Almost Heaven…
Last week was the Almost Heaven BBQ Bash in Buckhannon, WV. The crew had been looking forward to this event for a long time. An auto to the jack. An event back in Luke and Leigh Anne’s home state. And an opportunity to cook for a bunch of family and friends that otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to see us.
After a great night in Morgantown, we headed to Buckhannon on Friday and got set up pretty quick. We got to reunite with a lot of our BBQ friends, and made a few new ones as well. We had a nice group dinner at the Mexican restaurant before it was time to get to gettin’.
However, the theme would quickly become rain. It rained and stormed off and on for most of the weekend.
We had the pleasure of cooking next to our buddy Tom Bera and Philly Blind Big. A fabulous time was had trading song lyrics and movie quotes all day.
We had a really good cook, but didn’t have long to relax. We had visitors from all sides….a lot of Luke’s family and well, as Leigh Anne put it, “everyone that would come to my (Leigh Anne’s) funeral.” There was barely a stitch of meat left.
That was coupled with the anticipation of a very powerful thunderstorm coming through. A big thanks to the Aporkalypse fellas for helping us tear down our site. We quickly stashed everything into the trailer, including mom, and then waited it out. Awards would be in the Moose Lodge.
We had another really good cook. 2nd place ribs, 7th place pork and 8th place brisket in a really hard field. Big congrats to 3 Eyz BBQ on their GC and Checkered Pig for their RGC. And a huge shout out to Mark Gibbs with Checkered Flag 500 on his 180 brisket.
Enough words cannot be said about the Almost Heaven BBQ Bash crew. They were on the spot for all of our needs. What a great first year comp. We look forward to going back next year and giving it another spin.
Next week it’s on to DC for the Safeway BBQ Battle! We hope to see you there!
#feetorinches
Back to one of our favorite competitions ever, the Beltway BBQ Showdown in Ft. Washington, MD. Its one of our favorites in that it was the first competition that we judged, and the first competition where we won GC.
Luke would get there on Thursday to get set up that night, as he and Kim would have to work on Thursday. Halfway through setting up the pop up/first beer, Luke was notified by Kim that he left all of his clothes at home. Setup would be cut short.
Luke would get in the truck and head to Walmart for all the clothing and sundry needs. However, he wouldnt think to check the back gate of the truck. Somewhere between the campground and the Walmart is a propane tank, mostly full. Good stuff.
Leigh Anne would head out frist thing on Friday, and complete set up. Luke would roll in around 2 and start meat prep, and Kim would bring in the rear.
There is a lot more to this story…but I forgot about this post. I found a half completed draft. So let’s just put some musings here. Jonathan does a great job. Also, Jonathan will do some terrible things for you for a modest fee. Ok, I made that part up. He is the man. The contest is awesome. But I put up a picture of the girls, because without them, this wouldn’t happen. I give them a lot of shit and stuff…and they call me on it. But they are the the machine that makes us tick. I love them both more than I can ever type here. I wouldn’t wanna do BBQ without them.
We had a good cook. It was hotter than hades that day, and all of our friends got calls , which was pretty sweet. We finished up third overall, just a skosh out of RGC land. Huge ups to Pork Barrell BBQ on GC and Aporkalypse Now on RGC.
There are two sides to Annapolis…
OVS at The American Royal
The American Royal. The World Series of BBQ. Kansas City, Missouri.
Old Virginia Smoke went there in our second year. How awesome.
By qualification from our win in Fort Washington, MD, we got to drive halfway across the country to compete with the world’s best BBQ teams in the American Royal Invitational and the American Royal Open.
It was quite the undertaking, to say the least. Lucas and his friend Keith set out on Friday night the week before for sort of a “boys” trip across America. We stopped in Big 12 country to see family and friends in Morgantown, WV. We then put in a full day down I-70 and ended up in SEC Country in Columbia, Missouri. (See…that doesn’t make much sense…)
Hit KC on Sunday and enjoyed watching football and trying out some bars in the area. On Monday, we were fortunate enough to have great seats at Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs thumping of the Patriots. A few days of work, and every food recommendation from Diva Q…and it was time to get down to business.
There are two sides to the parking lot at the American Royal. Lot A, and Lot B. We were on what’s known as “The Dark Side.” This area is populated by corporate parties, keggers, ice luges and generally tomfoolery. And OVS was right in the middle of it.
We were pretty sheltered from the madness, and spent a lot of time with the other invitational teams over on the other side. A fabulous steak dinner on Thursday night from our friends at Redneck Scientific (that was a perfect 180 steak, Sean) followed up by some guitar and guitjo playing from Luke, Leigh Anne and Sean resulted in one of the best Thursdays we have ever had at a BBQ competition.
Friday was game time. Neil Pappalardo, who came all the way to KC to help us out, landed around 10. We got the perimeter set up, purchased some firewood for the WSM fire pit, and prepped everything. Beautiful fireworks and thumpin bass set the tone for the evening. At about 3 a.m., all finally went quiet on the Western front.
We had a really good cook. Of course there were 10 things that I wish I had done different, but still…thought it went really well. Got everything turned in on time, and then sat down for some delicious beer with Jay Reeder at 420 Q, and the good folks at Aporkalypse Now. The girls and Neil got all of the sides and the dessert put together and turned in. All was over but the cryin’, part 1.
The awards were like nothing we had ever been to. Everyone in the BBQ universe was there. We had arranged to watch awards with our good friends from back east, Rock and Dreama from Rock’s Money Pit.
Awards came and went, and MABA rose up STRONG. (Again, I apologize if I miss anyone. It isn’t intentional.)
Big congrats to Tommy with Checkered Pig for 13th chicken, to Superman Jerry for 10th place Ribs, to our friends Mike and Barb with Chix, Swine and Bovine for 4th Ribs and 6th place pork, Beerbeque for 4th place pork. A special shout to Rock’s Money Pit, with a PERFECT PERFECT 180 (all 9’s) in brisket!
A very huge congrats to Chix, Swine and Bovine for a 10th overall finish. And a tremendous congratulations to our friend Bill Gillespie and his team Smokin Hoggz BBQ for their GC in the Invitational. We met Bill earlier in the year when we ventured up to Rochester, NY. It was such fantastic spectacle to see a friend win.
OVS finished highest in ribs with a 28th place finish, and a 69th place finish in brisket. I won’t lie. Despite knowing that the odds were low against such stiff competition, I still thought we’d get a call. Definitely thought the brisket was good enough. Got a nice little pep talk from Superman and, after another fantastic meal prepared by Roxanne with Redneck Scientific, we went back to the trailer and got after it.
A lot of time was spent thinking about the previous day’s cook. We talked about some little tweaks that we could make. We were being challenged. We had never cooked a back to back competition before. Everyone was beat. But we had to press on.
Much quieter the second night on the dark side. More fireworks, and another Royals victory. And another very solid cook. We did it, and that was a sense of accomplishment on its own. We went to the Open awards with our heads held high, ready to root for our friends. As customary, we went to the other side of the arena, which we do for every awards presentation that we’ve been to twice. And then, all of a sudden, we’re sitting next to Tuffy Stone, Jamie Geer, and Rod Gray. No big deal!
Another fantastic finish for MABA teams. Mike and Barb followed up their 10th place in the Invitational with a 10th place in the Open. That’s a tremendous accomplishment. And a huge congrats to Tuffy Stone from Cool Smoke on their GC. That gives them the Royal Invitational last year, the Jack, and this year’s Open. That’s unprecedented.
And lo and behold, Old Virginia Smoke got called up for 2nd place beans! We heard our name there. We got the boots dirty. And that alone was worth the trip.
We followed up the awards with going to the final recommendation from DivaQ, Stroud’s fried chicken. I cannot wait to go back to Kansas City, just to have that.
There are too many people to thank really. Thank you to my family and friends. Thank you to our Kickstarter supporters who helped us with the trailer. Thank you to Neil Pappalardo for coming out and helping. Thank you to Chix Swine and Bovine, Blue Bloods, Checkered Pig for the hospitality. Thanks to Rob at Q39 for the ride home. Thanks to Redneck Scientific for making us a part of their family for a few days. We hope to return the favor soon. Thank you to the people who called with encouragement. Thank you to DivaQ for the recommendations for food, and for the encouragement as well.
Thank you to our sponsors, first and foremost, Dizzy Pig and Chris Cappell. None of this would be possible without you guys. Thank you so much to BBQ Guru and Hav’n a BBQ for all of your support. And thank you to the Wine’ing Butcher for some great meat products.
But most of all, thank you to my best friend Leigh Anne, and my wife Kim. They are the rocks. They are the reason that we’re successful. And I couldn’t do it without them.
#pinkystrong — Sam’s Club Local Laurel, MD: August 22-23, 2014
The New Virginia Creeper, the name of our trailer, occasionally demands a sacrifice. On Friday morning, Pitmaster Luke raked his pinky finger across the edge of the diamond plate on her nose, shedding blood and meeting said demands. It was an interesting start to the weekend.
With one digit wrapped in gauze, Luke got the gear to the Sam’s Club parking lot in Laurel at 10 a.m. that morning, with Leigh Anne right on his tail. After getting the trailer parked next to our friends at Hog-It-Up BBQ, Luke departed to the nearest urgent care facility while Leigh Anne put the trailer together. The mighty pitmaster returned with Burger King for lunch, 4 stitches in his pinky, and a tetanus shot to find the facility put together. With Kim joining in on Friday evening, the team hosted an impromptu potluck supper. Our friends from Hog-It-Up, Pepper Monkey, Redneck Scientific, Brown Liquor and RESQ brought over some amazing food and great company. After a quick cat-nap, it was time to light the fires and get the smoke a-rolling.
The weather report called for a 50% chance of rain on both Friday and Saturday. Somehow, we made it through the night without a drop. It was actually a beautiful night, although no one took Leigh Anne up on her offer to play some produce department floor hockey at 4 a.m. at the local 24-hour Wal-Mart.
By mid-morning, everyone’s luck ran out. What started as a light drizzle would alternate with solid showers. We carried our turn-in boxes under a giant umbrella. Once brisket was turned in, everyone commenced to breaking down as quickly as possible, despite the downpour. We were told awards would start promptly at 3 p.m., and that’s exactly what happened. We tried to find some dry clothes as we gathered to hear the results.
Our new chicken process seems to be headed in the right direction, yielding a 12th place finish. No one seemed to like our ribs or pork, which is surprising. We swing back and forth on the pig products, despite not varying our process. We just don’t understand. Thankfully, we were able to produce an amazing brisket, which yielded us our call for the day and hey – 1st place ain’t nothing to sneeze at it. With a finish of 9th overall, we did not advance to the Sam’s Club Regional in Richmond next weekend. However, much love our mates at Redneck Scientific, Brown Liquor, and Checkered Flag 500 — we’ll be rooting for all of you next weekend. It was great to cook next to our old friends at Hog-It-Up and nice to make new friends at Big Block BBQ (also congrats on advancing). Way to go Pork Barrel for the GC and Sauce This for the RGC.
As always, we sincerely appreciate the support we get from Dizzy Pig, BBQ Guru, Bob’s Have’na BBQ Sauce, Hunts Point Meat and our Kickstarter friends. Thank you for everything that you do!
We’ll see you in a few weeks down the road in Richmond for Recovery Fest. Everyone have a great Labor Day weekend!!!!
Awkward Milestones: Smoke on the Mountain (Galax, VA – July 18-19, 2014)
In Galax, Virginia, the big trophies are musical instruments. They give out customized guitars, mandolins, and fiddles. The awards table was making a couple of pickers like Luke and Leigh Anne drool. Smoke on the Mountain has been holding their competition in the Virginia highlands for 10 years. For the first eight of those years, it was a Memphis BBQ Network event. Last year, they made it a dual-sanctioned event by adding a KCBS competition.
That Memphis BBQ Network thingie . . . that’s a whole other kettle of fish. Competitors not only create blind boxes for judges for pork shoulder, pork ribs, and whole hog, but there are multiple on-site judging sessions as well. For each meat a team turns in, they get three on-site judging visits. Teams have to discuss their cooking process, show off their cooking equipment, and serve the judges. It is a full-fledged pro-duck-shun!!! When you add that in to the standard KCBS competition cook, things get a little wonky. For example, KCBS chicken turn-in was scheduled for 9:25. Brisket wasn’t due until 2:25 p.m.. Cook schedules had to be adjusted, and heaven help those teams who took the bull by the horns and competed in Memphis and KCBS!
Luke and Kim rolled into Galax late on Thursday evening, parking the Old Virginia Creeper next to fellow Dizzy Pig team (and Memphis competitor) Serial Grillers (“Wanted in every state!”). After getting the trailer situated, they turned in for an early evening. Leigh Anne showed up on Friday afternoon, and everyone dug in for meat prep and general set-up. After a deep-fried dinner from the event food court (fried gator, fried frogs legs, fried green tomatoes, and fried pickles), we started the fires and got ready.
At multiple times over the weekend, the team had to check their calendars. After all, cooking in July usually means copious consumption of Gatorade to combat dehydration under an unrelenting sun and downright hostile humidity. Instead, there were sweatshirts, long-pants, and arguments over who got to use the Snuggie as the mercury struggled to stay above 65 degrees. And of course, since we were cooking, there was rain — an inconsistent dripping with occasional sightings of a distant sun.
The cook itself felt great! The extra time between turn-ins started off feeling like a luxury, but it made for a damn long day. Our clean-up and tear down process got boiled down to a science. The Creeper was all packed up and ready to roll in just over an hour after brisket turn-in — that’s a world record, dear readers!!! The team retired to the local Hampton Inn to shower and prepare for awards at 7 p.m.
After listening to two local high school boys flail out a version of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” on the respective grand champion awards (banjo for MBN and guitar for KCBS), it was time to get down to business. KCBS awards were first, and we were proud to get three calls — 8th in ribs, 7th in pork, and 3rd in brisket. However, the score sheet showed Old Virginia Smoke its very first DAL (Dead Ass Last) — 30th place in chicken.
It happens. It hurt like hell, but it happens to all of us. Over Mason jars of ‘shine and bottles of cold beer, our friends and fellow competitors have told us war stories about that dreaded ranking. Sometimes it’s how the numbers just add up . . . especially when the numbers are small. We took some risks with our chicken here, and there are no regrets — only opportunities and lessons learned. Moving on . . .
Dave, David, and Richard over at Serial Grillers were amazing neighbors. We hope to find another dual event so we can all hang out again. Much love to the other folks in our little corner of the Virginia mountains — Grillin’Thyme, Cammo’s BBQ, and Contagious Q. Congrats to our ol’ buddy Rock at Rock’s Money Pit on the RGC and Boar’s Night Out on the GC. Victory Lane BBQ — you’re welcome for the butter that you used to beat us in brisket. In hindsight, we should have let you pay us for it. To our new buddy Phil, thanks for all the help cleaning up on Saturday; drive safe back to Cajun country. As always, thank you to Dizzy Pig, BBQ Guru, and our Kickstarter supporters for their continued sponsorship.
As a final note, if you can ever attend a competition where those boys from The Shed BBQ present whole hog, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It is . . . we don’t have the words. Running pig. Pink pinstripe suits. Cooking in a woody wagon. Just . . . holy smokes.
Next — the Southern Maryland Brew & BBQ Music Festival in Leonardtown, MD on August 1-2, 2014.
393: Beltway BBQ Showdown in Fort Washington, MD
No sense in burying the lede — Old Virginia Smoke won its first Grand Championship on a beautiful June Saturday in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
The Beltway BBQ Showdown was held at the Tucker Road Athletic Complex in Fort Washington, MD. Organizer Jonathan Jones created such a team-friendly atmosphere. While folks like us were firing the smokers and getting ready for the competition, members of the public enjoyed live entertainment, a classic car show, and lots of good food and games. Mother Nature blessed all of us with a beautiful hot June day, although it got downright nippy ’bout 4 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Old Virginia Smoke set up camp in the back corner of BBQ Row, between friends Pig Pickers and Jersey Joe’s. We worked Friday to get some new organizing equipment into our trailer (efficiency is sexy). We noshed on burgers and mango salsa. The vibe was relaxed.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say that this was a seamless cook. We got off to a later start than we had planned. We had a Backwoods Gator that took off like a rocket and stayed hotter than necessary for far too long. It also wouldn’t be accurate to say that this was a difficult cook. For example, it was not pouring down buckets of rain. There were no fire drills — literal or metaphorical. For us, it was a typical cook — hitting on all cylinders most of the time and clearing the occasional unexpected hurdle every now and again.
However, it felt . . . different. It felt like we were zeroed in.
Awards were a blast. We got to see all our friends get a shout out, and then we got one with 2nd Place Ribs. After a minor trophy mix-up and switcheroo, we got to hear our names twice more — 8th Place in Pork and 8th Place in Brisket. We got three calls and a walk. We were pretty dang satisfied. It was closing in on Miller Time — especially since Mike Palmer at Southern Maryland Smokers won the MABA Craft Beer Pork Challenge and he was parked sooooooooooo close to us.
Math is a funny thing. Three calls is a great event, but a lot of folks were getting three and four calls. A lot of folks were solid candidates to fight for the top spots. It all boiled down to scoring numbers. Then Jonathan said that Old Virginia Smoke was the Grand Champion, and nobody was thinking about math . . . or scores . . .or cook times . . . or anything. It was time for tears and hugs and kisses and photos and hot damn!
Three hundred and ninety-three (393) days ago, Old Virginia Smoke entered its first KCBS competition — the 2013 BBQ Jamboree in Fredericksburg, VA. Just over a year later, and we have won our first ever Grand Championship.
We could not have done this without the love and support of our friends and family. We would like to give a special shout-out to our sponsors Dizzy Pig and BBQ Guru. To our Kickstarter friends — you have made such a difference in our lives. Thank you Michelle DeBrosse for visiting and helping out with clean up; your presence and your prophetic Facebook posting about “game-changing BBQ” means that you need to be at all of our events now! Thank you all so very much.
Our BBQ Family continues to grow. We love you JD’s Smoking Misfits, Southern Maryland Smokers, Pavone Brothers, 3 Eyz, 420 Q, DeGuello, Aporkaplypse Now, Pig Pickers, Jersey Joes, and Life is Good But BBQ is Better. To our new friend Diva Q — we’ll see you out there on the highways and byways if we’re not too busy chair-dancing!
It’s a whole new world. This ride keeps getting better and better. We’ll see ya at the Peak City Pig Fest in Apex, NC, in a few weeks.
Head NORTH, OVS!
Back when we were in the throes of planning for this season, we kept looking at Memorial Day weekend and saying how much we wished there was a competition that weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Might as well, right?
Kim found the Roc City Rib Fest in her hometown of Rochester, NY. 7 HOURS. We decided to keep an eye on it.
Then, we went to the MABA meeting and one of the entries that they raffled off was for that event! I couldn’t find the guy that won it, so I emailed the head of MABA and Pitmaster for Aporkalypse Now. He told me who won it, and then quickly told me that he had bought it. So we knew we would have one friend there.
We sent in our entry form and started planning. Leigh Anne couldn’t go, but we figured it would be fun for just Kim and I to give it a shot. Kim’s mom drove up from WV, we packed up and hit the road.
In typical OVS fashion, we had perfect weather until we hit New York. Buckets of rain. We get to the Genessee Valley Park and get in line. Apparently the park is a mud hole. After an hour we get near the front of the line, where we first meet our new awesome organizer, J. He tells me that the county inspector is going to look at my truck and trailer and make a determination as to whether I get thumbs up or thumbs down to go on the grass.
Me: what does thumbs down mean?
J: means you have to park in this gravel lot.
Me: then thumbs down me right now! Can I pay for thumbs down?
We get to second in line…J looks at me…I point towards a swath of nice gravel, coincidentally right across from Aporkalypse….
J starts walking over….
“Make it happen.”
Now, I’m not exactly skilled at this trailer business yet…but I slammed that thing into its spot, dropped the gate…unhooked and then left for dinner.
We got back around 8:30 and sent Kim to her Aunt’s to sleep. I started setting up…and then wandered over to the Buckner Brothers party.
Whoa. These guys can get after it.
I held my own, eventually made it back, and went night night time.
Kim got there early, and wasn’t pleased. Nothing had been done!
A quick set up…then time for ribs for the Roc City Rib Cook Off. They came out great…and we finished a surprising 12 out of 120.
Yet not the highlight of the day. Spending time with Kim’s Aunt Debbie, Uncle Mike, Bean and Pam was a ton of fun! And to put the cherry on top…as I returned from turn in, one of my best friends Danks and his wife Abby jumped out of the trailer! It’s always better when friends and family are there.
Kim and I ham-n-egged it through the night. Had to get some gas at 5 am for the generator (thank you Uncle Dave) which caused a small quarrel, but was very necessary due to the impending 2 hour power outage….
Then we cooked. We stayed focused and finished 5th overall, with a 4th in chicken and ribs. A great time!
Big thanks to Mike, Hilary and Don of Aporkalypse Now, the people of Roc City, and all our new friends up north. We will see you next year!
What We Did On Our Winter Vacation
It was an assignment that everyone got upon returning to school in the fall. We carefully wrote down descriptions of summer softball leagues and family vacations. It seemed like there was someone in the class who always did something ridiculous and amazing like hiking the Amazon or meeting Mr. T at the local ice-cream shoppe.
But competition barbecue is mostly a summer-into-fall endeavor here in the mid-Atlantic area. Our last endeavor on the circuit was way back in October. Things slow down as the weather gets colder. It’s now spring, and summer is almost within reach. This weekend, Old Virginia Smoke hits the road for our first KCBS competition for 2014. We thought it made sense to share with you how we spent our off-season.
We practiced. The best way to prevent the rust from accumulating is to keep moving, so Old Virginia Smoke held mini-competition cooks from November through May. In April, we even hosted six KCBS judges to help us get a preview on our 2014 approach.
We expanded. In late 2013-2014, Old Virginia Smoke successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign in to help our organizational growth. We invited folks from across the nation to join OVS, and we were blessed by an incredible outpouring of support. We simply do not have enough words to show our appreciation. This has allowed us to add some amazing new tools . . .
We traveled. In one long, hilarious weekend, Old Virginia Smoke tore up and down Interstate 95 to pick up our newest addition . . . our cook trailer!!! Named after the Old Crow Medicine Show song about a fabled train, the “New Virginia Creeper” will be our home away from home this season. “Chug along, chug along!”
We celebrated. The Mid Atlantic BBQ Association named us the 2013 Rookie of the Year, and that is an honor for which we are truly thankful.
Now, we cannot wait until tonight. We are headed to Fredericksburg for the BBQ Jamboree to begin our sophomore competition season. We have plans to be bigger and bolder than ever!!!
See you ‘round the cooksite. It’s time to get the smoke a-rolling.
Luke, Kim, and Leigh Anne
Old Virginia Smoke
Humbled
Just to give you a frame of reference for my team’s addiction to BBQ, I’m writing this for the blog as I ride the early train to make an early morning delivery of pulled pork and ribs. It doesn’t ever stop! As you may know, we started a Kickstarter campaign on Monday to help us get started with our competition season and catering venture in 2014. The response so far has been amazing, and we are extremely humbled so far by the participation of our friends and acquaintances.
Only five days in, and we’re almost a fifth of the way towards our goal. People have called and told me how proud they are of me for starting on this journey. Friends are spreading the word out to their networks and people and getting them involved in Old Virginia Smoke. Our supporters are spread from coast to coast. It is amazing to have people like that in your life.
We enjoy cooking great food for great people, and enjoy the great people that we’ve met over the past year. I find that I’m happiest at 4 a.m. on a Saturday morning with 100 lbs of pork butts on the grill ready for attention.
We are planning some exciting things for Old Virginia Smoke in 2014. We’ve already got part of our new logo, with more work being done in the meantime. Stay tuned! Working with some great people on some great projects. The best is yet to come!
So thank you for reading this. Thank you for being a fan of Old Virginia Smoke. Help us get started by visiting our kickstarter page!