Yeti Mafia BBQ

Yeti’s not only know BBQ, we know seafood too. Today we did our annual crab boil consisting of 40 lbs of extra large blue crabs, andouille sausage, corn, and potatoes. Mmmmmmmm. So so good.

We don't post much about politics as its a touchy topic since most have their own opinions and we do too, but we feel strongly about this one.

Tomorrow is voting day in Florida. It may not seem too important as its not a Presidential or Gubernatorial election , but there are very important positions, such as Judges, Schoolboard, and other things. We may not be fully up to date on all, but know Judges are critical. They make our judicial system function. If they aren't knowledgeable, caring, and willing to put the long hours in ( I think their court room time is about 1/3 of their work time as they need to research precedence and case law before writing their rulings).

Nick Fiorentino has shown such dedication while being an attorney, constantly attending seminars, supporting law enforcement and first responders, working for children rights, and more. He has a heart of gold. Nick Fiorentino is what we need in a judge to make our judicial system great.

Please support Nick Fiorentino with your vote tomorrow.

Thank you.

If you are looking for another reason why you should choose Nick Fiorentino for Judge, please consider his service to our community. Below is a summary of his community service and more information can be found at Fiorentino4Judge.com

What do you do with leftover onion soup, bread and picana ? The French Onion Picana Sub

Picana turned out excellent.

Picana, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes on a flip floppy day.

Mmmhhhmmmmm.

Working on Mojo Potk for Cubano’s later while Tropical Storm Debby moves up the coast

Rib practice

Thoughts on slicing so there is one thick side for tasting and the other at the bone? That good, bad or makes difference?

Since Wifey's (Heather Perkins) Bacon Jam video, there have been several requests for the recipe. Our recipe and its story has published a few times, last time was in a special insert in the March 29th, 2023 Highlands News-Sun. The recipe is a guide, the result needs to be tasted and adjusted as desired.

Yeti Mafia BBQ Bacon Jam
This the one thing item that causes Eloise Grace, our mini golden doodle, to go completely nuts and pounce at plates to get a taste. The memory of Eloise Grace as a 12 pound puppy flying from the ottoman to the couch, flip the plate with a Bacon Jam, Tomato, Lettuce Sandwich out of my stunned wife’s hands and start devouring still makes me laugh.

Bacon Jam is also my wife’s best friend, Cory Anne, favorite and the only one thing she shyly asks if we are making when she visits. When we give her some to go, it never makes it home.
It started as a curiosity. We were hearing about and seeing Bacon Jam at restaurants and on TV shows, I did a little research and decided I needed to try making it. I decided to keep it simple (bacon, sweet onion, brown sugar and a liquid). Being a bourbon lover, I decided that bourbon would add a complexity of flavors that other liquids wouldn’t. My first and each batch is cook, mix, taste, adjust till sweet and yummy.

This is a great condiment/topping on various things: Burgers, Fried Chicken, Sandwiches, in place of bacon on BLT, on cheese & crackers, topping desserts, as bacon substitute, etc.

Bacon Jam sounds complex and intimidating but is actually very simple to make. We formulated this recipe after reviewing many on the internet, wanting it to be full of bacon flavor, sweet, little spicy, and savory.
It is best served slightly warm to room temperature. Too hot makes it sloppy and liquidly.

Ingredients
• 1 pound bacon, typical slice, not thick slice, leaner. Flavors work well.
• 1/2 - 1 large sweet onion (Vidalia)
• 1-2 ounces bourbon (Recommend spicier and higher rye, we use 1792 small batch)
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar

Notes
• Can be made on Grill, Smoker, or Stove Top. Grill/smoker adds smoky flavor.
• Can make sweeter with more/less brown sugar.
• Can make spicier/richer with more/less bourbon.
• Combination of sugar, bourbon and cook time will make wetter/dryer.
• Can substitute Coffee, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Rye for bourbon if desired
• Can Save and Reheat
• Can Freeze

Directions
• Dice onions, small slices, approximately 1/8 wide and 1/8-3/8 inch long
• Slice/Dice Bacon, cut stripe in half length wise then into 1/8-1/4 inch pieces
• Prepare grill/smoker to 300-350 degrees.
• Heat 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet or similar pan
• Cook Bacon
• Save off bacon into prep bowl (use slotted metal spoon or mesh scoop, let drain)
• Drain grease from pan and save
• Add Onions
• Add 2-4 tablespoons of bacon grease. (Add more as needed). Want enough to sauté but not fry.
• Caramelize onions
• Remove onions
• Re-add bacon to pan
• Add onions, may not use all. Want a mixture of 2/3 bacon to 1/3 onion or 50/50.
• Add 3/4's of the brown sugar
• Add 1/2 of the bourbon
• Cook 5-10 minutes, mixing thoroughly. Want moist.
• Taste, add more sugar or bourbon to taste, cook 5-10 minutes, mixing thoroughly to blend flavors.

😆😆😆😆

We are thrilled to announce that Yeti Mafia BBQ Sauce is now available for purchase! Our "Big Tony's Money Sauce" is an all-natural, tangy, rich, sweet, vinegar-based barbecue sauce. You can buy a single bottle for $10.00 or four bottles for $35.00. This does not include shipping if you would like us to ship your order directly to you.

A portion of the sales of our Yeti Mafia BBQ Sauce will go back to the "Yeti Mafia Foundation " our 501-C3 that supports First Responders- and Veterans in The Tampa Bay Area.

Please note that our website is currently under construction. In the meantime, if you would like to place an order, please email us at [email protected].

Maybe Sleeping Beauty would have woken up if she knew that Hunny Bear Bacon was in the Kitchen. 🐻

Good Evening,
I am placing Merchandise Orders
Comment Below If You Would Like Anything and what color please.

Beanies-$25.00
Ball Caps- $40.00
Big Tony- RTIC Mug - $42.00
Big Tony Tervis- Back The Blue-$42.00

The Yeti’s participated in Ribs on the Ridge in Haines City FL this past weekend. This was a very well-organized event and it was a shame It was a cold and rainy Saturday and that kept people away. Even with the weather, we had a fun time and a great cook. The Humphrey's Smokers Fans and Owners Humphrey Smokers with the ThermoWorks Smoke X4 and Billows and Recteq 590 held temps easily and pumped out our product with ease. Our meats finished earlier than our timeline which was surprising.

We produced four excellent boxes, one or more perfect scores in each category, and had our best overall, best chicken and best pork scores to date. Chicken placed 2nd, Pork placed 2nd, Brisket placed 1st, and Overall we placed 2nd.

I am really proud of our team, their dedication, and the effort they put in, plus they are fun to cook and hang with.

We are also very thankful for our friends and supporters and the other teams and people who have provided help, suggestions, answers to our questions and guidance. Without all this, our product would not be as good as it is.

The Butcher Shoppe


Tillmans BBQ
Prairie Fresh
Royal Oak Charcoal

Recteq
ThermoWorks

GRILLGIRL X Coyote Outdoor Women's Grilling Clinic Learn how to grill on all types of grills from some of the most experienced women in the industry in a fun, hands-on day long cooking class!

WOW!!!! What a great day. We had a great time hanging out and visiting with good friends and our amazing team mates!

I Love Lakeland Pig Festival drew over 133 Teams from throughout the United States. These teams are the best of the best! This is not just a Florida event. It is the biggest and best BBQ Event in the South East US and it was a great weekend!

In BBQ, the Backyard division teams are every bit as good as the Pro teams. They are in Backyard as they don’t cook as many competitions as the Pro teams.

Our cook went well and our product came out great. All the meats tasted good and looked great in the boxes.

Auxiliary categories-
These are for all teams that choose to enter, Pro and Backyard.

Sauce - we entered our standard 3, Sweet ( Cupcakes & Frosting), Beef (Boom Boom) and Vinegar (Money). We had 2 perfect scores on the Sweet and the Judges didn’t care for the Vinegar.

Steak - our first ever steak cook. It came out great but we have things to learn as we were dead last. The judges like more seasoning so we will consider this as we go forward.

Dessert - Out dessert was amazing but the judges didn’t care for its uniqueness. My Beautiful Wife is not disappointed as she knows that she did her best.

Overall we placed 6th out of 59 and were just a handful of points out of first.

Chicken (Publix Greenwise) 44th out of 59. It was great but some judges thought a little to spicy for their taste.

Ribs (Praire Fresh) 11th out of 59 with 2 perfect scores.

Pork (Praire Fresh) 15th out of 59.

Brisket ( St. Pete Meat Wagyu) 1st out of 59. 4 perfect scores, 1 point from a perfect score, and highest score of the day in Backyard.

Just 2 years ago, our brisket was not well received by the judges and we put a lot of effort and time into altering our brisket into one the judges like while keeping some of our signature flavor so our team is extremely excited about this win!

We would like to thank the following.

Humphrey Smokers Humphrey's Smokers Fans and Owners
Recteq Recteq
Royal Oak Royal Oak Charcoal
Fogo charcoal FOGO Charcoal
Praire Fresh Prairie Fresh
St Pete Meat & Provisions St. Pete Meat & Provisions St. Pete Meat & Provisions

And Our Amazing Wives Heather Perkins Karen DuBravec who are our Biggest Cheerleaders and always reminds us that we can accomplish anything!

Here is information on PigFest I Love Lakeland Pig Festival

We will be cooking... will you be there?

Lakeland Pigfest is less than two weeks away! Here are some things to know before you go: Pigfest is a no-pets-allowed event! With food this good, there won't be any table scraps for your 4-legged buddies anyways, so it's best to leave them at home! Also, parking is FREE and admission is just $5. Kids 12 and under can attend free of charge with an adult. We can’t wait to see you all there!

Here is some information for PigFest - I Love Lakeland Pig Festival

We will be there ... will you?

Lakeland Pigfest is less than two weeks away! Here are some things to know before you go: Pigfest is a no-pets-allowed event! With food this good, there won't be any table scraps for your 4-legged buddies anyways, so it's best to leave them at home! Also, parking is FREE and admission is just $5. Kids 12 and under can attend free of charge with an adult. We can’t wait to see you all there!

I'm sharing a post from Big Tony -Boss of The Yeti Mafia! 😁

Sore, exhausted, overwhelmed, flattered, and very happy.

It was a very successful weekend, lots of cooking, decorating, errands, and host duties for the Yeti Mafia but the results were beyond our expectations.

We filled all the wishes for The Volunteer Way in Pinellas and Pasco County FL.
Close to 300 presents for 94 Seniors. Most are everyday items like water, food baskets, cooking equipment, clothing, pajamas, treats and items for their pets ... the wishes were humbling.

The picture below is some of gifts
filling our 2 car bay of our garage with my lovely beautiful wife presenting them and making the following announcement ...

“For those who have not heard yet, John and I and our Team Yeti Mafia BBQ are very proudly establishing the YMF!

Yeti Mafia Foundation!

A portion of the sales of our Sauces, Rubs and Merchandise will be donated back to The YMF to continue making lives better in our Community and for our Law Enforcement Officers and families.

I honestly felt in my Heart we needed to do this as I continue to volunteer in the community and see so many areas that need help and are not getting supported.

John and I thank God we have the Dubravec's as part of our team with their beautiful family and incredibly generous hearts. They always ensure that our charity adventures we take them on are successfully accomplished and always offer to help as much as possible. Truly loving giving people 😇😇

It's going to be Great and we can not wait to take you all on this new Yeti Adventure 🩵💙🩵'

We are very appreciative and thankful for everyone that participated and helped out.

(FYI ... Sauces are still being formulated by our co-packer. Merchandise samples have been created, shirts, hats, mugs.

Please reach out if you'd like to order something. The website and store are in the works.)