.

This post was sponsored by Elite Merchant Capital, who has great Restaurant Business Financing and Restaurant Equipment Loans. They can help you get a restaurant loan or applicable financing!

Here's some more sneak peaks and outtakes!

Woops! Noah has me laughing. I am supposed to be looking up!

I think Noah is stuck !

Thanks to Noah for keeping me on point.

*Noah Cappe is also "Derek" in the Good Witch on the Hallmark Channel.

Fun w/ @noahcappe #filming @CarnivalEats @CookingChannel @FoodNetwork Thurs @ 10pm #sneekpeak->http://t.co/WCX1xkM1C9 pic.twitter.com/x5uI5L61us
— Wayne M. Schafer (@BigFatDaddys) June 17, 2015

Big Fat Daddy's Vintage Baltimore Pit Beef Signs

2015-03-06T16:22:00.000-05:00

Signs, Signs, everywhere there's signs. Big Fat Daddy's Throwback Signs.

Circa 1990's, before the days of the internet surge or days of Food Network, Big Fat Daddy's restaurant was, in fact, a wooden shack located on Route 40 in Baltimore back in the day. In those days we were part of Pit Beef Row--there was three of us. Chaps, Big Al's and Big Fat Daddy's. I thought I'd tell you a story and show you some signs.

Vintage old Big Fat Daddy's signs were restored by original artist DoLoBo, Baltimore.

Location, Location, Location!

Coming down Route 40 (Pulaski Highway) from the North headed to the City, you'd first see us on the right outside of Little Texas Bar and Nightclub, right before the intersection of Chesaco. We had a nice size parking area and were a tiny shack. If you continued onward, you would then pass Big Al's on your right, and then finally Chaps on the left . Chap's is the sole survivor of Pit Beef Row, still sitting in front of the Gold Club (Gentlemen's Lounge.)

Got Wood?

Both of the other "pit beef stands" made nice with Baltimore City Paper and we did not--we managed to royally piss them off. Didn't matter though, because Steven Raichlen came eating and who needed the City Paper when we had the New York Times?

After my brother died, I found the original flap to our building being used as a shelf. Artist Unknown.

Back in the day you could get a Big Fat Daddy's Meal Deal (Sandwich, Fries and regular size Drink for only $5.25). People loved it. Of course we pushed the upsize which would run you as much as $6.50, but for upsizing drink and fries, not a bad deal at all. Taking it a step further, we decided to include the free fixin's salad bar with all meal deals. This is where we had a covered salad bar with the day's special salads free for you. Whether it was my redskin potato or Brian's delicious penne' pasta, you never knew what you would get.

Original Sign from 1980's Concessions

Funny story, Brian threw up a big heated tent to keep up in the winter, and especially so we could keep the year round salad bar that came with all meal deals. An "Anonymous Tip" called the county on us saying our tent was not permitted, (it was temporary right?) and $20,000 in legal fees later we figured out that you had to get a permit to keep, even a temporary structure up all the time. (WOOPS) The tent stayed, and we maintained our little shack and our notoriety grew. Brian and I couldn't see eye to eye on things, and fast forward to after the pit beef stand days, I ended up taking full control of my company back.

Reminders of the Past

It was a little strange after Brian died finding our old flap being preserved all those years. Brian had taken the flap with him when he left the location, and obviously cut it up and flipped it upside down

to make shelves.

The stand remains and now sells Crabs and Pit Beef, it's called the Cookout.

Thanks to Baltimore Artist DoLoBo who has done signs for me over the years.

DoLoBo & Sign Credits

Baltimore Artist DoLoBo painted and restored our little signs , one of which is now on display at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.

The building flap was painted by someone who stopped in needing some quick cash for the day. We didn't catch his name. The Onion Ring sign was painted by some chick I used to know. The below bird was painted by my wife.

Speaking of tweets, did you see that I am doing BigFatDaddys.Marketing

Wifey is helping.

PIT BEEF VIDEO:

Canned Crab Meat For Cream of Crab Soup Chicken of Sea Wins

2015-03-01T22:09:00.001-05:00

My Cream of Crab Soup Where's the Lumps?

What about Canned Crab Meat?

I live in Baltimore, Hon. Baltimore is to Crab like peanut butter is to jelly. Much to your surprise crabs aren't running as good here as they once were. They've been over extracted and summertime steamed crabs are often running out of the South or South West. If you ask the local restaurants where the crabs are running (when they are mighty large in the summer), back in the day they used to say "Bush River" . Now they say "Somewhere off the Louisiana Coast". What? Yikes.

So now enter winter, and you wonder how local restaurants keep up with their Maryland Crab Soup and Cream of Crab soup, and of course Crab Dip. Do you think everything they use is fresh? Speaking as a former restaurant owner myself, I would be lying to you if I said I didn't use canned for certain soups. This is of course based on supply and demand.

When it is OK to use Canned Meat?

Here's my take on it. Nothing beats cracking open a steamed crab and pulling out the jumbo cluster of backfin and tasting that fresh crab. If we could duplicate that in every meal, we'd be doing okay.

Realistically speaking it can't happen. There's too much demand and not enough supply, hence most seafood companies will even list on their website "our partners" which mean if you read close you can find out what international countries they get their crab from.

Unfortunately, when buying fresh or canned crab meat it's hard to find authentic blue crab anymore. Unless you travel to Maryland's Eastern Shore, and find the old time pickers who may still package fresh tasty blue crab in a plastic container , and some who do supply local chain stores, you may as well face it, it's all mind over matter.

First of all, understand there's really a simply heiarchy of meat, but even Van Camps Chicken of the Sea has created so many categories now it's so subjective and confusing. Here's all the different types of crab meat in cans I've encountered.

Colossal (Largest Clusters)
Jumbo Lump (Large Cluster)
Super Lump (what?)
Lump (Truly this is Backfin)
Backfin??? In some cases Companies put backfin here...below the lump..what a racket.
Special (White Meat)
Claw (Sweet Claw Meat, not white in color)
Cocktail Claw (Specialty Markets)

Colossal or Jumbo Lump, is most often used for presentation only and it's wise to do so. Nothing looks better than a huge cluster decorating a fancy dinner plate, or seeing clusters in crab cakes. For a five star establishment, this is a must. Many restaurants who try to downgrade often have customers complaining they are using "filler" in their crab cakes when in fact they are most likely using Special or Lump, which isn't really Lumpy anymore and can look just like bread or crackers when smushed together. The lumps and special may taste exactly the same flavor palette, however, your mouth will know the difference when biting into a huge lump vs a pile of pulled broken meat. As they say, appearance is everything.

Therefore, in the past I, and many restaurants I know often make their Maryland Crab Soup or Cream of Crab soup with Special or Lump (and canned at that); adding a pinch of fresh or canned colossal on top for show. If someone's digging around in my Cream of Crab soup above, looking for giant chunks, chances are they won't find it. This is where the "sprinkle on top" comes in. Most cakes must have Jumbo Lump or Colossal for look and texture.

Problem with pasteurized cans is the fine print (where it's wild caught from). The wonderful Maryland Cream of Crab you just bought in that restaurant in Baltimore is actually made in Maryland with Vietnam crab meat, say what? It's true. But this is again, mind over matter. I bet you don't mind when you order that cup of Maryland Crab in a restaurant near Annapolis and it tastes so great, you don't even mind when you just devoured crab from Indonesia. Oh shush, it was delicious wasn't it?

Why you Should and Should Not Whine About Pasteurized Can Meat

Pasteurized, the crab has been cooked at high temperature to preserve it. I hear a lot of people upset over this but let's face it, when we eat steamed crabs they are cooked right? And loaded with rock salt and Old Bay salty seasoning on top (yum) that will make our blood pressure rise. But hey, I don't hear any complaints over that. Pasteurization is not the issue.

Maybe you're upset because it's not real blue crab but some form of Indonesian beast. I guess you have a good point there, but taste may not differ that much.

Now the real killer enter Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate which is added into the cans to preserve the color. This my friends is the problem. This article on Livestrong explains, "Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate is acidic in nature and may be very hazardous upon skin or eye contact, inhalation or ingestion, causing severe inflammation".

WHAT? And my friends wonder why their gout blows up after eating seafood...hmmmm

Lump is not What it Used to Be. Can you tell which is lump?

I'm going to whine about Lump or Backfin which has really taken a down turn for the worse. You can go to a food or seafood show and see nice size lumps in their lump, but I've been finding a quality problem when I get canned lump. Now I'm not saying it's every manufacturer, but it happens to me a lot and I do switch around to try different canned goods. Why use canned? Taste sometimes is subjective. Most has no taste to it, hence the food and Old Bay or whatever you are adding it into, carries the taste.

Canned : Left: Van Camps SPECIAL $11.99* vs Sebastian LUMP $12.99

WOW. A dollar difference in grades? On the left we have Van Camps Special which I got at the local store for $11.99. It does not say where it is from, yet Chicken of the Sea is the brand, they are old and trusted, and you have to love the mermaid right? She's hot. Especially in her vintage days.....

I love this meat and I was not paid to say this.
Find the Mermaid and more products here: Chicken Of the Sea Website

The Sebastian is Lump, a grade higher (or is it) and clearly labeled that it was made in China. It was packaged by Bonmar, Florida, and ran me one buck more. I prefer the taste of the Van Camp's anyday even though it's a grade less. It is not really that much different in texture. Although the Van Camps' does not say where it is from, truth is it's

Therefore, I will next time go to the local store, I'll stay with Van Camps if they have it. Also on the Chicken of the Sea website, they have Blue Swimming Crab...that is authentic blue crab, and should have a sweeter taste.

Van Camp's is based Headquarters in San Diego, California, and factory in Lyons, Georgia. The sister company Chicken of the Sea Frozen foods is also based in California. If you are confused as to whether they make the famous Van Camp's baked beans read this whole Chicken of the Sea history.

Claw

Truth is, the Claw is the most sweetest in taste. I use it in my Famous Crab Dip. Adding Claw to any of your special dishes will give you a sweet crabby taste.

Tweet me and maybe I'm share my Cream of Crab Recipe. @BigFatDaddys

Crab Dip Yum

Note: I wasn't paid for this post or compensated in any way. It's a product I use and love and wanted to weigh in on my blog. I do campaign for companies and if so I clearly label when I've been paid or compensated. If you're a company and need help, find out how I can help you at Bigfatdaddys.marketing

Further Reading:

Seafood Lady Orlando : About Pasteurized Crab Meat

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Myron Mixon Smoker

2015-02-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed With Italian Sausage

As my previous posts indicated I put my Myron Mixon MMS-48 smoker to the test. I debated a long time before going with a "box smoker" when I have always used open pits, barrel smokers or drums. I've had a great time smoking all kinds of things on regular old charcoal pits and this is what I've made a living doing. Well, I tested the Myron Mixon onto 7 meals in two weeks and a wide range of dishes. I have to say, I'm totally pleased.

Using dry rubs is key. See my dry rub guide.

I modified Myron's bacon wrapped smoked sausage recipe from his book "Smokin' With Myron" with my favorite Italian Sausage, and wow, I was impressed. I went to the butcher in town to get some fresh bacon, not the store bought in packs. Country bacon from the butcher is larger, wider, and thicker.

I have also made this same recipe on my Weber Kettle, and well, the chicken (even if wrapped) on most of pits would come out dry. Here, it was just melting in your mouth with moisture thanks to the technology of the H20 Smoking Technology on the MMS-48 smoker. The recipe is easy, prep time is fast, and as you can see I made sure to use a little of my got beef ? ® dry rub.

My original Big Fat Daddy's got beef ? ® dry rub

I tried three at a time, they were pretty large chicken breasts and large butcher bacon.

Well they came out moist and delicious on the first try. Even the sausage had a smoke ring to it which surprised me, since it was tucked inside. Eating one of these bad boys will fill you up. And you get the best of pork and chicken in your mouth all at once. What's not to love?

Can you say yummo?

Want to see the other dishes I've made so far? Start here at Myron Mixon Smoker Review and stay tuned.

Make sure to check out our Lookbook of Got Beef ? ® official designs for 2015 here:

Big Fat Daddy's Got Beef ? ® Lookbook for 2015

Pic: gotbeef.com

Stuffed Lobster Imperial Myron Mixon Smoker MMS-48

2015-01-17T14:59:00.001-05:00

If you read my previous post, about me getting a Myron Mixon Smoker for Christmas, you'd know I put my smoker to the test, cooking up a wide range of seven meals in 14 days and quite frankly; I am impressed. This is an honest review, I wasn't paid for it. In fact I paid to take Myron's cooking class and that's when I first fell in love with his Myron Mixon Smokers. You can see me in the land of his smokers here in this post.

Lobster Selection here was not good. I settled upon some frozen Jumbo Tails.

I debated getting an enclosed box smoker for a long time. I was considering a Mixon, a Backwoods, and even the Stumps. For me, I'm used to cooking on open pits or even oil drums, so the move to a box smoker is a real stretch and one that I had to contemplate. Yet my wife made the decision for me getting one for Christmas.

For this second meal, I wanted to try smoking some Lobster stuffed with Crab Imperial. I wasn't happy with the Maryland selection; hey, it's winter what can you do? When I'm in Maine lobsters are everywhere, and in fact getting fresh lobster is easy and right down the road. You can't beat the taste and they are so fresh. In Pennsylvania, finding fresh is a bit harder. I had to settle for frozen large lobster tail this time of year but for the experiment, I didn't mind.

Maryland Steamed Crabs, ate these recently; probably from Louisiana.

My mom was raised on the Eastern Shore so I'm big into seafood (thus my crab dip on Food Network recipe). My wife grew up eating steamed crabs every week....her uncle used to sell lump crab meat from the Eastern Shore. It's a Maryland thing I guess. Most of Maryland's winter steamed crabs aren't from Maryland at all but from warmer climates.

I basically just cut one slit into the shell, pulled out the meat in a butterfly fashion.

After my tail thawed I had to butterfly it and mix up some crab imperial. You don't want to mix your meat too much or it will break up. For this I got lump meat, but again, when you're in winter months you get what you can get. Always opt for jumbo lump. Here is my recipe, which is similar to most you will find on the web although I use dill and butter--the latter which; as it cools, will keep your imperial together.

Wayne's Awesome Imperial for your Lobster Recipe:

1 lb lump crabmeat (prefer jumbo lump)

½ cup Heavy Mayo

3 Pinches of Old Bay Crab Seasoning

1/2 tsp dill

pinch parsley flakes

1 large egg (beaten)

1/4 stick of salted butter, melted (add when lukewarm not hot)

1 lemon cut into slices

Mix the above by folding and fluffling, keeping lemon slices to the side. Squeeze lemon on top before, during and after the baking or smoking process.

Note this is not jumbo lump, and folding will cause it to break. Always go with jumbo!

Since I was smoking I wanted to get a head start on the lobster. Lobster is tough and meaty, and so one must remember this will take the most cook time. You don't want it too tough, but I decided to add the imperial about half way point. In actuality, the crab imperial won't take long to cook or smoke at all. If it wasn't for the egg it would be already cooked.

Important to cook tails halfway in this case, as they are so big.

So, the key here is to get a head start on your lobster, of which I squeezed some lemon and sprinkled a little more Old Bay on for good measure. I used a tray lined in foil for easy smoking, instead of a pan.

Enter the power of H20

I have to say overall you cannot duplicate this moistness that ends up in your food, primarily from the indirect heat mixed with Myron's H20 technology. Now in the past I have done stuffed lobster and even crab cakes on direct heat cooking them on Webers and my huge pits. They have come out good, I wasn't impressed with the smokey flavors that the Weber trapped under it's lid and gave my meat a smokey taste.

Smoking Lobster Tails

I wish I could give you a time but since lobster tails vary in size I can only say when your tails are about half way done you will see a huge difference in the texture of the meat appear less slimy and raw and more white. When said lobster meat reaches about 155 and is almost done, you can then top them with your imperial and go til 165 internal for safe measures. Your imperial will turn golden in the process.

Overall my lobster came out great. It was a hint smokey and not overloaded with smoke, and didn't burn or fall apart.

I can't believe this baby was smoked to perfection, and was so easy!

So this was meal two of seven, and I'm pleased. You can physically see the difference in the color of the ones above, and my smoked crabcakes that were done on the direct heat smokers here.

Keep looking for seven meals on the Myron Mixon smoker series. See them all here:

1. Smoked Turkey

2. Stuffed Lobster

3. Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed With Italian Sausage

4. Whole Hog

5. Baby Back Ribs (coming soon)

6. Brisket (coming soon)

7. Cupcake Chicken (coming soon)

Make sure to check out my got beef? store.

Myron Mixon Smoker MMS-48 Review Turkey Meal One of Seven

2015-01-12T12:03:00.002-05:00

Practicing some grub on the Myron Mixon Smoker

Myron Mixon Smoker Review

I've been getting a lot of questions on how , or if am liking my Myron Mixon Smoker. Well, I'm going to tell you the honest truth: I have put it to the test with 7 completely different meals and I am going to show you that it kicked ass all 7 times.

1. Smoked Turkey

2. Stuffed Lobster

3. Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed With Italian Sausage

4. Whole Hog

5. Baby Back Ribs

6. Brisket

7. Cupcake Chicken

First, you must understand, that I've always been a direct heat man, and will continue to use my big pits on the road, at fairs, and festivals, the crowd watches me cook and flip my meat. I have cooked some mighty good meals on direct heat and I'm not knocking it.

In my heart for three decades I've been hell bent on thinking real barbecuing was all about flipping and grilling your meats, the showmanship of it all, and maybe I used to think that cooking in a sealed box was cheating. Well, it only takes a few meals to set your mind straight. I have cooked these seven same meals on my direct heat smokers vs. the Myron Mixon indirect heat H20 smoker and well, the Myron Mixon Smoker wins hands down.

The main difference, is although the flavor profiles will come out close, the juice that your meat retails is unreal. It melts in your mouth and stays moist. Even the worst cook ever can turn out something he or she will be pleased with in one of these beauties.

The basic 48" H20 smoker runs $4995 and is worth every penny. Mine has some upgrades, custom paint, pig stoppers and extra flat rack. My wife found out Jimbo in Florida who runs The Cove Barbeque Company wanted to off his Mixon. He had ordered it in July, with lots of upgrades, yet Jimbo cooks on a big direct heat Lang, and for him he needed something a little bigger. That's okay, his loss was my gain and so my wife got it for me for Christmas.

So the first meal I did was Smoked Turkey.

I brine my turkey prior to smoking. My brine is simple and not too salty.

Brining for two days really put the taste into my turkey. When brining make sure you aren't buying a turkey that has a ton of injected solution into it. The injected solution that some companies use is loaded with sodium and salt. Then you are soaking in brine, loaded with salt and flavoring, and yu may come out with something not so tasty after all. High quality or fresh turkey's won't come pre-injected with tons of sodium solutions.

Three components, butter, and some dry rub make the ultimate turkey seasoning.

I also inject the turkey with a solution of butter, sage and white pepper. Injecting butter has to be hot or your needle will clog. I would advise against the dill in it because it can clog your needle. Here, I basically cooked one stick down to a small pile of sage and a few pinches of Sauer's white pepper.

You can see the butter is now colored with sage and white pepper.

The other of the three key ingredients is above is sweet dill, which I then sprinkle on top with some of my dry rub. I don't want to overdo the rub part, because remember the brine is loaded with salt. Note I just lightly coat the skin with the dry rub....cut up some veggies and it's time to rock. Meanwhile I've got my smoker going.

The Turkey is Ready for the Mixon Smoker

The turkey is ready for the smoker, I did this at 300 degrees and used a Maverick to regulate. I was like a kid in the candy store though, so used to constantly checking my bird and basting it that I kept wanting to do something. Now, I did baste this but only after it made it's own juices. About 1/10 less basting than cooking on direct heat. In actuality, you probably could have done no basting and it would have come out fine, but hey, a man's gotta do something while he's waiting on his food.

Waiting patiently and noticing the juice build up in the pan, great for basting.

Note the bird would make it's own juices, this is from the brine, injection, and natural turkey juices. That is the stuff you baste with to get that golden brown. Oh yeah..

So the internal reached 165 and I was ready to get my bird out.

I let my turkey rest a bit before cutting or slicing. The turkey was juicy, buttery and moist. I decided not to slice but to let the pieces pull of naturally and had the best turkey dinner ever. Literally, you could just pull the turkey off the bone and not have to tug or break it.

Turkey Smoked in the Myron Mixon Smoker Tastes Moist and Juicy

In comparison, I also did one on the Weber, (below) in my classic way. I sit a whole pan on the smoker, basting always, also injected and dry rubbed the same way. Although this bird looked prettier on the plate it wasn't near as moist though . Don't let a picture be deceiving, if you look close on the slices on the left, you can see it was dry and not as moist.

Weber Grill Smoked Turkey: Still Good though Not as Moist

So there you have it. If you cook turkey in an oven or on a direct heat smoker, you know the meat that's under the breast or close to the wing (dark meat) is usually more moist and tender than the rest of the turkey, yet on the Mixon it's all this way.

Go to the stuffed lobster post.

PS This smoker is made in the USA.

Visit the Got Beef ? ® Store, who sponsored this post!

Got Beef? ® with Got Beef T-Shirts Calling Out Trademark Infringement

2015-01-09T14:29:00.001-05:00

This is my authentic Got Beef?® T-Shirt. Most of what you see on the web are fakes.

Got Beef? I do. I wish I was talking about this beef below, which was taken when I was grilling in Virginia, the sun was setting on my grill, and made it look really nice.

Beef on the left. Got Beef?

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about my love for beef brisket , pit beef, or barbecue, and thanks to some crap happening this has prevented me from blogging much lately. My wife and I are in trademark hell. Mainly, as owners of Got Beef ?® as it pertains to housewares or clothing/apparel etc, we've been playing havoc working with our friends, family and crew getting all the counterfeit items off the web.

This one is pretty real.

From a baby onesie to a hoodie, I own the rights -- and I am mortified at some of the items on the web posing as legit. Some are made in china knock offs, others are downright crappy quality, and none are giving me a dime as they profit from my mark. As of last week, my family, friends and team of powerful barbecue lovers successfully got thousands of items (hundreds of items combined with styles and variations equated to thousands) removed from the web and are working on the the rest. Thank Gosh my friend help out in exchange for some great barbecue. Love you guys.

Unless you are purchasing from my sites below, I did not authorize these places to use my mark. Therefore beware of what you are purchasing may be counterfeit, fake, or infringing. None of the items on the web (aside from in my stores) is licensed by me, and I am not getting a penny off of their sales. On top of that, they are burying my own line of products that I have for Big Fat Daddy's thanks to the plethora of items out there on major sites that are showing up in Google Shopping Results.

GotBeef.com is my site, my Big Fat Daddy's websites of course which integrate my Etsy shop items, and you can shop with me on the road too.

Upcoming possible design...

Granted, I understand that a lot of sellers on the web run amuck, that not every large website owner checks what the little guys are selling, so I ask them nicely to remove products infringing on my mark. In case you don't know what it is here it is GOT + BEEF used together in a word of phrase on articles of clothing, housewares and the like. Or, maybe it's easier to visually see it here:

I currently got beef? with got beef!

So usually an email is enough. If not, we have to send letters asking the site owners to remove the merchandise, and normally that's more than enough. Then my legal team gets involved if that's not enough. Some rogue sellers will shut down on one site and crop up on another, so it's constant policing, of which, I have no time for.

Thank goodness most online conglomerates have clear TERMS OF SERVICE that indicate infringement won't be tolerated. I am happy to report 90% of these sites have been more than cooperative in yanking down said infringing items, and advising the stores in question of why. Thank you Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, Spreadshirt, etc.

I was making Texas Chili here made with beef cubes, it's thick and great with cornbread.

Others, unfortunately, have not been so cooperative, after several Cease and Desist letters. On the grounds that it may incriminate me, as things may get ugly in a few weeks, I'm going to have to not answer anymore questions or talk about it until the matter is resolved. I will leave you with a picture that may express how I feel today...

Maybe a good design?

I wanted to thank all my loyal followers and fans for their support. What I did want to say on the record is that you are looking for my authorized items, you can find a list of sites that are able to sell products here.

COUPONS:

Boneless Ribs Pumpkin Sauce Ten Minute Prep Meal

2014-12-15T11:38:00.000-05:00

Boneless Ribs like this are often in family packs.

Boneless Ribs : Ten Minute Prep

Working long hours and traveling a lot leaves little time for dinner prep, so I try to eat healthy and cut out the prep time. I Don't you love dinners with a ten minute or less prep time? I'm going to tell you about a quick and easy meal I love.

Get all the cool foodie decals at MarkedCo on Etsy!

Boneless Ribs W/ Pumpkin Sauce

Somewhere in the pork section you'll often find these boneless ribs in a family pack. They are often a little fatty (and miscut) but suffice to say two racks of the above only cost $6.94, so for a family meal you can't ask for more.

Love this meal, it's a family favorite.

You'll need to prep two things:
-My Zesty Marinade (recipe here) Total time 2-4 minutes
-A Side Salad Total time 5-6 minutes or less.

You will need one additional item:
- Pumpkin Butter

Cook in:
Casserole, Preferably Non Stick. We're using Fiesta Ovenware.

If you're quick at salad, we're talking 8 minute prep or less. Now I am a big fanatic about dry rubbing and pre-marinating, but in this case, I am not doing it. My zesty marinade is formulated to cook right in and make your tongue slap your brain. It's got a zesty bite to it and that's where the cool pumpkin sauce comes in oh yeah.

Throw them bad boys into a non stick pan and pour that marinade all over.

Step One:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and make your zesty marinade. While your oven is heating up whip up your side salad. Now you are about ten minutes in and your oven should be caught up.

Step Two:
Lay your ribs in the casserole, you don't have to be neat, in fact you want to lay them up on edge so when you pour the marinade it goes around them and in between. If you were to layer them perfectly it would be hard getting the marinade down.

Yes, you are drowning them a little. Note how it's in between.

Step Three:
Drown them , using all the marinade you made and making sure it is down in between each rib.

As you cook the ribs will absorb the marinade.

Step Four:
Bake them on 400 degrees for 8 minutes ,then cut back your oven to 350 degrees, temping to see when they are done. Ribs should be 165 inner temperatures. In my house I tend to want to bake them low and slow (as you do with grilling) but the wife hikes them up to 400 and roasts them, and to be honest the marinade keeps them moist and they don't come out half bad.

The top should be crispy, the inside well done but not tough.

So if you wanted to leave them on 400 they wouldn't be as tender, but more crispy, that's up to you. Usually these are done around 40 minutes if you do the 400/350 split. The extra marinade in the bottom of the casserole (if any) can be used as an au' jus.

My secret hack: Pumpkin Butter

Step Five:

Your favorite pumpkin butter will serve as a side dipping sauce. I choose pumpkin butter in this case because I recently visited the Flinchbaugh's Orchard up in Pennsylvania,(read more here - coming soon) and due to the time of year they had lots of this in stock. Of course you could mix this up and do Apple Butter if you prefer, but the pumpkin dipping sauce is out of this world. Five star restaurants and top chefs often incorporate pumpkin dipping sauce in their short ribs or lamb, this is the quick hack for home. You can warm the butter but we didn't. We like it as is.

Behold the pumpkin butter.

Step Six:

Serve it up with a side salad and sit down for a spell. You deserve to enjoy your dinner, don't you think? Leftovers can be reheated and eaten alone as an appetizer, too. Yum!

Dinner is always better with a salad or side of veggies.

Disclaimer: Sometimes I have sponsors who want me to talk about their products or services, or link them in. It was my pleasure adding in Karen from MarkedCo on Etsy,who makes all kinds of cool decals, custom vinyl decals and lots for foodie lovers. It's important for me to personally tell you I have purchased her products and am very pleased. I am happy to endorse her for quality and hip design. She has custom made me decals for my front door at my business, for some artifacts I donated to a museum, and cool labels for my jars. Love her. As you know I support Etsy and small businesses. Buy handmade.

Getting #hungry #OMG #food love it #Etsy https://t.co/pGAD16OYYB I ordered some decals fr her @BigFatDadys of course #gift #foodie #custom
— Wayne M. Schafer (@BigFatDaddys) December 13, 2014

You all know I teach cooking classes now? Check them out PitmasterSchool.com
This post last updated on 12.15.14

GOT BEEF STORE NOW OPEN AT WWW.GOTBEEF.COM

Big Fat Daddy's Inducted by Steven Raichlen

2014-11-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

An old sign from the old Big Fat Daddy's restaurant on Route 40

We haven't had a chance to visit yet, but we would like to give special thanks to old pal Steven Raichlen who inducted Big Fat Daddy's into the Trail of Smoke and Fire's permanent exhibit at NATFAB. For our "Pit Beef" being Maryland's version of BBQ! We sent one of our old original meat slicers down, an old "Order Here" sign and some old jars we used to house our dry rub in. You'll have a great time checking out the exhibit.

Big Fat Daddy's Original Slicer from the Old Pit Beef Stand

Formerly called the Southern Food and Beverage Museum it's now the National Food and Beverage Foundation! The museum itself featured all sorts of Q related foods and is curated by the one and only Steven Raichlen, host of Primal Grill!

Find out more here: Trail of Smoke and Fire Exhibit

Big Fat Daddy's Zesty Marinade Recipe Ribs Chicken Steak

2014-11-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

These boneless ribs come out tender and pack a punch with my Big Fat Daddy's zesty marinade. See how to do this Boneless Country Ribs meal here.

I get asked a lot about basting meats, using marinades or using injections. This is something I do quite frequently and I'm old school, so I believe when doing them "less is more." In my opinion, twenty crappy ingredients won't yield you the same results a few fresh ingredients. I am a firm believer that less ingredients extracted at a higher quality, can produce a better result. Much along the same lines of my dry rub, I feel that marinades really bring out the flavor of your meats.

Juicing your marinades pull out the ingredients in the spices that you would not normally expect.

In this case, I have my original zesty marinade recipe that you can make in small batch quantities at home, but you will need a juicer. This marinade can be applied days ahead of time on you steak, chicken or ribs to marinate in the fridge, or can be used immediately when cooking to produce a zesty flavor full of heat. My wife loves this on her wings.

Ingredients for My Zesty Rib Marinade: REGULAR (7 ingredients)

This will yield enough for one large rack of ribs, or two small racks, a family pack of chicken, one rump roast, a small brisket, or six nice steaks.

2 teaspoons whole mustard seed (Sauer's)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 teaspoon Whole Peppercorn melange' or Peppercorn Medley (Sauer's)
1 slice of a small red onion (fresh)
1 pinch of White Pepper
1 small fresh clove of garlic (Peeled)
1/3 Cup Lite Italian Dressing

or (Use Gluten Free Recipe Here) for Less Zesty Alternative)

2 teaspoons whole mustard seed (Sauer's)
1 tablespoons Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Whole Peppercorn melange' or Peppercorn Medley (Sauer's)
1 slice of a small red onion (fresh)
1 pinch of White Pepper
1 small fresh clove of garlic (Peeled)
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil

Blend the ingredients in a juicer. Not using a juicer will yield you unsavory results. I cannot stress enough how a juicer can take a small piece of food and pull out the flavors you never expected. These ingredients must be juiced until they create a liquid. You will still see small chunks of peppercorns which should now resemble large bits of pepper but no trace of the onion. (see photo above).

You can either:

A) Marinate your meat with this product up to 24 hours in the fridge. The longer you marinade the more overpowering the peppers and garlic will become. I usually do not go over 24 hours but my wife marinades wings up to 48 hours in this, and they are good.

B) Pour over your meat when baking using 3/4 of the product up front, and 1/4 of the product nearing the end of your cook time as a brush on baste, or dribble baste.

For grilled products, you will want to use 3/4 of the marinade as in step A, but save 1/4 of the product as a last minute baste. You must remember the oil in the dressing will speed up the browning process so using A.

YOU MAY LIKE:
You can see this marinade on Boneless Country Ribs with Pumpkin Butter Ten Minute Prep here

also did you know that shopping with CF Sauer online gives you free shipping over $25 in spices? They are my sponsor and you should enjoy theirYou can also nab some of the great Sauers recipes here.

Hey, we're working on some new icons, do you like them?

Big Fat Daddy's is celebrating over three decades of catering, fairs and festivals therefore, we thought it only right to vintage up our blog a little. Here is an old child's learning game!

Welcome to the fair! Made of wood is always good!

This post last updated 12.15.14

Big Fat Daddy's Tour For Grilling Gurus

2014-10-26T11:42:00.000-04:00

This Just In!

Big Fat Daddy's has joined the York Pennsylvania Convention and Visitor's Bureau. But that's not all. The secret is out, we are a 2015 Visit York Pennsylvania Factory Tour Stop! Many people do not realize Pennsylvania is the Factory Tour Capital of the World, housing old businesses and highlighting industry. We are one of the rare Mom and Pop tour stops which highlights grilling and barbecue! As you may or may not know, Big Fat Daddy's roots are strong in Baltimore, but after three decades in Maryland we made the move to PA several years ago!

The 3000 square foot compound used to be home to a construction company and land developer.

We now call this "The Compound", a 3000 sq foot 3 Acre compound in the cornfields of Northern York, Pennsylvania. Herein is our licensed kitchen facility, event warehouses, Pitmaster Playground, and office space. It's where Wayne plays hard and works hard. For the tour, we've also been working our grilling museum, which will incorporate vintage meat history, antiques, and education on rubs, woods, and smoking.

Get an inside look and history of Big Fat Daddy's

We also give a brief history on the meat packing industry !

The BASIC TOUR is by appointment only and lasts up to 30 minutes, for $5 per person you get:

A tour of the Wall of Fame and Big Fat Daddy's history. Many of these articles, awards and trophies have been off limit to the public, until now.
A complete tour of the facility to see where it all takes place, to see a real "Pitmaster's Playground."
A tour of the little "Grilling Museum" which includes information and Wayne's collection of Vintage Goodies, mainly on the history of meat packing industry from Swift & Company to spices and dry rubs with C.F. Sauer--for this education part of the tour, chances are you will learn a little something!
All Tourists over the age of 10 will receive a free spice sample from our partners C.F.Sauer to take home and enjoy! They will also receive recipes and coupons.
You can also purchase the tours as gifts on Etsy here.

The cost to all is $5.00 per person for the basic tour. Stipulations: 10 and under are free and all children must be accompanied by an adult. ***All proceeds of the basic tour will be donated to Bell Family Shelter at the end of the year.


Bell Shelter thanks Big Fat Daddy's, for fundraising efforts. Pic: Bell Socialization

Learn the importance of rubbing your meat.

Want the VIP Treatment ? *We will be doing VIP Tours, where you get the basic tour, plus more bonuses including the items in red:

A tour of the Wall of Fame and Big Fat Daddy's history. Many of these articles, awards and trophies have been off limit to the public, until now.
A complete tour of the facility to see where it all takes place, to see a real "Pitmaster's Playground."
Get to meet Wayne and rack his brain on anything BBQ related.
Wayne will also prepare a sample for your to taste, of something he's recently cooked or grilled. You never know if this will be pork, beef, chicken, ribs or maybe his Food Network featured Crab Dip?
A tour of the "Grilling Museum" which includes information and Wayne's collection of Vintage Goodies, mainly on the history of meat packing industry from Swift and Company to spices and dry rubs with C.F. Sauer--for this education part of the tour, chances are you will learn a little something!
Additional education on smoking woods--what kinds Wayne uses and how. See our preferred types, and we'll tell you where to get them. Logs, dust, chunks.
More in depth information on dry rubbing and injection methods for meats.
All tourists will receive a free spice sample from our partners C.F.Sauer to take home and enjoy! They will also receive recipes and coupons.
A $10 coupon off a future Pitmaster Class.
You can also purchase the tours as gifts on Etsy here.

These tours last about an hour, and are by strict appointment only. They are $25 per person, of which ***$5 from each tourist will be donated to Bell Family Shelter at the end of the year. VIP Tours may take place seven days a week in the off season, but most of these tours will take place on weekdays in the Summer due to Wayne's hectic schedule of having to do fairs and festivals on weekends.

More information: Here on the Grilling Museum Page , or Factory Tour Page

To Set Up a Tour: Call Cindy 410-908-9241 or 717-793-2124 Please note, these tours will have to be scheduled by appointment only, as Wayne is normally at fairs and festivals during the weekend, it is important to schedule the VIP tours ahead of time.

We had fun visiting Flinchbaugh's Orchard, who is another member of the York CVB.