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Choppers Chop Up Competition in Decatur
Sep 27, 2011
The Warren County Pork Choppers were both blown away and blew the competition away at the Decatur Jaycee’s 17th Annual Riverfest in Decatur, Ala., taking home the Kingsford Points Chase grand prize.“It just blew me away to see that large Kingsford check pop up! This was our second Kingsford event, the first was this past spring in Louisville, and we didn’t do so well,” said Donny Bray, captain of the Warren County Pork Choppers, a family team comprised of Donny, his wife Tracy and their two daughters Carly and Tory. The Choppers turned a 30th place finish overall in Louisville into a Kingsford win and a Reserve Championship overall in Decatur.
“We had heard people talk about the Decatur event and wanted to get in,” said Donny Bray. “We had been told what a beautiful place on the water and nice event it was. When a spot opened up we took it!”
They took it all the way to Kingsford Points Chase glory, in fact. What some might think of as an isolated win, the Warren County Pork Choppers are starting to see as a trend in the ‘Heart of Dixie.’
“Alabama’s been very good to me,” Bray went on to say. “I’ve cooked there four times and won 3 reserves, a 5th place and a KPC Championship now!”
The Warren County Pork Choppers put together a great event by winning both the Pork and Ribs categories.
“I think the pork has been easing along nicely. I’ve got some good secrets with that,” explained Bray. “And some rib ideas we’ve played with, turned out getting us a perfect score!”
“Chicken has been good to us,” Bray went on to explain. But it was brisket that might have kept the Choppers from a ‘double’ in Decatur, winning the Kingsford Points but falling just short for the overall Grand Championship.
“We tried something a bit different with the brisket and got ourselves off in a bit of left field. We’ve been really level overall lately, and sometimes you try something and that doesn’t always work. So you go back and try something else.”
Most of the Warren County Pork Choppers success Bray attributes to their 30-year-old smoker and the 25 years he’s owned it.
“It just cooks with a real level heat. Every rack has a different spot,” Bray describes of his smoker. “I know where to move the meat around and that helps with the even cook.”
After taking home the Decatur win, the Warren County Pork Choppers are looking ahead to events in Owensboro, KY and Springfield, KY before heading to Jackson, TN to compete in the Inaugural Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour regionals for a chance at the national title in Bentonville, Ark. Then it will be on to Lynchburg, TN for the Jack Daniel’s Invitational.
No rest for the weary or the Warren County Pork Choppers, and with the roll they’re on right now, why would they want any?
