KCBS and Sam’s Club have announced the Inaugural Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour! With over $400,000 in prize money and major bragging rights, this is one series you won’t want to miss! This event features 20 local events across the nation, with five regional events and one national Championship to be held in Bentonville, AK.
It Pays to be Fast on the “Click”
The popularity of this inaugural event is clear, as more than 650 BBQ cook teams scrambled to sign up for regional events during an initial 72-hour registration window. Only 30 spots are available at each of the 20 local Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour events, so teams normally appearing at these types of high visibility events most likely felt some heart break as they failed to make the initial cut in their area. However, as of this writing – there are still 47 spots open at local events across the nation.
A second Open Registration has been scheduled and will be open for 24 hours only. It is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 21, starting at Noon EST, and ending at Noon EST on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
However, prior to that open registration, the KCBS board of directors decided that teams on the current waiting lists would be given an opportunity to switch their registrations to any open slots at another contest. At the close of the first period, there were about 65 teams on the waiting lists, and they had entered the system correctly during that open time frame, but were simply unable to get an open slot because of the one-team, one-entry rule.
It’s expected that some of these teams will decide to compete at another location. But KCBS also expects that some of them will stay in their waiting positions as well.
Once all of the waiting teams have indicated what their intentions are, KCBS will announce the remaining number of slots that will be open during the Second Open Registration period. That announcement should occur no later than Friday, Feb 18.
Stay tuned, and for those teams looking for a second entry into the big competition series, keep your eyes open and your fingers crossed!
Region 3 Local Event: Orlando – 5 Spots Still Open!
I just checked the KCBS website, and it seems that there are 25 teams signed up to cook at the Orlando Area Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour local event. Details for this event area as follows:
The Inaugural Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour
Region 3 Local Event: Orlando, FL
Date: August 26 – August 27, 2011
Location: 9498 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL
Here is a list of teams – in no particular order – that have signed up for the Orlando local event for the Sam’s Club National BBQ Tour. Some of these names you’ll recognize immediately as repeat contenders for various area and national BBQ cook-off events.
(I’ll add the remaining 5 teams to this list when they’re announced.)
1.Serial Griller
4.Smokin n the Boys Room
5.TEAM HOLY HOG BBQ
6.Naked Bones
7.BIG BAD WOLF BBQ
8.Tarheel Cookers
9.HomeBBQ.com
10.J&J BAR-B-QUE
11.GBs. BBQ
12.Swamp Boys
13.Smoky Dog
15.LANG BBQ SMOKERS
16.Hot Wachula’s
17.STUMP’d
18.UNKNOWN BBQ
19.SmokeShack BBQ-OB
20.Mount Dora Bar-B-Que Co.
21.Forrest’s Fine Foods
22.C Eliots BBQ
23.Braxtons & The Funky Brisket Bunch
24.FireHouse BBQ
25.Everglades Seasoning BBQ Team
Filed under BBQ Competitions by 
I know I’m a bit behind on my listening… but I’m just now finishing up listening to an April 24, 2010 In the Hut podcast Episode (#16) where host Huck, Jr. interviewed Chad Ward from Whiskey Bent BBQ and DivaQ from DivaQ BBQ. Very cool format, with a free flowing interview style and awesome information ranging from Tuffy Stone and his Q Barbeque Restaurant – Hampton, VA location, to various competitions and competitive experiences, to thoughts from Chad and DivaQ on a wide range of BBQ topics.
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Chad Ward, of Whiskey Bent BBQ (second from left) – Lakeland, FL area Professional BBQ Cook Team. |
The Diva – Danielle Dimovski of DivaQ BBQ. Canada’s BBQ Gift to the Rest of the World! |
Cool Concept Discussed: Opening Up Competitive BBQ to Gas Smokers and Grills
I really loved that both Chad and DivaQ had some very positive and encouraging things to say about opening up BBQ competitions to gas cookers so as to bring more people and more sponsors into the mix. Chad was all about opening things up, and DivaQ – as only DivaQ can – put it this way:
If they think that they can make ribs that taste like mine on a gas grill than I make on charcoal and pellets, bring it on! I’ll be happy to take their money!” - DivaQ
Get a taste of the flavor DivaQ brings to the party by watching some of the great videos on her blog!
Click here: DivaQ TV Appearances
Here’s a great one of Whiskey Bent BBQ at this year’s Lakeland Pigfest
It sounded to me like both of these folks believe that it’s most important to tend to the care and feeding of Competition BBQ as an entity – to grow it in ways that stretch the boundaries of what some might deem non-traditional.
As a fairly new KCBS Competition Judge, I feel very strongly about learning as much from cook teams in terms of what they go through as I can – just to understand more about the process of preparing the food I’m judging. I’ll tell you – the more I learn from folks like Chad, the guys over at Team Unknown BBQ, Myron Mixon, and others, the more I become impressed with all that they can accomplish. I also become more and more certain that mastering their style of BBQ – especially since I myself live in a 2nd floor condo – ain’t gonna happen anytime soon. However, I do have a gas grill – and I can work on that at a respectable level. Not competition level, mind you – but the food I turn out is at least edible. (Somebody get me the Tums!)
I think more folks would be open to getting into at least some backyard level BBQ competitions if the format opened up to gas. Both Chad and DivaQ stated their belief that sponsorship money would definitely pick up… and that’s what this BBQ competition business is all about!
Other topics discussed were the logos each of these folks are sporting – with DivaQ pimping a new design and Whiskey Bent’s logo letting folks know a bit about what they do best (er… drink best?). Some competition entry videos were also discussed, and I’ll see if I can find those to post.
Give the podcasts over at “In the Hut” a listen. This is the most recent I saw, so a year or so out. But the others there are very good. You can find their podcast archive here: In the Hut Podcast Archive.
Filed under BBQ Blogging by
