Eggs By the Bay Eggfest 2017 Recap

By The SMOBOT Team —
This past weekend, October 7th, Team SMOBOT participated in our first eggfest.  “Eggs By the Bay” is an event hosted by Just Grillin Tampa Bay to support the Shriner’s Hospitals for Kids Tampa Bay.  We had an awesome time and can’t wait for our next one.  We are very thankful to the Just Grillin team that made this event so enjoyable for us.  They sold SMOBOT in their retail store onsite so we could compete and get the opportunity to show off the SMOBOT Grill Controller to Tampa Bay Big Green Egg owners.

There were three themed categories this year and the cook teams prepared samples for participants and the judges.  We participated in two of the three categories and got awesome reviews of our food.

 

Taste of Tampa Bay

The main category or theme for the competition was Taste of Tampa Bay.  This is a pretty broad category, but was defined as anything that represents the culinary culture of the Tampa Bay Area.  Since Tampa has a very distinct latin past, there were lots of Spanish and Cuban inspired dishes.  The SMOBOT team prepared Cuban smoked pork with Black Beans and Yellow rice.  We got rave reviews about our dish and were told by many that we had the most flavorful pork at the event.  This was our first time injecting pork butts and we would definitely do it again as we were able to get the mojo flavor infused throughout the entire butt.  This was also our first time trying 4 butts on our large egg.  I must say, that is a thing of beauty.

 

Sweet Eats

The 2nd category we competed in was the “Sweet Eats” category.  For this, we pulled out all of the stops and made Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Makers Mark Whiskey Sauce.  Yes, it is just like it sounds, each pan of bread pudding is made with a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts.  If you don’t have a sweet tooth, then this dessert is not for you.  Thanks again to the organizers for providing us an XL Big Green Egg to cook on.  The XL allowed us to have two pans of bread pudding going at all times to keep up with the demands from the crowd.  Of course SMOBOT helped cook the perfect bread pudding by holding the temperature of the XL at a perfect 350 degrees throughout the entire day.

Wendy, the youngest member of Team SMOBOT enjoyed adding the whiskey sauce to the samples.  She was also extremely excited to find out that we won first place in this category and took home a brand new MiniMax Big Green Egg as the prize!  For everyone that asked for the recipe, we will post it to our new recipes section on the site and also at the bottom of this blog entry.

This was an awesome event and a great experience.  Special thanks to team members Jeff Bunting and Joe Broadbent for spending their Saturday with us serving up samples.  Having them there helping me allowed me to spend more time talking to all of the participants and showing them how SMOBOT works. Also special thanks to my wife Teresa and my kids Charlie and Wendy for all of their help.  And last but not least, a big thanks goes out to Just Grillin in Tampa for their support and their focus on community to hold an event like this to benefit such a worthwhile charity.  We can’t wait for next year.

Enjoy some photos from the event

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Makers Mark Whiskey Sauce

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

Winning "Sweet Eats" recipe from the 2017 Eggs By the Bay Eggfest in Tampa, Florida.  This was a crowd favorite and sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!  Bake it on your Kamado Style grill (Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Primo Kamado, etc) or in your oven at home.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Curtis Pope
Ingredients
Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding
  • 1 dozen Krispy Kreme Original Glazed® Doughnut day old or more
  • 3 Extra Large Whole Eggs
  • 8 Extra Large Egg Yolks
  • 5 cups Half and Half
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/2 cups White Sugar
Maker's Mark Whiskey Sauce
  • 1 cup Salted Butter
  • 2 cups White Sugar
  • 2 Extra large Eggs beaten
  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup Makers Mark Whiskey
Instructions
Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

  1. Set up your Kamado Smoker for indirect cooking and set your SMOBOT to 350°F

  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together whole eggs, egg yolks, half and half, sugar and vanilla. Set aside. 

  3. Break Krispy Kreme donuts into one inch pieces and arrange in a 10x15x2-inch or similar baking pan. 

  4. Pour custard over donuts just to cover and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes. After at least 10 minutes, gently press donuts to help in soaking up the custard and add more custard to the pan, leaving the tops of the donuts exposed. 

  5. Cover with aluminum foil. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake on your preheated Kamado Smoker for 40 minutes. 

  6. Uncover and bake for 20-40 minutes more or until the pudding puffs up, the custard is set and it is slightly browned on top. The custard will be jiggly but not runny. Let cool slightly before serving.

Maker's Mark Whiskey Sauce

  1. Melt butter over medium heat in a thick bottomed sauce pan

  2. Add sugar and combine

  3. Cook sugar and butter over medium heat until bubbly and smooth stirring frequently

  4. Beat eggs and stir in about 1/4 of the butter and sugar mixture a little bit at a time to temper the eggs

  5. Once the butter and sugar mixture is cool, stir the egg mixture in until smooth

  6. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup Maker's Mark Whiskey to mixture depending on taste.  NOTE:  If you want to cook off the alcohol, you can add the whiskey to the bubbly butter/sugar mixture during the last 1 minute of cooking, but it will change the flavor of the sauce.

Recipe Notes

This recipe makes a lot of custard and whiskey sauce.  You might have leftover.  Whiskey sauce is great over ice cream and the custard can be used to make awesome French toast.

Back to News

Need shopping help or support?

We’re here to help! Tell us more about your question, and we’ll get you back to cooking great food in no time.

Contact Us