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Last weekend was crammed full of BBQ stuff and I feel like I learned so much in such a short time, and met so many awesome people. Last summer when I built my drum smoker, I also came across the Facebook page for Heavy D BBQ – the competition BBQ team that a friend from high school and his father started. They got in touch with me when they found out I was getting into BBQ, and I went over there to check out their custom built reverse flow smoker and to talk shop. They taught me a lot about how things work, and left me with an open invitation to join them whenever they do a pro competition.
Fast forward to this year – I had planned on entering more amateur competitions, and was curious to see what the difference between pro and amateur competitions was. I got in touch with David, and he invited me to come down with them to Crossborder Blues, Brews & Que in Wilson, NY. This was a Kansas City BBQ Society sanctioned event – and was the biggest one I’ve ever seen (and it would be considered a smaller event!).
Amateur/Pro Difference #1 – Pro competitions are multi-day events – at least 2, sometimes 3 if there are other side competitions, and for big events, even longer.
I made the drive down to Wilson (just over an hour from where I live in Hamilton – so actually pretty close), and met David, Donavan, and Pat where Heavy D had set up camp. He hadn’t started to prep any meat yet, and gave me a quick summary of what was going to be prepped, the order, and what times everything would be going on the smoker.
Amateur/Pro Difference #2 – CSBBQA/KCBS pro competitions have 4 meats: Brisket, Pork (shoulder/butt), Pork Ribs, and Chicken
Amateur/Pro Difference #3 – There are more strict requirements on sanitation – you need to have 3 wash bins for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing, and the ability to heat water.
One of the first things I noticed was all the different handmade rubs and sauces that David had brought. This stuck out to me, as I have one rub that I made that I use for both ribs and chicken, and 2 sauce variations that I use on them. David gave me a quick summary of the flavour profiles he uses, and had me taste the different rubs to learn the differences.
Amateur/Pro Difference #4 – More meats = more space needed to prep, more rubs/sauces to bring, more cooler space, more cooking capacity – noticing a theme?
Amateur/Pro Difference #5 – You provide your own meats – which must be held in a cooler at the proper temperature, which is verified during a meat inspection before any cooking can be done
The next thing I was introduced to was parsley. In amateur competitions we’re not allowed to place garnish in our turn in boxes, so there’s no worrying about decorating the boxes with parsley or lettuce. In CSBBQA/KCBS, garnish is allowed, and if not used will cost you points on your appearance scores. I watched as Pat painstakingly and carefully cut each individual sprig of parsley and arranged it. Definitely something to do ahead of time and worth practising. Also a good idea to know where you can find parsley close by – you never know what will happen between when you prep it and when you use it.
Amateur/Pro Difference #6 – Garnish – decorating your turn in box is allowed, and the rules on what can be used are very particular. (edit: I’ve been corrected since that garnish, while allowed, is not mandatory, and a box is not to be marked down if it doesn’t have garnish)
After the cook’s meeting, it was time for some dinner – prepared by the hosts of the competition, and then starting up on meat prep. David walked me through each step of the prep – how the meats are trimmed, rubs, sauces, injections, rest times, cooking times, and more importantly, the thought process behind everything. I was probably really annoying with all of my questions, but he was very patient with me and was great at explaining everything.
Amateur/Pro Difference #7 – Brisket and Pork take a long time to cook, and have to be started the day before turn ins
That night we walked around and chatted with a lot of the other teams. I met a lot of awesome people, talked a lot of BBQ and meat, and tried some interesting drinks. Everyone was really friendly and I really enjoyed the camaraderie and friendly competitive spirit of the whole thing. It was also really interesting to see the variation in the types of smokers being used. I saw everything there, from DIY pits to pellet fed cookers, to ugly drums, to vertical cabinet smokers. There were also a lot of Weber Smokey Mountains. A lot of teams had campers or trailers as well.
Amateur/Pro Difference #8 – There’s a lot more stuff to haul around, meaning a minivan is needed at minimum to move everything
Then, it was time to start cooking. David showed me how he lights and maintains temperatures in his smoker, and then the brisket and pork butts went on. Eventually I passed out, and learned another valuable lesson: folding camp chairs do not make for a good night of sleep. I slept on and off, and tried to pay as much attention as my sleep-deprived state would allow me. Later in the morning I claimed a spot on one of the zero gravity chairs, and got a little bit more decent sleep in.
Amateur/Pro Difference #9 – Sleep is at a premium when there are temperatures to be maintained in your cookers. A lot of people had BBQ Gurus that would automatically maintain the temperatures and would sound an alarm if they went too far off. That’d definitely be handy for an overnight cook. Also – zero gravity chairs are actually really comfortable for sleeping in.
The next morning, it was time to get the brisket and pork off and rested, and to put the chicken and ribs on. Again, I mostly watched, and held the occasional pan or opened the cooker door. I mostly just tried to help when I could and stay out of the way otherwise.
Everything seemed to be smooth sailing (other than a rolled ankle!), and David made sure to tell me that it usually isn’t like this. But at least on that day, all the meats finished when they were supposed to, and they were able to focus on getting one turn in done at a time. I learned about preparing a turn-in box, and sampled a bit of each category, and everything was delicious, especially the brisket.
Once everything was turned in, it was time to clean up, then wait for the award ceremony. Out of 31 teams there, Heavy D finished 5th overall, with a 2nd place call for pork, and a 7th place call for ribs! Pretty good results!
Amateur/Pro Difference #10 - There were calls for 1st-10th in each category, and trophies/ribbons/cash for 6th and up. This varies based on the # of teams entered. With amateur from what I have seen so far, there are calls for 1st-3rd overall, and prizes/trophies for 1st. Again, this varies from competition to competition.
Once everything was cleaned up, it was time to head home, with a quick stop to get some beer that’s not available in Canada (Blue Moon sampler pack!). I had an amateur competition the next morning, and I still had to finish prepping and packing the car.
Overall, it was a great experience, and a fantastic learning opportunity. I am very thankful to David, Donavan, and Pat from Heavy D for their hospitality and for sharing all their BBQ knowledge with me, and it was really fun to hang out with them for the weekend along with all the other teams.
I went out there to learn, and to see if it would be feasible for us to make the step up to pro next year. If anyone is thinking about the same thing, I highly recommend speaking to one of the pro teams to see if you can volunteer to help out at a competition to see what it’s like. We still have a lot of amateur competitions to do this year, so we’ll see how it goes, but if everything lines up right and we can manage, we just might give it a shot next year, hopefully joining the pros at Smoked to the Bone!
I enjoyed reading about the differences in amateur and pro bbq competitions and all the work entailed. Thank you for the informative and interesting article.
Thanks for reading it, glad you found it interesting.
Had a great time meeting you hope to see you on the bbq trail again soon!!!!
Same – probably won’t make it down into the US again this year, but maybe next season!
Nice story. Hope you had a great time. About garnish, it is allowed however as KCBS CBJs we do not score for or against garnish. it is not to be taken into account for appearance unless it is illegal garnish. It does make the meat “sit up” better and give a better view of the meat.
Hope you get competing!
Thanks – I’ll get that corrected!
Rick, while what you say is technically correct, from experience, the garnish counts, check with any BBQ team. Our experience is when a judge is not happy with the way your food looks, the rest of the scores will follow suit. Ask yourself how many ungarnished KCBS boxes you have seen as a KCBS CBJ, there is a reason for this.
Really liked story. I also really like blue moon, had it a cruise we took and really enjoyed it.
Yep it’s one of my favourites – I heard in Canada it’s the same as Rickards White, so I’m going to compare the two of em.
Loved your blog piece. Inspiring. So glad that you came down to our event in Wilson. We are in year 3, are already planning year 4, and we always hope that the competitors feel at home so they can focus on what they do best — BBQ! Sounds like you learned a lot. Hope to see you on the pro circuit. — Carol Tutzauer, Crossborder BBQ Planning Committee & member of Doghouse Willie Competition BBQ Team, Wilson, NY
Carol – thanks! I hope to be there next year with my own team!
Very nicely written, do you want a job as a publicist? I have voiced my disagreement to Rick, regarding the garnish, if this were true, we would not spend the $$ and time on making up the garnish to show the meat off to the best of our abilities and simply place the meat directly into the containers. Until no-one uses garnish, garnish is an important part of the presentation.
Ha, well if you ever decide to offer up BBQ classes, I’ll write you up something real nice! I hear you on the garnish – my feeling is that regardless of what the rules say, you’ll subconsciously get dinged for it – maybe not by everyone, but by enough to count.
Great story. I started out myself by joining a pro team and doing the amateur contests the following day so I can relate. There is that “added expense” by going KCBS but my wife and kids have come to really enjoy the weekends and my kids have made some great friends through our BBQ family. That’s exactly how I feel is that we are just a big family. I have yet to encounter anyone who would refuse to lend a hand or even share cooking tips and tricks. So my advise would be to go for it, but you’ll probably need a bigger cooker or cookers as did I.
Jay – Just Wingin It BBQ team
Jay – thanks! I saw your tent, but we never got a chance to chat – but maybe we’ll run into each other next year. I think my wife caught the bug at the first couple of competitions we went to, so that will be good – and yes, it definitely feels like a big friendly family atmosphere. As for cookers, I have a drum smoker and a 22″ WSM – I think I could do a barebones cook with those 2 – the drum smoker would be perfect for the big meats, it keeps temp like a champ as long as I don’t open the lid much.
Thanks so much for the great comments on Crossborder, so glad you could make it. If there are any other newBs out there that would like to shadow next year let us know we will hook you up!
No problem – the event was great! I loved that the police were clearing the path for turn ins, felt so serious! The dinner and breakfast you guys served us was good stuff as well. I can’t remember the name of the meat and gravy that was served with the grits for breakfast, but it was fantastic.
Considering a USA competition, what is your crossing border experience been?
I’ve never had a problem with the border to tell you the truth… although when I was at this one I was helping out, so I didn’t have any of my own equipment with me. I don’t think it’s a problem to bring meat over, although my friends have told me it’s better to buy it there as prices / selection are better.
I would just play it safe with the times, you never know when you’ll get randomly stopped.