Victory Lap: Smokin’ on the Track BBQ Festival
Nestled in the foothills of the mighty Shenandoah Mountains is a 3/8 mile oval track, home to Late Model, Bandolero, Mini Cups, and Sportsman racing. And for one weekend each year, it’s home to a KCBS BBQ competition, cornhole tournament, and classic car show.
We’ve never set up a cooksite in the middle of a racetrack before, but 2013 has been an all-around year for firsts. Pitmaster Luke did the heavy lifting on Friday, as non-BBQ realities infringed upon Kim and Leigh Anne’s time. (Editors note: Lucas set up the entire cooksite. Prepped all the meat. And drank beer and gin buckets with Mike Palmer. And hung out with the fine young man that runs Deguello BBQ, Senor Kit Rudd.) Upon our arrival on Friday night, we set to work, making up for lost time until the wee hours o’ the morn. Of course, with two sets of massive stadium lights glowing, it remained daylight-bright throughout the night.
Speaking of firsts, this event marked our initial entry into a People’s Choice category. OVS Auxilliary Members Drew Grossman and Arielle Deligdish came by to help serve two different kinds of pulled pork — one with Luke’s super-secret Carolina mustard sauce and one with our sweet red sauce. Drew and Arielle were busy as bees, and by our count handed out more than 800 samples over the course of a few hours. We didn’t get the nod for People’s Choice, but we saw a lot of smiling faces and repeat visitors rolling back for second, thirds, and fourths.
Despite the late arrival of 2/3 of the team, it was a pretty solid cook. The Backwoods and the Smoky Mountain Webers were in top form, and we often found ourselves ahead of schedule during that critical 2 and 1/2 window surrounding and encompassing turn-in time. With eight (count ’em E-I-G-H-T!) pork butts on the fire to accommodate our People’s Choice efforts, we were using up the majority of our available real estate. There was a little wheeling and dealing across the smokers to accommodate other meats at different times, but no major hurdles.
It is with great pride and happiness that we report the rib hurdle has been cleared. With some tinkering on process, we got ourselves a 3rd place call!!! And right after that, another 3rd place call for pork!!! It was good weekend for us and piggy products, no doubt about it. Our chicken did not do so good . . . and we have our theories about that. We’re still cooking the same chicken that got us top 10 calls, but table selection can be brutal (we have the numbers to support that position). Brisket got 12th, and we finished 6th overall. That’s our second top ten finish in a row, and a great way to begin winding down the season.
As you’ve noticed, we attract rain. Tear down of the site was absolutely punishing, and could not have been accomplished without the help of Casey and the rest of the Smokin’ at the Track team. We had a quick refresher of drink at the Hog It Up Hotel, and then hit the road. But not without taking the Tundra, strapped with a UHaul, around the track. It was comical when Leigh Anne passed me on the inside with a Prius on turn three. A good time witnessed by no one. Sometimes those are the best.
We want to give much love to our friends at Hog-It-Up BBQ, Southern Maryland Smokers (watch the video of Mike Palmer testing the track on our Facebook page), JD’s Smokin Misfits, Mr. Pappalardo of Grand Slam BBQ, the fine people at Late Empire BBQ, and new friends at Pop Pop’s Chicken and Pig for an awesome weekend. Congrats to to Kit @ Deguello on their GC. And again, a huge thanks to Drew and Arielle for helping out this weekend.
Recovery Fest 2013: “We brought the Backwoods!”
Richmond’s McShin Foundation employs Peer to Peer Recovery Services — meaning thatrecovering addicts and alcoholics mentor, educate, and spread the message of recovery to individuals new in sobriety. One of their approaches to show the newly sober that fun can be had without substances — teaching the ins and outs of competition barbecue! For nine years, they have held an annual Recovery Fest, and the past four years have featured a KCBS-sanctioned BBQ Competition. They also have a pretty killer squad — the McShin Alumni BBQ Team.
We arrived in Richmond on Friday morning to find that our cooksite had already been picked by our buddy Dave from Pavone Brothers. There’s nothing quite like seeing “Old Virginia Smoke” in neon orange Krylon paint sprayed on a church lawn! Set up was pretty quick, which gave us a little extra time to get to know the newest team member — a Backwards Party Smoker. While we’d given her some test fires, this was going to be her first competition. Also, after a fairly divisive series of team votes, we christened her “Mountain Mama II.” Leigh Anne Terry, the self-proclaimed “Angriest Woman in BBQ,” also broke her in by baking some chicken flatbread pizzas and some good ol’ West Virginia pepperoni rolls!
Temperatures dipped down into the fifties on Friday night / Saturday morning, so we bundled up and kept close to the cookers for warmth. With MMII providing some extra real estate, we filled up all three cookers to the max to give us as much meaty opportunity as possible. Box Babe Kim Darnell made like Shamu on Saturday morning, as the injector was giving us some problems and splashing anyone in a 15-foot radius.
Blue Ridge BBQ Festival Wrap-Up
The team from Old Virginia Smoke wrapped up another competition this weekend in Harrisonburg, VA at the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival. Started out on Friday with a rainy drive down I-81, which by now is getting to be strangely familiar. We decided to stop about 30 minutes away at Sheetz to get gas and eat, as the weather was telling us that we may not get a chance to eat later.
Boy, were we right.
We got to the fairgrounds and picked our site, right next to our friends from Pepper Monkey. Leigh Anne and I got the cooksite all set up and started to contemplate some lunch. And then the heavens opened up. For a good 45 minutes. We were soaked, and all of our gear was soaked. Thank god for the UHaul again, as the charcoal and wood were fine. But, well, look…
And then this was the cooksite…
So that was fun. After much debate about moving, (which consisted of Leigh Anne wanting to move and me arguing against it. She turned out being way way right.)
So…we moved to the site next door. And we needed MUCH help…so an added thank you to Erin and Joel from Pepper Monkey and Tracy from 3 Eyz for helping us move our monster tent. Only took us a bit of time, so no big deal.
We had a really great cook, in our humble opinion, but really got hammered by some inconsistent judging. Again, its all about table roulette. If you hit table 5, then you had a chance. We didnt hit it. But we still got our first Brisket walk. Now there’s a cow in the house…
Big congrats to Hollywood and Swine for the GC and DC Firefighters for their RGC.
And thank you to DC Firefighters, Black Cat BBQ, 3 Eyz BBQ, Heavenly Hogs, Deguello and especially for neighbors Pepper Monkey for a very fun weekend. Next up…Richmond.
COFAQUE 2013 a HUGE Good Time
The (cough) in COF-A-Que stands for “Circle of Friends.” That’s as good an indicator of the kind of people who cook this competition as anything. It’s all about having one damn fine time. This is the 14th year for this private competition / charity fundraiser put on by the good folks at Hands On Events, Inc. Proceeds from COF-A-Que benefit Hungry for Music, a non-profit dedicated to providing the gift of music to underserved children with a hunger to play. The event has grown largely by word-of-mouth here in the Northern Virginia area. And grown it has . . .
COF-A-Que is also a bit of a homecoming for Pitmaster Lukie D, as his former team, Smoke Dreams, is a longstanding supporter and participant.
However, this is not a KCBS sanctioned event. In fact, it might be fair to say that most teams at COF-A-Que feel that KCBS competitions offer too many rules, restrictions, and caveats. As such, COF-A-Que features not only the big four meats, but judging on breakfast foods, side dishes, random meats (!), beef (not brisket), adult beverages, seafood – just to name a handful.
OVS competed in seven categories – appetizer, chicken, pork, brisket, ribs, dessert, and kid’s choice. We were so pleased to be joined by Bristow’s own Jake “The Snake”. The Snake lives right next door to the Darnells, and he slithers across the yard every time those smokers get fired. He jumped at the chance to join us for a cook and asked to make baby back ribs. After doing a taste test of different rubs and sauces with Luke and Kim, the Snake zeroed in on a killer recipe.
In addition to Snakes’ baby back ribs, we turned in our standard KCBS versions of the big four, some killer Tsunami wings (SPICY!), and chocolate-dipped pig candy that looked just like slices of scrumptious brisket, complete with the illusion of smoke rings!
At the end of the day, we pulled 3rd in pork and our man Jake the Snake walked away with 2nd place in the kid’s category (I love it when we hook ‘em young!!!). Additionally, Pitmaster Lukie won the special “Horse’s Ass” trophy from the event organizers due to his pestering e-mails. Did you know they made a trophy that features the back half of a horse on it? Me neither, but we have one.
OVS wants to send some special love to Kirk Vespestad, Tim Butka, Dwayne Allain, Michael Burton, and Eric Woodall at Smoke Dreams BBQ Team for hooking us up with some extra lettuce when ours got mysteriously left in the fridge.
Additionally, we want to send some big love to our award-winning neighbors on the campsite – Kiss of Smoke, Smokeadelic and the Que Funk Allstars, and Blondo St. BBQ – mmm, mmm, good y’all!
As always, a special nod to Brother James Walker at First Heritage Mortgage for his financial and transportation assistance.
Thank you Keith & Cara Thompson, Rick and Jake the Snake for coming out and joining us!
Turning the Tide: Que & Cruz
“You gotta come to Louisa!”
It’s what everybody told us. And so we added another competition to our inaugural competition season. But let’s be clear, it wasn’t like they had to twist our arms. We’re junkies now. Hooked hard and looking for any chance to squeeze in another competition.
Que & Cruz is held on the Small Country Campgrounds in Louisa, VA. For you trivia buffs, it’s approximately 20 minutes driving to the nearest gas station. How do we know this? Well, let’s just say that we’re glad we didn’t have to be towed there. The campgrounds were filled with folks enjoying their summer vacation, but special sections were cordoned off for the competitors, their cooksites, a bandstand, and vendors.
After getting the cooksite set-up, we spent Thursday evening hanging with our friends with big motorhomes up on “Millionaire’s Row.” Thank you to JD’s Smokin Misfits, Pepper Monkey BBQ, Hog It Up BBQ, and Southern Maryland Smokers for an enjoyable (if blisteringly sweltering) evening of good food and great company. Lukie D and LAT got out the guitars and played for folks until well into the wee hours. Here at OVS, we’re happy to sing for our suppers!
After meat inspection and prep work on Friday, we launched ourselves into the dessert and Anything Butt competitions. There was pie crust dough to be made and baking on the Smokey Mountain Weber to be done. The end product were two scrumptious pear pies, an old Darnell family secret recipe culled from a Morgantown area coal miner’s employee newsletter from the 1950s (have brother Lukie tell you the story). Meanwhile, Ms. Kim also resurrected a piece of her childhood by cooking up a big ol’ pot of California baked beans, a recipe her family created after moving to California. They don’t stock cans of Grandma Brown’s Home Baked Beans on the West Coast. In order to retain that aspect of their upstate New York upbringing, they had to create their version.
We presented both items and shared the recipe stories with the judges before retiring to a long night of box making. Thank you to our cooksite neighbors 3-Eyz BBQ for sharing some awesome huli-huli style chicken for supper on Friday night.
It was a tough Saturday. It was easily the hottest day we’ve cooked to date in this ur inaugural competition season. We each sweated through several t-shirts on Saturday, fighting rising temperatures and intense humidity. Still, we had meat that both looked and tasted mighty fine throughout the day. Thankfully, our cooksite location was a brief 30 second walk to the judge’s tent. This was a spread-out competition, and there were some folks who were likely hoofing 4 and 5 minutes to turn their food in.
In a shocking development, the awards ceremony started late. After our goose-egg performance at Winchester, we were struggling with a variety of mixed emotions waiting for the man to step up to the microphone. Maybe we have unrealistic expectations about our performance. After all, we once heard Tuffy Stone congratulate a winner by saying, “Way to go! It took me four years of competing before I heard my name called.” That made us really think. Do we have the patience for this? Are our recipes that far off-course? What do we need to change? Is this really worth the effort? These are heavy thoughts to ponder.
They all went away when we heard “fourth place chicken – OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE.”
There were tears. There were cheers. There was jumping up and down. There were high-fives up from folks as we walked up to the stage and back. “This is their first call EVER!” said the man with the microphone, and the crowd roared in approval at our unabashed glee. Validation. It’s such a comfort. The weariness drains from your body. The doubts fade. It was hands down the most awesome moment of the summer, and something we would all remember with reverence. We took turns passing around the trophy, hugging each other, and slapping each other on the back.
Then they said, “ninth place brisket – OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE,” and we pretty much collectively shit our pants.
To get a brisket call in our first year of competition is such an amazing blessing/motivator/acknowledgement. Especially since we’ve been fighting with this tough ol’ cut of beef for several competitions. We’ve been tinkering – subtracting this, adding that, sacrificing the occasional chicken in tribute to the BBQ gods. And then to hear our names – such sweet joy.
We were at a BBQ competition, so of course it had to storm. The awards ceremony got cut short, and we fled to our cooksite for shelter and to do happy dances. The final tally – 4th in chicken, 9th in brisket, and 11th in pork. Our ribs . . . well, our ribs remain a problem. We ranked 14th out of 45 teams, and there was some stiff competition on that field.
The doubts are gone. The fervor has been stoked to new levels. It’s amazing what a little hardware can do for the ol’ self-esteem.
Next step – COF-A Que!
BBQ Jamboree Wrap
What a great event! The facility at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair was fantastic. Nice and flat…great times.
We got there on Thursday and got all set up. In about an hour and a half. That’s lightning! We got everything set up, started up on some beers and were about to call it a night when we gott approached by Mike (im terrible with names) of Southern Maryland Smokers. The following happened…
Mike: I saw guitars down here. Where are they?
Lucas: We put them away. Probably done for the night.
Mike: Nope. Get those guitars out, grab some beers and come down here and play guitar for some of the best teams in BBQ
So, we did.
A little impromptu concert for some of the best BBQ teams on the east coast by Sweet Tea Blues! It was pretty awesome…lots of good conversation…some good guitar playing, mostly by Leigh Anne, who ripped out a Charlie Daniels song from memory…(In my defense, i haven’t touched a guitar in a while in getting ready for BBQ) Got to hang out with the good people from Hog-IT-Up BBQ, Dizzy Pig, CHIX, SWINE and BOVINE, JD’s Smokin’ Misfits, Southern Maryland Smoker, Serial Griller, Deguello BBQ, and I’m sure others that we are missing. Lots of new friends!
And lots and lots of moonshine.
Friday morning was a bit of a blur…the lawn mower was blowing grass into my face through the tent at around 8 a.m. The girls showed up, and we started getting to work on our boxes and meat prep. We were constantly entertained by our man Smooth next door. Constant entertainment.
Girls getting at it.
The girls left around 9 p.m. I hung out with Smooth and JJ for a bit before deciding to try and get some shut eye. So I hit the tent around 10:30.
Next thing I know, Smooth is kicking me through the tent….”Lukie…shit’s about to get real out here!”
I pop up, get out, and start getting everything ready for a thunderstorm. It was crazy for a few minutes, but everything held up pretty well. So…back to bullshittin with Smooth and such. At 12, I decide to try again to get some sleep. Zip up the tent. Then WHOOSH. Another rain storm. Get back up…back out. Smooth grabs me by the shirt and says, “Listen mf’er…you aint going back in that tent. Every time you do it rains!”
So…up all night with Smooth. I do not know where he gets his energy from.
The Smootherine
I take care of everything cooking wise. The girls show up, I go grab a shower…and then we get after it.
In terms of the cook, everything pretty much went as expected. We learned a ton and will be even more on top of our game next time. But, one thing to note….Kim and Leigh Anne worked their butts off, and they are precise. I wouldnt trade them for anything.
For our first comp, we did pretty good. 12 in chicken, 24 in ribs, 35 in pork and 34 in Brisket. Definitely ok, but definitely room for improvement.
Best Team in BBQ
It was a great event and we met some great people. Cant wait to do it again!
Dreams, coming true
Well well. Thank you for stopping by and checking out a dream of mine that has come to reality.
The truth is that I wanted a barbecue team before I even knew. I started cooking Que around 7-8 years ago. Rub some meat. Plug the smoker in. Wait 9 hours. Consume. And that was working great. But there was always something more. Something new to try.
One day my wife came home from her job saying that she had a coworker who’s husband had a competitive BBQ team, and that they were looking for someone. I jumped at the chance. I arranged to have lunch with Kirk and started reading everything that I could about competitive BBQ and how it works.
There was a large problem. I had never cooked on charcoal before.
And I mean never. We grew up with gas grills. I was on my second electric smoker. Sure, people had criticized. But I was making good meat. I didn’t see the need for the mess.
I figured I had to tell Kirk about this during our meeting and I wanted to demonstrate my commitment to doing it. So on the day of our meeting, I purchased and picked up my Weber Smokey Mountain on my way. We talked, and I explained how I had never cooked with charcoal, but told him I was committed to doing so. Then I showed him what I had bought.
What happened then was a complete love affair with charcoal.
(Sidenote – I have not become a BBQ snob. Cook it however you want. Electric…gas…wood…charcoal…pellet. As long as it is outside and flavors the meat…yum. I am, however, a liquid smoke snob.)
At Kirk’s, Eric’s, Michael’s and Dwayne’s sides, I cooked for two years. Learning the ins and outs of competitive barbecue. Yet the feeling kept growing that I wanted to do it myself. Which leads us to this winter…
During a day of band practice with Leigh Anne, we were shooting the stuff about BBQ and things, and both Leigh Anne and Kim said, “You really ought to start your own team. See how good you are…”
So I thought about it for a month and decided, why the hell not. Then the wife gave me some resources to begin the journey, and here we are. 2.5 months away from our first competition.
It wouldn’t be possible without the support of my family and friends, particularly James, Leigh Anne, my brother MJD for creating this fabulous site, and of course the biggest teammate and cheerleader, my wife Kim. Barbecue has already brought us closer together.
Which is what barbecue is all about.