Pop goes the cherry because the cherry goes pop and so did my dream of winning the first BBQ cook-off I have ever been in. I thought how wonderful it be to enter my first event and win it. But sadly my team “The Mac Daddy Grillers” lost badly. And we had to change our name because of it, plus “Grilled to the Bone” sounds much better.
Well the story starts with us finding out that Penn Valley California was having it’s first Tri-tip cook off. We all live in the Penn Valley area and thought, hell its in our backyard and lets win this one. It was a two day event and Saturday was an IBCA event. Sunday was the day I was competing in and it was just for backyard BBQ guys. Well at least I thought it was. It turned out that it was open to anyone who wanted to enter and a few pros showed up.
We showed up bright and early. We looked around to see what the other amateurs were setting up. But their wasn’t any. There were about a dozen teams with $40,000 in equipment. We had our 50 dollar tent a couple of tables and two 21 inch Weber barbeques. Right off I wasn’t worried because our cooks Jeff and Adam had been working around the clock to get the right rub going. The ring leader of the event, Scott Gomes drove up in his golf cart with a surprise. He handed us two pheasants. All of a sudden, I got worried. What do you with pheasant? I have only had pheasant once and it was very gamey. So we decided to do what any backyard BBQ’r would do. Beer Can Pheasant. I have never heard of anyone doing it, but if you can do a chicken why can’t you do a pheasant. It came out wonderful.
While the meats were cooking I went around and talked to a few of the other teams to see what was up with these events. Everyone I meet was real nice. I got a load of advice. Like show up early and go to the judges training course. That way you have a good idea of what the judges are looking for at that event. Plus above all have a good time. One of the biggest teams that helped me the most was Tom from the “Big Pig BBQ Team”. Tom had his very own rub for every type of meat and was working on several sauces. I was told he had only been in the competition area for a year or so but his whole set up and his awards said he was very serious about what he was doing.
At high noon we handed our food to the judges and at 1 pm we had the results. Sadly we were not on the top list. Hell we weren’t even on the list out of a dozen teams. But over all my experience was good. I got to meet a bunch of nice people. It was our first event. We jumped out there and did our best. Now we know what we did wrong. Next event we will be a little better and soon you’ll start to see us in the winners circle. For now I wish you all a good day and don’t forget to get out there and BBQ it up.
Go to www.MrReds.com For all your BBQ needs
Check out my Friend the Big Pig BBQ Team
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