Steamed Crabs in Baltimore Instagram BigFatDaddys Natty Boh

 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.

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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

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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.

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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

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

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!

BBQ Competition Hogging Up Festival Photos

Hog-It-Up's mascot on top their Stump's Smoker made for interesting photography.

The wife and I are finally recuperating from the Hogging Up BBQ Festival.  For a first year event I was pleased that I could do some good for the community and the charity organizations we were working with and for; and was able to bring some new folks into the town of Winchester for the weekend. This included 26 professional BBQ teams and over 40 judges , KCBS reps, and volunteers from all over the map.  Not to mention a lot of folks from out of town came to visit.

Seeing the happiness on Pop Pop's Chicken and Pig's little girls' face made our day!

OVERALL:  With the community's help we were able to raise:

$2024 and counting for CancerCare.org.
$600 to the local Assembly of God Church
$400 for the  local Clear Brook Volunteer Fire Department
and give the beer/wine profits 100% to the Local Winchester Exchange Group.

It was a lot of work but we are please with the results.


KCBS COMPETITION:  We felt the KCBS competition went smoothly and we did the best we can to put on a first rate competition and please our competitors with a great styling breakfast, lunch, and awards ceremony.  We want to thank those competitors who gave back $420 in prizes which went to help CancerCare.org.  The wife had fun making the recycled bbq trophies with the recycle group kids back home.

Some kiddie activities were good for parents, too!

THE FESTIVAL:  The festival itself was small for a first year festival, having limited kids activities which included mini gas powered cars, free Cornhole, and the Monster Truck rides.  You could also see an antique Fire truck and Blue Angels plane (won't be seeing these for awhile.) We were very happy Col. Blevins dropped off the plane, which was actually flown up til the 60's.

Me and Col. Steve Blevins, retired from the military discussing the sequester.

You could walk around Fri and Sat and see the different BBQ Teams cooking it up, and shop with crafters, artists, book authors, and bbq sauce gurus. The admission charge got you in to hear some top notch bands, but the public was under the impression they would be eating or tasting samples of BBQ.   Even the Winchester Star stated you could NOT taste the BBQ from the teams, so we are not sure where the confusion was on that.  Each festival is different. Some barbecue festivals have a people's choice but ours did not.  That all depends on where you go and the competition itself. In Frederick County, the health department would have inspected and made each team giving samples to pay $40 health permit. Many teams were not interested in doing this when in fact they had to be on a strict competition schedule.

You could eat a nice country style dinner with Big Fat Daddy's from BBQ Chicken and Rib Platters to regular fair food.

 
FOOD:  Big Fat Daddy's food was offered primarily to recoup the expenses it took to put on a festival without major monetary sponsors.  There were several other food vendors present offering ice cream and kettle corn.   It wouldn't have made sense to bring in a ton of food on a first year festival because then, no one makes any money.  We were able to donate over $1400 from our Food Stands towards CancerCare !

Thanks to my family and friends for busting their butts all week to help with our festival!

FRI NIGHT JUDGING:  Some VIPs were invited to judge on Friday night's Dessert and Anything Butt contest.  This included Deputy County Administrator Jay Tibbs and County Commissioner Ellen Murphy. 

Hog-it-Up BBQ won the dessert contest!! They are from Bluemont! Michelle & Mike Lackey

COMMUNITY SUPPORT:    It was hard getting support --for six months people ignored out press releases and one newspaper even trashed it.  We were tied up in county meetings for 9 months about a vendor permit that would have required our vendors to pay the county a $500 Itinerant Merchant fee for a liscense to sell items at our festival. We fought to get it changed, and well, it was changed to $30 but only 8 weeks before our festival.   We received a lot of product donations which was great, but having to fund the whole festival ourselves hurt. Some of that money was recouped with the food and vendor fees, but not all.  


Here we are on the News.

Ken Cuccinelli stopped by on Saturday.

 
GOOD TURNOUT  For a first year festival we had a nice crowd on Friday but then a storm came and some of our vendor tents were wiped out. Ken Cuccinelli  (the Virginia Attorney General)  made it a stop on his tour and TV3 news showed up Saturday.  A magazine came and a few newspapers to interview us again.  We received positive kudos from local papers and media, but the hours were hard on our vendors. Another storm came in Saturday night and rains.  Sunday our vendors were tired and the crowd was light.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE  We know a first year festival is a learning experience. Some of the Festival goers were upset about paying $5 to get in on Friday or $8 Saturday.  Now keep in mind we were able to donate $1000 back to the Volunteer Fire Dept and Assembly of God Church!  I don't know where you can  go to hear great music like this for $5 or $8, and we had a full schedule of bands and great music on the website.
 

Here's me with Gary Smallwood, who rocked 'em on Sunday.

Many said they wanted to eat bbq samples from the teams (again, this is an issue with the health department we'd have to settle, and even if we did, we don't have the manpower to have someone run a sample tent.)   The beer had limited hours and that's because the Exchange Group could not commit to the hours of our festival.  No local wines were offered and again, that decision was based on the Winchester Exchange Group. So many of the gripes were out of our control.

Good bands were featured all weekend long. This is Stoney Creek Bluegrass.

HIGHLIGHTS:  Among certain highlights was a rare "BBQ TOUR" where 3EYZ BBQ and HOG-IT-UP BBQ Professional BBQ teams, gave out tips to the public and answered questions about how to prepare, trim and season your ribs. This is very cool that these teams actually wanted to do this and interact with the public.  You may know 3EYZ BBQ from the Season Two Pitmasters TV Show.

Hey, Marylanders won, what can I say? 3EYZBBQ, way to go guys.

WHO WON?  3EYZ BBQ was also our Grand Champion!  They are from my home town of Maryland, so I was glad to see them win. Even though I figured it would be anyone's guess who won since we had judges from all over the map and not just local judges.  Many contests pick the closest and most local judges to avoid no show issues but my wife was adamant about mixing it up and picking those who would come and visit Winchester, which was the point of bringing some out of town revenue.

Full list of results is here: Results

Delicious Food!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  Will we do this next year?  That remains to be seen. We've been asked to do it in other locations or other states, but it was a lot of work (nine months of dedication to one festival) and of course, costs a lot of money to put on an event.  We did what we set out to do and we'd like to leave it at that.  We  would like to thank our family and friends for putting in the excruciating hours and supporting us. It was very sentimental to us to have a big festival and raise money for something that meant so much to us personally, since losing my wife's mom to Cancer.  There's not a lot of BBQ places around Winchester. Maybe you need to use Betamenu to trade buy or sell barbecue in the meantime. One of our competitors, Jordan Springs, has the Jordan Springs Market near the fairgrounds and sells bbq on weekends!

Just like this little pig on my BBQ pit, I needed a vacation.

VACATION:  After this festival we needed a vacation to relax and reflect on things.  Here's a vacation idea:  how about having a great vacation package which includes dining out, sleeping in and afternoon tea?  Best vacation packages and ideas on Les Routiers , covering all UK and Ireland. Nothing like getting out and seeing the world and exploring great places to eat!

Here's my hideout. Danforth, Maine