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#16 Bel Air BBQ Bash. State BBQ Championship, Bel Air, Maryland - August 2005
1st place overall / 38 teams GRAND CHAMPION
Never having been to Bel Air we did not know what to expect, but we had heard great reports. Well, again we had the pleasure of cooking a very well-run and organized event. Good thing too, because the record heat was a huge challenge in itself. They kept the ice coming, and took good care of everyone. Judges were all certified, Jerry and Linda Mulane were great KCBS reps, as usual, and Craig Ward did a bang up job....both as organizer, and the MC for the awards.
Chris and John set up Thursday night, then Friday Chris flew solo until Kenny and John arrived later that evening...it was a lot of work for one person in 100 degree heat, and by the time John and Kenny arrived Chris felt like passing out. We pulled it all together and kept the cookers goin steady all night. Then Saturday morning things kept falling into place with our cooking. Stuff was done right on time. Color was right. And in spite of the stifling heat, the Dizzy Pigs kept it positive and upbeat. It paid off with our best finish ever. 666 points on the score sheet with nothing lower than a 4th place finish. It was an honor for us to finish 22 points ahead of the second place team. There was no shortage of good cooks at this one. We are still pouring cold water on ourselves....and drinking cold beer!
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Chicken
4th
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Ribs
2nd
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Pork
1st
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Brisket
2nd
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Bel Air, Maryland State BBQ Championship
The story on the street was the heat. There was no getting away from it unless you had a trailer with A/C...which we did. But it only helped a little. It is a small cargo trailer....not a work trailer, and has a small A/C. We could not spend much time in there, but it was a lifesaver when we absolutely needed to cool down, and some friends from other teams cooled down there as well. We met some great people in Bel Air....or "Blair" as the locals affectionately call it with that Baltimore area twang. Great people are everywhere, and Bel Air didn't prove to be any different. Good music. Good event. And a very nice day for the Dizzy fellas. Bel Air wraps up a crazy run of winning three grand championships of four KCBS contests. The team could not be happier.
Congrats to all those teams that got the covetted call to the stage. An award should be given to every team who managed to end up standing after 2 long days of brutal heat.
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| The Thursday night before a contest is a great time to set up if they will allow you to. We arrived at about 7pm on Thursday August 11th, and got our spot in the corner of the parking lot. |
John was able to land some stylin briskets again this time. Not sure how he does it, but these were beauts....and monsters too. Those are regular sized bananas in the upper left. Bring on the Cow Lick rub!! |
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| Last year's grand champions and good friends, Team Agave, were camped next to us, and Steve and Dave were great neighbors. |
Friday was a long day for Chris. Working alone he managed to brave the heat and take care all of the meat prep and getting the cooking started. |
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| We had a pretty nice site with just a spattering of shade. The trees behind us gave us some real nice (and much needed) morning shade. Here is the activity on Friday afternoon. |
For general snacking and camp food Chris brought some choice top sirloin steaks, rubbed them with Swamp Venom and seared them on the mini egg. Yum. |
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| Friday night always brings an interesting scene. Most cookers are fired up and many are cooking their pork shoulder and briskets. The cookers get stabilized, and the teams wander around meeting and partying with each other. |
Here is friend and competitor Brett Brown of Free Range BBQ. Brett is having a tough time hiding the fact that he is HOT!!! Brett and his team (Max, Sydney and Allison) came over to our camp several times to cool down. Good excuse to see them more often! |
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| Kenny. Hatch. The night watchman. |
Bob Trudnack, Steve Martin and Kenny get some good bonding in late on Friday night. Steve has been almost everywhere we have this year, and it's always good to see him. |
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| Reserve Grand Champs "Jack McDavid's Down Home Barbecue" on restaurant row. Congrats Jack and Jim. |
The scene of the teams in the parking lot on Saturday morning before the craziness. There were also teams set up on the street. |
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| Brett and the Free Range BBQ team managed to plow through the heat and humidity and finish strong with an overall finish in the top ten. Congrats to the Free Rangers! |
Big Dawg Eatz cooked just behind us and were great neighbors. Thanks for the coffee Bill! |
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| The morning light shone purty on the potk butts. The Dizzy Dusted butts ended up convincing the judges to pass out first place scores! |
Woo and CHris get the chicken started in the morning. Turn-in time is usually at noon for chicken....the first entry of the day. |
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| The Freestate Smokers from Laurel, Maryland happen to be from the same town as Chris. They finished strong with a 15th overall and two stage calls. A 6th in brisket and ribs! Congrats yall. Good talkin to you. |
101 is hot enough thank you. |
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| If you were in Bel Air this weekend, you'll remember this guy for a long time. The Iceman. Let's just say you knew when he was coming :-) |
Red Todd in classic Pennsylvania Posse form. Taking advantage of the ever-popular water-misting-fan! |
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| Crunch time comes on quick, and Chris works on getting the chicken off in time. |
Kenny takes off with the 4th place chicken box!! We made our turn ins all on time thankfully! |
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| Kenny and the ribs. Time to get cutting buddy! |
Woo Doggies takes a cold swig of his PBR while supervising the pork pulling operation. He is an official taster. |
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| Three team members with their hands in the box!! Who said "too many cooks spoil the broth"? This was our first place pork box! |
Touching up some brisket slices before building the box. Dizzy Pig rubs sure make a nice crust. |
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| Jim from the Philly Pigs, and who was cooking with Reserve Grand Champs "Jack McDavid's Down Home Barbecue". |
John and his little pig call. |
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| Very cool trophies, and our worst category was a 4th in chicken. What an incredible and unexpected finish. |
A hot, exhausted and extremely excited Dizzy Pig team takes a rest with the "hardware". |
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| Good friend Tony Tropea puts on his Dizzy hat once in a while and joins the team for a contest or three. He was a big help on Saturday and helped us get these trophies! |
John and Tony enjoying the moment. And what a moment. |
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| Good friend Andy of Sweetgum Hollow snagged a first in chicken (using Dizzy Pig rub) a 9th in Pork, and a strong 8th overall in his second KCBS gig. Time to celebrate! |
The end of the day finds us saying bye to our friends Steve and Dave who were generous enough to turn their last year's title over to the Dizzy Pigs. Seriously, these are great guys and it's good to know 'em. |
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