Tag Archive: Big Ugly

  1. 4th Annual Backyard BBQ at M&S Harley-Davidson in Chambersburg, PA

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    By Chris Hall, aka Big Ugly, Pitmaster of Big Ugly’s BBQ

    Saturday, July 15th, was a fantastic day for the 4th Annual Backyard BBQ at M&S Harley-Davidson in Chambersburg. Seventeen teams competed in ribs and chicken. There was a nice mix of teams, first time competitors and seasoned KCBS competition teams but overall a great job done by all. The teams also cooked up chicken wings to serve for People’s Choice, which was organized by the sponsors of the event.

    The first category was Chicken, the nemesis of any BBQ team. Scoring was fair and tough, with Shaker City BBQ, with Justin Eckard – Pitmaster, taking 1st place, 2nd place went to Bad Company BBQ, Joshua Pace – Pitmaster, and in 3rd place was Plum Crazy BBQ, Howard Poole – Pitmaster.

    The final category was ribs, and again it was a very tight scoring category. Dustin Reed, Pitmaster for Inked Pig took 1st place. Bad Company brought home 2nd again, and Shaker City won a tie breaker with Pot Belly BBQ, Dave Nash – Pitmaster for 3rd.

    When all the scores were tallied and the tiebreaker applied, Shaker City was the top overall, with Bad Company placing 2nd. Plum Crazy finished 3rd. Congrats to all the teams on their effort and submissions.

    Big shout out to Amanda Butts and Darren Moats from M&S Harley-Davidson for being great hosts! Looking forward to next year for a four meat competition!

  2. Sun BBQ Fest (Mohegan Sun), Uncasville, CT

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    by Mike Fay, MABA Past President and Pitmaster for Aporkalypse Now

    So it’s not quite in the Mid Atlantic but in spite of a bit of a drive ten MABA members joined 59 other competitors for a weekend BBQ competition at the Mohegan Sun Casino.  Not only is this a big money event but the resort and staff go out of their way to make sure that all the team’s needs are met and exceeded. A special thanks need to be added for providing a free entry to this year’s Sun BBQ Fest for the MABA banquet raffle.

    PIcture of Mohegan Sun Casino and river

    BBQ Teams giving out samples at Sun BBQ FestSun BBQ Fest is a unique event in that the teams that choose to do the People’s Choice competition on Saturday split the $2 per sample income with the casino thus allowing the teams to recoup and in some cases cover all of their competition expenses. People’s Choice competitors served the items of their choice both Saturday and Sunday to a large and enthusiastic crowd.

    For those teams not doing people’s choice; Friday night was the party night. Much revelry could be heard across the parking lot where the festival was located and we were even treated to a surprise visit from Mr. Jack himself.

    BBQ teams with Jack Daniel's statue

    Sunday was showtime and all the teams put forth their best. Big Ugly continued their outstanding showing in the dessert category with a 2nd place finish. When the KCBS completion smoke cleared it was Shake ‘N Bake BBQ on top for Grand Champion with Meat @ Slims earning Reserve. MABA members had a respectable showing with 3 top 10 overall finishes and 8 of the top 20 slots.

    First place winners:
    Chicken – Smokin Hoggz BBQ – MA
    Ribs – Smokin Bulldogs
    Pork – 5-Alarm Backyard BBQ
    Brisket – Que and a Half Men

    Grand Champion – Shake ‘N Bake BBQ
    Reserve Grand Champion – Meat @ Slims

    Check out the full competition results here.

    All in all this is a very well run event with good prize money paid deep, fabulous infrastructure, great staff and amenities, plus several opportunities for teams to recoup their costs and interact with their new fans. I know we’ll be back, if for nothing else the Pepe’s pizza!

    Picture of Pepe's pizza