"That's a wrap for King of the Smoker."
And with those words, Sterling Ball of Big Poppa Smokers, having given out the last of the over-sized award checks, closed the 7th and final edition of the Smithfield King of the Smoker, an invitational BBQ contest held each year in the desert communities of La Quinta/Indian Wells about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
KOS, as it's known, is a unique contest for several reasons. First and most important, 100% of the proceeds from this event go to the Casey Lee Ball Foundation for Pediatric Kidney Research. Second, 24 of the best teams in the U.S. compete by invitation only for over $75,000 in prize money. Third, it's an "old school" contest:
Teams competing included:
So needless to say, it was a real honor for me to be invited to judge KOS for the first time at the final, final event. We tasted some excellent barbecue! Since it's blind judging, I have no idea whose entries I sampled, but it was cool knowing that I was going to taste something made by Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q and something by Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke and something from Darren Warth of Smokey D's BBQ and something from Johnny Trigg of Smokin' Triggers.
Congratulations to Grand Champion Gettin' Basted and Reserve Grand Champion One2BBQ and to all the other teams that walked. Great event, great fun, great cause, great 7 year run!
Here are a few photos...you can see all 60 photos in this album. Enjoy!
Beautiful Indian Wells, CA, location of the 7th Annual Smithfield King of the Smoker BBQ contest.
Friday Night: Teams are set to begin cooking. First turn-in is chicken at 11:00am Saturday morning.
After the last turn-in of brisket at 12:30pm, the teams start to clean-up, pack-up, and prepare for the award ceremony at 5pm.
Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke does a demo on how to trim pork loin four ways.
Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q does a demo on how to trip pork butt for competition.
Travis Clark of Clark Crew BBQ cooks some steaks in preparation for his demo on grilling strip loin steaks. His Ranch Kettle was the only Weber grill at KOS!
Josh Shook from Smithfield demonstrates how to break-down a side of pork into consumer cuts of meat.
Blane Hunter from Porky Butts demonstrates how he handles Wagyu brisket for competition.
Continued...
And with those words, Sterling Ball of Big Poppa Smokers, having given out the last of the over-sized award checks, closed the 7th and final edition of the Smithfield King of the Smoker, an invitational BBQ contest held each year in the desert communities of La Quinta/Indian Wells about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
KOS, as it's known, is a unique contest for several reasons. First and most important, 100% of the proceeds from this event go to the Casey Lee Ball Foundation for Pediatric Kidney Research. Second, 24 of the best teams in the U.S. compete by invitation only for over $75,000 in prize money. Third, it's an "old school" contest:
- One 10'x10' EZ-UP with no sides.
- Two work tables.
- No electricity.
- No garnish, just foil in bottom of turn-in box.
- No entry fee.
- Same meat is provided to each team by lottery: 1 brisket, 3 pork butts, 3 slabs of spareribs, 2 whole chickens
- Must turn in brisket flat slices and burnt ends.
- Must cook the entire chicken in order to achieve six servings to the judges.
Teams competing included:
- Gettin' Basted
- One2BBQ
- Bunch Of Swines
- Shake 'N Bake BBQ
- Iowa's Smokey D's BBQ
- Buckshot BBQ - TX
- Rio Valley Meat BBQ
- Shiggin & Grinnin
- Lucky's Q
- Wolf's Revenge BBQ
- Butcher BBQ
- Porky Butts BBQ
- Grey Street BBQ
- Cool Smoke
- Big T'z Q Cru
- Little Pig Town BBQ
- Clark Crew BBQ
- Burnt Bean Co.
- Tippycanoe BBQ Crew
- Pigskin BBQ
- Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q
- Pit Boss Smokers
- Smokin Hoggz BBQ - MA
- Smokin Triggers
So needless to say, it was a real honor for me to be invited to judge KOS for the first time at the final, final event. We tasted some excellent barbecue! Since it's blind judging, I have no idea whose entries I sampled, but it was cool knowing that I was going to taste something made by Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q and something by Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke and something from Darren Warth of Smokey D's BBQ and something from Johnny Trigg of Smokin' Triggers.
Congratulations to Grand Champion Gettin' Basted and Reserve Grand Champion One2BBQ and to all the other teams that walked. Great event, great fun, great cause, great 7 year run!
Here are a few photos...you can see all 60 photos in this album. Enjoy!

Beautiful Indian Wells, CA, location of the 7th Annual Smithfield King of the Smoker BBQ contest.

Friday Night: Teams are set to begin cooking. First turn-in is chicken at 11:00am Saturday morning.

After the last turn-in of brisket at 12:30pm, the teams start to clean-up, pack-up, and prepare for the award ceremony at 5pm.

Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke does a demo on how to trim pork loin four ways.

Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q does a demo on how to trip pork butt for competition.

Travis Clark of Clark Crew BBQ cooks some steaks in preparation for his demo on grilling strip loin steaks. His Ranch Kettle was the only Weber grill at KOS!

Josh Shook from Smithfield demonstrates how to break-down a side of pork into consumer cuts of meat.

Blane Hunter from Porky Butts demonstrates how he handles Wagyu brisket for competition.
Continued...