Smokey T's Pit BBQ

BBQ Team

A few years back our competitive juices started flowing and we entered our first BBQ competition in 2004 at the PA state championship in New Holland, PA.  Since then we've competed in several contests per year.  

Some of our biggest accomplishments include winning the Ribs category at the NJ BBQ Championships (only our 2nd contest) and taking home the Grand Champion prize at the King of the Grill contest in Ocean City, NJ.  See our latest results here.

If you've never had a chance to attend or be part of a BBQ competition, well, you should.  They're a great time, win or lose.  Most competitions are a Friday/Saturday event. 

Competitors typically arrive very early on Friday and have their contest meat checked in by an official so they can get started right away.  All meat to be used in the contest must be raw, iced down and unseasoned when checked in.  No pre-seasoning or marinating.  All KCBS events consist of four main categories: chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder and brisket.  Most of them also have one or two additional categories, such as "Chef's Choice", sausage, or best sauce.  Only the four main categories count toward the overall grand championship. 

Brisket and pork shoulder take a long time and are slowly smoked all through the night, while the ribs and chicken begin to cook in the wee hours of the morning.  Beginning at 11:30AM on Saturday, and then every half hour, one of the categories is turned in to the judges.  The usual schedule is

11:30 Sausage

12:00 Chicken

12:30 Ribs

1:00 Pork

1:30 Brisket

Competitors have a five minute window on each side of the half hour to turn in their entries.  Needless to say, it gets a little hectic for a few hours.  But after everything is turned in, it's time to pop a cold one, think about what you could have done better and start packing up while the scores are tabulated. 

Awards are handed out late in the afternoon.  At most contests, trophies are awarded to the top  3 or 5 finishers in each category, with the top 3 usually pulling in a little cash.  The overall competition winner is deemed "Grand Champion" and is awarded a sizeable trophy and a check, usually in the neighborhood of $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the contest.  If the contest is a state championship, the grand champion qualifies for two of the biggest contests of the year, the Jack Daniels Invitational (Lynchburg, TN) and the American Royal (Kansas City).  If you're an avid Food Network viewer, you may have seen them on TV.

Winning an award at a competition and taking a trip up to the stage is known as "getting a call".  A lot of time and preparation goes into competing, so to most competitors, getting at least one "call" makes the weekend worthwhile, even if it's 5th place.  Most competitors have some sort of food-related business, such as catering, sauces/rubs or a restaurant.  So getting a "call" gives them bragging rights to help promote their business.  Competing in BBQ cook-offs is not profitable.  In fact, it's an expensive hobby and the chances that a competitor consistently wins enough to make much of a profit is very rare.  It's the bragging rights that the competitors are going after.

To find a contest near you, check out the calendar at the KCBS web site.

Click on the following competition pictures for a larger view.  There's more in our photo gallery.  Our contest results are found below.

CONTEST RESULTS

2005 NJ State BBQ Championship

Wildwood, NJ

1st Place - Ribs

5th Place - Brisket

7th Place Overall

2005 PA State BBQ Championship

New Holland, PA

6th Place - Ribs

2005 King of the Grill BBQ Championship

Ocean City, NJ

2nd Place - Pork Shoulder

2nd Place - Brisket

1st Place Overall - Grand Champion

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