Returning to Galax

Smoke on the Mountain in Galax, Va., is an annual favorite for cooking teams and judges. Set in the center of a small city (population only 7,000), the cookout has a venue envied by many other contests.

The last time that I was a judge for Smoke on the Mountain was in 2015. The community support for the event and the hordes of enthusiastic barbecue fans who attend continue to impress me.

Teams keep wood burning to have hot coals for when needed.

Local citizens and visitors spend a good part of the weekend walking among the cooking teams, enjoying the live music on street stages, looking over items being sold by arts and crafts vendors, and checking out sales at several antique stores.

The marquee of the historic theater in Galax promotes the barbecue cookoff.

Before the judges were required to take their seats, I joined the downtown scene and visited several vendors and stores. The most surprising find for me was to see a squash pie for sale. Although my focus for the day was barbecue, I couldn’t resist taking home a squash pie made by a 95-year-old lady who was one of the street vendors.

Judges relax before the first entries arrive for them to judge.

The judges again met on the second floor of the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts, which conducts classes in contemporary art and traditional music. Located in the historic National Bank Building, it has a gift store that features creative items made by local artists. I was particularly struck by artwork using a theme of the galax leaf. The prominence of the low-growing evergreen shrub, native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, is how Galax got its name in 1906.

The watercolor "Small Galax Leaf" by local artist Paula Melton is on display at the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts.

The cookoff occurs in Galax a month before it hosts the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, the world’s largest and oldest fiddlers’ convention. The city is known as the World Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music, a traditional American music that gave rise to bluegrass, country, rock and other styles. With its Smoke on the Mountain contest, Galax also continues to build on its reputation for excellent barbecue. In the cookoff, cooking teams compete in separate contests sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and Memphis Barbecue Network.

A team prepares one of its entries for judging.

Smoke on the Mountain continues to be one of my favorite contests. The cool temperatures in mid-July are an added enticement to attend. Judging barbecue and enjoying the street scene are great ways to spend a Saturday in a lively small city.

Trophies for earlier cookoffs in Galax take center place among others at a competitor's site.

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.

Barbecue with Altitude

With a small population of only 7,000, Galax, Va., achieves what many large cities only attempt: a successful and popular barbecue competition that draws many well-known and successful cooking teams and attracts the local community to spend a day or two in its central business district. Smoke on the Mountain has been conducted for ten years, and each year it adds to its reputation as the official Virginia state barbecue championship.

Dancers add to the merriment created by the old-time mountain music performers.

With a motto of “Barbecue with Altitude,” the contest accentuates Galax’s claim as the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the city’s elevation of 2,500 feet. Galax is also a favorite destination because it is the World Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music, a traditional American music that gave rise to bluegrass, country, rock and other styles, and home of the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, the world’s largest and oldest fiddlers’ convention.

Percussion by a washboard (lower left) creates a special old-time mountain sound.

With such a cultural legacy, it’s somewhat surprising that Galax was named in 1906 for a low-growing evergreen shrub native to the southern Appalachian Mountains. Its leaves are valued in the florist trade because they are attractive, sturdy, and have a long shelf life. Today, a more fitting name would be Smoke City because spiraling columns of smoke fill the downtown area during its barbecue competitions.

A potted Galax plant makes a great souvenir.

At the meeting of Kansas City Barbeque Society judges, organizer Ron Passmore explained how important the event is to the local economy. For Galax and its surrounding area, the contest is more than entertainment – it’s economic development for stores, restaurants, motels, and other businesses. When I went into several antique stores in downtown Galax, I was surprised how busy each one was with customers who had wandered inside on their stroll through the city.

Judges relax before the competition begins.

Vendors along the city’s main streets and near the competing cooking teams enjoy the crowds that meander among their booths and venture into the local shops. In addition to music performed on the Farmers’ Market stage, the street scene also includes bluegrass and old-time music by local ensembles who watch as spectators dance while they play.

Ribs are prepared by the Bare Bones BBQ team.

When Smoke on the Mountain began, it was sanctioned by the Memphis Barbecue Network, an organization that promotes the “Memphis style” of barbecue. As the event continued to grow, it added the sanctioning of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the reason that I attended as a judge for the competition among the 29 teams contesting for KCBS prizes. A dual contest is unusual and enhances the influence that the event has to attract superior cooking teams.

Serial Griller team placed in the top 5 overall as well as in the pork and brisket categories for the KCBS contest.

For the 2015 event, 43 teams entered, and eight competed in both KCBS and MBN categories. The contest offered a total of $12,000 in prizes, including a total of $5,500 for the KCBS competition. In recognition of Galax’s long heritage of traditional music, handmade musical instruments are also awarded as trophies to the grand champions of the KCBS (a guitar) and MBN (a banjo) competitions. MBN runners-up receive fiddle trophies, and KCBS runners-up receive Galax leaf plaques. (The MBN grand champion is also invited to compete in the World BBQ Championship because Smoke on the Mountain is a qualifying event.)

Trophies await the awards ceremony after all judging scores have been tabulated.

Smoke on the Mountain has definitely earned its place at the mountain top of barbecue competitions. It awards amazing handmade prizes (plus money), the street scene is unmatched, and the cooking teams are phenomenal.

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

The Galax Smokehouse

In southwest Virginia only a few miles from the busy crossroads of I-77 and I-74, The Galax Smokehouse has become a destination for the traveling public as well as the local community. Owner Ron Passmore, founder of the Smoke on the Mountain barbecue contest, deservedly has gained many accolades since the restaurant opened in 2003.

Not a table is vacant even late in the afternoon.

Named as “Best of the Best” barbecue restaurants in America by National Barbecue News, the Smokehouse caters to a variety of barbecue traditions. Texas-style beef brisket and St. Louis-style ribs are popular on the menu that also features pulled pork and chicken. The brisket is smoked with mesquite wood. Pulled pork barbecue and ribs are smoked with hickory wood, and barbecued chicken is smoked with apple wood.

The Smokehouse has been designated "Best of the Best" every year since it opened.

Visitors can also find their favorite sauces. For travelers from North Carolina, both an “eastern NC” sauce, which is vinegar-based and spicy, and a “western NC” sauce, which matches the Lexington tradition of a vinegar base with tomato and spices, are available. Customers who favor the sweet Tennessee tradition can enjoy another tomato-based sauce sweetened with honey and brown sugar. Fans of a South Carolina mustard-style sauce will appreciate the Smokehouse’s version that includes black pepper to give it a spicy flavor. The house sauce is a Texas-style tomato-based black pepper sauce that is hot and spicy.

Statues of piglets and a mama hog greet everyone at the entrance.

If all those options are not enough, the Smokehouse has three more sauces: the vinegar-based Mountain sauce is sweet and tangy, the Sweet ‘n’ Sassy sauce has a molasses base and is “sweet with a slow burn,” and a white Alabama sauce with a mayonnaise base boosted by horseradish has a spicy taste. Bottles of each sauce are available for $5. For customers lucky enough to live nearby, empty bottles bought back to the restaurant are refilled for $4.

At the Smokehouse, you can pick your favorite sauce.

Located in the downtown center at the intersection of Main and Grayson streets, the Smokehouse is housed in the former Bolen’s Drug Store, one of the oldest buildings in Galax, which boasts of having four structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (Although the Smokehouse is not one of them, it should be!) In addition, the Galax Commercial Historic District, consisting of 67 buildings in the central business area, is also listed in the National Register.

The counter is a popular place to eat.

The desert menu is limited – for good reason. The banana pudding was named as the best in the Southeast by Southern Living in 2008. Who would want anything else?

Pig Pub serves more than banana pudding.

The Galax Smokehouse is worth a visit any time (it’s closed only two days, Christmas and New Year’s Day) but beware that Smoke on the Mountain is held on the third weekend in July. Galax then mutates from a small mountain town into a busy and overflowing street scene with cooking teams, judges, barbecue fans, vendors, and other visitors who want to be part of the action.

Outside display sells homemade sauces during Smoke on the Mountain weekend.