I’ll warn you now that this post has a lot of photos, so be warned if you’re on dial up… open it up and go get a cup of coffee… but it’s worth it, I think! In trying to show what competitions are like, the pictures are the only way I know of doing that.
I did a bit better this year of getting some photos, and I thought I’d try to show a bit of what a competition looks like. Carmel’s Bodacious Blues B-Q isn’t a huge comp, but 38 teams isn’t bad for its second year. We were on the end of the row along the fence if any of you were there, while others were kind of in 2 rows in the middle. I wish we’d gotten a spot there in some ways, but no one was to one side of us, so we had all the room we could want.
Funny this is I got pics of lots of the banners, but didn’t get one of our set up all finished with the banner in front.
This first banner is the BBQ Guy. Brian Pearcy does a blog that’s really great, and I’m glad I got a chance to stop by and talk with him. As most of these people are, Brian’s very nice, and he definitely knows what he’s doing. I don’t have my results handy, but he did get a call up on Saturday.
Hope’s B&B BBQ Factory was a father and son team of 
Brads. They were at our table at the cooks meeting; they had a killer small trailer that started empty, and I heard they put it together for around $7500… I need to talk to them about getting their plans! I’d love to have an indoor prep area for hot days or rain!
Speaking of the cooks meeting, this one was short. No surprises at all, but it’s still worth listening to if you haven’t heard the CD in a while.
The cooks meeting is a chance to see who’s in the comp, and see who has already started drinking! Actually, it’s when the rules are explained and turn in boxes are handed out. The reps introduce themselves, and first time teams are asked to identify themselves. Other teams are great at stepping in and answering questions for first time teams.
This is the banner for Pepperitaville. Todd and Connie are super people. They do well on the circuit, and they always take the time to say hello. I love their trailer; they pull their Lang 60 right up into it to travel, but they have room to sleep and prep right in the trailer. One thing I really like about these two is how much energy they have to encourage other teams.
Wee-Bee Smokin’ were friends of Todd and Connie; they had a great set up with a small trailer with an airbed in it. I’m sure they did better than we did, even though it was their first comp.
Space to relax is as important as space to prep. There’s a lot of time to sit and talk and have a beer or water or whatever you choose to have.
Ford Alison of Great Lakes Feed & BBQ had his new trailer down from Michigan. It was KILLER! Cookers are even mounted inside, so he doesn’t need to go out in the rain and cold, or heat and sun, whichever happens to be going on. Ford befriended us last year at the Carmel comp and helped us a ton. And in his purple golf cart, he’s all over the place, talking to just about everyone.
This is just a shot from the judges tent of some of the trucks and trailers. There’s some sweet equipment at a competition. We felt like hayseeds with our Chargrillers; they didn’t travel well, and made their last competition appearance. I don’t know that we’ll be pulling up in rigs like some of these guys have, but we hope to have a trailer in a year or so that fits our smoker in it for travel then converts to a kitchen for us.
If you’ve thought about going to a competition, do it. Talk to the teams (but not during turn ins!), and they’ll talk your ear off.
That’s all for now; thanks for checking out the blog, and tomorrow, I’ll have some pictures of our site setup and food prep.
