KCBS News Feed2012 Tour Stop #22 - The Jack Daniel's World Championship
October 26, 2012Christine and I had quite the fiasco at last year’s Jack Daniel’s World Championship so this year we decided to pare everything down a bit (but don’t worry, we still brought our Great American BBQ Tour best!). The drive through the hills and valleys of south-central Tennessee was as beautiful as ever as the trees had just begun turning colors. What a view!
We always have good neighbors at the Jack, and this year we were placed right next to Candy Su Weaver and the big pellet logoed BBQ'rs Delight tent.
While the main event happened on Saturday, Friday was pretty busy with lots of folks visiting the park and getting ready for the parade of teams to head up to the hill!
Usually, Christine and I catch one of the school busses going up the hill to take in some great Southern or Greek cooking, along with a couple of libations, but this year we decided to share Friday evening with friends in the international area. You can usually find a pretty good meal down at the Quau camp, and to no disappointment, Mike & Beth Wozniak hosted a great potluck with food brought over by a number of teams!
It was great to see old friends coming down to Lynchburg, whether for judging, cooking, just visiting with folks or assisting Christine and me with the tour! We were thankful for the help of close friends on one of the busiest days of our season!
Did I tell you that it was cold? It was COLD! Christine doubled up on the "long johns" and was still complaining. Lucky for us, we passed out record numbers of samples of Smithfield® pork, Reser’s®, Weber® Sauces and Seasonings and Castle Wood Reserve meats and cheeses so we were able to keep busy enough to forget about being cold during the day.
It was sitting for the awards ceremony that really chilled us to the bone; however, what warmed us up again was watching as the teams stepped forward for their category calls. The Ten Pinos Cooking Team from Texas took the call for Dessert and David Bouska and his Butchers BBQ team from Oklahoma took Sauce. Cooks’ Choice was won by our buddy Steve Overlay from Sin City Smokers out of Las Vegas and then of course came four main meat categories! We were super excited for our friends Vince Carrocci and Alexa Fairbairn of Rhythm 'N Que to get the first place Chicken call! The 3 EYZ BBQ Team has not only dominated the KCBS rankings this year but also scored a rare180 with their rib entry at the Jack! Meadow Valley BBQ, another strong Iowa team, won Pork. Canada was represented well in the Brisket category which was won by the Weekend Warrior BBQ team. Barry Johnson of Swiggin Pig received two top ten calls and finished with the Reserve Grand trophy. Scoring over nine points higher than second place, Scott and Katy Nelson of Pigskin BBQ dominated the event with a sixth place Chicken, fifth place Rib, second place Pork and third place Brisket calls... so it’s no wonder they walked away as Grand Champions! Iowa teams have made a solid showing in the BBQ circuit this year, capped off by adding Pigskin BBQ to a prestigious list of World Champions!
Congratulations, everyone!
