Sunday, May 20, 2007

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Here I go again

I'm sitting in Saint Louis waiting for a connecting flight to Memphis Tennessee. I'm headed to Memphis in May one of the worlds largest barbecue contests. This will be my first time in Memphis and to tell you the truth I'm a little intimidated. I normally compete in KCBS competitions and I'm very comfortable with the rules and regulations. Memphis in May is a whole new ballgame. There is onsite judging and you have to try to impresss the judges that visit your site. I better drink some extra tequila to calm my nerves !

I'll be cooking with Jack's Down Home bbq and we are entered in the Whole Hog category. Jack is a great hog cook and he has experience in Memphis in May. I'll be helping out with some of the ancillary categories such as Peoples Choice Pork Shoulder and beef. I'm not even sure what types of garnish are legal in these categories but I guess I'll find out when I get there.

Our bbq class was a complete success and we've gotten nothing but positive feedback from the 25 students that attended. We are planning on doing a beginner bbq class within the next few months. We probably won't even cover competition at all in this class. We will teach the novice how to make some tastey ribs and other bbq delights in their backyard.

I competed in Salisbury MD last month with my father and my friend George. We got a couple of calls but ended up 5th overall out of 60 teams. My ribs just didn't want to cook and ended up placing 43'rd. Ouch ! Oh well you can't win them all.

The team now has two new trucks so hopefully we won't suffer through the breakdowns of last year. I purchased a 2007 Silverado Crew Cab. Charlie purchased a 2003 Silverado with a diesel engine. We'll have to win a couple of categories just to pay for our gas this year ! I Smell Smoke will be competing in Connecticut on Memorial day weekend. Wish us luck.

I'll take some pictures in Memphis and post them soon.