BBQ Championship winner Shane Petzold of MooCowBBQ got his Saffire Grill this past February and we asked him how it’s going.
“The first time we took it out was for our hometown BBQ contest in Belton, MO the first weekend in May. We were the defending champions so we had a lot of pressure to perform well. We ended up getting a call in all four categories and took home Grand Champion again!”
“Not too bad for the first time out with the Saffire Grill,” says Petzold. While chicken and pork were the items cooked for this competition, Petzold really enjoys making a juicy tri-tip steak on the Saffire, in addition to Smart Chicken chicken wings. His favorite recipe goes like this:
Tri-tip Steak Rubbed with Plowboys Bovine Bold Rub
- Get the Saffire to about 700 degrees and throw the steak on for about 4 to 6 minutes per side.
- Then place the rubbed steak on the second cooking grate and lower the temperature in the Saffire to around 400 degrees.
- Leave the tri-tip on the upper rack for about 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat is about 130F.
- Remove steak from the grill and let it set for at least 10 minutes; slice against the grain.
In addition to winning a BBQ Championship and his favorite items to cook on the Saffire, I asked Petzold about some of his favorite Saffire grill features. He reports that he really liked the 304 stainless steel parts because they’re less likely to rust. What’s more, they are very easy to clean if they do rust. “Saffire Grills are high quality and heavy duty,” he said. He also like the fact that the stainless band around the Saffire that holds the lid and side tables on is locked between two raised pieces of ceramic ensuring that there is no way it can slip off when moving the Saffire around.
He added three things, 1) It uses very little fuel; 2) It is easy to maintain temperature; and 3) it can sear a steak at temperatures a regular grill has difficulty attaining.
Petzold does offer some advice to new Saffire users: “Don’t let your fire get too big, too quickly; it will be more difficult to get it back down to the desired temperature because the grill is so good at holding heat. Try to slowly come up to the desired temperature.”
Petzold’s BBQ championship crew includes his friend, Vern Guilford, and his dad, Dave. When they are not winning competitions, they cook on the Saffire at the BBQ classes that they hold. “Everyone loves it and always ask lots of questions about it.”
MooCowBBQ (www.moocowbbq.com) competes about 10 times a year. They were the Missouri State representative at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational BBQ contest in 2010; and are the current World Champions in dessert. “I know it’s kind of funny for a BBQ team, but we’ll take it,” says Petzold, who is a union pipe fitter for his day job.
