Jack Continued

With a belly full of Southern delights it was time to prep the meat for competition. We trimmed our butts and briskets at home but we still had to trim Ribs and Chicken. Doug worked on the ribs and Charlie trimmed the chicken while I made up our injections for the pork and brisket. Once the meat was injected we put it in Zip Lock bags and then back into the cooler to rest before it was time to cook. We discussed when we would put the meat on the cooker and had to take into consideration that turn-in times were one hour later than a normal KCBS competition. We also discussed how we would present our meat in the boxes because the rules stated we had to have at least 7 pieces as opposed to the normal 6.

After the meat was prepped it was time to join the parade which is led by the Lynchburg High School band. While waiting for the parade to start I got to spend some time with Guy Fieri from the food network. We met at a bbq class in Houston before he bacame famous. I really enjoyed talking to him and hearing about all the exciting things he has coming up. The parade goes from the contest site through the center of town and over to the Visitors center where there are busses waiting to take people up the hill to a reception party. To be honest the reception was a bit of a disappointment this year. They served chili which was very good but really not up to par with the fried chicken and sides that were served last year. But it was good meeting and chatting with people from all over the world. There was plenty of free Jack Daniels and Lynchburg lemonade to go around.

I left the reception around 9:00pm because it was time to light the pit and get ready to cook some meat. I loaded up my Backwoods smoker with Wicked Good Charcoal and BBQr's Delight Pecan Smoke Stix and waited for it to come up to temp. It was somewhere around this time that I found out about my Friend Scotties Father passing. I tried to offer what comfort I could but knew there was really nothing I could do for him except let him know I was there for him.

At 11:00 pm I loaded the Butts and briskets into the Backwoods. A couple of people from the Qhaven bbq team stopped by for a visit and to share a drink. The wind was kicking up pretty good at times but it didn’t seem to affect the smoker. We had several visitors during the night.

The weather was much improved in the morning. Charlie got up at 6:00 am to season the ribs and put them on the smoker. He also added more charcoal, wood and water to the smoker. I got up around 7:30 to get ready for the day. The Chicken went on the smoker around 11:00 am and the brisket and butts came off to get some rest time. The ribs needed a little more time. Everything was looking pretty good. We had some visitors at this time but regrettably I really couldn't spend much time with them, we had too much to do. Doug spent most of the morning prepping his dessert. Charlie cooked our chefs choice entry.

The one entry I didn't like was our Pork. Of course pork is what we did best in. We did spend extra time on it trying to improve it's taste and texture. I guess it paid off. Between turn-ins and awards I got a visit from drbbq and Lee Ann Whippen who have both been on the television show The Barbecue Championship series. I have known both of them for awhile. I attended a drbbq cooking class a few years ago and I consider us friends. I have competed against Lee Ann several times and we have become friends. They both wanted to sample my ribs and brisket and I thought that was a real compliment in itself. I didn't really ask them what they thought because I didn't want to put them on the spot. My good friend Garry Howard from the smokering.com also stopped by.

After that we started breaking down camp and getting ready for the awards ceremony.