Barbecue University Part 2: Three Delicious Days Of Grilling

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Barbecue University Part 2: Three Delicious Days Of Grilling

These anticuchos skewers are a traditional Peruvian street food, and this platter was the work of yours truly, my graduation project from barbecue University.

Yesterday in Part One I explained why barbecue University at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs is one of the very best food experiences anyone can enjoy. It features expert instruction by the nation’s foremost specialist in cooking with fire, award-winning cookbook author and television host Steven Raichlen, in a purpose-built fantasy land of more than 30 different types of grills and smokers, plus a dedicated classroom and commercial kitchen, all at a luxury Forbes 5-Star resort. (I previously wrote about the Broadmoor in detail for Forbes.com)

Today I’ll show what the program is actually like.

The 3-day program really spans four days, because it begins on the day of arrival with an evening opening cocktail reception. Half a dozen of the Broadmoor’s restaurants, including the Forbes 5-Star Penrose Room, prepare specialties that are served to guests buffet style, along with an open bar. Instructor Steven Raichlen and staff from the Broadmoor’s vast culinary division welcome students and explain logistics of what will happen the following three days.

Each morning, shuttle buses circulate, taking students at their leisure from the main Broadmoor hotels, East and West, up to the Cheyenne Lodge, a standalone retreat facility that I described yesterday, which is home to barbecue University. A sprawling breakfast is served between 8-9 daily, while students mingle, chat, exchange ideas and make new friendships. At nine, class is in session. Raichlen mans a demonstration table at the front of the room, and video monitors overhead use downward pointing cameras to give a close up view of what his hands are doing on the cutting board or with ingredients.

BBQ U is now in session! Every day begins with about an hour of classroom demonstration before students get their hands dirty.

Each student is given a binder with daily recipes and a pad for notes (along with a meat thermometer, apron, hat, and copy of Raichlen’s barbecue Bible). For the first hour or so, he goes through the ten dishes that will be prepared that day, explaining the cultural history of BBQ wherever they come from, techniques for everything from deveining shrimp to how to quickly dice garlic, what cuts of meat to use and why, and myriad possible variations to each dish. Students volunteer (everyone does at least one dish) and in teams of 2-3 tackle one of the recipes. So the first hour or is mostly lecture, the rest is hands on cooking. When the student teams are done prepping, everyone goes outside to the barbecue grill wonderland and Raichlen explains which grill he has chosen for each dish and why, from the Broadmoor’s epic arsenal of three dozen smokers and wood, coal, and propane open and closed grills. He lectures and demonstrates the techniques for best lighting and maintaining fires, how to direct and indirect grill, using flavored woods and smoke, as well as more practical tips like how to best clean and oil grates and how to take advantage of the most popular barbecue tools and accessories. Then each group of students cooks their dish, and between noon and one, after 3-4 hours jam packed with knowledge, everyone eats. Needless to say, lunches, each spanning ten dishes from appetizers to mains to desserts, meat, seafood and poultry, all cooked with fire, are pretty epic.

If you think backyard barbecue is all burgers and ribs, you need to try these spiny lobster tails with cilantro, lime and mango salsa.

One of the best things about barbecue University is its size. Class is capped at 60 students, which is just the right amount for Raichlen to be able to offer individual attention. I have participated in similar celebrity taught multi-day camps for skiing and golf, and in almost every case, the “name” instructor was more of a figurehead. Students were broken down into smaller groups taught by accomplished teachers, while the celebrity moved around imparting a bit of wisdom here and there and checking in on the other instructors. That is definitely not the case at BBQ University. Raichlen has support staff from the Broadmoor kitchens who help prep and bring out things, but he does 100% of the teaching, very hands on and very personalized, and helps every single student group cook.

The amount learned every morning is amazing, and the class moves at a feverish pace. After lunch students have from 1-2 on to themselves, and I played golf each afternoon, given the excellence of the Broadmoor’s Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Jack Nicklaus courses, which have hosted the Women’s US Open. Others went to the spa, went swimming, relaxed or went into Colorado Springs. Nearby attractions include hiking and exploring the epic Garden of the Gods park, like something out of a John Ford western, driving or riding the cog railway up Pikes Peak, and touring the US Air Force Academy.

“My only regret,” said Raichlen, “Is that we only have time to do thirty recipes. There are so many good ones.”

Cheese on the grill? Why not, when it is camembert cooked on a cedar plank with foraged mushrooms.

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