Back from Memphis in May

unoriginalusername

Cool experience if you’ve never gone. Had a chance to join a team last minute which participated in sauces, brisket and ribs categories. 

Lots of eggs in use for many teams along with kettles, drums and offfsets 

M

lkapigian

Awesome, some heavy hitters there 

Foghorn

That looks like a lot of fun and it seems that you hung out with the right people.  The first time I went to Memphis in May was my first time ever going to a BBQ competition.  We didn't know any of the teams, we just went.  To be honest, like many BBQ competitions, if you don't know at least one of the teams the experience is just "meh".  You walk around and look at people cooking world class food that you can't eat - and then you go to one of the vendors on site and get a corn dog, a funnel cake (or whatever), and an overpriced beer.  Now that I know some of the teams, I get to hang out with them and it is a totally different experience.  Looks like you did it right. 

unoriginalusername

Foghorn said:

That looks like a lot of fun and it seems that you hung out with the right people.  The first time I went to Memphis in May was my first time ever going to a BBQ competition.  We didn't know any of the teams, we just went.  To be honest, like many BBQ competitions, if you don't know at least one of the teams the experience is just "meh".  You walk around and look at people cooking world class food that you can't eat - and then you go to one of the vendors on site and get a corn dog, a funnel cake (or whatever), and an overpriced beer.  Now that I know some of the teams, I get to hang out with them and it is a totally different experience.  Looks like you did it right. 

The best day to go is the day before the turn in schedule as every big team does a practice cook and most of them put out for the public the left overs from the practice cook. This is how I got to sample folks like Heath who ended up winning 

Foghorn

"The best day to go is the day before the turn in schedule as every big team does a practice cook and most of them put out for the public the left overs from the practice cook. This is how I got to sample folks like Heath who ended up winning"

That's good to know.  At the BBQ competitions I've been to around South Texas they typically spend that day competing in other categories like "appetizer", "meat", "beans", "bloody Mary", "dessert", (occasionally "vegetable"), etc

unoriginalusername

Foghorn said:

"The best day to go is the day before the turn in schedule as every big team does a practice cook and most of them put out for the public the left overs from the practice cook. This is how I got to sample folks like Heath who ended up winning"

That's good to know.  At the BBQ competitions I've been to around South Texas they typically spend that day competing in other categories like "appetizer", "meat", "beans", "bloody Mary", "dessert", (occasionally "vegetable"), etc

Yes brisket and sauces were due the same time as doing practice ribs for the next day here too 

cmac610

Always a good time. Did you come visit us in BBQ Alley??

unoriginalusername

cmac610 said:

Always a good time. Did you come visit us in BBQ Alley??

I did a few times, caught Mel and Ron … looked like you all were having fun.  Not going to lie staring at a brisket at 1am waiting for it to cook for turn in the next day, this alley seemed like a more tempting way to experience the festivities lol