Two backyard BBQ guys walk into a BBQ competition
This was a bad idea.
[Editor’s note: Matt here. I’m turning things over to Lotis Butchko this week. Lotis is the executive chef at Bourbon Brothers BBQ and the one who had the bright idea to sign Bourbon Brothers BBQ up for a barbecue competition. Hint: It did not go well.]
This is a story about being underprepared. And not in the way in which you walked into a situation you didn't see coming, but being underprepared because you underestimated your competition.
My in-laws live in De Leon, Texas. It’s a small town an hour and a half southwest of Fort Worth that has very few food options. The town was hosting its Peach and Melon Festival, known as Golden Saturday, and for the first time ever, organizers were hosting a barbecue competition. The competition promised to pay out $3,000, or $1,000 each to the winner of the brisket, ribs, and chicken contests.
Now, there are two things to know about barbecue:
It's very labor intensive and your time will never be properly compensated
Competition barbecue is not something you eat. It’s a completely different type of barbecue where you strive for the perfect bite to impress the judges — not the perfect meal, but a single bite
I called the competition coordinator and was very straightforward: Bourbon Brothers BBQ was interested, but I wanted to know if this was a real competition or more of a regular backyard barbecue cookoff. Competition, he said, but it was going to be a lot of guys from around town bringing their backyard smokers and having fun.
That left me with the confidence to do the event.
We could use the extra cash and our barbecue has been getting significantly better over the past year. I thought we could crush some backyard guys and pad our bank account so we could buy a much-needed food trailer to grow our business. Matt and Caleb, my two partners at Bourbon Brothers BBQ, were reluctant, but I was adamant: We can do this!
Finally, they agreed.
And it was all downhill from there.
Starting with bad omen #1.
Matt made some barbecue deliveries on the Saturday before the competition and got home with his left foot hurting. Now, just for quick background: Matt is in impeccable shape, the model of human fitness. Him being injured or feeling like crap is unheard of.
I'm joking.
He is always in some sort of pain and eats and sleeps like the world will end tomorrow.
By Sunday, it was apparent Matt had a full-blown case of Gout, couldn’t walk, was on crutches, and was out of the competition. Caleb and I would have to carry on the Bourbon Brothers BBQ name.
Because Matt has our 250-gallon offset smoker trailer in Houston, Caleb and I had to take out our OG smoker trailer that’s retired in my driveway. She isn’t perfect. She’s older. She’s a 100-gallon smoker with a chamber that isn't well designed, so temps can swing drastically when she’s too full of meats.
But we were in this competition to win!
And the OG had carried us before!
We had decided that Caleb was going to smoke the meats while I packed the flavor with sauces and rubs.
When Friday rolled around, the day before the competition, we realized a major flaw: Matt had the Cambros for holding the meats, all our rubs, and our tables and canopy tent. So, I called the gimp and had him meet me halfway between Dallas and Houston to drop off the goods. (Yes, he was still on crutches.)
We were back in business, baby!
With the goods acquired, I drove to De Leon and set everything up. When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a few trailers with backyard smokers. I smiled thinking to myself, “These guys don’t know what’s coming.”
Then I pulled into our spot. It was about that time I noticed some of these guys have really nice trailers…
In fact, some of them had top-notch competition trailers I’ve seen on YouTube…
Caleb had the same thoughts. After talking to the team next to us, he texted me: “No pros my ass. This is a fully sanctioned BBQ comp. Three world pros here, televised, big boys competition.”
Shit.
Apparently, if you won this event, your team qualified for the world championship in Kansas City. Of course that drew a crowd.
My brother-in-law let us borrow his RV for the weekend so we could escape the brutal summer heat. Both Caleb and I knew we wouldn’t be getting any sleep, so I made sure to get a solid eight hours the night before. Caleb, meanwhile, decided to wait until the day before the competition to play with the OG smoker — seeing how it cooked and where were the hot spots. In doing so, he smoked two briskets and stayed up until 4 in the morning.
Let me reiterate: Knowing we were not going to sleep at the competition, Caleb decided, “What the hell, why not try and go 48 hours on four hours of sleep?”
As we got underway, I was moving through recipes, building rubs, and making brines. Caleb was understandably moving at a slower pace. We finally got our briskets on around 11 p.m. It was still 88 degrees outside and, unlike our fellow competition barbecue friends who all seemed to be partying or sleeping, we were starting our cook.
I noticed when it comes to competition barbecue, most competitors opt for a barrel smoker. It allows for a hot-and-fast technique instead of the traditional low and slow you have at most Texas barbecue restaurants. Those teams also inject their beef with butter and other fats to give it a better bite. Remember, in competition barbecue you’re looking to impress the judges with a single bite.
We were having none of this.
It was the Bourbon Brothers BBQ way or no way at all.
Our neighbors from 28th State BBQ came over and started talking to us. One of the guys realized we were already smoking our briskets. He was shocked.
“Are you guys already starting?” he asked.
We explained to him our wonky smoker, and that once we added the ribs the temps were going to go crazy. He looked at us like we were from California.
“I guess,” he said as he walked away.
He stopped and turned to say, “If you guys need anything — and I mean anything — just ask.”
That was wonderful because in all of our rushing around and trying to get thing set up, we had critically forgot to bring a light. We were going to be up all night doing barbecue with no light.
He, on the other hand, brought flood lights that you see on the highway and was gracious enough to let us borrow them as we trimmed our brisket and ribs.
Again, we were severely underprepared.
By 5 a.m., it was time to put the ribs on the smoker, and I figured it was a good time to take a quick nap.
Yep, that's me sleeping on a cooler in what has to be the most uncomfortable position ever. And I still got the most glorious 90 seconds ever.
As the sun rose, our fellow barbecue competitors started their cooks. By this point, Caleb and I were eight hours in on our cook. We looked like death on a stick and were getting ready to add the chicken and pull our brisket.
We had a meeting at 8 that morning. The lead judge gave us a breakdown of how everything should be turned in and submitted. We felt confident walking back to our tent that we could make a run even though this was our first competition and we showed up super underprepared.
At this point, we were starting to get an idea of what was going to happen. Our briskets looked good — solid bark with great color. We pulled them a little early, but we figured the Cambro would do the rest of the job. We planned to let the brisket stand as is — no sauce, no injections, nothing. We felt we stood a chance at placing near the top in that category.
The same with chicken. Chicken is and always has been one of Caleb’s specialties, and we planned to serve the bone-in thighs with a spicy sauce. I should have bought boneless thighs, but I was proud of how it turned out and our presentation.
We figured we would take a beating in ribs. I made a sweet sauce for the ribs — admittedly, I should have made it ahead of time. We … well … we didn't do a good job on the ribs: the texture was right, the flavor was bland as hell, and we knew it right away. The guys at 28th State BBQ made good ribs that were baby backs and sauced. I learned from them what we should have done.
Finally, it was time to turn in our brisket. We waited for the final 10 minutes before we pulled and sliced. We seasoned them properly, trimmed them great, and used our favorite foil boat method. They had a great bark and were super jiggly. I was stoked.
They were not good. The fat hadn’t rendered all the and the meat was tough. I knew it as soon as I took a bite.
My heart dropped like an anvil souffle.
I don't think the air has ever been taken out of a tent so fast. Caleb and I looked at each other, defeated as hell. I was running on 90 seconds of sleep over two days and Caleb was on four hours in three days. And our brisket — the one meat we felt most confident in — had betrayed us.
We trudged to the turn-in, dropped off our brisket, and went to the RV to lie down.
We waited for the award ceremony for reasons I can’t explain. We knew what was coming.
Out of 20 teams, we finished:
14th in chicken
15th in ribs
14th in brisket
It was brutal.
And honestly, it's what we deserved.
We showed up underprepared and perhaps a bit cocky. I should have made all the sauces the week before. I should have picked this stuff up from Matt weeks before. Matt should have never gotten Gout. And Caleb … well, Caleb should have slept at some point before the competition.
But the point is we got cocky and thought we were going to run the competition. Instead, a bunch of world champions showed up and kicked our ass.
I would like to leave you with one last point about our whole ordeal.
It shows what a weird world competition barbecue is — at least for guys who came up in backyard barbecue and started a restaurant.
After the turn-in, a brisket judge was talking to the team at 28th State BBQ. The team that won first place on ribs walked over and dropped off some of their leftovers.
They all took a bite and the brisket judge spit his out and said, “That is inedible.”
A judge said that about the team that won the ribs competition!
All this to say: I’m impressed by the guys on that competition circuit, but I can tell you it's not for us at Bourbon Brothers BBQ.
We will stick to low-and-slow smoking and getting at least six hours of sleep.
We Want to Hear From You!
Are you a pro on the competition circuit? Are you a backyard guy or gal who gave competition barbecue a shot? What are your success or horror stories? Share yours in the comments below or email us at howdy@bourboncue.com. We’ll share our favorites next week. Cheers! 🍻
Lotis Butchko is the executive chef of Bourbon Brothers BBQ. Texas BBQ is a weekly newsletter aimed at inspiring and helping you grow as a backyard barbecue cook. Each week, you’ll receive tips and advice, personal stories, and Q&As with Texas’ top pitmasters delivered directly to your inbox.
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I haven’t tried competition and I don’t think I will. Sauce is for bad bbq
I can relate to this story. 😂 My first cook off ever, I turned in some “decent” bbq but nothing great and it being my first I wasn’t expecting much. One of those “TV” guys was there and he told me how bad his turn ins were. Gave me a bit of confidence but when he placed in all 3 categories, it killed me. How was I ever gonna win. Fast forward a few years later and a lot of changes and I’m steadily placing at events. No GC yet but I’m coming for it. Competition bbq is not like back yard or restaurant bbq and it never will be because of all the extras needed to prep for that glorious bite. Props to everyone that does cook offs because it is not a cheap hobby.