Barbecue Brings Community Together In King, NC

Brisket by Optimus Swine is always a winner. Photo: Optimus Swine via Facebook.

 
Fire in the Foothills in King, NC, was begun last year by the city’s Chamber of Commerce and several local service organizations to celebrate community spirit and have a fun event that everyone could enjoy with barbecue being the main attraction. As cooking teams compete in a contest sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, other festival events attract a sizable crowd.

Cooking teams set up around the festival grounds.

In the second year of the cookoff, 42 teams competed: 28 in the Master Series and 14 in the Backyard Series. Top prizes and money are awarded to winners in the Master Series. However, the Backyard Series gives aspiring teams the opportunity to participate in the contest, learn how to prepare for the top series, and also compete for cash prizes. The Master teams competed in all four meat categories—chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket; the Backyard teams were not required to submit brisket entries and prepared just three.

The HalaQyah BBQ team had problems controlling its cooker.

Swig-N-Pig was the overall champion. Its top score was significantly influenced by earning a perfect score and first place in the chicken category. It also placed second in the pork category. Optimus Swine placed first in both ribs and brisket; however, a really low score (24th place out of 28) in pork knocked them out of contention for top honors overall.

The kids zone is a popular area of the festival.

Wolf’s Revenge BBQ was the reserve champion and finished just 0.0232 points—the narrowest of margins—behind Swig-N-Pig in total points. Its 10th-place finish in pork had a dampening effect on the high scores that it received in the three other categories. Incidentally, Wolf’s Revenge was the grand champion at the New Holland (Pa.) Summer Fest, a similar KCBS-sanctioned contest, held the previous weekend.

Pork ribs by Wolf's Revenge BBQ team typically earn a high score from the judges. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

Significantly more cooking teams participated in the second annual Fire in the Foothills. In its first year, just 21 teams competed in the Master Series and 11 in the Backyard. This year Poor Boys BBQ moved up to the Master Series, and the experience gained in 2023 was clearly helpful; they placed seventh overall out of the 28 teams.

More than 100 vendors contribute to the festive atmosphere.

The festival also expanded significantly in its second year with more than 100 vendors. Music, a people’s choice category, kids zone, and other entertainment helped to bring in a larger crowd this year too. The overcast sky which kept temperatures from hitting typical August highs provided the perfect weather for the day.

Entries for the People's Choice contest are brought from the cooking teams.

With $15,000 in cash and prizes this year, Fire in the Foothills has become a major community event. Of course, having barbecue as the main attraction helps to guarantee success.

Jiggy with the Piggy Expands With More Teams and Entertainment

The winning ribs entry was prepared by Bowman's Butt & BBQ. Photo: Bowman’s Butt & BBQ via Facebook.  

Jiggy with the Piggy Cookoff

For 10 years, the city of Kannapolis, NC, has been the place for top barbecue cooking teams to compete as it conducts its annual cookoff Jiggy with the Pig. Fortunately, I’d been able to be a judge in this event twice before—in 2018 and 2019. 

Cooking teams set up on the lawn of the North Carolina Research Campus.

For this year’s event, the contest had two full days of competition—with winners on each day. The cooking teams were divided into two series: Master and Backyard. As its name implies, the Master group features the area’s top teams that regularly place high in barbecue cookoffs. The Backyard category encourages new teams to compete as they learn the rigors of barbecue cookoffs before competing against the top teams. 

Judges assemble in the Laureate Center of Town Hall.

Being a judge again this year was another special experience. The table where I was seated judged entries by Master teams. The cookoff required 11 tables of judges, each with a table captain, on each day to be able to score all entries according to the contest rules of the Kansas City Barbecue Society. 

Prizes await the winners at the awards ceremony.

Winning Teams: Bowman's Butt & BBQ and Chunky BBQ

The big winners on this day were Bowman’s Butt & BBQ from Virginia, which finished as the grand champion, and in second place as the Reserve Champion was Chunky BBQ from Pennsylvania. Bowman’s also took first place in both the ribs and brisket categories, and Chunky took first place in the two other meat categories (chicken and pork). In the Master Series, the two teams clearly outpaced the 43 other teams—unlike the less-than-a-nose finish of the 150th Kentucky Derby which was held five hours after the cookoff results were known. 

 The grand champion was Bowman's Butt & BBQ. Photo: Bowman’s Butt & BBQ via Facebook. 

The Master teams were competing for a share of the more than $20,000 in prize money. In the Backyard Series, the 24 teams were competing primarily for bragging rights. They prepared just two (chicken and ribs) of the four meat categories of a sanctioned contest. All 69 teams competed in the People’s Choice contest. In spite of the rainy day, 400 festival attendees participated in the community judging event which was won by Chubby Boys BBQ of Charlotte, NC. 

Chubby Boys BBQ won the People's Choice contest. Photo: City of Kannapolis via Facebook.

Four-Day Festival in Kannapolis

Since its simple beginning in 2015, Jiggy with the Piggy has morphed into a four-day festival for the Kannapolis area. A country music concert preceded a light show with 200 drones. Arts and crafts vendors, carnival rides, and a kids zone were also attractions in the grassy center of the North Carolina Research Campus where the cooking teams set up. 

The drone light show at night was very popular. Photo: City of Kannapolis via Facebook.

As one of the largest KCBS-sanctioned events and usually hosting more than 70 barbeque competition teams, Jiggy with the Piggy has established an excellent reputation, and it will continue to attract judges and cooking teams.

Still in the smoker, the winning brisket entry before being sliced. Photo: Bowman’s Butt & BBQ via Facebook.