MABA APRIL 2021 UPDATE
President’s Message
Spring has arrived and our MABA cooks are off to a strong start! Cooking season in the Mid Atlantic opened up with BBQ Gives Back for both our Master Series and Backyard barbecue teams as well as our Steak teams. Bill and Mary Jones put on a great event, as usual, and the event raised $10,000.00 for the Burn Survivors Foundation. Huge thank you to all of the teams, reps, judges and sponsors who donated generously to this very worthy cause!
Congratulations to Wolf’s Revenge BBQ for taking home the 2019 MABA Cup at BBQ Gives Back! The cycle starts over again this weekend with our first 2021 State Cup event at the Interstate BBQ Festival in Boonsboro, MD. Our Maryland teams cooking at this event will be vying for a cash prize, trophy, and a beautiful Gunter Wilhelm knife! The following weekend, our New Jersey teams battle it out for their State Cup at the New Jersey KnoQ-out. Good luck to all!
Please feel free to contact me at president@mabbqa.com with any questions or concerns. I welcome all feedback from our membership. Be well and we hope to see you at a contest soon!
Virtual Annual Meeting
This year’s Annual Meeting of the Membership was a little different due to the ongoing challenges of COVID. In lieu of an in person meeting as done in the past, a Live Stream was held on the Mid Atlantic Barbecue Association Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Mabbqa.
The Virtual Annual Meeting was conducted on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 6:30PM EST. If you missed the live stream, feel free to tune in to the replay on Facebook and catch up on all the latest news and events going on within MABA for this season! Please email maba@mabbqa.com if you have any questions or comments.
Oklahoma Joe’s Sponsors Master Series and Steak Cook Points Chase Programs
MABA is pleased to announce Oklahoma Joe’s as a primary sponsor for the 2020 + 2021 Super Season Master Series Team of the Year and the Steak Cook of the Year programs! With their support, MABA is excited to be able to award some nice products in addition to trophies and cash prizes!
Oklahoma Joe’s has been generous to donate a Bronco Pro Drum Smoker for the winner of the Overall in Tier 1, a Bronco Drum Smoker for the winner of the Overall in Tier 2, and a Rambler Tabletop Charcoal Grill for the winner of the Steak Cook of the Year series. In addition, they are including some accessories for the top 5 overall in each group.
Steak Cook of the Year
Since the release of the Steak Cook of the Year points chase in the middle of March, MABA is excited to recognize that 25+ steak cooks have signed up for the program after one contest, with the second contest in the region comping up April 9th & 10th in Greencastle, PA for Raising the Steaks!
It’s never too late to get signed up! Your top 8 contests will be counted for points and the season has just begun! If you are a current MABA member, all you need to do is fill out the application at Steak Cook of the Year Application on the MABA website to express your intent to compete. If you are not yet a member, you will need to Join MABA then complete the application. Look forward to having you in the competition!
Char-Griller Backyard Team of the Year Kicks Off!
MABA is very excited with the outpouring of interest in the Char-Griller Backyard Team of the Year points chase! The season kicked off in Urbanna, VA on March 27th with BBQ Gives Back! As of March 31st, the following teams have signed to participate in the program for 2021. Good luck to all the teams registered!
2 Pits BBQ – Maryland
Bowman’s Butt & BBQ – Virginia
Col Buck’s BBQ – New Jersey
Dogpatch Q – North Carolina
D’Qued Barbeque – West Virginia
D’s Butts-N-Beers BBQ Team – Virginia
Gold-N-Blue Barbecue- West Virginia
Grizzley’s Big Deal BBQ – North Carolina
Grumpy Ol’ Sarge BBQ – Maryland
Ham Squad – Virginia
House of Hawg BBQ – Pennsylvania
If You Got It Smoke It – Pennsylvania
Kane’s BBQ – Maryland
KenzieLouQ – North Carolina
Lems Meat Varnish – West Virginia
Love-N-Smoke BBQ – Virginia
Manhattan Jacks BBQ – Delaware
McCutcheon’s Rub BBQ Team – West Virginia
MRC Barbecue – Delaware
Off The Rack BBQ – Virginia
Optimus Swine 757 – Virginia
Pee-Ka-Boo BBQ – Maryland
Que N Cue BBQ – Virginia
Red Smoke Bar-B-Que – Virginia
Small Batch BBQ – Maryland
Sweet & Savory BBQ – Maryland
T & S BBQ – West Virginia
Tasker’s BBQ Supply – West Virginia
The Fat Is Where Its At – Pennsylvania
Uncle Dubby’s Backyard BBQ – Virginia
Weber’s Backyard BBQ – Pennsylvania
MABA Cup Finals Results
What is a MABA State Cup? One contest in each of the MABA member states is designated as the State Cup event for that year. The MABA member teams whose head cook resides in that state compete for that particular State Cup. Of those eligible teams, the team that finishes highest in the overall contest standings claims the State Cup and qualifies to compete for the overall MABA Cup against the other State Cup winning teams.
2019 State Cup Finals
Due to COVID in 2020, the 2019 MABA State Cup Finals were postponed until 2021. The host contest for the State Cup Finals was BBQ Gives Back in Urbanna, VA on March 27, 2021. The following teams competed in the MABA State Cup Finals:
Bad Azz Mule BBQ – Maryland
Smokin’ Tex BBQ – New Jersey
The Good Cue Crew – New York
Muttley Crew BBQ – North Carolina
Wolf’s Revenge BBQ – Virginia
Coming out on top was Wolf’s Revenge BBQ followed by Muttley Crew BBQ.
2021 State Cup Contests
The first MABA State Cup contest is coming up soon for the state of Maryland
on Day 1 of the Interstate BBQ Festival in Boonsboro, MD on April 17th. One week later the second MABA State Cup contest for the state of New Jersey will be held in Blairstown, NJ with Day 1 of the New Jersey KnoQ-out on April 24th.
MABA is pleased to partner again this year with Gunter Wilhelm. They will be providing beautiful knives in addition to the State Cup trophies which have arrived and they are HEAVY! If you are a MD team cooking Interstate or a NJ team cooking the KnoQ-Out, be sure your membership is current. If you have questions, please email them to: maba@mabbqa.com.
Competition Team Spotlight
Q & A With The Griller B’s
By Jamie Trader
This month’s competition team spotlight is on Griller B’s Competition BBQ Team with Pitmaster John Brown from Lewes, Delaware.
Q – How did you get started in cooking BBQ?
A – Cooking has always been a passion and grilling and BBQ was always a part of it.
Q – What made you make the jump into cooking competitively?
A – My best friend Dave Deal (Big D’s BBQ) aske me if I wanted to enter a BBQ contest in Dover, DE, I said sure. Had no idea it was a thing!… that was 2008…. and here we are!
Q – What is your most memorable success story?
A – Winning our first “GC” and going to “The Jack”
Q – What is your most memorable failure?
A – One time we entered an “anything but” category with the intention of finishing DAL. We threw together a dessert with stuff we had onsite and placed way higher than we thought possible. We thought, well we can’t even do that right. Haha
Q – What is your favorite thing to cook outside of the main 4 meat categories?
A – Probably my favorite thing is cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Something about cooking for family on that day just seems right to me! Donna really loves making desserts!
Q – If you could tell a new team one thing before their first contest, what would it be?
A – Don’t stress, just focus on getting everything turned in on time! Find moments during the contest to relax and enjoy it.
Coach’s Corner – Pitmaster Tips
By Steve Dotson
When we talk about BBQ, the most defining characteristic most folks would point to is the smoke. While there are other unique features of this style of cooking, smoke and the judicious application of it can make or break your food. For this reason one of the most important skills a pitmaster must learn is how to run a clean fire. On different pits this means different things, but at the heart, it boils down to one thing; you don’t want what you’re burning to negatively impact the flavor of your food.
A dirty fire can come off a smoker like a stick burner where there is not enough oxygen to allow complete combustion of the wood splits. This results in a thick gray smoke that will be overpowering on your food and not produce a pleasant tasting result.
In charcoal cookers, you can get a “greasy†dirty smoke resulting from the rendered fat falling on to the coals and burning. While the situations in a stick burner and charcoal smoker are different, they both result in a dirty fire that we want to avoid.
In closing let your fire breathe properly, be aware of how thick the smoke is coming out of your stack and also what it smells like. If it smells pleasant, then you’re probably in good shape. If it smells too strong or like you’ve got grease burning it’s probably time to allow more oxygen to your fire or wrap your food up and let it finish cooking that way.
Pitmaster Recipes
By Jamie Trader
Smoked Jerk Chicken
Ingredients
5 lb chicken
Malcom Reed’s Jammin Jerk Rub (or your favorite)
Jerk Sauce Recipe
2 tbsp melted butter
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup honey
¼ cup scotch bonnet sauce
1 cup orange juice
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp jerk rub
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp Habanero powder
1 cup brown sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Combine together, bring to boil and simmer 15 min.
Directions
- Split chicken in half
- Season inside with jerk rub. Flip to skin side and spray with cooking spray. Season with jerk rub
- Fire up grill. 2 zone, medium hot fire.
- Place chicken skin side down on hot side for 5 min. Flip and cook 5 more min.
- Move chicken to cool side with dark meat towards hot side.
- Cook chicken to 155 internal temperature. Once 155 glaze.
- Continue cooking until breast hit 165. Dark meat should be at least 175
- Remove and rest 20 min.
- Chop and serve with extra sauce on the side!
BBQ Gives Back Contest Recap
By Jamie Fink & Chris Schriver
We had the opportunity to attend BBQ Gives Back in Urbanna, VA this year. It was a typical BBQ competition with some wind, some rain, and some warm sunny days. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill, Mary, and the rest of the staff and volunteers for all the work you did to make this a wonderful contest. This year BBQ Gives Back hosted a double KCBS Master and Backyard series competition on Saturday and Sunday as well as an SCA Steak competition on Friday night.
I woke up Saturday morning to the wonderful smell of smoke in the air. After all the teams ran their timelines and their trade secrets, feedback was that there was some really good BBQ produced. I had an opportunity to speak with some judges after they finished with their duties for the day and was glad to hear a lot of praise for the BBQ they had.
The end of the Day 1 awards saw Rhode Hog BBQ as RGC and Wolf’s Revenge BBQ with GC in the Master series as well as Bowman’s Butt & BBQ with RGC and Sweet & Savory BBQ with GC on the Backyard side.
Day 2 ended with a deal more good feedback from the judges. For the first competition of the year for many, you would have thought that these teams were in mid season form! Smokecraft Modern Barbecue walked away RGC and Wolf’s Revenge BBQ with GC in the Master series. Sweet & Savory BBQ with RGC and Bowman’s Butt & BBQ with GC on the Backyard side in opposite order from day 1.
Two day overall top score for the weekend was Wolf’s Revenge BBQ on the Master series with 270 Smokers nipping at their heels. Bowman’s Butt & BBQ was the overall two day winner on the Backyard side with Sweet & Savory following right behind.
For the steak contest Friday night, Greg Boggs, from Bogg’s Hog BBQ walked away with first place and the coveted Golden Ticket to next year’s World Steak Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas.
All in all this is a great contest to attend and was well run. If you’ve never cooked this one I would suggest you put it on your calendar for next year!
I couldn’t agree more with Jamie’s comments that this is a great contest to attend. The venue at Bethpage Camp-Resort is quite ideal for BBQ teams! But that’s not all, this year BBQ Gives Back with the support of the teams, reps, judges and sponsors were able to raise $10,000 for Burn Survivors Foundation as well as donate several boxes of canned goods and BBQ proteins to the Hermitage Baptist Church that will use those goods to help feed those in need. Congratulations to all on these accomplishments!
Finally, what would a contest be without a few candid photos?!?! In the first pic, we have Tex preparing for competition.
In the second pick we have Don Wallace thinking about scotch eggs.
In the third pic, well yea, Don found the scotch eggs. Thanks to Tex and Don for being great sports!
