Barbecue at its BEST!

By Skip Sawyer

Almost 50 teams gathered at the Columbus-Lowndes fairgrounds to see who would take top honors amongst a group of proven winners from the 2012 contests. Both Pro and Challenger division teams were represented; 31 Pro and 17 Challenger. This was truly a contest of the "Best of the Best" from both levels,. The Team of the Year-2012 for both divisions were represented, Boars Night Out for Pro, and Pork Me Baby for Challenger. Included in this stellar group of BBQ teams was Chiro's Construction from Miami, FL. This team was cooking Hog, only, and they brought their newly constructed grill to show off how it is done "Cuban-style"!! (More on that later)

If anything was missing in this contest, it was judges. One would think judges would be lined up for this spectacular event, but when the assignments were handed out, judges found themselves doing 3-4 categories. This judge, ME, visited 3 teams onsite for Shoulder, judged 5 samples for Whole Hog in blind, and finally visited onsite 3 more teams in Ribs. If you are counting, that's 11 servings of pork. Unlike in blind, where one could more easily pace themselves, Onsite judges feel somewhat compelled to eat more as the anxious Cook piles on heaping portions on their plate. I am ashamed to say I kept a low profile at this point fearing more Q was awaiting me. I can still hear Ms. Suzanne Rhea, judges coordinator, shouting, "I still need 3 more judges over at this table!!" But it was ALL GOOD!!!

I visited with the Chiro's BBQ team from Miami first thing Saturday morning to see how they were coming with their Hog entry. Chiro's proudly opened up his grill to reveal a hog unlike any I had ever seen before. I mean, yes, it was a real hog, and it was cooked; really cooked. Maybe roasted would be a better description. Anyways, I wished them luck, and headed for the judges headquarters thinking maybe they would wow my fellow judges...or not. I guess the point here is that there are many ways to cook BBQ, and having someone come in with a whole new style and approach was enlightening. Not necessarily MBN type BBQ, but opened one's mind and palate to other forms of BBQ. So guess who I drew in Whole hog, blind??!! How did I know one of the samples was theirs? How often do you see BBQ sauce that is melted butter with garlic? True, I never did actually verify that a particular box was a specific team's sample (MBN won't reveal this information), but given the audience of teams we had that day, only one would have offered that type sauce. Then there was the meat, but enough on this. Time to get to the results....

As the title has already informed you, Red Hot Smokers, led by Wayne and Linda Booth, with their sidekick and adopted son, Tommy, took top Pro honors with Ribs. If that wasn't enough, they won the Shoulder category as well. The Challenger division top honors went to Piggin Ain't Easy for their Rib entry. In Pro 10 Bones won Whole Hog, and in Challenger, Pork Me Baby won the Pulled Pork category.

Pro Division:

Grand Champion - Red Hot Smokers

RIBS

1^st place - Red Hot Smokers

2^nd place - Boars Night Out

3^rd place - Redneck Grillers

4^th place - Gwatney

5^th place - Cotton Patch Cooking Crew

SHOULDER

1^st place - Red Hot Smokers

2^nd place - Rebel Roasters

3^rd place - Boars Night Out

4^th place - Brown Chicken Brown Cow

5^th place - Serial Grillers

WHOLE HOG

1^st place - 10 Bones

2^nd place - Chimneyville Smokehouse

3^rd place - Gwatney

4^th place - Will Be Que

5^th place - Cotton Patch Cooking Crew

Challenger Division

Grand Champions - Piggin Ain't Easy

RIBS

1^st place - Piggin Ain't Easy

2^nd place - Moonlight Smokers

3^rd place - Pork Illustrated

4^th place - Rib Ka Teers

5^th place - Shotgun House Smokers

PULLED PORK

1^st place - Pork Me Baby

2^nd place - Pork Illustrated

3^rd place - Moonlight Smokers

4^th place - Walls Firehouse

5^th place - Piggin Ain't Easy

David Smith of Serial Grillers has opened a new forum group for MBN members. Check it out!

THE PIG PEN