Tag Archive: KCBS

  1. Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD

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    Submitted by “The Nutty BBQ Professor”

    The Maryland State BBQ Bash once again proved to be a great contest.  Organizers were not sure what year we were in.  Guesses varied from 11th year to 14th year, so we will just say that the annual event lived up to its expectations with big crowds, great BBQ and 47 teams vying for the Grand Championship and one Maryland team looking to grab the MABA Maryland State Cup title.

    The Grand Champion was New Jersey’s own Ercole Chila of Uncle Pig’s BBQ Pit.  El Presidente’ and The Lil’ General (Luke and Kim Darnell) from Old Virginia Smoke brought home RGC honors.  Pavone Brothers, Aporkalypse Now and Drilling and Grilling rounded out the top 5 Overall.  Great job teams!

    3N1Q and Que Talkin’ to Me swapped top spot and second place in both the Chicken and Rib categories.  Pavone Brothers continued their hot streak with a win in the Pork category while Quegasm took home the barrel for 1st Place Brisket.

    The win in the Pork category helped garner Dave Pavone and Pavone Brothers the MABA Maryland State Cup.  I heard that Dave will be attending the BBQ Gives Back contest in Urbanna, VA in 2018 to go up against the other state cup winners to see who is named the king of the mountain in for MABA.

    Congrats to everyone that was called and thanks to Craig Ward and his staff that keep bringing this quality contest back each year.

    Results:
    Chicken – 3N1 Que
    Ribs – Que Talkin’ To Me
    Pork – Pavone Brothers BBQ
    Brisket – Quegasm

    RGC – Old Virginia Smoke
    GC – Uncle Pig’s Barbecue Pit

    Full KCBS results here.

  2. The Road Warrior: Lessons from the Edge

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    By Mike Fay, Pitmaster of Aporkalypse Now

    More and more competition teams are moving into trailers and, as with anything changing from one style to another, closes one set of problems and opens up another. We have been traveling with the trailer for the last three years and over that span we have come to rely on a number of trailer-specific products. Here are reviews of two that we have found very useful (we are not, have not, never have been, or will be associated with these particular manufacturers).

    TPMS (Tire Pressure Management System)

    A tire pressure management system monitors the pressure and temperature in your tires. Sounds simple, right? In truth, it really is. While there are a number of systems on the market, the system that we have been using for the last three years is manufactured by Truck Systems Technologies. Not only does it monitor pressure but it also monitors temperature via sensors that screw under the valve stems and report to a small radio remote unit on your dash. This system monitors your tire pressure and temperature in real time and alerts you to over/under pressure or temperature situations before they become critical. A trailer TPMS allows you the time to pull over and stop in the case of the deflating tire before it gets to the point of shredding and ruining the second tire on the side. After using the system for three years and being alerted for things from leaky valve stems to nails in tires it has always alerted us before the situation became critical. A TPMS system costs less than the price of two tires. That’s pretty inexpensive when you’re sitting on the side of the road with a double blow out watching traffic go by at 90 miles an hour. TPMS is worth it in piece of mind if nothing else.

    Here Is a more detailed description of how the system works from the TST website:

    A sensor screws onto the existing valve stem of each tire monitored while the receiver remains within your view in your vehicle. Each sensor has its own individual code that is easily entered into the monitor. This way, the monitor will only recognize and report data from your sensors and no other vehicle’s system. The monitor then highlights a tire and reports tire temperature and pressure. It will rotate around the electronic diagram on the screen and it will report temperature and pressure of each tire monitored approximately every two minutes. The system will immediately focus and report data and alarms will sound and icons will flash on the screen in the event of gradual tire deflation, rapid tire deflation, or elevated tire temperature. The sensors transmit tire pressure and tire temperature to the monitor every two minutes unless a gradual tire deflation, rapid tire deflation, or elevated tire temperature event is encountered. In such a circumstance, the reporting is continuous until tire pressure or tire temperature returns to a normal range. The system reports in PSI, KPa, Fahrenheit, or Celsius at the discretion of the system owner. The system is accurate to 0.73+/- PSI. The sensor operating range of temperature is -40 through 257 degrees Fahrenheit or -40 through 125 degrees centigrade.  Our sensors are operational in heavy rains, snow, high humidity, and wet or icy road conditions. The monitor can adhere to a dashboard AC vent using the bracket provided or you can adhere the monitor to your dash board using Velcro to hold it in place. Most users prefer to Velcro the monitor in place. Also, the 507 system includes a specially designed, windshield-mountable, suction-cup mounting bracket.

    SYGIC Truck navigation app

    As those of us with trailers know, the common GPS apps available for our phones such as Waze, Google maps, Apple maps, Garmin, etc., are all geared for four-wheel passenger vehicles. Many roads, parkways etc. in our travels with trailers are unavailable to us. There is nothing worse than being on a road heading for a competition or catering gig and seeing a sign for a 9’6” bridge clearance ahead with your 10’5” trailer in tow. While there are a number of stand-alone GPS units available for RVs and trucks, most of these run in the $300 to $400 range. As of this year, Sygic has released an app for Android and iPhone that accommodates both RVs and trucks.

    The app has all the features of the more popular navigation apps with the exception that you can toggle between truck, RV, and car. One of the nice features of the app is that it can be run offline as the maps for any particular State are downloaded as needed so you are not constantly chewing up data. The downside is, of course, it takes up a lot of space on your phone or tablet but since space is cheap it’s not a bad trade-off. Not only do you get real-time navigation but real-time traffic is also available as it’s powered by the Tom-Tom system.

    To get started you download the app and then set the parameters for your truck and trailer: weight, number of axles, total length and height. The app will then navigate you based on those parameters, avoiding roads incompatible with your configuration. The nice thing about this app versus a standalone RV GPS unit is that you can toggle between having a trailer and not having a trailer.

    We have used the app to navigate us up in New England and down through the eastern seaboard and so far, we haven’t ended up anywhere we shouldn’t be. The app does have its quirks; it’s obvious the voice system was not designed with English as its first language so you may find some of the grammar and pronunciations different. We have experienced a few crashes where the app has simply gone away but re-initializing it brought us right back on track.

    If you drive a trailer or an RV and don’t want to spend the money for a dedicated GPS unit, this app is not a bad alternative.

  3. Tip From the Pros – Jacks Old South BBQ Team

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    By Stephanie West, MABA Vice-President and “The Neck” Pitmaster for Team 270 Smokers

    Tracy Mixon and Bill Wheeler came to the world of competitive bbq by different paths, however what they value in the BBQ world is the same. Listen to their story & hear their own tips for pitmasters in the MABA Tip of the Month, as told to Stephanie West of team 270 Smokers.

  4. Covington Cork & Pork Festival Covington, VA

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    By Edward R. B’Que

    The Covington Cork and Pork Festival 2017 is in the books.  David “BB” Bryant and his team once again did a stellar job getting teams to his event.  These folks treat BBQ teams like royalty.  They supply an Italian dinner on Friday night that is delivered to your site by a John Deere Gator.  On Saturday morning they bring breakfast to you as well!  This is just about the most competitor-friendly contest on the MABA circuit for sure!

    32 teams were there this year and BB wants to get 45 next year.  These guys are committed to BBQ and growing the sport for sure!  We had great weather and a really good crowd of locals visiting downtown Covington.  The Mayor was hands-on at the event as well.  He visited sites and welcomed teams just as he does every year.

    Jay Reeder and 4:20Q from Hagerstown, MD overcame their Pork woes that have been hankering him to bring home the GC.  Chiles Cridlin and Wolf’s Revenge out of Richmond, VA continued their rampage through the schedule with a nice RGC.  Tom and Stacey Feil of Christmas City BBQ out of where else, but Bethlehem, PA brought home 3rd place honors.

    Grate Smoke took home top Chicken honors, E.T.’s BBQ was 1st in Ribs, Wolf’s Revenge scored 1st in Pork and the GC 4:20 took home first place brisket money for his work!

    Congrats to everyone that was called and if you need to fill a spot in your schedule I would highly recommend this contest in 2018!


    Results:
    Chicken – Grate Smoke
    Ribs –E.T.’s BBQ
    Pork –Wolf’s Revenge BBQ
    Brisket – 4:20 Q

    RGC –Wolf’s Revenge BBQ
    GC – 4:20 Q

    Full KCBS results here.

  5. Chillin & Grillin In The Glades Wise, VA

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    By Captain Chaos

     

    Greg Cross of Chillin’ and Grillin’ in the Glades was up against a wall this year.  Jamestown, TN planned a contest the same weekend as his contest and he had to make a decision.  Greg made the call and moved his contest one week later on the schedule.  We sure are glad that he did!  It was a great weekend for BBQ and the town of Wise, Virginia once again did not disappoint.  The folks in Wise are akin to those that we remember from Mayberry and the Andy Griffith Show.  Everyone from Mayor Smith and his wife to the fine folks that were handling the infrastructure were some of the nicest folks you would ever want to meet.

    The weekend started off with a welcome reception in the beautiful Inn at Wise and teams were off to cooking BBQ.  Twenty-six teams put their best product on the line for the judges and Rocky Top Barbeque came out on top with the GC.  MABA’s own President Luke Darnell and Old Virginia Smoke brought home RCG honors.  It is this writers understanding that Luke owes the town of Wise a gift on Main Street next year?  Stay tuned for more on that next season!

    The crowd thought there was a run on awards when Dirty Ol’ Butt Slappers took home top prizes in both Chicken and Ribs, but Rocky Top Barbeque and Wolf’s Revenge BBQ had something to say about that by winning the Pork and Brisket categories respectively.

    The southern Virginia swing of the MABA schedule really is a lost gem on the calendar.  Covington, Wise and Galax put on 3 contests that you would not be disappointed in adding to your schedules.  Each are a week apart and make it easy to leave some gear down there and make the back and forth trip if you can manage it.

    Looking forward to even bigger and better things from Wise in 2018!  Thanks to the Mayor and Greg for everything you do for BBQ!


    Results:
    Chicken – Dirty Ol’ Butt Slappers
    Ribs –Dirty Ol’ Butt Slappers
    Pork –Rocky Top Barbeque
    Brisket – Wolf’s Revenge BBQ

    RGC – Old Virginia Smoke
    GC – Rocky Top Barbeque

    Full KCBS results here.

  6. Que for the Troops Levittown, PA

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    By Edward R. B’Que

    The eighth annual Que for the Troops is in the record books.  Falls Township Pennsylvania throws this annual event to support the Liberty USO and they do our troops proud each year.  This years’ event was spectacular with 63 Pro teams and good weather that made the teams and organizers happy for sure.

    The weekend ancillary contests were an Anything Butt and Dessert competition.  Dead On Q brought home top honors in the Anything Butt category and PA’s own Dante’s Inferno (local boy does good) made a dessert that put smiles on the judges faces and brought home the win there.

    MABA teams were well represented across the board in the final tallies.  Lo’-N-Slo’ BBQ was the Grand Champion with a 684.48 and Smoken Dudes BBQ brought home the RGC.  Dr. Pearl’ Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team and Uncle Pig’s Barbeque Pit brought home 3rd and 4th place honors overall.

    A shout out goes to the category winners.  Quegasm tops the chicken bracket, Smoken Dudes BBQ won ribs.  They were also kind enough to sponsor the trophies for this event and they must have really wanted one of their own to keep!  They got several!  Poppa Q-BBQ took home the big pork trophy and Sir-Pork’s-Alot BBQ must have packed a box chock full of burnt ends and won coin toss with Weekend Smokers to take home his first ever Brisket win!  Congrats Mike Licciardello!

    Jeff Dence and Matt Markey along with the entire team at Q4TT run a great contest and fair.  If you have never attended it to compete, I highly recommend doing it in 2018!  Plans are already in the works for a bigger and better contest.  Keep this one on your radar folks!

    Results:
    Chicken – Quegasm
    Ribs – Smoken Dudes BBQ
    Pork – Poppa Q-BBQ
    Brisket – Sir-Pork’s-Alot BBQ

    RGC – Smoken Dudes BBQ
    GC – Lo’-N-Slo’ BBQ

    Full KCBS results here.

  7. 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!

  8. PITS – Featuring Don’t Know Jack BBQ!

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    In this month’s edition of PITS, Amy Overbey and the Team Meat Coma crew feature Don’t Know Jack BBQ and see their set up!

  9. FAQue – Get to Know Porks & Rec

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    By Amy Overbey, MABA Board Member and Co-Pitmaster of Team Meat Coma

    WHO IS ON THE TEAM AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
    Gordon Stebbings – Lutherville, MD
    Justin Eckard – Hampstead, MD
    Luke Thomas – Towson, MD
    Josh Ackerman – Lutherville, MD

    HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMPETING?
    We competed a handful of times in both 2015 and 2016, but 2017 is the first year we set out to treat competitions as more than expensive camping trips.

    HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR TEAM NAME/LOGO?
    TEAM NAME – We used to compete as Dr. Chim’s Smokeshow. It wasn’t long before we realized that the name wasn’t nearly as witty as we’d originally thought, and we became tired of having to constantly explain it to folks who aren’t big fans of the movie Anchorman. It turns out 99.9% of people have never seen that classic film! So we needed a new name – all of the obvious sexual double entendre that is common in bbq team names was out because our families sometimes attend events. I assume the next part is something that a lot of folks went through when arriving at a team name; think of a great team name, then do a search on KCBS.com and subsequently have your dreams crushed because six other teams already have the name. One glorious day I searched for ‘Porks & Rec.’ No one had that exact name! I sent one email, they updated our name. It was an anticlimactic end to nonsensical self-imposed stress that only bbq teams will understand.

    LOGO – A friend of mine was both an Under Armour employee and an aspiring hipster. In his free time he used company software to draw our logo. He opted for the upright pig on a spit instead of the correct hog-tied more morbid version that I suggested. I think he made the right call.

    WHAT SMOKER(S) DO YOU COOK ON?
    Humphrey’s Pint and a Louisiana Grill.

    IF YOU COULD ADD A 5TH CATEGORY, AND IT CAN BE ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
    I know the correct answer to this one…An eating contest. Ten minutes. Two members from each team. Anything from McDonald’s. In an effort to avoid garnish we would prefer breakfast sandwiches or McNuggets, but we’d settle for Big Macs. Dipping sauces are optional.

    WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO COOK (CAN BE A FAVORITE COMP, BUT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE, CAN BE ANYWHERE)?
    While on vacation.

    WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BEVERAGE AT A COMPETITION?
    Cans of Flying Dog Raging Bitch, but we also have drinking traditions.

    ANY COMPETITION SUPERSTITIONS OR SOMETHING YOU CANNOT DO WITHOUT AT A COMPETITION?
    No superstitions…other than which specific shirts each of us wear at various points during the weekend, our lucky piece of wood, Friday night pina coladas, James E. Pepper Rye, my specific turn-in day deodorant, Justin’s cooking shoes, graham crackers, salt and vinegar chips, Josh isn’t allowed to sleep in the trailer, exact place we each stand at awards, Wild Berry Skittles…I honestly forget most of them.

    WHAT IS YOUR GO TO FOOD AFTER A COMPETITION?
    Pizza on Saturday night, then Sunday morning biscuits and gravy.

    IF YOU WEREN’T COMPETING ALL WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING INSTEAD?
    Depends on the time of year. Ideally, it’d be the fall, and I’d likely be neck-deep in watching college football while simultaneously cooking an epic meal and reminding my 2 year-old daughter not to bite the dog. Roll Tide!