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#14 National Capital Barbecue Battle, MIM sanctioned contest, Washington, DC - June 2005
36 Teams
"What the hell" we said. We had never cooked in a Memphis in May contest...this is where you are judged partly by the food in your "blind box", and partly by judges that you serve on your site! Three judges come...one after the other....and they come to be impressed! They loved the Big Green Eggs, and were very interested in what they could do. They were also anxious to hear about Dizzy Pig rubs! It was a fantastic contest on the streets of DC. Well run. Well attended. Very HOT!!! Saturday was the DC Lottery Challenge with 3 categories: Chicken, Chef's Choice Bed, Chef's Choice Pork. All were blind box entries, and we acually did fairly well with a 3rd, 6th and tenth! The onsite ribs were fun, and even though we were practicing onsite presentations for the first time, we came in a respectable 16th place. Lots and lots of fun...but a lot of work on the streets in the heat. Jack's Old South won it all, with Barnyard Roasters pulling right behind in second place.
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Chicken
6th
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Pork
10th
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Beef
3rd
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Ribs
16th
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Washington, DC National Capital Barbecue Battle (MIM)
We met some great people in DC, and got to stare at some amazing buildings the entire weekend! It was cool to meet some new teams on a different circuit, and to cook in the town Chris was born in. Hot was the word used most, and temps on sunday were around 100 degrees on the streets, and hotter around the cookers. We rigged up a small A/C in the trailer, and it provided some glimpses of relief. All in all we had a blast, and didn't cook too bad for our first Memphis in May contest. Thanks to Andy Stoddard, Seabrisket and several of the other teams for helping a shortnahded first time team. Good chance we'll be back again next year.
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| This was the first contest where you could not set up until 11pm. We worked hard and unloaded and set up, then looked across the street and saw this fantastic architecture. The Reagan Building. |
Morning was already warm, but clear and pretty! We were adjacent to Freedom Plaza and the National Theatre. |
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| Andrew from the Sweetgum Hollow team has cooked Memphis in May before, and he stopped by to give us a hand. And help he did. |
"Ribs By Andy" is the name of the team, and Andy cooks on a very cool cooker he built and affectionately calls "The Mother Ship". |
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| Andy and Kenny trim up 14 slabs of full spare ribs into St. Louis style slabs. We ended up with a hefty supply of rib tibs! |
Getting ready for the chicken turn in on Saturday, Kenny holds the chicken pieces while Chris paints them with the secret sauce! |
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| A bunch of Big Green Eggs.....all lined up and ready to cook! |
The street scenes were wild. The Old Post Office and the Capital. |
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| We turned in loin and tenderloin for our pork entry. We ended up 10th place. |
Andy is sporting the cap of one of his culinary heroes!! |
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| Barnyard Roasters from Mississippi is always a strong team (congrats on the Reserve Grand Champoionship this year), and Andy brought a birthday cake for his friend Mickey. |
The birthday boy himself, and crew. |
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| The music was often way, way too loud, but we heard some great bands across the street! |
Sunday morning finds the hazy humid streets relatively quiet, and a slightly overwhelming scent of BBQ. |
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| We had to cook a bunch of ribs, but the eggs handled the job well. |
The street before the crowds were let in. |
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| Yet another street scene. |
Shotgun Fred seems to be everywhere, and it's always good to see him. Here he helps the Seabrisket team clean up for the judges. Seabrisket had a strong 4th place finish in beef, and did very well with their onsite pork shoulder presentation. They are a tough team! |
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| The Redskin Hogettes came sporting their costumes, then the guy on the left ended up being our 3rd onsite judge!! |
Good lookin spare ribs rubbed with Dizzy Pig! |
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| It was great to see Chris's wife Lan finally make it to a competition. Here she relaxes and tries to cool down with Kenny. |
What would the DC BBQ Battle be without the world's largest grill? |
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| We were amazed to get a 3rd place call in beef. Here we are on stage! |
Never expected a second trip to the stage, but our 6th place Chicken got us a call!!! Very nicely run event. We will probably be back. |
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