Barbecue Competition Returns to Pinehurst, NC, Area

Ribs prepared by Wolf's Revenge are ready for the judges to evaluate. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

Smokin' in the Pines

Smokin’ in the Pines returned to the barbecue scene after taking a year off last year. First held in 2023, the event raises funds for First Tee—Sandhills, a youth development organization that supports kids and teens through the game of golf. The contest also features some of the top cooking teams on the East Coast because it offers $5,000 in prize money.

Wolf's Revenge celebrate their first-place prizes. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

Wolf's Revenge Is Grand Champion

The top team was Wolf’s Revenge, which was crowned as the grand champion. It outpaced the runner-up (known as the reserve champions), Smokin Skullies, by the thinnest of margins—0.0004 points. Wolf’s Revenge placed very high in all four meat categories: chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket.

The Wolf's Revenge team assembles its chicken entry. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

 

Contest Held On Airport Tarmac 

George DeMartz, the contest organizer, told the judges that more than 70 cooking teams had expressed interest in competing in the contest, which is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. However, he could only accept 22 because the space at the Moore County Airport, where the event is held, could not accommodate more. About the venue, Wolf’s Revenge commented on Facebook: “Cooking BBQ and serving samples on an airport tarmac with helicopters and private jets whirling around was nothing short of impressive.”

Unperturbed by the airport traffic, BBQ teams set up on the tarmac.

The contest was not held last year because the local area was engaged with the extensive preparations for the U.S. Open, the annual tournament conducted by the U.S. Golf Association, which was held at Pinehurst Country Club just six miles away.

A team member of Wolf's Revenge prepares the pork entry for judging. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

Activities For Local Community

Smokin’ in the Pines was also a festival for the local community. Afternoon activities included live music, kids activities, local vendors, and other entertainment. Of course, the most popular activities were touring the area where the competition teams were cooking and sampling BBQ that the teams had prepared for the People’s Choice contest. It’s a great event, and I hope to return again as a judge.

Brisket smoked by Wolf's Revenge is ready for slicing. Photo: Wolf's Revenge via Facebook.

Returning To Mission Farm To Start Another BBQ Year

Brisket by Fred Vegas Smokers always scores high points. Photo: Fred Vegas Smokers via Facebook.

Mission Farm’s King of the Farm

The New Year begins slowly for BBQ contests. Very few are available before April; however, Mission Farm’s King of the Farm jumps to the start of the schedule with an event before spring arrives.

The top team is crowned King of the Farm. Photo: Mission Farm via Facebook.

Kansas City Barbecue Society

Sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, this event is the first contest of the year for many cooking teams and judges, and it attracts many competitors from neighboring states that are looking to match their cooking skills with those of the best teams.

Cooking teams set up on the spacious grounds of Mission Farm.

Fred Vegas Smokers

Because I had been a judge at this event last year, I expected several top teams to participate such as Fred Vegas Smokers of Ravenel, SC, which earned top honors as the grand champion. They often place very high in contests and had been the reserve grand champion (runner-up) at the last KCBS contest where I judged in 2024, which was the Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown in Rocky Mount, NC.

Fred Vegas Smokers shows off the Reserve Grand Champion trophy won last year in Rocky Mount, NC. Photo: Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown.

Brother-in-Law BBQ Team

Fred Vegas Smokers won the contest by outscoring the other 25 teams that were competing for the $6,520 in prize money. One of the top-scoring teams was the Brother-in-Law BBQ team from Fletcher, NC, which was the top-scoring team in the ribs category. They earned a very difficult, perfect score of 180 points and easily outdistanced the other teams in this category.

Ribs prepared by the Brother-in-Law BBQ Team are usually exceptional; sometimes they are even perfect. Photo: Brother-in-Law BBQ Team via Facebook.

Mission Farm In Iron Station

King of the Farm is held in the small, rural community of Iron Station (about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte) on the 90-acre property of Mission Farm, which is a wedding and event venue. The weather for the contest was again perfect. The top cooking teams seem to enjoy competing in this event because it’s a great way to start a new year of competition.

The turn-in table is quiet before the first entries begin to arrive.

Another Whole Hog Cookoff in Fuquay-Varina, NC

A whole hog cooked just before the judges inspected it.

Like many small towns in North Carolina, Fuquay-Varina began as a center for tobacco trade and agriculture. As early as 1990, its population was just 4,500. Since then, the population has doubled every decade. It seems that how much Fuquay-Varina appreciates barbecue has grown just as fast.  

The hog after the judges had inspected it.

One of its main community organizations has been the American Legion post, which was founded more than 100 years ago.  Although it took almost that much time for it to organize its first whole hog cookoff, the post has been quite successful in having one annually since 2019.

Teams set up at the American Legion post in Fuquay-Varina.

I was fortunate to return again this year as a judge at the American Legion Whole Hog Cookoff where 11 teams competed for top honors (first-place trophy and $500) as well as the opportunity to be eligible to compete in the Whole Hog Barbecue Championship held at the end of the competition season. 

The winning team takes home the biggest trophy. Photo: American Legion Post 116 via Facebook.

For each site, each judge completed a culinary scoresheet. The criteria include appearance, color, skin crispness, moisture, meat and sauce taste, and completeness of the cooking site. In addition, the judges verify that each pig is fully cooked and the meat can be served to the public.

Some teams added Halloween decorations to their tables.

The cookoff was sanctioned by the N.C. Pork Council and is part of the Whole Hog Barbecue Series. Each year more than 130,000 people attend cooking contests in the series and enjoy the barbecue prepared by the cooking teams. At the Fuquay-Varina cookoff, plates of chopped barbecue were sold to the public for $10 each as a fundraiser after all the judging activities had been completed. Proceeds from the sale are used to fund scholarships for children, aid and assistance to local needy veterans and their families, and financial support for community programs and projects.

Teams chop their barbecue for sale to the public.

Returning to the Fuquay-Varina cookoff was a special privilege. I appreciate being a judge in the Whole Hog Barbecue Series, and seeing the teams in action as they show off their cooking talents is a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

N.C. Companies Cook Barbecue To Raise Money For Charities

 

A table of trophies is ready for the awards ceremony.

The general contracting company Brasfield & Gorrie does amazing work as they envision, build, and manage construction projects. It also does amazing work with rallying interest by corporate teams in cooking barbecue to benefit local charities.

Cooking teams stay busy for hours preparing their entries.

Pork Ribs and Pork Barbecue

For the sixth consecutive year, Brasfield & Gorrie held its annual charity cookoff known as Brew-B-Q that included two meat categories: pork ribs and pork barbecue. Boston butts and ribs were provided to each cooking team for the sanctioned judging, and extra butts were cooked as well for a people’s choice contest. In addition to the BBQ cookoff, the charity event included a chicken wing competition. Additional events added for this year included a ribeye cooking competition and poker tournament.

A full schedule of activities.

Cooking Teams

Brew-B-Q has increased in popularity as a successful charity fundraiser, and about 40 teams participated. Subcontractors, business contacts, and other companies and friends in Brasfield & Gorrie’s professional network sponsored the cooking teams. The cookoff was held in three divisions: Boss Hog, Hog, and Piglet. Cooking teams contribute $5,000; $4,000; and $2,000 respectively to register in a division.

The High Caliber Cue team, which won second place in the pork category of the 10 teams in the Boss Hog Division, unwraps and cuts ribs for their entry. Photo: Chad Farmer via Facebook.

Although the entry fees are high, impressive trophies awaited winners of each division plus a winner in each meat category for each division, and proceeds of the event—expected to be about $100,000—are contributed to The Salvation Army and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Blind Judging

Although the event wasn’t sanctioned by the N.C. Pork Council, the judges used its blind judging rules and scoresheets of its Whole Hog Barbecue Series. The judges didn’t know which teams had cooked the samples that they were evaluating. Each judge received a single sample box from each team in the division. Each box contained a Boston butt pork sample and a pork rib sample, and a separate scoresheet was used for each sample.

Scoresheets are ready for the judges.

Brasfield & Gorrie has created a great tradition of raising money while having a great time as cooking teams showcase their best talents for preparing pork ribs and pork barbecue. The cooking teams obviously enjoyed each other’s company as they seriously competed for top honors. For the judges, it was an honor to participate in this event.

Rocky Mount, NC, Recovers From Tornado To Host Barbecue Competition

The Twisted Pair BBQ team earned a perfect score of 180 points for their beef brisket entry. Photo: Twisted Pair BBQ via Facebook. 

Imagine planning to hold a barbecue cookoff on a pleasant fall weekend when an EF3 tornado arrives just days before the competition is to be held. As final planning for the Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown was underway, Rocky Mount, NC, received significant damage from a tornado that rolled through the city with winds of 140 mph.

Damaged by a tornado only days earlier, the city of Rocky Mount, NC, recovered to have another successful BBQ cookoff. Photo: Fox Weather.

Tornado In Rocky Mount

The tornado was on the ground in the city for the length of about five football fields. It was associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which had made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend two days earlier as a Category 4. It was the strongest tornado from the hurricane.

High winds associated with the hurricane caused extensive damage in Rocky Mount. Image: Fox Weather.

Barbecue Competition After Tornado

Nevertheless, Rocky Mount overcame the shock from having the tornado, and several days later the city again hosted Eastern Carolina BBQ Throwdown, which has been a superior barbecue competition for many years. I was first a judge in this cookoff in 2017 and have returned several times. It continues to be one of the best events of the year. The huge cheesecake (that has 12 slices) that each judge receives for participating clearly has not prejudiced my view. 

Chicken by Smokin’ Skullies, which was the grand champion at the last event that I judged, scored a perfect 180. Photo: Smokin’ Skullies via Facebook. 

Previously the competition had been held in the Rocky Mount Senior Center. This year brought about a change in the venue. For the first time, judges met in the Rocky Mount Event Center on Main Street. The new location provided more space for the judges as well as the cooking teams, which set up in the parking lot next to the center.

 

Smoke Central BBQ uses Heath Riles Rub for its chicken entry. Is that their secret? Photo: Smoke Central BBQ via Facebook.

Smoke Central BBQ Takes Top Honors

With $18,900 in prize money this year, the cookoff attracted many top times that compete in events sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. This year 26 teams competed. The top team was Smoke Central BBQ from Lake City, SC. It also won first place in the chicken and pork ribs categories. In fact, it got a perfect score (180 points) for both entries—a rare achievement.

Smoke Central BBQ took for more than the grand championship honors. Photo: Smoke Central BBQ via Facebook. 

Entertainment At Cookoff

Because the event includes live music, inflatables, food trucks, and other entertainment, it's as popular for the community as the cooking teams and judges. Hopefully Rocky Mount will be spared from any more tornado damage in the future. However, the city will always be ready to host a superior barbecue cookoff.

The Rocky Mount Fire Department was on hand just to make sure that no flameups got out of hand.

Rutherford College, NC, Creates Barbecue Cookoff Tradition

Pork ribs prepared by the reserve champion, One-Eyed Pig BBQ Team. Photo: One-Eyed Pig BBQ Team via Facebook.

A small town in the foothills of western North Carolina is developing a positive reputation for hosting an important barbecue cookoff. It is Rutherford College, NC, which carries the name of the college that had been located in the community and was closed in 1933. Its population is fewer than 1,500 residents.

Trophies are ready to be awarded to the winning teams.

BBQ Contest In Rutherford College

Although Rutherford College is small, its annual contest sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society is huge for judges and cooking teams. Known as the Pigmasters BBQ Challenge, it attracted 33 cooking teams this year that wanted to showcase their talents for cooking chicken, pork ribs, pork butt, and beef brisket. 

 Caption: Smokin’ Skullies BBQ took top honors. Photo: Pigmasters BBQ Challenge via Facebook.

Smokin' Skullies BBQ Wins

The winning team was Smokin’ Skullies BBQ, which took home a check for $2,000 as the grand champion. The runner-up was One-Eyed Pig BBQ Team, which missed first place by just 1.1316 points. A total of $9,580 was available in prize money plus trophies. 

Chicken by One-Eyed Pig BBQ Team usually scores very high. Photo: One-Eyed Pig PPQ Team via Facebook.

Pigmasters BBQ Challenge Attracts Top Teams

Begun in 2020, Pigmasters BBQ Challenge has survived the social isolation challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and continues as a major event in the fall for teams looking to boost their resumes. The cookoff will continue to attract top cooking teams to a small town in the foothills of western North Carolina.

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.