“What the wha. . . ?” Recovery Fest, Richmond VA: September 5-6, 2014

We love the folks at the McShin Foundation!!! They have such a wonderful approach to the treatment of addiction — “smoke meat not drugs.” How can you argue with that? As such, we were pleased to return to the mean streets of Richmond for their annual Recovery Fest and BBQ competition.

Pitmaster Luke D rolled into town and did a solo site-up and prep session. After that, it was time to sit down and visit with our friends at JD’s Smokin Misfits, Grand Slam, Pavone Brothers, Rock’s Money Pit, and Fred Vegas. Luke and Grand Slam pitmaster Neil Pappalardo had just wrapped up dinner when Kim and Leigh Anne showed up after work and struggles with traffic. Despite the turning of the calendar pages into September, it still felt like the dog days of summer. We had all the h-words — hot, hazy, and humid.

We were pleased to be joined by our good friend Nate Duke and his fiance Brittani Robinson for this cook. Nate has been up and down the BBQ circuit this summer, visiting festivals and learning everything he can about competition BBQ. It was great to have some extra hands and another strong back on the team. Nate was a working machine!

We were also pleased to introduce our newest team member, the flame-throwing weedburner that we use to light our trusty Backwoods smokers. Our friends in Serial Grillers turned us on to these bad boys down in Galax. After a few weeks of practice, we felt ready to put ’em in the trailer and bring ’em to the big dance. Boy howdy — lighting a firebox ain’t ever been easier!

Of course, when you hit 100% humidity at 4 a.m., sometimes a smoker reacts. So we found ourselves running a little hot through the night. Still, that probably worked out for the best because we had two monster pork butts from our newest sponsor, the Wine’ing Butcher in Ashburn, VA. These little piggies . . . okay, technically not-so-little piggies . . .came out looking and tasting amazing.

It was a weird awards ceremony. Despite our pleas and protestations, the McShin folks only read out the top fives for each category. And, for the first time in a long while, we didn’t hear our name in chicken, ribs, pork, or brisket. It was hot, uncomfortable, and disappointing sitting under that tent. We clapped for our friends and shared high-fives and hugs when they walked, but we sat there wondering just what went wrong. When they started announcing the top five competitors, imagine the surprise when “third place, Old Virginia Smoke” rang out over the loudspeakers. There was a collective “Huh?” When we finally got the score sheets, it turned out to be a three-call competition — 6th in chicken, 7th in ribs, and 9th in brisket.

So that hot afternoon in Richmond turned out to be our second best finish EVER. The world works in mysterious ways!!!!

A hearty congratulations to Rock’s Money Pit on the GC and Fred Vegas Smoker’s on the RGC.

And here’s a big chicken.

As always, we appreciate all the help we get from our sponsors — Dizzy Pig BBQ, the BBQ Guru, Bob’s Have’na BBQ Sauce,the Wine’ing Butcher, and all our Kickstarter supporters.

Up next . . .ROAD TRIP TO THE ROYAL. Your faithful barbecue team is headed to Kansas City for the American Royal World Series of BBQ. Heaven help us all!!!!

“No pants!” – MD State BBQ Bash, Bel Air, Maryland – August 8-9

“No pants!” – MD State BBQ Bash, Bel Air, Maryland – August 8-9

OVS hit the road to Bel Air for the MD State BBQ Bash. We had been to Bel Air before for the MABA awards in the spring, and had asked the question….where do they put all of the teams?

In a word….everywhere.

Luke and Kim showed up on Thursday to beat the rush of teams, and got a really cool spot next to our old friends’ Aporkalypse Now, and our new friends Rockin Robyn’s BBQ and Who Are Those Guys?…the esteemed Mr. George Hensler.

We will get to our other neighbors soon.

We had a nice dinner, watched some football with Rolph and Robyn (I use the term football loosely…it was the Ravens…and then the Chargers…)and then turned in for the night.

It was the 13th annual event at Bel Air, and from what we understand, they’ve never had weather as beautiful as it was this weekend. Slightly chilly in the morning, and then beautiful all day. We’d never cooked anything with such a crowd before. The music was cranked, and people were everywhere! All meats were prepped in time, and we were treated to a fabulous pot luck meal with Rockin Robyn’s, Aporkalypse, Pepper Monkey and the demons at Brown Liquor BBQ. LAT arrived and we were ready to go.

The cook went real smooth…no surprises. Except…as we were putting on meats around 12:30, the guy next to us decided to get his pork butts ready…in his underwear. If you look close enough, you can see him in the background of this pic. See him there…on the left…

OVS started a new breakfast regimen…yogurt and fruit first thing in the morning. Kept the energy UP!

Awards started on time…and man was it packed! Also, there was a drone above videotaping the awards. OVS brought home fifth place in ribs, a first place in brisket and 5th overall! For our brisket win…we got something that we had always been hoping for…a giant check! I dunno where we’re going to put it, but damn is it cool.

Congrats to Team Meat Coma on their GC, and to 3 Eyz on their RGC. Everyone in our little quadrant got a call. A first class competition by Craig Ward and the crew in Bel Air. We will be back next year!

Next up…our first venture into the SAMS Club tournament, with the local qualifier in Laurel, MD.

“Red Sky at Night . . :” Southern Maryland Brew & BBQ Festival in Leonardtown, MD (August 1-2, 2014)

Mike Palmer knows how to throw a motherhumping competition.

Beautiful location? Check. Ample power and water, and free ice? Check. 80’s hard rock band asking for sexual favors from the stage? Check! Professional wrestling mid-afternoon? Check! A 60-team field of heavy-hitting KCBS teams cooking their asses off? Check! A 60-team field of heavy-hitting KCBS partying their asses off well into Sunday morning’s wee hours? Check!

Luke and Kim helped out with the judging for the Friday Backyard competitions before settling down to dinner with our good friends at Grand Slam BBQ. By then, Friday evening was…in a word…moist. Demoralizingly wet. Yet, spirits were high. With awesome live music in the background, we got everything in order and did our best to light our fires.

Leigh Anne, who mans the night watch at the Black Gate (aka the OVS Porch) reported that the rain stopped around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and it held off for the most part of Saturday. Our wonderful friend Roger Fair stopped by and dropped off our new banner holder. We proudly displayed our 2013 MABA Rookie of the Year Banner in it. Speaking of our favorite regional association, OVS hosted a well-attended 10 a.m. MABA shot, and Mike Fay gave all attendees MABA-branded shot glasses.

After our Greek tragedy of a chicken score in Galax, imagine our surprise to get an 8th place call for our bird in Leonardtown! We also walked away with a 3rd place for brisket, which helped us finish 10th overall. WOOT WOOT! At this point, the insanity began. With Kix blaring in the background, inhibitions were shed, moonshine was consumed, golf carts were commandeered, and hangovers were earned.

We cannot heap enough praise on Mike Palmer, Beckie Palmer, and the amazing crew at Full Effect Live! Entertainment Group. You folks have set the standard for organizing a competition. Just go ahead and take our entry fee money now for next year! Congratulations to Big Ugly on the GC and 3Eyz on the RGC. We love hanging out with our Dizzy Pig friends Grand Slam and Pepper Monkey. Always a pleasure seeing DivaQ — you keep spending time down here and you might as well get an apartment! It’s damn hard to find better neighbors than JD’s Smokin Misfits and Checkered Flag 500 BBQ. Roger Fair — thank you again for our sign and the photos!!! As always, we couldn’t have done this without support from Dizzy Pig, BBQ Guru, BBQ Bob’s Have’n’a BBQ, Huntspoint, and all our Kickstarter friends.

It’s a quick turnaround! We’re back on the road to Bel Air, MD next week. See you all there!!!!

Good Times in Rochester

Hey everyone! Usually this place is dedicated to our ramblings about the weekend…but in Winchester, we were blessed to have Roger Fair, one of the more esteemed judges in the Mid-Atlantic region, join us for our cook at Hogging Up in Winchester, VA. I’ve asked Roger to write up the report from Winchester…Enjoy!

And I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate Leigh Anne and Kim on their Anything Butt victory. The dish was amazing…and I was very proud of them. Way to go girls!

And congrats to 3Eyz on the GC, and Checkered Flag 500 on the RGC!

Lucas has asked me to write my take on this great BBQ weekend. My name is Roger Fair and I cooked with Old Virginia Smoke in order to satisfy the KCBS requirement that I cook with a team prior to being able to receive my Master Certified BBQ Judge status.

It was a fantastic weekend. I learned a lot about competition BBQ from Lucas, Kim and Leigh Anne. Cooking in the backyard for your friends and family is one thing and competition BBQ is quite another. Everything must be precise and done exactly on time. There is an emotional ride that is hard to describe. From Prep to Turn-in the pressure never lets up, but the team spirit prevails and you sleep good on Saturday night. The friendship and comradeship between the teams is much greater than I expected. It is really quite a tightknit group and they are willing to share cooking techniques, equipment, and some of their ingredients with one another (but not all their secrets). I am privileged to have been a part of that group.

Even though I am part of the BBQ world there is always a little distance between judges and cooks. I cannot believe the way I was accepted and made to feel a part of the team. I was allowed to photograph the cooking process, make notes of what was happening, and to participate in the food preparation. And to top it all off, I was sitting there at the awards ceremony and sharing the excitement of hearing the team name called. It was a weekend that I will never forget and I am grateful to Old Virginia Smoke for allowing me to be a part of the team.

2nd Place in brisket.
1st Place in Anything Butt
10th Place in ribs
15th Place Overall

Thank you guys (the Cook, the Show, and the Angriest Woman in BBQ) for allowing me to share this great adventure.

At the Apex!

Following a bunch of crazy months with work and getting ready for the season, the team thought it would be a great idea to head south in June and venture into foreign lands…North Carolina, for our fourth competition of the year.

Leading up to the event, we heard nothing but good stuff. Other competitors, especially Jerry from Redneck Scientific, praised the event and we were looking for a great time.

One of the best organized events, and team friendly, on the east coast. Graham Wilson and his team did an exceptional job. We made a lot of great new friends, especially the wonderful folks at The Beer Dispensary. If you’re ever down in the triangle, make sure you give them a try. Hopefully you’ll get to meet Jessica there as well. A torrent of knowledge about beer, and a great homebrewer.

We had a great spot to set up in. It was HOT, as you might imagine, but everything went about right with the cook. We even had a bunch of visitors!

Miss Amy Parker (now Sayre) and her husband Jeremy came by on both Friday and Saturday. Well, I should say…Amy came back on Saturday. Someone, ahem, despite their zeal for brisket, underestimated their zeal for beer and a good time…

That being said, it was great to see old familiar faces prior to getting started with our cook.
The surprises would keep on coming!

On Saturday morning, Leigh Anne was outside cleaning dishes and came in the trailer and said, “Hey boss. The rep wants to talk to you outside.”

My response was, “What the **** do they want…” and stormed out the door. (Don’t take it personal, reps. I was busy!)

Lo and behold, it was Kim’s dad and his girlfriend, Bob and Carey! They made a surprise appearance, all the way from Myrtle Beach!
We got all our food in, and cooked a bunch of pork for the Apex Rotary to sell. Lemme tell you about these people…they had about 20 people chopping, saucing and selling pork for 7 hours straight. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. All volunteers. We cut up some ribs for ‘em, and also took a rack up to The Beer Dispensary for their hospitality.

It was much to our surprise, later, when we found out that we had passed out 1st place ribs! Couple that with another strong brisket call (4th) we finished up the day pretty well, with a 7th overall in our first foray into the South. Big props to Jerry with Redneck Scientific and Brian with Smokin’ Skullies for their hospitality. And coincidentally, congrats to Jerry with Redneck Scientific on their GC, and Brian with Smokin’ Skullies on the RGC. Funny how that works! And huge props to Graham, the Apex Rotary, and of course The Beer Dispensary for making us look forward to our trip to Apex next year!

We’ll Drink to That — BBQ Jamboree @ Fredericksburg, VA (May 9-10, 2014)

We’ll Drink to That — BBQ Jamboree @ Fredericksburg, VA (May 9-10, 2014)

The BBQ Jamboree holds a special place in our hearts. One year ago, Old Virginia Smoke packed up our tents, smokers, and dreams into the back of a pickup truck and came to Fredericksburg for our first official KCBS competition. We first met the people who have gone on to become our best friends. On our first score sheet, we tied for 13th for chicken — a score that would give us the energy and drive to persevere. So much has changed . . .

This year, we pulled our new BBQ trailer onto the fairgrounds, thanks in no small part to our Kickstarter friends. We’ve got wonderful sponsors in Dizzy Pig and BBQ Guru. MABA named us the Rookie Team of the Year for last season. Our off-season has been filled with strategy sessions and practice cooks. We were ready to kick things off on a high note.

To add a little more starch into everyone’s cook-aprons, the fellows over at Aporkalypse Now issued a challenge to all participating MABA teams. Ante up a bottle of high-end small-batch craft whiskey into the kitty, and the team with the highest brisket score walks away with all that oak-aged goodness. (Editor’s Note — High. End. American. Whiskey. The kind of stuff they lock up at the liquor store. Nothing you’d find at the local Ruby Tuesday. The good stuff!)

We had ourselves a fine cook. The smokers cooperated. The meat cooperated. Heaven help us, the weather even held off — simply drizzling and blowing, as opposed to the thunderstorms that were predicted. As a team, we had shaken off any accumulated ring rust through our practice cooks.

After the KCBS meats were turned in, we processed mountains of pulled pork for the People’s Choice competition. Our friends Keith, Cara, Laura, and Jenny helped us take our meat to the masses. When 4 p.m. finally wound down, we cracked some beers, took a load off our aching feet, and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon with friends and family.

Awards started late, but we were patiently waiting in our chairs. It was a difficult awards ceremony. People’s Choice, chicken, ribs, and pork winners were named. We were not. We cheered for all our friends, but it was hard not to hear our name. After all, we’d been getting consistent calls since Louisa’s Que & Cruz event last July. Doubt was beginning to cloud our minds. We were honestly feeling like it was going to be a skunked competition for us. They kept naming heavy hitters during the brisket awards — defending champs Beerbeque, Aporkalypse Now, 3 Eyz BBQ, and Rock’s Money Pit.

“First place in brisket, and winner of the MABA whiskey side bet — OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE.”

Yep — we ran whooping like school-children toward the stage.
Yep — we ran first to the big table of whiskey, not the trophy or the stage.
Yep — our smiles almost split our faces when we stood still enough to get our picture taken.
Yep — we drank right from the bottle.

This was our first category #1 call, literally just one year after we started as a competition team. All that whiskey tastes sweet, but this tastes so much sweeter. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got a long summer ahead of us. Still, it’s such a wonderful way to start the 2014 season.

Loving thanks to all our Kickstarter supporters, Dizzy Pig, and BBQ Guru.

We couldn’t have managed our People’s Choice without such good friends like Keith, Cara, & John Thompson, Laura Cortina, Jenny Mitchell, and Scott Oser for their incredible help.

We love our BBQ friends — JD’s Smokin Misfits, Hog-It-Up BBQ, Southern Maryland Smokers, Dizzy Pig, Brown Liquor, Makin’ Bacon, Pepper Monkey, Pavone Brothers, DC Fire Fighting BBQ Team, Grand Slam, and 3 Eyz.

It was good being neighbors with you Pig Pickers and Jersey Joe’s BBQ. We’ll see you around the circuit.

Congrats to Aporkalypse Now on the Grand Championship.

Next stop . . . Roc City Rib Fest in Rochester, New York (May 23-26).

And It Begins!

The 2014 BBQ season is well underway in the Mid-Atlantic this year. Already three competitions in the books, and some really strong performances by our friends out there in the BBQ world.

It’s time for Old Virginia Smoke to throw their hat into the ring.

We’ve been cooking and working for what seems like an eternity to this weekend. We’ve got a new trailer with the help of our friends on Kickstarter, which will be revealed this weekend!

And some other fun stuff. We’ll be doing some live blogging this weekend from the event, so expect a ton of pictures and such.

Wish us luck! If you’re free on Saturday, come on out to the BBQ Jamboree in Fredericksburg, VA and support Old Virginia Smoke!

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!