Category: BBQ

Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships Results – 2014

The awards for the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships were moved into the Bud Light Party Zone. (photo by Angelo Hernandez)
The awards for the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships were moved into the Bud Light Party Zone. (photo by Angelo Hernandez)

Here are the final results for the Pro and Backyard divisions of the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships.

Note that in the Backyard Division, we have a “one trophy maximum” meaning that some teams who scored higher in some categories, did not win trophies. The winners are noted in bold. Additionally, where there are ties in scores, a tie breaking procedure was used. The exception was in Pro Ribs, where each team had identical scores.

BACKYARD DIVISION                                                       PRO DIVISION

Overall Team Points Overall Team Points
1 JAMS BBQ 523.6 1 Two Smokin White Boys 514.8
2 Just Pig Out BBQ 509.0 2 Smokin’ Your Butt 511.8
3 KCI Savannah BBQ 506.9 3 BBQ JAX 511.8
4 BluesyQ 501.0 4 Fire Pit 504.6
5 Palm Valley BBQ 498.0 5 Team Two Eggheads 504.6
6 Serial Smokers 495.7 6 Tortoise Q 499.8
7 Hillbilly Bones Bar-B-Que 494.0 7 Goodfellas Bbq 499.2
8 Smoke-R-Done BBQ 492.0 8 Big Bad Barbecue 496.2
9 Back 9 Q Crew 487.5 9 Boston’s Butt 487.2
10 NAIOP #1 483.3 10 Klear Lake BBQ 337.8
11 Blue Wave Cookers 480.7
12 NAIOP #2 480.5
13 Smokin’ Barrels 480.4 Chicken Team Points
14 Smitty’s Smokestack 475.2 1 BBQ JAX 172.2
15 Wild hog 472.4 2 Two Smokin White Boys 168.6
16 B&Bs Que 471.5 3 Team Two Eggheads 168.0
17 Hogg Father’s 468.1 3 Fire Pit 168.0
18 Swine One One 467.5 5 Tortoise Q 167.4
19 WarPigs BBQ 463.8 5 Boston’s Butt 167.4
20 Elkins Not So Famous BBQ Team 462.9 7 Goodfellas Bbq 165.6
21 Roasted and Toasted 460.4 7 Smokin’ Your Butt 165.6
22 Miller Genuine BBQ 459.7 9 Big Bad Barbecue 164.4
23 Let’s Smoke Out BBQ 459.5 Klear Lake BBQ
24 All American Grill, BBQ & Football 455.1
25 Bug’s n Butt’s 453.1 Ribs Team Points
26 2 Red Heads 452.9 1 Smokin’ Your Butt 175.8
27 JDG BBQ 451.9 1 Two Smokin White Boys 175.8
28 STATE BOYS 3AM BAR B Q 451.3 3 BBQ JAX 170.4
29 Mr. Pee Wee’s Smokin Hot BBQ 451.1 4 Tortoise Q 168.6
30 Smoke This 448.7 5 Goodfellas Bbq 168.0
31 FIS 445.1 6 Big Bad Barbecue 167.4
32 Smoker and the Bandits 442.1 6 Team Two Eggheads 167.4
33 Underage Smokers 433.2 8 Fire Pit 166.8
34 Backyard Brother’s BBQ 428.6 9 Klear Lake BBQ 165.6
35 Interrail Smoke Signals 332.4 10 Boston’s Butt 157.8
Chicken Team Points Pork Team Points
1 Smoke-R-Done BBQ 174.5 1 Klear Lake BBQ 172.2
2 JAMS BBQ 174.0 2 Two Smokin White Boys 170.4
3 Serial Smokers 172.7 2 Smokin’ Your Butt 170.4
4 Just Pig Out BBQ 171.0 4 Fire Pit 169.8
5 KCI Savannah BBQ 168.4 5 Team Two Eggheads 169.2
6 Hillbilly Bones Bar-B-Que 165.9 5 BBQ JAX 169.2
7 Let’s Smoke Out BBQ 165.5 7 Goodfellas Bbq 165.6
8 FIS 165.0 8 Big Bad Barbecue 164.4
8 Palm Valley BBQ 165.0 9 Tortoise Q 163.8
10 Elkins Not So Famous BBQ Team 3 162.5 10 Boston’s Butt 162.0
11 B&Bs Que 162.0
11 BluesyQ 162.0
13 NAIOP #2 161.0
14 Roasted and Toasted 159.5
15 Mr. Pee Wee’s Smokin Hot BBQ 159.0
16 Hogg Father’s 158.5
17 Smitty’s Smokestack 157.0
18 NAIOP #1 156.0
19 STATE BOYS 3AM BAR B Q 155.0
20 Back 9 Q Crew 153.5
21 Smokin’ Barrels 152.6
21 Bug’s n Butt’s 152.6
23 2 Red Heads 151.8
24 Wild hog 150.9
25 WarPigs BBQ 149.1
25 Blue Wave Cookers 149.1
27 Underage Smokers 149.0
28 Miller Genuine BBQ 148.8
29 Smoke This 147.0
30 Smoker and the Bandits 144.0
31 Swine One One 142.7
32 Backyard Brother’s BBQ 142.5
33 All American Grill, BBQ & Football 136.5
34 JDG BBQ 134.5
Ribs Team Points
1 JAMS BBQ 173.1
2 KCI Savannah BBQ 171.0
3 Back 9 Q Crew 170.5
4 Smitty’s Smokestack 170.0
5 Serial Smokers 169.0
6 Smokin’ Barrels 167.0
6 BluesyQ 167.0
6 Just Pig Out BBQ 167.0
9 NAIOP #2 166.5
10 Swine One One 166.2
11 Hillbilly Bones Bar-B-Que 165.5
11 B&Bs Que 165.5
13 NAIOP #1 163.5
13 Let’s Smoke Out BBQ 163.5
15 All American Grill, BBQ & Football 162.6
16 Interrail Smoke Signals 162.4
17 Blue Wave Cookers 161.0
17 JDG BBQ 161.0
19 Bug’s n Butt’s 160.5
20 Smoke This 159.0
21 Palm Valley BBQ 158.0
22 Miller Genuine BBQ 154.5
23 Smoke-R-Done BBQ 153.0
24 Wild hog 152.5
25 STATE BOYS 3AM BAR B Q 151.8
26 Hogg Father’s 151.5
27 Elkins Not So Famous BBQ Team 3 150.9
28 Smoker and the Bandits 148.5
29 WarPigs BBQ 147.5
30 Underage Smokers 145.2
31 Roasted and Toasted 144.9
32 2 Red Heads 143.1
33 Backyard Brother’s BBQ 142.7
34 Mr. Pee Wee’s Smokin Hot BBQ 137.6
35 FIS 133.5
Pork Team Points
1 JAMS BBQ 176.5
2 Palm Valley BBQ 175.0
3 BluesyQ 172.0
4 Just Pig Out BBQ 171.0
5 Blue Wave Cookers 170.6
6 Interrail Smoke Signals 170.0
7 Wild hog 169.0
8 KCI Savannah BBQ 167.5
9 WarPigs BBQ 167.1
10 Smoke-R-Done BBQ 164.5
11 NAIOP #1 163.8
12 Back 9 Q Crew 163.5
13 Hillbilly Bones Bar-B-Que 162.6
14 Smokin’ Barrels 160.8
15 Swine One One 158.6
16 Hogg Father’s 158.1
17 2 Red Heads 158.0
18 Miller Genuine BBQ 156.4
18 JDG BBQ 156.4
20 All American Grill, BBQ & Football 156.0
20 Roasted and Toasted 156.0
22 Mr. Pee Wee’s Smokin Hot BBQ 154.5
23 Serial Smokers 154.0
24 NAIOP #2 153.0
25 Smoker and the Bandits 149.6
26 Elkins Not So Famous BBQ Team 3 149.5
27 Smitty’s Smokestack 148.2
28 FIS 146.6
29 STATE BOYS 3AM BAR B Q 144.5
30 B&Bs Que 144.0
31 Backyard Brother’s BBQ 143.4
32 Smoke This 142.7
33 Bug’s n Butt’s 140.0
34 Underage Smokers 139.0
35 Let’s Smoke Out BBQ 130.5

         

 

 

 

 

How to Make Competition BBQ Chicken

photo by Clif Welch
photo by Clif Welch

by Cole Pepper
April 12, 2014

Chicken is the first category that will be judged in the Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships. Here are a few tips that I have acquired that can help you make great competition-style chicken in your backyard.

  • Remove the skin and trim fat from it. Chicken skin has fat on the underside. You want to carefully slice that away.
  • Brine thighs for around 2 hours (I like to use a traditional, all natural lemonade or apple juice as a base for the brine)
  • Season or dust thighs (I prefer a combination of garlic powder and lemon pepper with salt)
  • Replace skin by wrapping around thighs
  • Smoke with a baste. I like to use a BBQ sauce that is diluted with lemon juice early, then a pure BBQ sauce layer in the final couple of minutes…you don’t want to over-caramelize the sauce on the chicken. I also like to use a mix of hickory with apple or cherry wood.

I went on Channel 4 to talk about the technique and the Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships:
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Here’s a photo of the thighs I smoked:

Here are three thighs that were made using the technique mentioned above.
Here are three thighs that were made using the technique mentioned above.

 

Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships Are April 19

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The 6th annual Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships are Saturday, April 19th at EverBank Field. The event is a fundraiser for the Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship for Daniel Kids. You can purchase tickets in advance and save if you order online here:

https://www.danielkids.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=472

Here’s the Radio Spot for the event:

Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships

 

6th Annual Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships Are Coming

VIPs will be able to access the Bud Zone during the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships, April 19th at EverBank Field. The event is a fundraiser for the Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship for Daniel kids.
VIPs will be able to access the Bud Zone during the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships, April 19th at EverBank Field. The event is a fundraiser for the Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship for Daniel kids.

by Cole Pepper
January 16, 2014

Last night we held our first planning meeting for the 2014 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships. I love this time of year! One of the things I’m most proud of is that our committee does a great job of working to improve the event every year.

Basically, we believe in continuous process improvement.

Here’s a sneak peak at one of the improvements we’re working on for the April 19th event.

VIP Package – Because of construction of the new scoreboards at EverBank Field, we had to get creative with use of space, especially with our judging and scoring area. So we’re looking at utilizing the Bud Zone for our judges and scoring area. Of course, that also means that we have a lot more room to use. So we’re creating a VIP package for up to 250 people. Here’s how it will work. Each package consists of four tickets to the event, four Bud Zone passes, a parking pass (and maybe a free drink…working on this).

VIPs will be able to get out of the sun and into the Bud Zone, plus they’ll have the chance to sample from our Smoke Ring of Honor, our past winners of the event. We may also have some acoustic music and TVs on, plus a private bar. These packages are $100 each and are limited to the first 60 packages. If you want to be placed on the VIP waiting list to be contacted before the VIP packages go on sale to the public, email us (info@jaxbbqchampionships.com) and we’ll let you know in advance.

Some other dates you may want to know about:

Team Registration dates

  • Teams who competed last year: February 20, 2014
  • Teams who competed in the Florida/Georgia Block Party or on the waiting list: March 3, 2014
  • Public Registration: March 10, 2014

General Admission Tickets go on sale: March 24

Ticket Pricing:

VIP Packages $100 for 4 VIP tickets and a parking pass

General Admission: $20 at the gate on the day of the event, $16.50 when purchased online in advance of the event. 10 pack of tickets for $150.

Florida-Georgia Weekend Block Party features BBQ contest, more

Microsoft Word - FL GA BBQ.docx

by Cole Pepper
October 17, 2013

For the third year in a row, I’m partnering with the folks at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (SMG and Savor) to create the Florida-Georgia Weekend Block Party. This year, the festivities have expanded. This is a great, family friendly event that offers visitors to Jacksonville and residents a chance to kick-off the Florida-Georgia Weekend on Friday, November 1.

Food Trucks will serve lunch in front of the Arena starting at 11am. Some of Jacksonville’s best known and celebrated food trucks will be on hand, showcasing their culinary skills. A portion of all food sales goes to support Daniel kids.

Turner Pest Control sponsors the Cornhole Tournament. You may sign up to compete online.

Live music from Ivey-West Band, Firewater Tent Revival, and Something Distant.

New this year, a flag football tournament at the Shipyards. Teams can sign up online as well via JaxScene.com

The 3rd annual Florida-Georgia Weekend Block Party BBQ contest will feature some of the best BBQ teams from the area competing for the Keith Hall Memorial Trophy and a spot in the Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships. Once again, team entry fees go to support Daniel kids. If you would like to compete in the event, you may sign up online, or want more information on the BBQ contest, you can find it here.

The evening culminates with the Cousin Catfish Pigskin Jamboree at the Shipyards with a concert from Corey Smith and Sister Hazel. Tickets for the concert are available online.

The Fruits of BBQ Contests

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Four of this year’s Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship winners (seated) along with the Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship Executive Committee and Daniel staff.

by Cole Pepper
October 9, 2013

It is one of my favorite nights of the year. It’s the night when the countless hours of hard work, of all of the favors called in of the shameless promotion really pay off.

It’s the harvest of the fruits of the Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships and the Florida-Georgia Weekend Block Party BBQ contest.

Wednesday evening, for the fifth time, we presented the Glyn Cook Memorial Scholarship to college students who had once been homeless.

A little background for the initiated. In 2008, cancer took my father-in-law, Glyn Cook, at the age of 63. Not only was Glyn a rock of stability in a family full of women, but he was a great example for me and a former Chairman of the Board at Daniel. Daniel, as you may know, is Florida’s oldest child service agency and the oldest non-profit in Jacksonville. I’m honored to serve on the board now as the Vice Chairman.

After Glyn passed away, my wife and her sisters and mother and I decided to create a scholarship in Glyn’s memory for kids at Daniel. This, we thought, would help Daniel to continue to make a difference in the lives of kids in college and beyond. It’s the “teach a man to fish” principle.

One of Daniel’s flagship programs is called Project Prepare. Homeless teens, usually high school age, who cannot live at home for a variety of reasons, some as simple as an inability to coexist with a parent (usually in these cases, its a single parent) to abuse and abandonment and everything in between, are given a stable place to live. In addition to the housing, they are also taught life skills like time management, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, hygiene…the kind of things that most of us take for granted.

Now, I should state, that not every applicant automatically gets a scholarship. These must be earned. And after the kids earn the scholarship, we expect even more from them: community service, better grades, and most of all, to be a good example to other kids in their situation (of anybody else, for that matter).

So tonight, at the education center on the Daniel campus, we heard directly from four of our seven scholarship winners. One of the winners read comments from her sister, another winner in school in south Florida, and another sent a letter of thanks, ready by the program’s director Shelly Davalos (who fought back tears of pride as she read).

So where does barbecue come into play? Each year, the money made from those two barbecue contest goes to fund these scholarships. Each year, we’ve been able to give larger scholarships and make a bigger impact on the lives of these college students. So for those of you who have competed in, attended, judged, volunteered or aided in any way our efforts in the past five years, know that your efforts have made a difference in the lives of kids who at one time saw no future. For some, Daniel was there at such a crucial time that they admit that without finding Daniel, they would be in a dark place or even dead.

If you want to read more about Daniel’s programs and successes, you can check out the website (DanielKids.org) or follow Daniel kids on Facebook or @Danielkids on twitter. Or, just come out to the Florida-Georgia Weekend Block Party BBQ contest on Friday, November 1 around the arena.

Once again, thank you.

Jacksonville Restaurant Adds Fulham Sandwich to Menu

Fulham sandwich Pinegrove

by Cole Pepper

Ever since Shad Khan purchased Fulham FC of the English Premier League, sports fans in Jacksonville have begun jumping on the bandwagon. Jacksonville has, by proxy, adopted Fulham as the city’s favorite English soccer team.

And now, an Avondale restaurant is joining in.

Pine Grove Market and Deli (1511 Pinegrove Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32205) has rolled out a sandwich they’re calling “The Fulham.”

“We were already working on the sandwich, but we didn’t have a name for it,” said Ron Bajalia of Pinegrove. “My buddy came up with the name and it just works perfectly.”

The sandwich (shown above) consists of “homemade London Broil fresh from our butcher shop, with Gruyere cheese and a homemade horseradish cream on a pretzel roll!” according to Pinegrove’s facebook page and costs $10.

Everything was made from scratch for the sandwich, except the pretzel roll. It’s the only sandwich Pinegrove offers that uses the pretzel bun.

Reaction to the sandwich has been very good. They sold out on Friday.

Told about the sandwich, Jaguars owner Shad Khan laughed. “That’s awesome,” Khan exclaimed. “That’s a restaurant with a huge amount of foresight. I’d like to sample one of those.”

 

Lessons for Novice BBQers, Part 1

Gary Park
Gary Park (left) says temperature control is a simple, yet sometime troublesome obstacle for inexperienced teams.

by Cole Pepper

I’ve tapped into my network of BBQ chefs to ask them about some of the common mistakes that they made when just starting out cooking in competitions. If you are a novice contest cooker, some of this advice might help you avoid some of the pitfalls that can frustrate BBQ chefs as they hone their craft.

This is the first of a three part series. Today’s question:

What is the most common mistake that you see inexperienced BBQ teams make at contests?

“Overcooking the food,” says Paul Herring, captain of Big Bad BBQ. “I recommend an empty cooler to store cooked meat to keep it warm until turn in time.”

There are probably a dozen techniques to keep your entries at the proper temperature until turn in time. If you try to time it just right, you are asking for trouble. Some, like Paul recommend a cooler, others will utilize an insulated pizza bag and some will try to keep the entry warm wrapped in towels or other insulation. Experiment and see which works best. If you target 20-30 minutes before the start of turn in to have your meat off the heat, you have time to choose the best pieces and to arrange them in the turn-in box properly.

Gary Park, competitive barbecuer and owner of G’s Slow Smoked BBQ in Middleburg, FL preaches temperature control.

“I know it sounds like a simple tip, but I’ve seen many a team struggle with their temperatures going up and down through the whole cook,” Park said. “Practice cooking and practice more while cooking/smoking different meats, preferably the ones being used in a contest. Don’t wait until the week before a contest and start trying to figure out a particular grill/smoker! Be consistent!”

One competition chef who wished to remain anonymous warned against going overboard.

“Over spice, over sauce, over smoke. It’s a BBQ competition where the meat needs to do the talking. Every judge who is willing to take part in this competition is there because they love the meat flavor. How will anyone know what spice, sauce, smoke combination a group of judges will love?”

That’s a common theme. There is virtually no way to tell what the judges preference will be. Some prefer a little more spice, others like it sweeter. While judges are charged with trying to establish a consistent baseline from which to judge, one tip that can help is to see if the judges are largely older or younger. If the average age seems to be toward retirement age, tend toward the sweeter side. If the average age of judges is in the 40s, spicier can score well. This is only a rule of thumb.

Two words most commonly used by our panel? Practice and preparation.

“Plan your cook and practice it at least once before the contest to have your timing down,” said Brian Shell. “It is way different than doing it in YOUR backyard for family and friends.”

In all, though, keep it simple, says Palm Valley BBQ captain John Rowan.

“[Novice teams] make their recipes too complicated,” Rowan said.  ”They try things they have never done before. Keep it simple because that is what BBQ is.”