Naptown BarBAYq Contest and Music Festival - KCBS Competition

Last weekend the Three Dogs BBQ road show headed down to Annapolis, MD for our first competition of the year at the Naptown BarBAYq Contest and Festival.

The festival is held at the Anne Arundle County Fairgrounds and features the BBQ competition, food vendors, bands, and a judging class on Sunday.  In all 64 teams were competing for awards and bragging rights for the year.  The contest was also a opportunity for us to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.  Here are some pictures from the weekend.

The highlight of the weekend was being able to sign the banner honoring our late friend, Bill Allen, who passed away earlier this year at a BBQ competition.

If you are competing in the MABA region this year, look for this banner at the Smokin Foolz cook site and stop by to sign.  Smokin Foolz will present the banner to Kathi Allen, Bill's wife, at the end of the season.

As for our cook, we did not get off to the start that we wanted to this season, ending up 47th out of 64 teams.  Here were the pictures of our turn in boxes.

Our timing was off from the start, the skin pulled back on the legs, the ribs were slightly over done, the brisket was slightly under done.  Not a good weekend at all.  But, we'll learn from the weekend and move forward.  We can only go up from here.

Thanks to Doreen Vavrek (a Pittsburgh girl!) for putting together another great competition.  Congrats also go out to 3Eyz BBQ on their back to back Grand Championships at Naptown and to Chix, Swine & Bovine BBQ, our Reserve Grand Champion.

We hit the road next in two weeks at the Salt City BBQ Festival in Syracuse, NY.  If you are in the area, stop on by and say hi.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Naptown barBAYq Contest and Music Festival: A Nice Start to the Season

With great anticipation and a chilly morning, we hooked up the trailer last Friday and drove down to the Naptown section of Annapolis for the Naptown barBAYq Contest and Music Festival for our first competition of 2014.

After negotiating the PA Turnpike traffic and construction and the traffic that only the Greater DC area can bring, we finally arrived at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds and found our spot.  It was a pull through spot, so no turning around and backing the trailer into our spot.  Things were shaping up nicely.

We set the trailer up, put everything in its place, rubbed and injected our butts and brisket, then sit down for a bit to hydrate.

Proper hydration is key...

We then stopped by the BBQ Guru tent to pick up some new pit probes.  

Same price as online, but no shipping.  So, another win.

After sunset, we fired up our smokers and waited to put on our larger cuts of meat.

Everything is running fine at midnight, so off to bed for some sleep.

We awoke to a beautifully smokey sunrise and enjoyed some coffee.

Said good morning to our neighbors over at Lo and Slo BBQ.

Prepared the ribs and brined the chicken, it was time to get down to some serious BBQ.

Here were our scores.

Now the breakdown:

Our chicken entry was good for a 167.9884 out of a possible 180 and 11th place.  A team best for chicken score.  As you might imagine, I was dumbfounded when I saw the 5 for appearance when the other 5 judges gave 8's and 9's.  We probably didn't deserve 9's, but that box is better than a 5.  But, they throw out the lowest score, so I got over my issues and moved on.  

Our ribs were good for 161.6800 and 21st place.  Again, a team best for total rib score.  They could have been a little more tender.  But, we'll gratefully take this score.  Thanks for the help Hutch and Chilebrown.  

Our pork box was good for a 159.4056 and 32nd place.  I thought these butts turned out so good that for the first time, we were confident enough to add pulled, chunks, and money muscle to the box.  But, some may have been a hair over done and it may have been a bit under sauced.  But, overall, I was good with this score.  

Finally, the brisket.

The above box was good for a 153.1544 and 33rd place.  I have to say, I am really proud of this score.  Why?  That flat was downright dry.  Not overdone, just dry.  Then, I remembered Lee Ann Whippen on BBQ Pitmasters resuscitating a dry brisket with her injection and 15 more minutes on the smoker. Guess what?  It works.  Lee Ann, if you happen to ever read this, thanks!

So, overall we scored 642.2284.  This was good for 22 out of 60 teams.  This was our second highest point total ever.  Not bad for the first time out in 2014.  Congrats to 3Eyz BBQ, our Grand Champions and to Lo-N-Slo BBQ, our Reserve Grand Champion.  Full results from the KCBS website.

We would also like to say hi to our new friends Chip and Sally with Big Chippers BBQ.

Chip, that is one sweet trailer!

Finally, thanks to our BBQ Groupies, Deb and Jerry for the moral support and letting us crash at their place on the way home.

Overall, we were very happy with our showing this weekend.  Hopefully we can mike some minor changes and improve on our scores as the year progresses.  

Next up, the Roc City Ribfest in Rochester, NY on Memorial Day weekend.  Hope to see you there.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Hitting the Road

Well, the time has come.  The last practice is over and it is time to see if we have improved our entries for the 2014 BBQ season.

No more early morning practice cooks.  The trailer is clean, stocked, and ready to go.  So, if you live in the Annapolis area, stop on by and say hi this weekend.  Naptown, here we come.

Naptown barBayq Contest and MusicFestival, May 2-3, Anne Arundle County Fairgrounds
www.barbayq.com

More on how we did next week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill