One little tweet. Thats all it took for the BBQ community to get all in a kerfuffle about a new Season of BBQ Pitmasters

BBQPitmasters
To all our great diehard BBQ Pitmasters fans, good news in the works. Check bbqforum.com for an announcement. Things are moving quickly!
26 Jan Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

2 days later a post on the BBQ Forum provided a link to the information:

BBQ Pitmasters is back!
Season 3 begins shooting in March!!

Good Luck to everyone sending in their audition tapes!!  I had a blast doing the show in Season 2.

Of course the debate about BBQ on tv continues on. Well documented by one of my favorite BBQ blogs

The BBQ Brethren

 
Lots of discussions are going on here.

We went to this contest as a family. It was a super nice change from the Royal. I love being with my family at BBQ contests. The route to and from PA was spectacular with all of the fall foliage.

Vlad the happy driver!

The contest was a KCBS & MABA event. KCBS categories Chicken Ribs Pork and Brisket and MABA categories Weavers Bologna, Bell Evans Chicken Wings Bell Evans Leg and thighs plus dessert.

I got the shock of my life when we received our products to use in the auxiliary categories.  The Lebanon bologna was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It is much closer to a sweet summer sausage. I had no idea what to do with it. My plans went out the window as soon as I saw it. I had never entered a bologna contest ever. Both the bologna and the wings were submitted on Friday night so it was a busy evening.

 So I cubed it up and slathered it with Sam Dog BBQ Mustard Sauce and a few other ingredients. Placed it in one of the Traegers and let it smoke for 4 hours until all the sides were caramelized. Lets just say it wasn’t pretty, but it was super tasty. We put it in our individual containers added a shot of Forty Creek whiskey as a chaser and sent it off to the judges.

We also competed in the wing category.  I love categories with open plating and we had a lot of fun with this one. We decided to give the judges some of our Yeungling beer as a side to the wings. I mean really who doesn’t love wings and beer?? I wish we could have tried one of teh wings but we had so few to work with (Meat was supplied) that we just had enough to barely fill the plate.

The rest of our Friday night was spent socializing. There are a lot of teams we got to catch up with including one of my Sisters in Smoke Jenny from Black Cat BBQ.

I believe there may have been some tequila involved. Really really good tequila from the fine folks Chip & Sally at Red Lion Spicy Foods one of our neighbors.

After a few libations I headed off to bed for a couple of hours. It was a lovely albeit cold evening.  Perfect for me.

When I woke up one of my other neighbors was up and stoking the fire in his Jambo. Mike Richter is an uber BBQ competitor. Currently ranked #3 in the KCBS TOY. He is super kind and nice to chat with I am glad to call him a friend.  I don’t get to see him or Barb often enough.

Then as the sun rose I took a bit of a walk about. Got to visit with the Smokin Gnomes, Tim, Tiny’s BBQ, and a whole lotta other terrific people.

The time got away from me a bit and I put on my Bell Evans best legs contest meat a bit late. Grill Grates came to the rescue and we turned in grilled chicken. It was tasty chicken. Much different from our normal KCBS chicken.

I can blame the time getting away from me on one thing. Donuts. Seriously damn good donuts. The biggest box of donuts ever that was provided to the teams along with coffee too!  Like a moth to a flame I was entranced….

The rest of the entries including dessert last went off without a hitch. They went in the boxes fine but the brisket was dry and I tried a couple of new presentations that I was thinking of doing for the Jack next weekend.  I figured if the brisket came in above DAL well then the judges were going to be very generous.

The awards ceremony time came and we headed off.

To my absolute shock we got a 1st place in bologna. LOL still makes me giggle.

We also took a 3rd in dessert 4th in wings and a 4th in Pork. The judges were uber generous and gave us 39/47 in brisket. They didn’t like our ribs 23/47 or our chicken 24/47 overall coming in at 21/47. Ugh. The Bell Evans BEst legs I am not sure where we ended up as they only reported to 5th place.

Huge congratulations to Aporkalypse Now (aka Myron of the North) for their GC and to Lo & Slo BBQ on their RGC and to all who competed!

So that’s it for regular comps for the year for us and we are now packing for the Jack next weekend. Hopefully we come home with at least 1 of these again that would be spectacular !

I just need to get through catering a wedding and a baby shower this weekend plus a couple of soccer matches with the kids- a presentation at school and then driving there for 18 hours. I’ll sleep when I am dead. God bless the staff at Starbucks. They are keeping me upright with all the caffeine I am consuming.

One of the challenges of being a competitive BBQ’er is trying to figure out what the heck the judges want. I know I have cursed many a judges score, scratched my head in disbelief and generally been frustrated to no end when on the receiving end of comment cards that say ” Chicken was too juicy” ” Looks too perfect”.  ( I won’t tell you what I said after reading those cards- lol it would involve a whole lot of bleeps!) Gut instinct takes and you are offended at first but more sensibly its another opportunity to learn.  I also have thanked the BBQ Judges on occasions where I thought I literally had turned in crap and gotten calls. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone refuse to take an award.

In my never ending quest to improve my BBQ I search out lots of ways to get more information. Whether it be on the net or in person listening to what the judges and other competitors have to say- is important to me. As far as I am concerned I work for them. Everything I do is to get them to give me and my BBQ a better score. A wiser much more experienced BBQ’er once told me never leave any points on the table. I strive for that every time I turn in boxes.

Photo Credit  The burger Baroness: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesswebb/

I am a certified BBQ judge with KCBS and PNWBA. I have not however judged many contests. On various forums ( BBQ Brethren one of my favs!) there are always posts that say rate my box. Feedback in appearance can be really helpful. The posts are usually answered by multiples of people and the answers can vary wildly. While it isn’t a slam dunk it can sure help.  Thats probably why I like the site BBQ Critic. Lots of boxes posted with commentary from a wide variety of folks.

Photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotherpintplease/

BBQ Critic invites people to come and judge the boxes presented. The teams are kept anonymous. It is really interesting to see the commentary.  Teams are invited to submit their boxes to be judged.

BBQ Critic is also on Facebook.

This past weekend the Inaugural Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour kicked off in Gilbert Arizona !

30 teams and 30 judges got down to business in rainy drizzly weather….Sanctioned by the KCBS!!

Here is an excellent video from:

One of the best things about BBQTV videos is to hear the judges commentary on the BBQ that was presented to them.  You can learn a lot from watching their videos- all 577 of them!!

After the boxes were turned in & the results tallied the Grand Champion was … Darren & Sherry Warth from Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ !!

Reserve Grand Champion was Jennifer Duncan from Smoked to the Bone..

The Top 7 teams overall from this contest will be continuing on to the next tier in Las Vegas on May6th & 7th 2011:

Overall:
1 Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ
2 Smoked to the Bone
3 Rhythm ‘n Que
4 Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
5 I.A.B. 30 BBQ
6 McFrankenboo BBQ
7 Loot N’ Booty BBQ

Congratulations to all the teams that participated!

Great news for those of us in Ontario that compete. The first ever KCBS Sanctioned Event in Ontario - Smokin’ for Gold BBQ Championship will take place Friday, July 8 and Saturday, July 9, 2011 Cedar Run Horse Park, Clarksburg.

Why is having a KCBS Sanctioned event good news?  Lets take this right from their website:

The benefits of having a sanctioned BBQ contest are numerous. The Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) is the world’s largest organization of barbeque and grilling enthusiasts. KCBS sanctions nearly 300 contests across the U.S. annually.

A sanctioned contest offers the organizer:

• (1) Integrity,
• (2) Experience,
• (3) A built in base of cookers and judges, and
• (4) A support system of other organizers and members.

For the teams, it offers the assurance that a contest will be conducted in a professional manner, the prize monies will be awarded as advertised, and that the rules will be followed. Some events start off non-sanctioned and work toward sanction. Generally, if you start off as a KCBS sanctioned event your contest will run smoother, have more trust from the teams, and have a higher success rate. A non-sanctioned event is not highly regarded, nor supported by teams if they are not aligned with a proven entity. However sanctioning alone cannot guaranty the number of teams competing or the success of your event

 

From the Smokin’ For Gold BBQ Championship  Website :

Kansas City BBQ Society Rules

4 categories Ribs, Pork, Chicken and Brisket

$8,000 IN PRIZES - each category $75 or 4 categories for $200

Grand Champion $2,000.00 Plus Trophy (must enter all 4 BBQ categories)
Reserve Grand Champion $1,000.00 Plus Trophy (must enter all 4 BBQ categories)

Prizes for each category
First Place: $500.00 Plus Trophy
Second Place: $250.00 Plus Trophy
Third Place: $150.00 Plus Trophy
Fourth & Fifth Place: $75.00 Plus plaque
Sixth – 10th Place – plaque

CHILI COOKOFF

Texas Chili Tolbert Rules – Entry Fee $25

Open Division – Texas Chili – Entry Fee $50

1st place – $500 plus trophy
2nd place – $250 plus trophy
3rd place – $150 plus trophy
4th & 5th place – $50 plus plaque
6th-10th place – plaque

We are looking forward to participating in this event if at all possible and wish them all the best of success!!

Our year end final numbers for 2010  KCBS TOY Standings

Overall~130 out of 5713 KCBS teams !!

I am really pleased since we only had 9 competitions that qualified towards these standings.

Thats a BIG improvement from our year end last year where we came in 241 out of 4716

We still need to work and keep focused for 2011. You just never know where we may end up and at what contest!!

What is Kookers Kare?

Kookers Kare Inc.(501(c)(3)) is a group of charitable volunteers aiding those in need! We provide freshly cooked and non-perishable food to food pantries such as the Harvesters Food Network. We are also an integral part of the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

Our Mission:

To serve as a beacon of hope to end hunger in the Kansas City Community by providing food assistance through fun, laughter, and a lot of smoke.

Kookers Kare needs donations from Companies and also BBQ products for their Winter Fun Fest their premier source of donations for the year.  They have been doing this for almost 15 years and their assistance has helped many.

If you have any interest in supporting or donating to Kookers Kare – or just want more information please contact:
Craig Kidwell – Chairman
EMAIL: bbqboy51@yahoo.com

There is nothing like deciding to go on a bit of a road trip for a contest. We decided to make a bit of a hike to Pennsylvania this past weekend with our children to attend the Inaugural competition put on by our friend Brian Nevel from Huntingdon County Custom and his partner Ed Stoddard.

They did a good job informing teams coming in of what to expect and the location was top notch. We had a great time competing in both the grilling and the KCBS contest.

You know its always so wonderful to get the opportunity to travel and see the small towns on the way to a comp. There are so many beautiful communities with interesting quirks I would love to stop at. There just never seems to be enough time. The fall foliage was breathtaking as we approached our destination. Just beautiful. My blackberry pictures don’t do it justice.

Lucky for us we had our good friends from Swamp Pit BBQ right next to us. Our kids love hanging out together and so do we!!

I also have to point out that I finally got to meet a very special little man. He is so snuggly and cute and adorable.  Cooper belongs to Kristal and Josh Shade from Tiny’s BBQ and well I was just really excited to cuddle him a bit

For the grilling contest I have to give some props to our good friends Dan Hixon and Chris Hall from 3 Eyz BBQ. Since they were not competing in the grilling part they ended up being our taste testers for the trials we did ahead of the competition.   I was happy with our burger, pizza and chefs choice entires. I like having the ability to be creative. We ended up with a 1st in pizza and Reserve Grand Champion.

Here is a short video I took on the BB of the competition.

It was a lot of fun and it was great to see the other teams. I loved seeing the custom made firepits. I really enjoy sitting around the fire at a competition. I also seriously enjoyed a wicked good prime rib courtesy of the Grand Poobah himself Phil. It was awesome.   The morning shot was courtesy of MABA & Aporkaclypse now. The shot glasses were a really nice souvenir from the event.

We had a great time and I would recommend this event highly. The awards were terrific. Medals from the BBQ-brethren and custom awards from Brian Nevel.

Congratulations to PA Midnight Smokers who received two 180′s for the weekend. One in dessert and one in brisket.

Congrats to Chix, Swine and Bovine on their GC and 3Eyz BBQ on their Reserve GC for the KCBS competition. we came in 4th overall just missing a 180 in pork by less than 1/2 a point.

The reserve GC and the Grand Champion teams got to participate in a new tradition at Raystown Lake they both took a dip in the water and we all posed for a group picture:

It was great to be among friends for the weekend but its always nice to come home …..

Good Friends getting press always makes me smile. I was really thrilled to see Julie & Skip from Swamp Pit BBQ getting some press from Albany Alive at the Troy Pig out where they took a 2nd in pork and a 10th overall.

If you have ever been to a contest where they are at you probably met them. Socializing at BBQ comps is something they specialize in.

Team Swamp Pit : Skip, Robert, Julie, Lizzie, Mikey(Todd in Blue)

Additionally they are more often than not showing a new team how to make a parsley box, organize their camp or just in general helping out wherever they can!! I have witnessed their kindness and generosity to so many people on many an occasion and have been the recipient of it as well.

They also always have some seriously good tequila always served ice cold from one of their many cocktail shakers.

Photo Credit : Albany Alive

Once again they like many others show why Competition BBQ is such a great “sport” to get involved in. Its not always about the meat and the turn ins – its more often than not about the awesome people you meet.

One of the highlights of the weekend had to be meeting with Curt McAdams from www.Livefireonline.com He is an incredibly accomplished photographer, bbq’er and all around a generally wonderfully thoughtful person. His blog is impressive and it has been given an accolade from Saveur as one of the sites they love.

Previously we had met Curt a few years ago at a Dr. BBQ class in Dettroit. It wasn’t until we were chatting that we realized we had both attended the same class. Curt also made the first BBQ fatty I ever tried. It was a moment I will never forget.

Curt took some pictures and captured some moments at the competition here are a few of them to share.

All images copyright 2010 Livefire Photography.

He took others as well but these are just a few. Thank you Curt for capturing some of our competition moments and thank you for the Killer brownies from Dorothy Lane Market. Wow. They were awesome.