Judging in a Kids Contest

When I had the opportunity to judge in a barbecue contest involving only children, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. However, when I saw the competition for kids under the age of 16 at the Pigfest last year in Lakeland, Florida, I was impressed with the enthusiasm that children bring to an event and the joy that they express when they receive prizes and trophies.

A grandfather offers advice to an aspiring barbecue cook.

The annual Pigfest has included a “Kids Q” contest as part of its activities since 2004. It begins early in the morning, and all judging is completed well before judges have to be ready for the adult competition. After watching the Kids Q in 2015, I wanted to be a judge for this event when I returned to Lakeland for another contest.

Kids prepare meats for their grills.

At Lakeland, the children cook on their own grills in a designated area. Although I enjoyed seeing them labor over their grills under the watchful eye of a grandparent or other mentor, the highlight is the awards ceremony at the main stage. Trophies and prizes are awarded to the winners, plus every child get to keep the grill used in the contest. Another special moment is when youthful contestants parade by the “seasoned” judges, who rise and applaud as they turn in their final entries.

A watchful parent guides a young barbecue competitor.

The contest is divided into two age groups: 11 to 15, and 10 and under. During the cooking process, a parent or guardian has to be present with each child. Although contestants can be helped with fires or slicing, each child had to do all the preparation, cooking, and presentation.

Kids Q competitors parade by the judges, who stand and applaud as chicken is brought for evaluation.

Judges use the KCBS evaluation forms of a regularly sanctioned event to rate the entries for appearance, taste, and tenderness. Although the contest complies with KCBS rules, the children compete in only two categories – steak and chicken (rather than the four – chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket – of a regularly sanctioned event). A local grocery store chain provides the meat to the children, so except for the registration fee, their expenses are limited.

Kids line up to turn in their chicken entries.

Lakeland officials are making sure that cooking barbecue in their area doesn’t become a lost art. By holding Kids Q, they are grooming a new generation of barbecue fans and helping older family members pass on a hobby to younger members. It’s a great event that should be adopted by more contest organizers.

A Kids Q judge thinks about a score to record.

Cooking Whole Hog in a Competition

The skills for cooking a whole hog have always impressed me. I admire someone who can prepare all cuts to reach perfection simultaneously and appreciate the tradition of regions, particularly eastern North Carolina, where barbecue is nothing less than a whole hog cooked slowly over low temperatures using only wood or charcoal.

A whole hog cooked by the Boonetown BBQ team awaits inspection by the judges.

I have visited establishments where whole hogs are cooked and am honored when I meet someone who continues family cooking traditions passed down through extended generations such as Rodney Scott of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, SC. However, watching cooking teams use a mobile grill brought to a contest site to cook whole hogs is even more impressive. At Smoke on the Mountain, the annual barbecue cooking competition in Galax, Va., whole hog is one of the categories in the competition sanctioned by the Memphis Barbecue Network.

The Shed team pulls out its whole hog for a judge's evaluation.

I was at the event as a judge in the competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. Although I like how KCBS sanctions competitions worldwide and promotes barbecue, I have to admit that I am thoroughly impressed with the whole hog competitions conducted by MBN and how its judges interview cooking teams as well as conduct blind evaluations of cooked meat. (In addition to the whole hog category, the pork-only MBN also has categories of ribs and shoulder. In contrast, KCBS events include categories of chicken, pork, ribs, and brisket.)

The Shed from Ocean Springs, Miss., brought the most unusual grill (a converted vehicle on a trailer).

For its competitions, MBN requires that a whole hog weigh at least 85 pounds (some weigh 200 pounds or more) and be cooked as a complete unit on one grill surface. Because judges sample portions of ham, shoulder, and loin in their evaluations, the cuts have to reach perfection at the same time – a delicate feat considering that hogs may cook for as long as 24 hours.

A Shed team member displays tray of hot coals under the grill for a judge.

Cooking whole hogs to perfection is difficult for the novice; however, the results improve with time, patience, and experience. Observing the whole hog competition at Smoke on the Mountain increased my respect and admiration for cooks who have honed their skills and compete at such a high level.

The Boonetown BBQ team prepares its display for a judge's visit.

Eastern Tennessee: Great Place for a Barbecue Contest

Part of what makes judging at barbecue contests enjoyable is the opportunity to take side trips in a new area. When I learned about a contest in eastern Tennessee, I wanted to participate because this area has several places to explore early American history and culture while sampling great barbecue. 

Big Green Egg, a corporate sponsor of
the Grills Gone Wild BBQ series, was
on scene to give advice about grills.

The contest was held in Greeneville, named for Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Greene. Several towns in the United States are named for him, but only the one in Tennessee still retains the historic spelling (with the silent e in Greene). The event was held on the campus of Tusculum College, the oldest college in the state. Its traditional campus with old historic brick buildings along tree-lined streets blend graciously with new additions such as the modern athletic complex. In the concourse of the minor league baseball park, the judges evaluated the entries out of sight of the cooking teams who had set up in the parking lot.

The contest was part of the BBQ series organized by Grills Gone Wild and was the first time it had been held in Greeneville. Most cooking teams were from eastern Tennessee (Kingsport, Johnson City, and Knoxville were represented). However, the judges were from a wider area – neighboring states of Virginia and Alabama as well as Tennessee.

Most teams were from Eastern Tennessee.

Organizers gave a cooler bag to
each judge.

The teams were competing for $6,000 in prize money, and all were eager to turn in their entries. Several teams were new to competing in an event sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. Some chicken entries showed either creativity by the teams or lack of experience in competing at these events. One chicken entry even had an orange or citrus taste that surprised other judges. The ribs entries seemed to be all uniformly excellent. In fact, one judge commented that one entry was the best that he had ever tasted.

The State of Franklin, never admitted to
the Union by Congress, did have a
governor and other officials.

By being in Greeneville, I learned more about the failed State of Franklin. Several counties in the late 1700s seceded from North Carolina and tried to create an independent state, but Congress refused to admit it into the Union. Greeneville had been a capital of Franklin while it existed.

Less than 25 miles away is Jonesborough, the first town formed in the area that is now Tennessee. Jonesborough had also been a capital of Franklin and was a center of abolitionist movement in the South before the American Civil War. The self-proclaimed “Storytelling Capital of the World,” it is now home to the International Storytelling Center that holds a major festival each October.

Barbecue and history are a good combination. Eastern Tennessee has long been recognized for its history; now that it’s also a venue for barbecue competitions, more people will appreciate this combination.

The event offered several activities for children, including monster truck rides.

Sampling and Learning at a Grilling Class

Would you take a barbecue grilling class at a restaurant owned by a highly regarded chef and graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America? When I had the opportunity to participate, the decision to sign up was easy (although it was also sweetened by a discounted registration fee). The class indicated the growing interest in personal grilling.

Lots of food on the grills were ready for tasting when the class began

The class was held at Backyard Bistro, a family-owned restaurant in Raleigh, NC, well known for several signature dishes, including beef brisket slow roasted for 12 hours over hickory wood and St. Louis-style pork ribs dry-rubbed and also slow roasted. Three stations had been set up outdoors just outside the restaurant’s patio area: one was a custom-built open grill heated with charcoal briquettes, and another was a clamshell cooker fired by gas. The most intriguing grill had been made out of a trashcan for demonstrating smoking techniques.

The simplest grill is made out of a
trashcan.

The class was more a sampling class than a cooking class, although a chef at each station explained the advantages and disadvantages of the setup and heat source. The class favorite was clearly the homemade trashcan grill, and the distinctive smoke flavor imparted to food cooked in it attracted the most attention.

Smoking box with hickory wood inside
the trashcan grill.

The chef indicated that the trashcan grill had been built for less than $50 in supplies, including L-brackets, temperature gauge, circular steamer grates, and a smoking box for holding wood. At the bottom of the trashcan, holes had been drilled to let in air that kept charcoal embers slowly burning to heat and smoke hickory wood pieces in the smoking box set on the coals.

Ribs prepared in the trashcan grill
were extremely flavorful.

Food smoked in the trashcan is
ready for sampling.

Lots and lots of food items were grilled during the two-hour class: scallops, swordfish, shrimp, steak, beef brisket, chicken, pork ribs, and Portobello mushrooms. Veggies included corn, blanched potatoes, summer squash, and zucchini. In addition, pineapple basted in a mixture of brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon was on the grill to show how fruit can be part of a barbecue event.

The class was brief, and its instruction was basically only an introduction for someone interested in starting to grill. Anyone with grilling experience wouldn’t gain much except for enjoying the food that had been cooked.  In fact, some seemed interested in only eating. However, the chefs did offer suggestions practical for the backyard griller:

• Don’t pre-soak wood being used to impart a smoky flavor to avoid smoldering it and changing the smoke flavor that would be otherwise produced. 
• Use a smoking box for the wood (rather than placing the wood directly on the coals) so that the smoke is gradual. 
• Sear meat on a hot cooking area initially to lock in flavor and juices. 
• Move the meat after searing to a low heat area so that cooking continues slowly. 

One of the vehicles in
 Backyard Bistro's fleet

The class attracted more than 40 participants because Backyard Bistro is also acclaimed as a regional caterer. It has a fleet of “flame-wrapped vehicles and grills” for cooking on site. Its 40-foot “Big Rig” has four 3-by-5 feet grills (large enough to cook a whole 125-pound pig each) and has fed as many as 8,000 people with 16 buffet lines going at once. Joe Lumbrazo, head chef and owner, has been selected to cook for the governor at political events. What better crew of professional chefs to observe?

Joe Lubrazo discusses meat and vegetables cooked on gas-fired grill.

The buffet enjoyed
at the end of the class.

The class was entertaining and provided information about grilling techniques and fuel sources. Watching the chefs demonstrate their pride and skill in preparing exceptional food on a grill obviously motivated the participants to improve their grilling techniques.

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Grilled Pineapple 

Although no recipes were provided as part of the class, this recipe is a good one for grilling pineapple.

1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced into one-inch rings
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Directions
1. Mix honey, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl.
2. Add pineapple to bowl and spoon mixture over pineapple rings.
3. Place pineapple rings and mixture in plastic bag that can be resealed.
4. Seal bag and press to continue coating each ring.
5. Marinate overnight (but not less than 30 minutes)
6. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
7. Grill pineapple for approximately 3 minutes per side. Remove when grill marks appear (and be careful to avoid burning sugar on pineapple).

Note: Makes about 12 servings.

Grilled pineapple that I prepared several days after the class using this recipe.