Announcements

I am not sure I really fully explained what happens at a KCBS sanctioned BBQ contest or what is involved from our end. So with all the visitors here and a refresher, here it goes.

Most contest are affiliated with a community event. Usually besides the contest there will be bands, parades and other local fare. A contest has to get approval from the Kansas City BBQ Society to be sanctioned (which means counts for qualifications). If the contest can get a proclamation from the Governor it becomes a State Championship. Sanctioned contest require cooks to prepare chicken, ribs, pork shoulder/picnic and brisket. Each team has to turn in a minimum of six identifiable pieces of that meat in a Styrofoam container. The winner of a state championship will be entered for the Jack Daniels World Championship which is invite only and your team must be drawn from other winners in that state to be selected. Contest are generally Friday and Saturday.

Anyone can enter the contest. There are some rules and regulations, mostly you have to cook on wood or charcoal. No gas or electric smokers. You can also enter as few as one of those categories but to be eligible to win the contest you must enter all four.

Thursday Before a Contest

The Thursday before a contest we trim all of our meat in our home kitchen. Meat can all be trimmed ahead of time but that is it. Nothing else can be done. I like doing this at home because of all the comforts and if there is bad meat it is easy to replace it. Once the meat is trimmed, it all goes in the cooler. While I am trimming the meat, Dawn will get sauces and spices together and packed. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to do all the trimming.

Once that is all done and we load the cooler I usually leave on Thursday night. I really like to get to a contest early because we have a 30′ trailer and it is better to be first in then last. Since we have sleeping quarters in the trailer I usually will find a spot close to the contest and park for the night.

Friday

Once we get to the contest we get setup. This takes about 30 minutes or so. Our primary cooker stays in the trailer so there is little to move. We run a pretty efficient setup and everything is already in it’s place. We usually sit around waiting for the meat inspector to come and verify our meat is ok and has not been seasoned or marinated. After that the meat goes into an ice pan in a food cooler until we are ready for it.

The rest of the day is laid back. A nap, walk around town, etc. Nothing else really happens until the cooks meeting where we are given four Styrofoam boxes for our turn ins. This is usually between 5 and 6. Around 6pm we start seasoning our brisket and pork which goes on the smoker around 10pm. The night is usually spent by Dawn preparing the boxes by making a putting green if you will of parsley. One thing we like to do is eat at a local restaurant just because we don’t have a lot of those types of things at home. It is usually to bed around 11 for us. Other teams will sometimes show up mid afternoon, some will trim all their meat on site. Some bring the entire home kitchen and take hours to setup, some drink all day and all night. Some have big dinners for families from the area. Each team is a little different. Our style works for us.

Saturday

We usually get up around 6 and start to prep the ribs. They go on at 7am. From about 630 am to 8am we are working with ribs, pork and brisket getting it prepped and off the smoker. After an hour or so of free time we then start going pretty non stop from 9:30 on. Usually working with chicken and ribs. At 12 we have chicken to turn in. Then ribs at 12:30, pork at 1 and brisket at 1:30. You have five minutes before and after those times to turn in. One second late and its a disqualification. The turn in boxes have a number that gets changed when you drop it off at the judges tent. Judges don’t know who’s food they are tasting. They judge on taste, tenderness and appearance.

After everything is turned in we clean up and vacuum seal all our leftover meat. We have a couple hours to do this befote the awards ceremony which is held between 4 and 5 depending on the contest and the number of teams. The results for the top 10 in each category are called off and teams get their ribbon/trophy/check or some combination. Then the 2nd place overall team is called followed by the overall winner. At this point we are pretty much set to get in the truck and drive home. Some team will also be ready and others haven’t began to pack up. On some occasions we are in a campground setting and will spend the night on Saturday which can be fun. Saturday nights are about the only time we drink during a contest besides the customary 9:22 shot of Gentleman Jack.

So, there you have it. In a nutshell what typically happens. As a spectacor you will find BBQ vendors, enjoy some of the town activities and hear some pretty good bands. Generally teams won’t give out food to the public because they don’t have a license to do so.