Tag Archive: MABA

  1. Kings of Q BBQ cook off and Festival Ayden, NC

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    By Brian Walrath, Pitmaster of Brown Liquor BBQ

    Many of you know that I quit my job last October and started my catering business.  This has proven to be a great decision, but I don’t get to compete as much as I would like.  There are still a handful of competitions on the circuit that I do everything in my power to attend and Kings of Q in Ayden, NC is one of them.  The town of Ayden, North Carolina, home to two legendary barbecue restaurants, rolls out the red carpet for competitors and caters to every need we have.  In fact, the town’s mayor personally stops by every year to see if we need anything.  I have yet to get him to drink brown liquor with us, but we’ll get him to take a shot one of these years!

    The weekend forecast called for heavy rains and thunderstorms all weekend, but we were spared until Saturday afternoon…right at turn-ins!  It rained pretty consistently throughout turn-ins but then stopped just in time to pack up and head home.  Friday night started as it did last year with a deviled egg battle among Mark Davies of Grillin’ Thyme, his lovely wife Cathy, and Roxanne Manley of Redneck Scientific.  Cathy Davies would once again take the coveted trophy and top honors and bragging rights!

    Congratulations to Muttley Crew BBQ for taking Grand Champion and Southern Q Competition Cooking Team for Reserve.

    Full KCBS results can be found here.

  2. FAQue – Get to know Dustin Reed and The Inked Pig!

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    WHO IS ON THE TEAM AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

    Myself. My beautiful wife Amy, who keeps me on track and makes sure my boxes are presentable. Baby Clint, who is the brains of the whole operation. My 2 buddies Dave and Denny also pop in to lend a hand and drink my beer from time to time.

    HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMPETING?

    This is our 4th year competing.

    HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR TEAM NAME/LOGO?

    It was pretty easy to come up with. When you’re a BBQ size Large and covered in tattoos the name just fits!

    WHAT SMOKER(S) DO YOU COOK ON?

    Meadow Creek PR42, Big Green Egg XL, Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone

    IF YOU COULD ADD A 5TH CATEGORY, AND IT CAN BE ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

    Something seafood related. I love seafood as much as I love BBQ, so it would be fun to combine the two.

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

    The Ironman! It’s where we first got started. We love the format of the competition, and it’s always our first comp of the year to get out and see all of our BBQ friends. It’s a great time, and the Mason Dixon BBQ crew do a great job with it!

    WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BEVERAGE AT A COMPETITION?

    Brown Liquor BBQ’s Orange Crush and ice cold IPA’s

    ANY COMPETITION SUPERSTITIONS OR SOMETHING YOU CANNOT DO WITHOUT AT A COMPETITION?

    A kiss from Amy, and a high five from Clint as the box goes to the judges…. Very loud Heavy Metal playing during turn ins!

    WHAT IS YOUR GO TO FOOD AFTER A COMPETITION?

    Ruby Tuesday’s salad bar! I want nothing to do with meat after a competition haha

    IF YOU WEREN’T COMPETING ALL WEEKEND, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING INSTEAD?

    Cooking BBQ with friends and family at home

    ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU OR YOUR TEAM?

    We won our Golden Ticket and will be competing in the World Food Championships Burger category this year.

  3. Twin Valley Fire And Smoke Morgantown, PA

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    By Chris Hall, MABA Board Member and Pitmaster for Big Ugly’s BBQ.

    The 2nd annual Twin Valley Fire & Smoke BBQ Competition was held at Friendship Park, in downtown Morgantown, PA last weekend.  Forty-seven Pro division teams and several backyard teams, as well as many First Responder teams fought thru the uncharacteristic wet conditions and made the event a huge success for the Twin Valley Fire Department.  When the rain ended and the smoke cleared, Piggin’ Whiskey walked away with 4 top ten calls for the Grand Championship, and Moon River Barbeque finished with Reserve Grand Champion and the ever elusive (at least in the Mid-Atlantic Region) perfect 180 score in Pork.  Well done Alex!  Below are the top 10 overall and each category.  Many thanks to Sandy Fulton, her staff and the volunteers that made this event an incredible success, thank you!

    Full KCBS results here.

    Overall Chicken Ribs Pork Brisket
    Piggin’ Whiskey Lo’-n-Slo’ BBQ Dante’s Inferno Moon River Barbeque Rhode Hog BBQ
    Moon River Barbeque Piggin’ Whiskey Big Ugly’s BBQ Dr. Pearls Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team Lo’-n-Slo’ BBQ
    Lo’-n-Slo’ BBQ Funny Bones BBQ B’s Que 50 Shades of Pork Rockin Robyns BBQ
    Rhode Hog BBQ Quegasm Rockin Robyns BBQ Rhode Hog BBQ Pigheaded BBQ
    Big Ugly’s BBQ Beerbeque Piggin Whiskey Uncle Pig’s Barbeque Pit Uncle Pig’s Barbeque Pit
    Dante’s Inferno Dr. Pearls Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team Brisket Burners Smokin’ Stuff BBQ Piggin’ Whiskey
    Brisket Burners Brisket Burners Camp Bacon Piggin’ Whiskey Moon River Barbeque
    Uncle Pig’s Barbeque Pit River Smokers West Virginia Smokin’ Stuff BBQ Burn Barrel BBQ Funny Bones BBQ
    Camp Bacon BBQ Nice Racks Smokin’ Addiction Pavone Brothers BBQ Weekend Smokers
    Funny Bones BBQ Camp Bacon Pavone Brothers BBQ Nice Racks Jim’s Pequea Pullers
  4. BBQ Jamboree Double, May 12 – 13

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    By Luke Darnell, MABA President and Pitmaster of Old Virginia Smoke

    The BBQ Jamboree was held this year with beautiful weather in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Not only did it feature one of the first SCA Steak Cookoffs in MABA land, but it also started the farewell tour of John Busch, a long time KCBS rep in the area.

    John was honored repeatedly throughout the weekend by Jeremy and James, including them giving John his own championship belt, and creating an orange t shirt with John’s likeness on it.  We look forward to celebrating John Busch throughout the year and all that he does for BBQ.
    The SCA contest was great fun on Friday night, with Rockin Robyn’s winning first place.
    Day one of the BBQ Jamboree double was also the Virginia MABA Cup.  This year it was won by Old Virginia Smoke, who also finished as Reserve Grand Champion.  The title of Grand Champion was won by Smokin’ Hoggz from Massachusetts, captained by two time world champion Bill Gillespie.
    Day 2 of the BBQ Jamboree was won by those local yokels Sauce This! BBQ, with reserve being won by 3 Eyz BBQ.  Sauce This! BBQ was also the two day total winner, and won the BBQ Jamboree double championship belt.
    Full KCBS results for Day one here.
    Full KCBS results for Day two here.
    Congrats to Sauce This! BBQ
  5. Business Member Feature – The BBQ Guru

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    By “BBQ Bob” Trudnak, Director of Sales and Marketing for The BBQ Guru and Pitmaster of The BBQ Guru Competition Team

    The BBQ Guru is a leading designer innovative BBQ equipment. The company was first in the marketplace to develop an entire line of high-tech temperature control grill accessories. These include the award-winning PartyQ, DigiQ, and CyberQ Cloud automatic temperature control devices. The BBQ Guru also recently launched the exclusive line of Monolith BBQ Guru Edition grills, creating the most advanced ceramic charcoal grill in the world with built-in temperature control with email and SMS text notifications.

    The company is committed to making the world’s finest outdoor cooking products and also offers a wide selection of BBQ tools and accessories. Whether you’re looking for automatic temperature control for your outdoor cooker, or specialty made rubs and sauces, The BBQ Guru has all your outdoor cooking essentials. For the competition cooks, many people may not know that BBQ Guru carries a variety of top, current award winning sauces, rubs and injections as well as disposable gloves, cutting boards, food handling gloves, charcoal and chef’s knives. Check us out and all of our products at www.bbqguru.com

  6. BBQ Gives Back Urbanna, VA

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    By Luke Darnell, MABA President and Pitmaster of Old Virginia Smoke

    BBQ Gives Back was a rousing start to the beginning of the MABA season, and sure didn’t disappoint. The weather wasn’t too bad for the end of March, but was still chilly. Teams from all over MABA-land flocked into Bethpage Campground to try their hand at three different interconnected contests…BBQ Gives Back, The Virginia Grands, and the MABA Cup Championship.

    Bill and Mary Jones, and all of their volunteers, have really created a great contest to start off the season in the mid atlantic. Each year this contest gets better and better, and each year generates more and more money for Operation BBQ Relief.

    Congrats to the winner of the MABA Cup Championship, Lo-n-Slo BBQ, representing the good state of Pennsylvania!

    Congrats to the winner of the Virginia Grands Championship, and the Grand Champion of BBQ Gives Back, Who Cares BBQ!

    Also, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out to Pigheaded BBQ on a hard fought RGC. Great job Ron and team.

    Keep your eyes on this event, as it promises to get bigger and better in the next year!

    Full KCBS results here.

  7. The Ironman Greencastle, PA

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    The Ironman

    By Luke Darnell, MABA President and Pitmaster of Old Virginia Smoke

    The Ironman…where you get to get down and dirty with limited amounts of meat and no electronics. The Ironman…where you can get sun and warmth the first day…but get froze out the second day. The Ironman…where steak contests were born in the Mid-Atlantic.

    Traditionally on of the more fun events in the MABA calendar, this year’s Ironman didn’t disappoint. Eric Forrester and his team at Mason Dixon BBQ Supply as per usual did a great job in preparation for the event. On Friday, there was the first ever SCA Steak Cookoff at the Ironman, one of the first steak cookoffs in the Mid-Atlantic. This was great fun for all that participated. Brett from SCA was a joy to be around, and the awards were fun. Congrats to late entrant Mitch on his fantastic steak victory.

    The weather was great for steak, but plummeted over night for BBQ. The competition was hotly contested. The Ironman, for those of you that don’t know, is a contest that features teams only cooking 7 pieces of chicken, 1 rack of ribs, 1 pork butt, and 1 brisket. 59 of the 60 teams cooked this format, and Rockin Robyn’s won the day with a 700+ score and for Grand Champion! Congrats!

    Look for more information about next year’s Ironman, and look for more SCA cookoffs in the near future in MABA-land.

    Click here for the complete results from KCBS.

  8. Interstate BBQ Festival Hagerstown, Maryland April 20-21, 2018

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    By Mark Gibbs, Pitmaster of Checkered Flag 500 BBQ

    The 3rd year of what has become one of the best competitions on the Mid-Atlantic BBQ circuit is in the books.  The Interstate BBQ Festival at the Washington County Agricultural Center in Hagerstown, Maryland stacked up 67 tough teams to compete in the last throws of winter weather.  The facilities are top notch for the cook teams.  Rob Immer and his staff know how to throw a BBQ party for sure.

    The weekend started off on Friday with a couple of ancillary competitions and a Kids Que.  In the burger category, Dustin Reed and his sous chef Clint from The Inked Pig BBQ brought home top honors.  In the dessert category a last-minute decision to enter by 50 Shades of Pork paid off with a 1st Place win.  In the Kids Que, tacos were the dish of choice and Brother-Uncle Barbeque’s youngest member put together a mouthwatering dish that brought home a nice GC!

    Todd and Donna Spickler of Bone to Bark BBQ hosted a pot luck chicken dinner for all of the teams on Friday night.  It was great to see our MidAtlantic friends back on the BBQ circuit after some back problems kept Todd from the tour for much of 2017.  Welcome back B2B!

    The results of the Pro BBQ competition started off with the triumphant return of Bone to Bark BBQ and a win in the chicken category.  Ribs saw a familiar face at the top of the list with Richmond, VA’s Wolf’s Revenge and Chiles Cridlin taking home 1st place.  3 Eyz BBQ out of Owings Mills, MD took home the big trophy in Pork and Piggin’ Whiskey BBQ Team racked up the win in Brisket.

    The top 10 in each category was separated by 6 points or less except chicken.  Everyone was guessing who was going to take home the big prize, but it was a tough one to figure out for sure.  Smokestack Redemption hailing from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania got the big call for Grand Champion.  They had a great cook and put together a 14th place chicken, 5th in Ribs, 12th in Pork and 7th in Brisket for the win.  Shortsville Smokers with Rikk Foringer put together a great effort to take home the RGC as well.  This year Interstate hosted the MABA Maryland State Cup for the first time.  Dan Hixon and 3 Eyz BBQ brought home the top Maryland honors with a 4th Place finish overall.

    If you have not done this contest as a cook, judge or BBQ fan, you need to add it to your list of contests in 2019.  This one is quickly becoming one of the top early contests in the nation!

    For Full KCBS results, click here.

  9. 2018 Gunter Wilhelm MABA Cup Schedule

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    Announcing the 2018 Gunter Wilhelm MABA Cup schedule!

    The highest finisher from the native state where these contests take place will be eligible for prizes from the Mid-Atlantic Barbecue Association including a $250 check, attractive trophy, and an engraved knife set from the official cutlery and cookware provider for the MABA, Gunter Wilhelm.
    Below are the contests that will serve as the 2018 MABA Cups.

    Delaware:
    Boo-B-Que Rehobeth Beach, De

    Maryland:
    Interstate BBQ Festival Hagerstown, MD

    New Jersey:
    Que by the Sea Seaside Heights, NJ

    New York:
    I Love BBQ and Music Festival Lake Placid, NY

    North Carolina:
    Tilley Harley-Davidson Biker Blues BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic Salisbury, NC

    Pennsylvania:
    Smoke in the Grove Spring Grove, PA

    Virginia:
    BBQ Jamboree-Day 1 Fredericksburg, VA

    West Virginia:
    Almost Heaven BBQ Bash Weston, WV