Thursday, August 20, 2009

Getting My Feet Wet in the Pro BBQ Circuit

Well, I've been trying to get my competition team together, but due to my teammate, Matt's busy schedule this summer and fall, it looks as if our maiden season for competing will be 2010.

In an effort to get some experience in a Pro BBQ Competition, I volunteered to help out any teams going to New Holland, PA Summer Fest on the Mid Atlantic BBQ Association Forums. The forums are full of great folks who never fail to help a newbie like me.

Luckily for me, I was contacted by Dan Hixon, the pitmaster of 3EYZ BBQ. His teammate, Jason couldn't make the trip to New Holland, and he asked if I would like to give him a hand. I replied that I would love to help. 3EYZ BBQ is an excellent team with at least 4 Grand Championships to their credit already. They also sell their own award-winning rub and I have been told it's just phenomenal. I plan to pick up some from Dan at the competition. Check out the 3EYZ Blog.

The competition is Friday, August 28th and 29th. I will be vacationing in Ocean City, MD with my family, and my wife's family from August 22nd to the 29th. I'll be leaving early Friday morning (28th) to drive to New Holland to meet Dan around noon. My understanding wife, and my daughter will get a ride home from my in-laws on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to meeting some of the teams I've met online through the MABA forums. It's also a great opportunity to learn the correct way to set up my booth, determine all of the gear I still need, and to construct a time-line I will need to follow to even have a remote shot at one of these BBQ competitions.

My duties will be somewhat limited from what I understand; helping set up, helping with garnishing the entry boxes, running the entry boxes to the judges, general cleaning, and packing up the gear. Dan knows what he's doing, so I plan to help him when he needs it, and stay the hell out of his way when he doesn't.

I'll blog again after the competition to let you know how everything turned out.

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