By Stephanie West, MABA Vice-President and “The Neck” Pitmaster for Team 270 Smokers
In this month’s Tip From the Pros, Travis Clark of Clark Crew BBQ, 2015 KCBS Team of the Year and currently in first place in KCBS discusses the finer points of brisket…from the exact cut he cooks, to the method he prefers!
by Mark Gibbs, Pitmaster of The Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
The second annual Interstate BBQ Festival is in the books for 2017. This competition has quickly become one of the “must-do” contests on the Mid-Atlantic schedule. In two short years, Rob Immer and his team have put together a well-organized, top flight contest that hosted 57 teams and Chamber of Commerce weather all weekend!
The contest hosted Dessert, Burger, Kid’s Que and People’s Choice categories as well this year. Dessert and Kid’s Que was brought home by We Rib U Long Time. Top scoring Burgers by Brother-Uncle BBQ and People’s Choice was brought home by the Sauce This! BBQ team. I am sure they put some addictive chemical in their people’s choice because they have people drooling every week!
Perhaps the most impressive presentation of the weekend was the MABA good luck shot hosted by Life is Good But BBQ is Better. Or more accurately, the good luck shot, bloody Mary bar, and food spread. Many folks pitched in and Don and Sandy Wallace played host to what will be hard to beat for future good luck shot hosts…but they’re sure encouraged to try! Check out videos here of the spread and actual toast given by LIGBBIB pitmaster Don Wallace!
This contest included a lot of vendors, bands and activities for everyone. Good Smoke BBQ from New York brought home KCBS Grand Championship. MABA’s own Drilling and Grilling from Glen Rock, PA brought home the Reserve Grand Championship. They are on a nice little roll here in the beginning of the season. Keep it up guys!
The Chicken category was won by 2 Rhodies BBQ and 2nd was Rhode Hog BBQ (I see a pattern here). Rib honors were brought home by Piggin’ Whiskey BBQ. These guys are starting to hit their stride in competition BBQ. Remember that team name folks! Drilling and Grilling brought home 1st Place honors in Pork and Bill Gillespie’s Smokin Hoggz MA brought home the big Brisket plank! Great job to all of the teams that were called and we hope to be back for year three of this great event!
Individual meat winners:
Chicken – 2 Rhodies BBQ
Ribs – Piggin’ Whiskey
Pork –Drilling & Grilling
Brisket – Smokin Hoggz BBQ – MA
Grand Champion – Good Smoke BBQ
Reserve – Drilling & Grilling
Full results can be found here.
by Brian Walrath, MABA Board Member and Pitmaster for Brown Liquor BBQ
Most barbecue enthusiasts and competition pitmasters would agree, brisket is the hardest smoked meat to master. And part of that education is in taking such an oddly shaped, imperfect meat with two muscles and a huge fat vein in between them, and trimming it up so they’ll cook up perfectly. David Bouska, owner of Butcher BBQ, most notably known for his lineup of award winning meat injections, created the two videos below to show you how to perfect trimming brisket. The first video takes you through the basics of trimming a brisket for that weekend cook or catering gig, and many of us may already be well versed in these brisket trimming techniques, but this was a great refresher video for me and I always enjoying watching a true artisan like David do his thing!
The second video…well, now you gotta watch this. A big new trend on the competition barbecue circuit is separating the brisket flat muscle from the point (or deckle as David calls it in the first video) BEFORE it’s cooked. This method of trimming makes both muscles more uniform in size and will give you a more consistent and even cook. David picks up on the second video where he left off on the first and takes a nicely trimmed brisket through a competition trim, right down to rounding off those 90 degree edges on the flat so they don’t darken or overcook. Good luck out there this year and if you haven’t experimented with cooking brisket muscles separate, I highly recommend it!!
by Brian Walrath, Pitmaster of Brown Liquor BBQ and MABA Board Member
I know we’ve all dreamed about it…or to some had nightmares. What is “it?” Taking that plunge from competition barbecue and/or barbecue catering to opening your very own barbecue joint! Well, Jerry Stephenson of Redneck Scientific fame (yeah, the team that finished fourth overall in KCBS in 2016!), took the plunge in January! Jerry opened The Redneck BBQ Lab in Benson, North Carolina.
I happened to be not-too-far away from Jerry’s restaurant the first week he opened visiting some friends to attend a Tarheel/Syracuse basketball game and we decided to stop in for lunch the day after the game. The Redneck BBQ Lab is nestled in next to a gas station in a busy intersection on highway 210, just off of interstate 40.
The first thing you notice pulling in is the big painted logo on the side of the building. The rumor is that this impressive visual landmark was hand crafted by the Sean Manley, aka, “The Guv,” Jerry’s brother-in-law and husband of Roxanne Manley, Jerry’s secret weapon on the barbecue trail! The front of the joint is equally impressive with a bold series of words that make you want to see what’s inside…PROVEN. WINNING. COMPETITION. BBQ! The interior has a homey look with wood grain throughout and a country feel as local, historic pictures and signs with country slogans adorn the walls on your way to the counter. The other thing you can’t help but notice is the trophy shelf that sits right above the windows to the food service line where your order is plated. This trophy case is flat out impressive and I couldn’t help but look up and wonder about the times I’ve competed against Jerry and Roxanne and think of all the times they whipped my ass!
After a handshake and some pleasantries with Jerry, he was off to run an errand as busy restauranteurs often do. My buddies and I decided to get a sampling of several barbecue meats that included smoked spare ribs, pulled pork, and brisket burnts ends and slices. The Redneck Barbecue Lab only sells burnt ends on certain days, and we were glad we hit the right one! Our sides included local collards and the jalapeno mac ‘n cheese. As a competition barbecue cook, sometimes our opinions are flawed when it comes to restaurant barbecue. But I can tell you confidently, Jerry is doing it right! The brisket was perfectly smoked and tender as a mother’s love. The pulled pork was true to this region and succulent with great mouth feel. The burnt ends literally melted in your mouth. The spare ribs were done just right…not overcooked and falling off the bone, but just the right doneness to give you a great bite and chew. The impressiveness didn’t stop there. The collards and mac were among the best I’ve dug in to as well.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about The Redneck BBQ Lab however, is the people. Our service was quick, friendly, and with the southern charm that always makes me come back to these parts! The joint is just that…a joint. It’s not a big place and if you want to be sure to get some tasty ‘que, you better get there early. As with all of the best BBQ hotspots I’ve found, they sell a finite amount and when they’re sold out, that’s it!
All in all, it was a great experience and the food was killer. It’s right off 40 and not too far off of 95. If you get a chance, go, you won’t be disappointed. Jerry and his team are doing it right. I will be back for sure the first chance I get!
Have you eaten great barbecue at a Mid-Atlantic barbecue joint lately? Tell us about it and we’ll feature other restaurants in the newsletter and the MABA website. Just email your review/story to me at brnwlr@aol.com.
The MABA Board has entered into an agreement with BBQData.com to calculate the 2017 MABA Team of the Year Contest. The standings will update weekly as results are posted to MABA-approved sanctioning bodies. A link to the standings will be provided through the MABA website at www.mabbqa.com.
As a MABA member, you’ll be able to subscribe to BBQData.com for 10% off of the standard subscription price of $25. ($22.50 for MABA members.) Enter the code MABA2017 when you sign up. If you are already a BBQData.com subscriber and paid full price, you will be given a refund.
BBQData.com features include–
· View a synopsis for your team of the current year and prior years: The top ten scores, team averages and the number of contests by year.
· View scoring details for each meat category (Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket) and the Overall score.
· See a summary of teams’ results. This is a quick way to get an overview of each team’s BBQ career.
· Get a snapshot of estimated points standings.
Several teams in the MABA area have been beta-testing BBQData.com for a few months, and find the service invaluable. Statistics update as soon as the contest results are posted by MABA-approved sanctioning bodies.
In addition, BBQData.com is always adding different features and benefits to the system.
By Bill Jones, MABA Board Member and KCBS Master Judge, Table Captain, & Life Member
My wife and I have this discussion every so often and it goes like this – “Do you want Mexican or Chinese food for supper?”
“Sure” I say. And off to our favorite location we go. The owners greet us and will sometime make the comment “You’re back again for dinner?”
My wife will ask “Did you come for lunch here?” Yes. “Then why did you not tell me that?”
I am quite okay having Mexican twice in one day. She just does not get it. So now I tell her – “Italians eat Italian three times a day, Mexicans eat Mexican three times a day, Chinese eat Chinese three times a day…so why can’t I do the same?” And the same goes for BBQ. I have eaten BBQ for lunch AND dinner many times!
Note – she also has this very strongly followed rule. She does eat Mexican or Chinese at a place unless someone we know has eaten there before us and survived! Seems a simple, yet weird little rule. Wish I had followed it at a contest in Westmont, IL this year. That was some awful Mexican food.
As a judge we have some time to sit and talk about the foods we like. Many judges crave ice cream after judging. I am not a major fan of ice cream, it’s just not something I seek out. I do want a Mt. Dew for the ride home and usually get some Chicken Lo Mein from my local favorite Chinese place. No idea why that’s what comes to mind.
Some cook teams also crave certain foods following a cook. I have yet to hear any wanting barbecue though. Not their own, nor anyone elses. I am in the same boat. Every fall we do what we call a Stew N’ Que at our home. About 75 – 100 people are invited and by the time I am done cooking a cast iron pot of Brunswick Stew and 80 pounds of barbecue, I seldom eat any of it. Oh I taste test along the way, so maybe I get filled up on that. But I usually find myself hungry later that evening for anything except barbecue or stew.
Many of our trips to far away lands like North Carolina or Maryland…okay just kidding about that…but when we do travel, we seek out local establishments of the best barbecue in town and then a Mom and Pop restaurant, non chain. We have found some great restaurants in our travels, and some not-so-great ones too. Just like barbecue boxes we judge, you get some great and then some-not-so great.
We see teams and judges doing similar, checking out local establishments. Newbie judges will sometimes ask how I pick the contests I go to. It really has little to do with the contest as much as it does with what’s nearby? Chesapeake, VA contest – County Grill and Smoke House on the ride there the night before and Harpoon Larrys on ride home. Note – I table captain this event because I want to eat at these two places. Tupeolo, MS – Kermets Outlaw Kitchen. BelAir MD – Box Hill Pizzeria crab cakes, yes crab cakes at a pizza joint. Lanexa – Walkers Dam Grill – how can a campground have such a great Italian place? Don’t get me wrong, the contest organizers or the reps also have a lot to do with where I pick to judge. But outside of the barbecue, the local food is what I also seek out. Something out of the way, different, unexpected.
Hope to see you out on the circuit in 2017 trying new places.
‘Til next time,
Bill Jones
by Mark Gibbs, Pitmaster of The Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
The McShin Foundation held its 7th annual KCBS sanctioned BBQ competition the weekend of September 9th and 10th. 25 teams came together in the 95 plus degree heat to compete and support the McShin Foundation in this annual BBQ battle.
The folks at the foundation put on a great contest with full amenities. The music, fellowship, cause and location of this contest make it a “must do” for many competitors. Despite the hot temps, all 25 teams got their entries in to the judges on time to make this contest a Jack and Royal qualifier. Honesty Liller, CEO of McShin did a great job of presenting the awards and taking care of the competitors. They really do make us a part of the family at this contest.
The results are in and I am happy to say that the Checkered Flag 500 BBQ Team repeated as Grand Champion this year successfully defending our title from 2015. Old Virginia Smoke of Bristow, Virginia with Luke and Kim Darnell and Leigh Anne Terry brought home the Reserve Grand Champion honors.
The Checkered Flag 500 team brought home top honors in Chicken and Brisket. Don and Sandy Wallace of Life is Good, but BBQ is Better from Purcellville, Virginia took home their first ever 1st Place Rib finish! Great job Don and Sandy! Top Pork honors went to J.D.’s Smokin Misfits of Virginia!
The Checkered Flag 500 Team also qualified for the OBR/BBQ for a Cause Virginia Champions championship at the 2017 contest in Urbanna, Virginia.
Congrats to every team that got a call and we are really looking forward to the 2017 event at McShin in Richmond!
First place winners:
Chicken – Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
Ribs –Life is Good But BBQ is Better
Pork –JD’s Smokin Misfits
Brisket –Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
Grand Champion –Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
Reserve Grand Champion –Old Virginia Smoke
Check out the full competition results here.
By Stephanie West, MABA Vice-President and “The Neck” Pitmaster for Team 270 Smokers
Congratulations to Max Cohen and the townspeople of Old Forge, NY for putting on a terrific 1st year event! It was a KCBS sanctioned NY State Championship and 24 teams came out to compete at the “Base Camp of the Adirondacks” despite widespread reports of BEAR the prior week. Yes, bear are alive and (very) well in the region of Old Forge! A mama scampered her 2 cubs up a tree right on Main Street, causing the police to reroute traffic for several hours. The locals would’ve known to just leave those bear in peace however Old Forge attracts a lot of tourists – and everyone wants that photo for Facebook! (Someone did, indeed, get a photo and it’s downloaded here from FB for your pleasure!) No doubt, Mama bear was salivating at the thought of all the brisket and ribs to be smoked at the upcoming Great Adirondack BBQ Festival!
Max Cohen and his team took great care to repeatedly emphasize the importance of diligent preventative measures to keep those bears at bay…he did a regular check to ensure coolers were locked up & bear-proof, no garbage was left out, cars & campers were locked, and he even kept up his rounds of bear-patrol during the night on his golf cart. This was one very dedicated and safety-minded contest organizer, and as a result it was completely uneventful from a wildlife perspective! The raccoons didn’t even show up.
The contest was held on the most spectacular stretch of turf that we’ve ever been on at a competition – freshly mown soccer fields! We were within easy walking distance of downtown and the lake. The community center at the soccer field had cedar-lined bathrooms with a shower, open all night long for the teams. There were no trophies or ribbons, however a very generous $10K+ prize pool for a small 1st year event. Volunteers collected our extra BBQ for a regional Veterans home, so nothing here was wasted. We’ll definitely try to do this event again next year and plan to spend a few extra days in the area to enjoy some kayaking, hiking, and the charms of Old Forge!
First place winners:
Chicken – Checkered Flag 500 BBQ
Ribs –Good Smoke BBQ
Pork –Hellfire BBQ NY
Brisket –270 Smokers
Grand Champion –4:20 Q
Reserve Grand Champion –Priorville
Check out the full competition results here.
By Bill Jones, MABA Board Member and KCBS Master Judge, Table Captain, & Life Member
As a Master Judge, I am often looked to for advice by newbies. I define newbies as new judges with less than 10 contests judged.
Some of their questions are related to how to apply to judge contests, why I apply for the ones I do, and help with discussing their entrée they just judged and scored. But the one that gets asked more times than not – How do you meet a team to work on getting your Masters cook completed?
With the divide in KCBS with judges and cooks, versus that of MBN — judges, especially new ones, have wonderment about talking with teams. How to approach? Who to approach? When to approach?
For both newbies and cook teams, it’s an easy process. You just have to ask. It helps though to know the person or persons to ask.
Many teams are also judges or have members of their team that judge to keep up with the new trends of other teams entries or what’s the hot new trend in box building. Many teams also like to have judges cook with them as part of the team to get an insight into their cooks. They may or may not get comment cards to help them fix issues, but a judge in the trailer with them can maybe point out that issue. So sometimes you can find cook team members in the judges tent. You can ask them.
For teams, you can come to a contest and ask the reps to announce during a judges meeting you wish to have a judge cook with you for their Masters. Have them share where your site is and that judges are invited to come meet and talk about upcoming dates after the judging has taken place. You can exchange contact info then. But please do not use this as a time for asking questions of that days turn-ins. A newbie is going to be a bit out of their element in coming to ask a favor of you.
For judges, ask a master judge who they would recommend. I have three I can name off top of my head whenever I am asked. I am sure other master judges also have teams they can recommend. Sometime you will also find in the BullSheet a team advertising for a judge to come cook with them. Also check Facebook and BBQ Brethren website. But the key here is quite simple – all ya gotta do is ask.
For teams wondering if they would ever consider adding a judge for a contest, here’s a story that I can share that occurred some time ago – I have changed, or maybe not changed, some of the details to protect the innocent. Maybe this might help make up your mind if considering it.
They were taking left over pork, chopping and placing in bottom of their box to lift up the pork they were presenting. They’d been doing so for many contests. They were shocked to hear from the guest judge that if it’s in the box a judge might try some not realizing it was not to be considered part of the entry. They were only using it as a platform and it was bland tasting.Once this was brought to their attention they quickly placed sauced and good meat in bottom of box…and walked that day in pork. Was it because of what the judge told them? I do not know. But they sure like to have judges come and cook with them to point out possible concerns that might cost a point here or there.
As a team, please let them help. Maybe not unleash them with knives and say trim my brisket. Some teams let judges trim, season, inject, stoke fire, build boxes, the whole job of cooking competition BBQ. Others take a we will do the work, you just watch attitude which teaches a judge not a lot and is quite frankly boring. I myself learned so much more participating in all aspects of the cook. I highly recommend allowing a judge to be part of everything you do.
I will end with a comment being made often these days. A judge does not have to judge 30 before cooking with a team. Some will say a judge should cook before they judge. I do not recommend this idea. I believe a judge who has never judged yet cannot offer any insight to a team they are helping to cook with. I do certainly think a judge should cook within their first 15 contests. And again all ya gotta do is ask!
‘Til next time,
Bill Jones
By Bill Jones, MABA Board Member and KCBS Master Judge, Table Captain, & Life Member
In this month’s “What’s in The Box” I will provide some info on what goes on once you drop off your boxes at turn in. Some of you may have never been inside the judging area and do not know all the steps it takes to get from drop off to the judges table. I hope this will be of interest.
So the clock is ticking down, the box needs to be turned in, and there are only seconds to spare when you arrive at turn in. Once dropped off, the box is moved behind a curtain or partition of some sort. Here, a new number is placed over the written number on the box, or YOUR team number. This now makes the box blind to judges as only the reps have the sheet to compare the team number to that of the box.
How do the boxes get to the tables as they do? With Chicken it’s very easy. The normal process is first six chicken boxes go to table 1, next six to table 2, and so on. There is no need to sort them. Next comes Ribs…this is where it’s handy to have people who know the process. Each table captain has a sheet in which they mark off the box entrees they have had for each category. The persons on the turn in tables need to review each table captain’s sheet and make sure boxes do not end up on the same table as they have before. Normally for ribs, two or three trays are held back to swap out entrees. With pork it can be four or five trays, and with brisket it might take five or six, or even more trays depending on number of teams in the contest that are held. Think back to that team who is standing waiting to turn in early. Their box could sit for over 10 minutes while this switch around takes place.
A new requirement this year is not to stack the boxes. Getting the boxes to the tables is a lot of times done by carrying them on bread trays. The trays are not made to hold six boxes, so in the past four boxes were placed with two on top of them, forming a sort of pyramid. The boxes now-a-days are getting flimsier and flimsier, so KCBS decided, no more stacking of boxes.
Now a misunderstood concept. We know the need to keep teams from hitting the same judges table twice. But some teams believe they also do not hit a table with the same teams more than once. That is not the case. It is not designed to make it happen but there is not any means to prevent it either. Team 152, 178 and 149 could conceivably end up on the same table several times and even all 4 categories possibly. Depending on when they turn in their entry, and how it gets shuffled to not hit the same table twice, it might, can, and does occur. In KCBS this should not matter as we do not judge for comparative. Can it be made not to occur? The answer is yes. But consider what has to occur. Now each team has to turn in with the other 5 teams they are assigned with for that category. If Team 152 turns in five minutes early and team 141 turns in with one second to spare, 152’s entry is sitting for 9 minutes 59 seconds. The option that has been discussed would be to reduce turn in windows to prevent the long sit time.
Another is comment cards. At the time I am writing this they are not mandatory for every turned in category. Should they be? Some say yes, some say no. I have no aversion to filling one out for every entry even if it is a 9 9 9 just to say “Great job, loved it”. What I can say is that I have tried this, it cannot be done in the time allotted without something suffering. Either less bites of meat or less information on the card. While 30 minutes sounds like a long time, in a judges tent it is not. A table is given their entrees, appearance has to be shown for all six boxes, then passed out to take samples, then eat first sample and score before moving to the next piece after a bite of a cracker and drink of water. Still sounds doable but depending on where you were in order of trays being delivered, you may have less than 30 minutes. If you were the last to get a tray in this category, you may be early in getting a tray in the next category as the sort goes.
Just recently, I was a table captain and they were calling me for my tray pick up and I still had judges judging. So no it is not as easy as it sounds to mandate comment cards without affecting something else or changing turn in time allotments. Instead of 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, and 1:30 turn in times, it may need to be 12:00, 12:40, 1:20, and 2:00. Doable? Sure. And so something else maybe gets affected – awards time. A sort of a ripple in a pond effect if you will.
Once the entree has been removed and placed on the judges placemats, judging begins. Your box is taken to what is called the grazing table. Here the extra meats are removed, the greens dumped into the trash and the boxes stacked. If anyone should ever question if their box was mislabeled, this can now be found by looking at the boxes that are saved until one hour following awards.
Bill Jones
