Bush-Master, Stop 4--Kansas City BAR-B-Q!

Soulrack223

Soulrack223

Gold Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
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First of all, I would like to thank Daniel for the opportunity to review these knives in the passaround. Thank you, kind sir.




Now the main goal of my review is to use the knives to make some Kansas City BAR-B-Q! I am going to smoke some pork short ribs and use the knives to prepare the ribs for rub, get the hickory ready and build the fire in my Big Green Egg. Finally, I'll use these beauties to cut up the ribs so that we can dig in!

My first impression of the knives was very positive, the Bush-Master is a perfect sized knife. I was actually afraid that the handle on the Bush-Master would be a bit too long for my smallish hands, but it made for comfortable grips in different hand positions. The JRE Sheaths are very impressive! I especially like the Bushcraft sheath with clip, two belt loop rivets and the firesteel loop.



I immediately was drawn to the ironwood and tapered tang version. The balance point is right at the front thong hole. While the thumb serrations were nice on the natural micarta Bush-Master, they were a little too far forward for my grip. It's balance point was back at the first corby bolt too, without the tapered tang it's certainly more hefty. Even though I was the 4th one down the passaround list, the knives maintained a keen edge and would prove to hold a quality edge throughout the entire review.

bushmaster1uo8vd9.jpg


Here I am getting 'em started and cleaning them up.







Look at that membrane just peel off! More pics to come!
 
Membrane, be gone!



Cut 'em to rib rack size:



Time to add my secret rub:



And now let 'em sit for a couple of hours:



More pics to come after a bit, batonning the hickory...
 
Since I used the Ironwood Bush-Master for the rib preparation, the extra heft of the Natural Micarta B-M was called into action for the log splitting:



The Bush-Masters being batoned through the hickory actually worked as well speed-wise and better precision-wise than my Eastwing hatchet I usaully use for this chore.





 
I have a ton of awesome action shots of me splitting all of the hickory but it will save a lot of time and space if I omit all of the flying wood...

And just show the aftermath:



And to not leave out the Ironwood Bush-Master:



The Bush-Masters are sexy and functional. Just look at 'em pose.
 
Starting the fire in the Green Egg...



What I do is get the hickory ready and soak it in water for a couple hours while the ribs marinate with the rub. The lump charcoal creates a nice bed of coals pushing 400 degrees during this time. Then I add the soaked hickory and the rib rack and wait for the temperature to stabilize around 200 degrees. The Green Egg should be smoking like a chimney at this point, so it's time to add the ribs and the beans:



I put the meat I trimmed off of the ribs on top of beans and allow it to smoke at the same time and then mix it into the beans at the end. I rotate the ribs every 30 minutes to get them evenly cooked.



Now it's time to relax and wait a few hours...
 
Woah! You've got my mouth watering and my wallet burning!

Better than a hatchet eh? I need me one of those.......
 
mmmotorcycle said:
Better than a hatchet eh?
Click to expand...

Better in that they're certainly sharper than my hatchet, they're more precise and smaller pieces yield more consistent smoke, and they're just as quick at splitting the hickory when I whack 'em with that big piece of oak!
 
No worries. I knew you were just speaking about battoning ability which understand to be superb. :)
 
The finished product with the tools of the trade and 2 of Kansas City's finest. Gates BAR-B-Q Sauce and Boulevard Brewery's Bully Porter are my local favorites! Unfortunately my new favorites, the Koster Bush-Masters are going to have to go on their way but they'll remember their stay in KC, that's for sure. I am sad to see them go, and would gladly keep the ironwood for my own. My future Koster Bush-Master will be in 3V, have Orange G-10 scales and an all black JRE bushcraft sheath.







Disclaimer: No grease nor pig blood came in contact with the sheaths. They are still pristine.
 
Oh man, why did you not call a local bladeforums meat meet? I could have had some BBQ and seen the Kosters in action!
 
Snow said:
Oh man, why did you not call a local bladeforums meat meet? I could have had some BBQ and seen the Kosters in action!
Click to expand...

I had no idea this was a possibility. Next time my friend. My friends who are here have devoured the food. "Best beans ever." And the consensus is the ironwood bush-master is oh so sweet.
 
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