Barbecue judging took me to the Coachella Valley for the second time in three months, this time at the 2019 Smithfield Guinea Pig/Matt Dalton Memorial, my first time at this event. The Guinea Pig is a private contest organized by Sterling Ball and his crew at Big Poppa Smokers, sponsored by Smithfield, and held at Sterling's Ernie Ball factory in Coachella, CA. As a private event, the contest is not open to the public, there is no vending, no People's Choice award, and no distractions for the teams. Just 49 teams set up in the Ernie Ball parking lot cooking the four KCBS competition meats (chicken, pork ribs, pork, and brisket) plus an optional dessert category. There's also a Kid's Q contest and a potluck dinner for all the teams on Friday night.
Why is this contest called "the guinea pig"? Because when it was started by Sterling several years ago, it was a test to see if you could reduce the cost of competing, level the playing field to a certain extent, create a fun, family-friendly atmosphere for teams, and have less interference for the teams by making the event private.
I stuck around for the awards ceremony at 5:00 pm to watch 2017 Barbecue Hall of Fame inductee and Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que owner Jeff Stehney of Slaughterhouse Five from Kansas City, KS take the Grand Champion check and plaque, and Curtis Trigueiro of Ridge Route Boys from Bakersfield, CA take Reserve Grand Champion. Congratulations to everyone that got a call!
We were not allowed to take photos inside the Ernie Ball factory where we judged the barbecue, but I was able to get a few shots of what was going on outside after the judging, as well as at the awards ceremony. Enjoy!
Driving east on I-10 through the Coachella Valley toward The Guinea Pig. Lots of wind, great location for wind turbines.
Your Grand Champion from Kansas City, KS.
And your Reserve Grand Champion from Bakersfield, CA.
I'm always looking for WSMs at barbecue competitions.
There are lots of them, you just have to look for them.
This trio of cookers belongs to Mike Brady of Smoke Hound BBQ from nearby Ontario, CA. Mike showed me how he uses aluminum foil HVAC adhesive tape to seal between the middle cooking section and charcoal bowl on his 22.5" WSMs. (The tape was removed before taking this photo.) A cheap and easy solution to air infiltration!
Bleep! Blorp! Take me to your leader!
WSM tie-down.
Ready to hit the road.
Continued...
Why is this contest called "the guinea pig"? Because when it was started by Sterling several years ago, it was a test to see if you could reduce the cost of competing, level the playing field to a certain extent, create a fun, family-friendly atmosphere for teams, and have less interference for the teams by making the event private.
- The Guinea Pig has a single, low entry fee that covers all four meat categories, the dessert category, and Kid's Q.
- Each team receives a cooler of pre-selected meat by random draw: 1 A9 Master Kobe brisket, 2 Smithfield pork butts, 3 Smithfield/Farmer John spareribs, and 9 Foster Farms chicken thighs. Teams must cook the provided meat and may not substitute their own meat.
- Electricity is not available. Teams may use their own quiet generator or battery inverter, as needed.
- The Top 10 overall are paid, and 10 deep in each meat category. The purse was $10,600.
I stuck around for the awards ceremony at 5:00 pm to watch 2017 Barbecue Hall of Fame inductee and Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que owner Jeff Stehney of Slaughterhouse Five from Kansas City, KS take the Grand Champion check and plaque, and Curtis Trigueiro of Ridge Route Boys from Bakersfield, CA take Reserve Grand Champion. Congratulations to everyone that got a call!
We were not allowed to take photos inside the Ernie Ball factory where we judged the barbecue, but I was able to get a few shots of what was going on outside after the judging, as well as at the awards ceremony. Enjoy!
Driving east on I-10 through the Coachella Valley toward The Guinea Pig. Lots of wind, great location for wind turbines.
Your Grand Champion from Kansas City, KS.
And your Reserve Grand Champion from Bakersfield, CA.
I'm always looking for WSMs at barbecue competitions.
There are lots of them, you just have to look for them.
This trio of cookers belongs to Mike Brady of Smoke Hound BBQ from nearby Ontario, CA. Mike showed me how he uses aluminum foil HVAC adhesive tape to seal between the middle cooking section and charcoal bowl on his 22.5" WSMs. (The tape was removed before taking this photo.) A cheap and easy solution to air infiltration!
Bleep! Blorp! Take me to your leader!
WSM tie-down.
Ready to hit the road.
Continued...
It was great seeing you and your lovely wife on Saturday, and congrats again on your 4th place call in Pork!
