Firing up the Grill
By Eileen M. Carlton
Double D Barbeque team prepares for national contest: The secret's in the sauce for Don Richard's award-winning barbecue sauce. It's his mix of vinegar and mustard.
“I have a southern North Carolina sauce with a vinegar and mustard base for whole pork and it is what has gotten me into fifth place in that category,” Richards said. “It's something I developed over time.”
The 44-year-old Leesburg resident, who grew up in Fredericksburg, said he has been barbecuing “pretty much my entire life, since I was a kid.”
Richards' team, Double D Barbeque, is competing for the second time in Safeway’s annual National Capital Barbecue Battle, America’s Food and Music Festival in Washington, D.C., June 21-22.
Last year, Double D took second place for chef's pork and a fifth place in the shoulder category.
Richards, who works for GTSI in Dulles as a federal integrator focusing on veterans' affairs, makes it clear that the undertaking has been a team effort from the time they started practicing six years ago.
“I hadn't had a grill my entire life,” Richards said. “I was always the second man helping someone else. Then, after I got married and we had people coming out, I said, 'I'm going to rent a grill and do my own pig for first time in my life. And my friends were so in awe they told me I should start competing.”
Richards has also worked at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Md., where he assisted chefs in their presentations to the classes.
“That’s where I learned the techniques and the roasting and the sauce,” Richards said.
A friend, Ray Gitmeyer, of Manassas, gave Richards a trailer. Another friend, Melaney Rowley gave him an oil drum from behind her house for the grill itself. His nephews helped him put the drum and grill together.
“Since no one would sit with me for 25 hours, I put a tiki bar on the other end of the trailer so that my friends could hang out while I was cooking,” Richards said. “Ever since, it has been the life of the party and I have been in high demand.”
The tiki bar with its pig under a palm tree playing a ukelele is the basis for Double D's theme which, with a nod to Parrotheads everywhere, is “Pig 'n' Paradise.”
The team includes Richards, his wife, Diana, and Sally and Mike Cook, of South Riding.
“Sally, Mike and [their son] Thomas joined the Double D Team four years ago,” Richards explained. “Working together in our day jobs [at GTSI] we discovered that we shared the passion in creating the ultimate barbecue and the competitiveness and excitement of winning. Since they've joined the team, we've been able to participate in extra categories and develop new techniques to improve the quality of our barbecue.”
But there are two other very important secrets to the team's success.
The first, Richards said, is the support of his wife.
“Without her, I wouldn't be where I'm at today,” Richards said. “Her support and inspiration actually made it a reality.”
Richards said Diana is also responsible for the decor of the tiki bar, using the principles of feng shui to create the atmosphere. The carefully chosen accessories include leis and fresh flowers.
The name of the team, Double D -- derived from the initials of each of their first names -- reflects his appreciation of her role in the team's success.
Another secret of their success is the wood the team uses.
“My technique is pecan wood, shipped up from Texas and slow cooked the old-fashioned way in direct heat which gives us the Cadillac of flavors,” Richards said.
One of the most difficult categories, he said, is that of “whole hog.”
“That takes 25 to 30 hours to cook, which means Friday night you’re DDE_LINK1 set up DDE_LINK1 and Sunday at noon is judging,” Richards said. “I did not sleep for three days.”
Competing is also very expensive, Richards said.
“You have to pay just to get in; then you have to buy the meats, the wood, the T-shirts,” Richards said. “That's a minimum of $2,500. Now that I am jumping into more categories, it costs more.”
But the bait is substantial, amounting to $40,000 in prize money.
“We will be competing against guys who have restaurants, a majority are restaurants, and they have been doing it for years,” Richards said.
Finally, Richards said, a large part of winning or losing in the competition is the ability to market the product.
“Basically what happens is you are being judged on the product, and so you have to sell them and explain how you got from the raw state to the cook state,” Richards said.
Is it all worth it?
“I love it,” he said. “That's why I am there. I have hundreds of friends who come down and visit. One year a barbecue got totally rained out, but I still had a fantastic time. I love it. It’s my only hobby.”
Contact the writer at ecarlton@timespapers.com