Dancing with Stoke & Smoke

This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a food event that is restricted to a few – a sanctioned Kansas City Barbecue Society Competition in Rocky Mount NC. The skills, timing and practice necessary to participate was like being on Dancing With The Stars. If you are serious about winning, you must have perfect timing, you must be flawless in execution, and your food must dance on the tongue like a Paso Doble, sharp, tangy and tender with passion.

Butt just out of smoker

I was lucky enough to fill in for a member of “Stoke & Smoke” and experience the drama first hand. The BBQ teams arrived Friday morning to set up but the real drama starts at midnight when the Boston Butts go in the smoker. Low and slow is the rule when preparing the perfect smoked butt. The smokers range from 55 gallon drums to sophisticated computer controlled smokers. For the cooks, this means getting up several times throughout the night to check their smokers and the temperature of the butt. No sleep for the weary during this competition.

Applying the barbecue sauce

Timing is critical. The meat must be tender, flavorful and finish cooking at the right time. Competitors can compete in 4 meat categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork (Boston Butt), and brisket. The meat must be presented to the judges on a very specific schedule and within a ten minute window.

Pulled chicken

Ribs

Final preparation of each meat is critical. Did you put enough barbecue rub on the meat, was it cooked at the right temperature, did it cook too fast or too long, did you have a good cut of meat. For this competition we cooked 3 racks of ribs to end up with just 6 perfect ribs. Two of the racks sat side by side in the smoker, were cooked the same amount of time and were coated with the same rub and barbecue sauce yet the results were noticeably differently. While both racks tasted the same, one was cooked to perfection tender while the other was tough. Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw in which piece of meat you bought.

The final preparation was nerve racking. Starting with chicken at 12:00 and ending with Brisket at 1:30 we had 30 minutes to shred, cut, sauce, present and turn in each meat. This is a very short time when you have to taste, pull and decide what to serve the judges. By 1:30 I had tasted so much barbecue that I could not eat another bite of food.

Brisket

Presentation, just like the costume worn by a dancer, is a critical element in the competition. You must use the Styrofoam clam shells provided and the meat must be presented on a bed of either parsley or lettuce (see photos).

If you would like to experience and taste the best barbecue in the country, you can purchase BBQ Bucks ($1 each/$10 minimum) on site to buy sample size portions from competing BBQ teams and vote for you favorite barbecue team. You can also enjoy some great bands and watch the teams prepare for the competition. Go to the KCBS web site calendar of events to find out when the next event is coming to a town near you.

Turning in the food

In the end we did not win anything but I had a great time, except for the cleanup. I promised not to reveal any of the teams’ secrets but you can try my own recipes for a barbecue rub and a balsamic barbecue sauce.