Summer Sizzle 2009 Results

We had a great time out at Summer Sizzle this year! There was a lot of great teams that offered some stiff competition. This was only our second competition, and our first KCBS sanctioned event. I didn't do any research into what the judges look for in a sanctioned event like this. I only knew what I've seen from pictures of other teams' turn in boxes and what I've read here and there on various forums. It would've been helpful to have taken a judging class and/or talk to others with more experience competing. I will definitely do this before my next competition.

There were 33 teams at this year's competition. Here's how we stacked up:

Overall: 20th
Chicken: 13th
Pork Ribs: 18th
Pork: 16th
Brisket: 25th

With all things considered, I think we did pretty decent. Besides focusing on the competition meat, we were also slated to be one of the few teams to vend to the public. Teams have a 10 minute window to turn in for each of the 4 categories, and each category is turned in 30 minutes apart. Making sure we turned in for each category on time while also keeping an eye on the food for vending was a task. Also, in a sanctioned event such as this, teams aren't allowed to use any electric or gas heat source in their smoker. My smoker on the trailer is an Ole Hickory, which uses propane for it's main heat source and wood for flavor. It has a thermostat which controls the temperature. If the temperature drops, the gas kicks on and brings it right back up to temp. For the competition I had to disconnect the gas burner and use only wood which meant keeping a close eye on the temp and adding wood to maintain the right temp. I'd never cooked on this particular smoker using only wood, so I had to figure it out as I went. What made this challenging on this smoker was that it lacks intake vents. If too much wood is added to the fire and your temps get out of control, you can't just close of the intake vents. Needless to say I had to be really careful with my wood usage! Like I said, taking all of this into consideration, I don't think we did too bad for our first sanctioned event.

There is also a People's Choice award which is based on the sales of vendors. They haven't announced it yet but from what I've heard I think we have a good shot at this one! We served a lot of people and appreciate everyone that stopped by to try our food. Some of our regular customers also showed up to eat with us and we would like to thank them as well. It was a great event with good food and good music. We're looking forward to the next one!