TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Barbecue Blazes At Competition

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY HOLT, Hernando Today

Published: October 24, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - A larger-than-expected crowd breathed in the smells and savored the tastes offered by professional cooks who drenched their chicken with sauce, peppered their ribs with spices and charred their briskets to a crisp.

Barbecue maestros from across Florida set up their mobile cooking stations along Tom Varn Park on Friday night and started the prepping and cooking early the next morning.

Ribs, brisket, chicken and pork butts sizzled for several hours as the teams scrambled to submit their meats to the judges in time.

Saturday's second-annual Blazin' Butts-n-Brisket Barbeque Contest drew 24 professional and four amateur teams from across Florida.
Grand prize winner Rob 'Rub' Bagby was breaking down his kitchen and scrubbing the counter by 4 p.m. His shirt was stained and soaked and his hair was damp with sweat. His shoulders were hunched over and his arms were heavy. He had that look of eight-hour labor all over his face.

But he also looked confident.

Last year, his team - Swamp Boys - finished second in the brisket competition. He expected similar success in all four categories this time.

'I've probably done 24 contests from then to now,' he said.

Saturday's contest was sanctioned by the Florida Barbecue Association. It is one of several held during the year. Cooks compete, earn points and aim for a state title.

The top 10 finishers receive automatic bids to the national tournament in Georgia.
Swamp Boys are in the top five in all four state categories.

'Our brisket's not bad,' Bagby replied when asked to rate his team. 'We've finished first and second in pork recently ... We have a pretty good balance.'
Swamp Boys finished 10th in chicken, sixth in ribs, second in pork and first in brisket.

The team edged out Mount Dora BBQ Co. for the grand prize, earning $1,500 - in addition to the $350 and $250 it earned in the brisket and pork categories.

'It's been a combination of a lot of things,' Bagby said when asked what he has done differently since last year. 'I've tweaked my sauce a bit and added to my spices. I've made four of five changes and they've all been good for me.'

Cooks Lend Advice, Not Secrets

The competition is serious, but never fierce. There is benchmarking involved among the regular players. They learn from their peers. Cooks will not give away everything, but they are willing to lend advice - particularly to the upstarts.

'For the most part, they won't share everything with you,' said Bobby Granatire, of Is it Ready Yet out of Tampa. 'But if you ask them, 'What are your thoughts on this?' they'll answer you.'

Granatire and his team were competing in their second professional contest. Brisket is their specialty, but they didn't place Saturday.

Last year, Big Bear's Barbeque, led by Frank McDowell of Spring Hill, entered in all four categories and missed the top 10. It was the team's first-ever FBA-sanctioned contest. By the end of the day, a physically exhausted McDowell was surely in no hurry to go through the pain and stress of a full day's competition again.

This year, he entered in only one category - chicken. Again, he failed to place, but he was still standing at the end of this day.

'I think we did good today,' said McDowell, who cooked everything for paying customers at the event. 'We ran out of chicken, ribs, brisket, cole slaw and beans. About 150 chickens are gone.'

An A-Plus Field

The group of judges tasted the goods without knowing who cooked them, called blind judging.

One of the judges, Sheila Jones of Lake Wells, said rubs, sauces and presentation are a factor - but not nearly as much as tenderness and taste. It's all in the way you cook it.

Jones has judged in Georgia as well as North and Central Florida.

'You always get a diverse group at these local events,' she said. 'You never know what you'll get.'

Most of the time, contests are held in open fields. Brooksville is considered a change of pace because it hosts its annual contest in a shady and scenic park. There were more competitors and a bigger crowd this time, due in large part to the appeal of Tom Varn Park.

'I give the promotion an A-plus,' said Tim Reynolds of Clewiston. 'But this is really a great park. Some of these are held on a dirt field and they promise you the world. Then you see a sewer truck pull up.'

The contest was the last main attraction to Brooksville's Founders Week. Proceeds went toward Friends of the Children, a nonprofit organization that promotes recreational, cultural and educational programs for local children.

Saturday's contest helped solidify Brooksville's place as a crucial, late-season contest during the FBA season.

Barbecue, Beans - And Beer

Kenny Nadeau, who runs Uncle Kenny's BBQ, said his team went through 52 racks of ribs, five cans of corn, six cans of beans, 13 gallons of barbecue sauce - and a case of Bud Light.

'That went to the employees,' said Rich Eames, who assisted Nadeau with the cooking - and drinking.

Uncle Kenny's, in Winter Garden, finished first in the ribs category. Last year, the fledgling team failed to place.

Nadeau said the improvements weren't possible without the camaraderie that exists among the other cooks.

'That's really why people come out,' he said. 'We all want to try our competitors' barbecue.'

For information about upcoming FBA-sponsored events, visit www.flbbq.org.

TOP FINISHERS

Chicken

First place - Big Pappa's County Kitchen, Lake Placid

Second place - HomeBBQ .com, Oviedo

Third place - Mount Dora BBQ Company, Mount Dora Ribs
First place - Uncle Kenny's BBQ, Winter Garden

Second place - Smokin' Cracker, Sebring

Third place - Woodhouse Grill, Sebring

Pork

First place - Mount Dora BBQ Company

Second place - Swamp Boys, Winter Haven

Third place - GB's BBQ, Tavares

Brisket

First place - Swamp Boys
Second place - HomeBBQ.com

Third place - Kick the Tire Light the Fire, Palm Bay

Back yard (amateur) grand winner - Bulldog BBQ, Haines City

Reserve champion - Mount Dora BBQ Company

Grand champion - Swamp Boys

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT