Montana Pitmaster Classic Time

 

Pool ladders are destroyed and My Brisket is surprisingly unremarkable. Brush the carnage aside its time for the Montana Pitmaster Classic.

To all the Masters of the Grill, Chiefs of the Charcoal, King of the Pit, Boss of the BBQ - also known as the dude in the apron.

Last weekend my family journeyed to Wyoming for the Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ and Bluegrass Festival.  It is a wonderful event with some truly amazing teams.  The best of the best were found in Worland, WY and Excelsior Springs, MO.  Almost every team in the KCBS top 20 teams was competing head to head at one of these comps.  And then there were a few not so ranked teams - like Big Boyz BBQ.

Our trip was a five hour journey.  I snuck out of my teacher staff development a bit early so we could get to the Motel in Greybull, WY in time for my son to enjoy the pool.  After we arrived, I journeyed to the local store - there was only one grocery store in the town, and did some shopping for the comp the next day.  The selections were limited and I made a serious mistake.  I chose some random "KC BBQ" sauce.  There really were not a lot of options.  I had been hoping to find a Walmart, but that was not the case.  

I returned to find my family in the pool and poured myself a nice beverage and sauntered into the pool.  When it came time to depart, I realized the pool did not have stairs.  I quickly glanced at the rickety ladder and made my way over - hoping that it had one more big boy to help out.  As I raised my giant self upon the first step, I mentioned to my Daughter - "I hope it doesn't break...."  and the stair shattered under my weight and I went crashing back into the water.  I could feel the sides of my calves catching on sun faded jagged plastic remnants and felt the warm release of life from the fresh wounds carved into my legs.  I somehow made it out of the pool and my wife quickly wrapped towels on my legs to cover the blood that was running down my legs. 

I have an extreme allergy to adhesive (Band-Aids, tape, etc) so covering the wounds was a chore, but we managed with a few feminine hygiene products and some cloth bandages made from shirts.  In the end, no stitches, no tetanus shot were needed and I currently have some very deep scabs along my legs.  Oman?  Maybe.  We arrived in Worland and it was hot.  Upper 90s.  We set up right across from Texas Smoke Whisperer who lent a hand in our pop up set up. 

We were signed up for the usual 4 meat categories, but also chose to compete in the Mystery Meat division.  We would not find out until Friday night what the meat was.  It turned out to be Duck.  With a friend's guidance we prepared a Grapefruit Spanish style Lacado - or lacquering.  After multiple brushings of honey, grapefruit and citrus spices and a two hour smoke - we carved the Medium Breast and attempted to sear the skin inside a Charcoal Chimney Chamber.  It worked pretty well, but I feared it would burn and pulled it before the skin would be crispy.  Duck Fail.  The Event itself was a blast with great music. Jackie and I wandered around a bit on Friday night before the cook.

During the weekend - we met a lot of the top talent teams.  I kept my head low for most of the weekend.  I did join the teams at the 9:22 Shot for some Fergolicious Ferg-alaid (spelling?) The cook went well throughout the night.  I chose to go to bed at 10 PM and get up at 1 instead of staying up until 4 and sleeping until 5.  It seemed to work.  Before the 9:22 I smoked a fatty - in case there was a food pot luck at the 9:22.  The Fatty turned out great.

 

In the morning everything started to go wrong.  The Chicken was done way too quickly and soon was over done way to early .  I knew it did not stand much of a chance.   I was using less than awesome ribs and they were small and did not cook well.  I found 6 ribs that seemed okay and we went with them.  The pork was next.  I was relatively happy with the pork considering I never got one of the shoulders over 200 degrees.  In the end - the only category I thought I had done well in was the brisket.  But the Brisket was under cooked - I could tell by the probe, but like a broken computer program - I pulled it from the smoker once it hit 205 degrees.  I even told myself "20 more minutes."  And then quickly ignored myself.  I ended up taking a perfect brisket and turning it in with a slight chew.  And a terrible sauce.  All six judges scored taste as a 7.  One even mentioned their dissatisfaction with the sauce on the comment card.  

We sat with Kit from Texas Smoke Whisperer during the awards.  All of the Top Teams swept most of the categories.  Grand Champion went to a local team - American Heroes BBQ with Fergolicious taking Reserve.  Texas Smoke Whisperer walked away with the First Place Brisket.  Congratulations to everyone for the great competition and hospitality from everyone.

As for the other big match ups in Missouri - there were some pretty amazing scores.  Slaps BBQ took 23rd place with score of 171 out of 180.  I can 't even imagine scoring that high and only getting 23rd place.  Slaps scored consistent across the board taking 4th in Pork, 3rd in Ribs and 2nd in Brisket to earn Reserve Grand Champion.  GC went to Triple H BBQ.  Congrats to everyone last weekend.

I drove away feeling like a bit shocked.  I was "meh" about my pork and ribs and they scored higher than I had hoped.  Each reaching back up to my top scores in the categories this year.  Brisket took a 18 point nose dive from our best ever score in Sweet Home, OR.  And chicken - well my experiment with hot and fast, not scraping the skin chicken is over.  Back to the old ways.

 

 

This weekend we return to Bozeman, MT.  This was my first competition when I moved back to Montana.  This was also the first place I heard my team name called (6th place Chicken).  Troy puts on an amazing event and the hospitality is awesome.  I also get to see some of my BBQ family Owens BBQ and Beer Belly - who we have not seen since Miles City Cowtown Cook-off.

This week we are rolling in our 30 foot RV and staying in style.  No more $140 hotels for Monty and Jackie.  No more inflatable cots and hot miserable nights for Anabell and myself.  This time - we can glamp.  

Since last episode I spent a good amount of time listening to Pitmaster and I found an interesting side note.  Luke Darnell first mentions Darling Nikki BBQ in the "New Ink" Podcast with Richard Fergola from Fergolicious.  The year before filming BBQ USA - Darnell had met Nikki and was sharing the young pitmaster's excitement and how he enjoyed helping her.  Always fun to catch detail much later.  Another great catch was when the Pitmaster interviewed Joe Bosco.  They were both talking about these amazing knives they love (Swiss Army knife).  That is when I realized the knife my brother gave me for Christmas 8 years ago was the same knife they were talking about.  

To all my friends and family traveling this weekend for BBQ - be safe and best of luck.  I plan on rolling out of here around 8 AM and be set up by 11 AM.  Wish us luck - this is it for Big Boyz BBQ this season.

Big Boyz BBQ Bytes - A BBQ Blog

 

Time to prep for our 4th competition; discuss KCBS Master Series Team of the Year point chase, and BBQ USA on Food Network 

To all the Masters of the Grill, Chiefs of the Charcoal, King of the Pit, Boss of the BBQ - also known as the dude in the apron.

If you have not read our two part summary of Sweet Home, OR (Icebox Cookoff) stop and go back to read them.   They were a nice recap of our family outing and Big Boyz BBQ third competition this year.  During our journey - we saw friends and family.  We met new BBQ teams and we continued our journey to improve.  

Back at the Cowtown Cookoff in Miles City, MT, Tanya Owens, of Owens BBQ introduced me to BBQ Data.  For a Fantasy Football nut and former high school football coach, reading competition data soon became addictive.  It wasn't until after the Icebox Cookoff - I discovered the KCBS Master's Series Team of the Year point chase. 

Don't get me wrong, Big Boyz BBQ is in no way in the hunt for the KCBS team of the year, but it was fun to see where we have climbed since our first comp in Absarokee, MT (not that far, but still.)  KCBS also qualifies teams based on how many comps you have competed.  For Example - I can compare my points from 3 comps against the points of Slaps BBQ from Kansas City.  They had 12 competitions before our first comp in Absarokee.  They have currently been in 22 competitions and all but 5 of them have seen Top 5 finishes.  Of those 5 only 2 were outside of Top 10.  Teams like Slaps have a great advantage.  There are BBQ competitions almost every week in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, etc.  Don't get me wrong - they are good too, but as Luke Darnell of Old Virginia Smoke has said multiple times - compete 4 times or more in a row and you will see your scores improve.  Joe Pearce (Slaps BBQ) has been a dominate force in KCBS for almost a decade and that is why he is currently at #2 in the World in KCBS points.

As I said earlier, the point race qualifies teams - so you can see how Big Boyz BBQ compares to all 1395+ active teams in the US.  The categories are 5 competitions or less (1,163 total teams), 6-10 comps (158 total teams), 11-15 comps (48 total teams), and 16-20 comps (12 total teams).  You can see how the numbers drop off as the number of events get bigger.  BBQ is a very expensive sport/hobby.  While Big Boyz BBQ is ranked #570 compared to all KCBS teams, we are currently ranked #340 out of teams with 5 or less comps (we currently have three.)  We will hopefully see our scores rise during the next two weeks (our final comps of 2022.)  

I wasn't originally going to do the Wyoming Competition.  But after the Icebox Cookoff in Oregon, my wife and I decided to keep this train rolling.  She had fun and it gives the family a great opportunity to get out of town and meet new interesting people.  And because she is awesome.  So we signed up.  And the event soon filled with a number of great teams from that "point chase" I mentioned earlier.  Five Top 20 teams will be competing this weekend in Wyoming.  I also noticed five of the top 10 teams will be competing in Excelsior, MO this weekend, including the top three Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit, Slaps and Heavy Smoke.  This weekend should be a fun one for teams watching the points.

Like most of the BBQ world, I became a big fan of Food Network's BBQ USA.  Michael Symon did a great job traveling from competition to competition.  They included most of the great regions of BBQ, with its finale this past Monday - the episode was about Memphis in May.  Of course the first competition in Qlathe showcased what would become many of the leaders in the KCBS race.  

While I enjoyed all of the shows, I got a kick out of three episodes in particular.  I have mentioned in the past, that I enjoy listening to BBQ Podcasts during the long drives to KCBS events.  I have discussed Pitmaster - an Old Virginia Smoke Podcast ad nauseum (my principal and the former Latin teacher at the school I teach at would be so impressed.)   Luke Darnell introduces his listeners to a wide variety of greats in the BBQ world.  Some of the most enjoyable (and most informative) have been with people that all appeared this season on BBQ USA.  

Richard Fergola of Fergolicious BBQ was one of many people Michael Symon followed in Qlathe, KS.  This was one of the first Pitmaster episodes I listened to (when I knew this was going to be a valuable podcast of information) and it was fun getting to see him in action in Qlathe (and later).  I really found a connection when he talked about being a teacher and coach.   Next, I liked the visits to Cedar Fest in Texas where they introduced us to Rio Valley Meat BBQ - which I had first heard on my five hour drive to the Cowtown Cookoff in Miles City, Montana (our second comp of the season). The episode was hilarious (Brisket is a Wonderland) and again - filled with great information. And speaking of Old Virginia Smoke, you had to love their episode in New Jersey.  

While I had met Luke Darnell once or twice before, it was fun to see the voice that I had accustomed to enjoying on my many BBQ miles this summer.  I have appreciated so many episodes during this Summer of Q.  But one stands out the most.  Luke Darnell asks Matt Barber, of Hot Wauchula's BBQ if he remembers where they met.  His choices were the American Royal, the National Capital BBQ Battle, and one other option.  

Imagine if you will, I am driving with my family in rush hour traffic near Portland, Oregon.  My wife has drifted peacefully off into a nice driving slumber in the passenger seat, my son is playing some video game and my daughter, as always, has her headphones on and is oblivious to the world.  Just then Darnell says, "I think it was the Royal."  

I suddenly scream - "No it wasn't.  It was in the load in line on Independence Ave in Washington, DC - I offered them both beers."   Big Boyz BBQ (Ryan Lucks and myself) had just shared beers with half the teams in line, including Old Virginia Smoke and Hot Wauchula.  Most of these teams were big names.  They might not remember us for our BBQ, but we hoped they would remember us for our Virginia beer generosity.  There were a few big named Virginians in line with us that day - besides OVS.  A couple teams ahead of us was Tuffy Stone and his dad with their Cool Smoke Jambo.  Everyone was very cordial as we waited to load in.  The sun slowly disappeared and was replaced with 24 hours of torrential downpours.  It was the wettest BBQ I have ever been part of.  Matt Barber returns to the podcast and says, "actually I think it was the load in line in Washington, DC (National Capital BBQ Battle)."

 My wife and kids all screamed thinking they were about to die on some stretch of suburban Portland's I-5.  After several shoulder punches from my family, they calmed down again.  I felt like Bill Murray in Scrooged when he corrects his brother's incorrect answer in the Trivial Pursuit game ("What was the name of the ship that brought them all to Gilligan's Island?  The SS Minnow.  No points this round.")  

One other part of the interview with Barber I loved was his goals.  He said he would take his winnings and upgrade.  It started off with a second smoker and then he said he bought a utility trailer to haul his smokers.  That process ended up getting him the van he had in Washington, DC, that he jokingly called his "van down by the river."  I smile at that anecdote today - as I was just loading my Utility trailer with my two cheap, but trustworthy smokers, my two Cambro and my BBQ Supplies.   Thank you Pitmaster and BBQ USA for letting us get to know so many people.  I have definitely learned so much this season.  Hopefully we can come into our own during these final two comps.

I would like to thank you for reading my story.  They are mostly for friends and family that have been so generous to Big Boyz BBQ. As a reminder - you can still donate to our fund using an innovating new app:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BigBoyzBBQ

Our blog today was all over the place.  Today was prep day and I really did not want to babble on about how we loaded most of the trailer today or how "I trimmed the best brisket I have ever trimmed."  I did - see the picture.  Today was a good day to talk Pop Culture BBQ and I had a great time reminiscing.  

We did load most of the utility trailer.  We need to find a few things that have been missing since we returned from Oregon.  Tomorrow is our final day for packing and then we are off on Thursday.  I will post an update sometime this weekend to keep everyone up to date on the Wyoming BBQ and Bluegrass Festival.

To all of the teams competing this weekend - safe travels and best of luck.  I can't wait to see the KCBS point race after this weekend.

What I loved most about Sweet Home, OR, was who I shared it with......da Family.

Part II of Pacific Northwest is Calling:  

Cougar Que, KCBS and the Results 

That's a cougar in the background being grilled, along with a gator, 2 mountain goats and 2 pigs.

To all the Masters of the Grill, Chiefs of the Charcoal, King of the Pit, Boss of the BBQ - also known as the dude in the apron.

(The first part will rehash some of our last BBQ Bytes - to provide context....and because I forgot Part I included the vending.)

After day one of the Ice Box Cook-off, a SCA event, the family shut down our site and headed back to our hotel for the night.  I would need to be back and set up for the day of vending to the locals.  Jackie dropped me off at 10 and Anabell and I started prepping for our People's Choice product we would be selling.  Fruit Kabobs.

I have done a few people's choice vending events.  Generally - the guys with trailers or food trucks clean up.  My first year - we were going to do steak street tacos, but we modified because our neighbor was also doing tacos - including making home made tortillas.  We switched to Steak on a stick and Cowboy beans.  We split a small pot with the event.  Our second one was in Absarokee in 2021.  We were to begin selling at 1 pm (30 minutes before Brisket turn in.)  It was in the 90s and Anabell and I had not gotten very much sleep the night before.  All morning I was dragging ass - so I quickly decided - even though we had made two lasagna pans of Jambalaya (sounds delish in 90 degree temperature right) we were just going to stay closed all afternoon.  I have found that when the vending is the night before the KCBS comp - it is more reasonable - especially if you did all of your trimming before you arrived.  

Because we did not have time to trim our meats before arriving (remember - we took off on Tuesday) - I wanted something easy to prep and serve.  I was also nervous about the temperature.  The weekend before Oregon was mostly in the 90s.  I choose Fruit Kabobs because prep would be easy, storage in an ice chest would be easy and there would be little effort needed.  We called it a little palate cleanser for everyone's BBQ.  Next time - I should see if they would offer wine at the beer stations and I could call it BYOW Sangria.

Some of the other BBQ teams shook their heads.  Many had spent Friday night prepping Pork Shoulder or pork belly for their vending station.  They looked at me like I had lost my mind, but also that I was cheating in some way.  Jackie summed up their head scratches with - "we brought a knife to a gun fight - Fruit Kabobs to a BBQ."  Now the 50 I made to begin with were quickly replaced/"fixed" when Jackie arrived.  And she made some beauties.  

Early on, a lot of people stared in disbelief at our modest operation.  I mean our immediate neighbors had some awesome products to sell. They were all great and each was definitely worth the $3/6.  And here I was with a skewer of grapes, oranges, strawberries and mango.  But after about an hour people returned for a cold refreshing Fruit Skewer.  We knocked out over 150 @ $3 a pop.  We were not even close to the leaders, but a little money back is always nice.

Bearded Boar had Pork Belly Burnt Ends

    

Hoggin' da Sauce was selling BBQ Sundaes - Cole Slaw, Pork and Beans.

Hogger Q made two:  pulled pork slider and Brisket and Beans

That night Anabell and I would settle in and prep the meats and I would get the fire going around midnight.  My son and wife returned to the hotel.    Because he is on the spectrum, it is usually easier for comfort (he complains a lot.)  He was happy with his hotel pool, AC and wifi.  

At this competition all turn in times were moved up an hour - Chicken at 11, Brisket at 12:30.    During the previous two competitions - I had a couple of conversations with Beer Belly BBQ and Owens BBQ about my cooking style.  I was the epitome of a low and slow cooker.  I basically kept my fire at 235 for 10-12 hours. I would be excited about 1-2 hours of sleep.  I would have scraps of brisket that were just too thin to cook, but I cooked them anyways. This was the night I decided to start changing how I did things.

Old School Style - Flat and Point together

I started shaping my brisket for the turn in box.  This meant serious trimming.  Those thin edges that usually would turn into crumbly brisket bits were chopped off.   When I am at home, this is not a problem - as I just freeze it and then grind it into wagyu burgers later.  But on the road - well I decided to just wrap it all up in foil and braise it in some beef broth.  They turned out very good for the scaps they were.).  While I did not separate the point and the flat completely, the tiny thread of fat that connected the two made me truly question why I was clinging on to this tradition.  I also decided it was time to cook at a higher temperature and take the brisket to a higher temperature.  My pits ran at 260 and I pulled my brisket at 207.  These changes should allow me to start at 3 AM instead of midnight - meaning - I can actually go to bed and get up at 3 to start cooking.  

Overall - the cook went well (I mean other than forgetting to take pictures again.)  I was disappointed with our Pulled Pork.  The money muscles in the pork shoulders I have been buying are tiny.  Hormel and Smithfield are the two major pork providers in Montana.  I have not been happy with them.   Other than that, I was pretty happy with all of the meats.

After turn in - we all broke down the BBQ site.  Anabell and I took a short nap and then we started making plans.  The hotel we had stayed at the previous three nights was excessive.  We decided to find a small local motel and made reservations.  We also located a Chinese Restaurant to fulfill our post competition tradition of eating Chinese food.  

It was time for the awards and we grabbed our chairs and headed over to the main stage.  The event director thanked the sponsors (it was really a great event) and then the awards were called. 

Unfortunately - we did not hear our name called again.  But some of our new friends were called for all categories.  Interestingly enough the event pays out in cash - in $2 bills.  So Grand Champion won 3500 $2 bills.  

I grabbed the KCBS Score sheet and was reading the scores while walking with my son.  As I mentioned before, he is on the Autism Spectrum.  He really does not show interest in many team events or activities.  He has a YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers, and that is where his focus is.  On this day, however, he was completely outspoken about the judges and their lack of "knowing what good BBQ was."  He gets quite colorful in his language - so I will leave it at that.  But I assured him the scores were not too bad.  

Every one of my scores was the highest for the season (except pork) and Brisket was my highest score ever.  Overall it was a great cook.  Unfortunately, my competition also had good cooks and are really great teams.  The entire family had a great time.  We had a couple more beers, said goodbye to our new friends, picked up some Chinese and we all fell asleep before 8 pm.  Even our dog Buddy was exhausted after a 7 day road trip to the Pacific Northwest.

Podcast connections:  I mentioned before I thought I would sum up each blog with my thoughts on something I heard from various podcasts.  At this point, who am I kidding.  While I have listened to plenty of podcasts - my go to is Pitmaster - OVS.  I love the stories and relevant competition information Luke and his guest share and he really has some great guests.  Each podcasts - he asks the same questions - one of which is Pre/During/Post BBQ Meal.  I do notice  most do not say BBQ.  Most of the ones interviewed say Tex/Mex or pizza.  For my family it is Chinese.  

The Next BBQ Bytes will focus on our prep for the Wyoming BBQ and Bluegrass Festival and we will take part in some name dropping from past comps.  I will also talk about the Pitmaster Podcast with Matt Barber from Hot Wauchula's.  Thanks for reading.

Pacific Northwest is calling - Part I of II

BBQ and Family Road Trip:  "So many smells and arguments."

 

To all the Masters of the Grill, Chiefs of the Charcoal, King of the Pit, Boss of the BBQ - also known as the dude in the apron.

So three years ago I lost my sister to Alzheimer's.  The long goodbye was difficult on everyone including my parents and my immediate family.   It was also very hard on my wife who had lost her mother only months before to cancer. 

This year, to lighten the somber date, I wanted to reunite my mother and her cousin by taking my parents to Washington state to visit.   I noticed a new an interesting competition in the small town of Sweet Home, Oregon and decided this would be good excuse to venture out of Montana and explore a new region of BBQ.

Our Caravan started on a Tuesday due to the strange schedule of events in Sweet Home.  I will describe the events later.  As for our journey - two dogs, two teenagers, 2 almost 80 year old parents, my wife and I set out on a Tuesday afternoon with a trailer full of BBQ equipment.  We planned a short 4 hour journey to Kellogg, ID to break up the 7-8 hour drive to my mother's cousin's house in the Tri-Cities, WA.  We arrived late evening, checked into a "budget" motel, and went to sleep.  While we were bringing things into the motel, I noticed my trailer tire was wearing very thin on the outside of the tire.  I bought the trailer in the spring of 2021 and really only put a couple of trips on it the previous year.  Of course all I had on my mind when I went to sleep was replacing the tire.  I got up early and found a tire shop down the street from the motel.  They quickly replaced my tires for a nominal fee, and we were back on the road.  There definitely seems to be a bend in my axle.

We arrived in the Tri Cities in the late afternoon on Wednesday - and quickly found our way to my cousin's swimming pool.  We enjoyed drinks and visited with family.  The schedule of events was on my mind now.  Load in started on Thursday, but also could be completed on Friday morning.  This event included a steak cook-off (SCA) on Friday night, along with a Hamburger and Dessert contest.  Saturday would be reserved for public vending and people's choice.  The KCBS would be on Sunday.  I chose to head to the Oregon coast on Thursday and show up on Friday morning to load into my spot.  We would then head back to the Tri-Cities on July 4.  Everything would be fine - as long as we got out of the Tri-cities in the morning.  It was a 6-7 hour drive to the coast.  Eastern Washington's climate is much different than the stereotypical climate of Seattle or western Washington.

And after staying up late that night drinking and visiting with family - no one was really up for "waking up."  While it was as great night of reminiscing and family affairs - we were definitely running late.  So we finally got out of town around 11 AM.  This would put us at the Coast around 5 or 6 PM.  After a nice bout of Traffic in the Portland area, we decided to cancel that portion of the trip and just head directly to Sweet Home, OR (rather Lebanon, OR)  We lost our hotel deposit at the Coast, but did find a room at a Best Western 20 short miles from Sweet Home.  

We arrived around 930 AM at Sweet Home to load in.  We were having the contest at Radiator Supply House World Headquarters.  The location was on a massive field that surrounded a small lake/pond.  Teams were already loaded in - with RVs, BBQ Trailers and Pop Ups as far as the eye could see.  The Event staff, who were great throughout the event, guided us to our location.  It was a rocky, unlevel piece of land and was a mix of torn up shrubs, thick grass and dirt.  We leveled out the BBQ Utility Trailer, and started setting up the camp.  Our neighbors on the left was Hoggin da Sauce (Ron), a well organized team that consisted of a husband and wife.  They would go on to win First place in Steak that night.  On our other side we had a local team in for just Friday - to do the steak cook off - and they took off on Saturday.  They were replaced by a father son team from Idaho (Bearded Boars BBQ - Tom).  Originally from Montana, we chatted at length throughout the cook about competitions in Montana and the Pacific Northwest.

Before heading to Oregon, I reached out to some BBQ Friends - Owens BBQ (North Dakota).  They were friends with a team in Oregon that was headed to the same cook off.  We texted a bit and shared some background on what was popular, as far as BBQ flavor profiles in Oregon.  Low and behold, after setting up, we met Shane from HoggerQ, friend of the Owens and former resident of North Dakota.  After sharing a couple stories about our mutual friends the Owens, Shane gave me a heads up on the competition.  I had done some recon using BBQ Data prior to coming and it was as I thought - some very good teams were at this high paying competition.  

After we got everything set up for Saturday's vending day - we retired back to Lebanon to get one last good night sleep in the hotel.  The cot and sleeping bag was supposed to allow me to get a good night sleep, but nothing beats AC, a warm shower and breakfast at the hotel.  I was back at the competition around 11 AM with the items we were selling.  My wife said it best, "bringing a knife to a gun fight.  We bring fruit to a BBQ Competition."  In the beginning there were several funny looks.  There were several people that thought selling fresh fruit on a stick was cheating.  We just laughed.  Soon, though, the kids started running over and insisting their parents buy them a stick with grapes, strawberries and pineapples.  Later - people who had already sampled most of the BBQ offerings were in search of something "not meat."  We quickly sold out.  My wife Jackie, who rarely attends my BBQ functions had made the skewers of fruit and quickly kicked out another 100 or so.  They also sold out pretty quickly.  In the end we sold over 150 kabobs at $3 a pop.  We also received a dozen votes for People's Choice (mostly from kids).  

As Saturday night arrived, my wife and son headed back to the hotel and my daughter (sous chef) and I started our routine.  I had totally planned on arriving in Sweet Home with everything trimmed.  But with the early departure (Tuesday) and hectic schedule between Helena and Oregon - I would be trimming on site again.  I was looking forward to a few videos I had watched in an attempt to improve my Brisket game.  My past two scores have rebounded from the slump I was in......and I was hoping this trip would seal the deal.  

This would be a good time to introduce a new part of my Blog.  I think from this point on, BBQ Bytes will spend some time analyzing/discussing the podcasts I have been listening to - including Pitmaster - an Old Virginia Smoke Podcast.  I have truly found them informative, entertaining and most of all a great way to pass the time while driving thousands of miles in 2022.  During the 80+ pod casts, Luke Darnell has mentioned multiple times - "if you really want to get better and learn about your cook - compete 4 weeks in a row."  I had not heard this pod cast when I originally scheduled the Month of June and while I probably could have gotten a 4th comp in Nebraska in mid June - 3 out of 4 definitely proved to be helpful.  How helpful - check back tomorrow for more details on the Sweet Home Icebox Cookoff 2022, including results.