Hi all,
My wife and I competed in our second BBQ competition this past weekend at the Harvard Fall Festival in Massachusetts. We used a 22" & 18" WSM and also brought along a Jumbo Joe kettle grill. We entered the peoples choice chicken wing contest and cooked all the wings on the Jumbo Joe. We used the 22" to cook the brisket and ribs and the 18" for the butts and chicken. It was a fun weekend, but very hectic since we still aren't used to competing and hitting the turn in times. We made and printed out a timeline, which was very helpful to make sure everything was done on time. We almost missed the turn in for the brisket, making it by 20 seconds! When I was watching for my wife to return from the turn-in tent, I was praying I didn't see a Styrofoam box in her hands!
When we went to the awards ceremony that afternoon, we were hoping that we might hear our name called for anything, but didn't expect too because so many experienced teams were there competing. When they were announcing the top vote getters for the peoples choice awards we thought for sure we didn't make it when they were getting close to the end. We were shocked to hear our name called for first place. I couldn't get out of my chair fast enough to run up and get the trophy. We also got a call for 4th place chicken and we ended up in 7th place overall out of 42 teams competing. It was a fantastic end to a memorable weekend. We are hooked now and can't wait to compete again, but unfortunately we won't be competing again until next spring. I guess we have all winter to practice to get ready for next season and hopefully do as well as we did this past weekend. 
My wife and I competed in our second BBQ competition this past weekend at the Harvard Fall Festival in Massachusetts. We used a 22" & 18" WSM and also brought along a Jumbo Joe kettle grill. We entered the peoples choice chicken wing contest and cooked all the wings on the Jumbo Joe. We used the 22" to cook the brisket and ribs and the 18" for the butts and chicken. It was a fun weekend, but very hectic since we still aren't used to competing and hitting the turn in times. We made and printed out a timeline, which was very helpful to make sure everything was done on time. We almost missed the turn in for the brisket, making it by 20 seconds! When I was watching for my wife to return from the turn-in tent, I was praying I didn't see a Styrofoam box in her hands!
When we went to the awards ceremony that afternoon, we were hoping that we might hear our name called for anything, but didn't expect too because so many experienced teams were there competing. When they were announcing the top vote getters for the peoples choice awards we thought for sure we didn't make it when they were getting close to the end. We were shocked to hear our name called for first place. I couldn't get out of my chair fast enough to run up and get the trophy.
We also got a call for 4th place chicken and we ended up in 7th place overall out of 42 teams competing. It was a fantastic end to a memorable weekend. We are hooked now and can't wait to compete again, but unfortunately we won't be competing again until next spring. I guess we have all winter to practice to get ready for next season and hopefully do as well as we did this past weekend. 
