Barbecue’s king at annual cook-off
By early Friday afternoon, curls of smoke wafted from chimneys of portable smokers at the 11th annual McLouth BBQ Blowout.
Jeff Allison and Stewart Legg, operators of the BBQ Bandits booth, pulled their trailer through Tonganoxie around noon on Friday. Within an hour they had their stand set up and were ready to prepare slabs of ribs for the next day’s entry.
Of the eight years the team has participated in McLouth they have not gone home victorious.
“But we’re going to win this year,” Legg said.
The two recently experienced the taste of success at the Kansas Speedway barbecue competition, where they placed fifth out of 167 entrants.
Their cooksite proved that barbecuing is a family sport. Just behind it, Allison’s two children romped in a fold-out camper, blowing bubbles with bubble guns, and obviously having a good time.
“They wouldn’t miss it,” Allison said.
Thirty-eight teams vied for top dog at the 11th annual event at the city park in McLouth, said Cliff Weeks, organizer.
“We keep increasing a little bit each year,” Weeks said.
While the most unusual entry in the miscellaneous category didn’t win, Weeks said the atomic pork wraps stuffed jalapeno peppers wrapped in pork caught judges’ attention.
A year ago, despite a hail storm that left barbecuers clinging to their tents to keep them from blowing away, Don and Sharon Will, Paola, won the overall award.
Will said this meant that when cumulative points were added from all four judged categories, they ranked the highest.
The best reward, Don and Sharon said, came to them a year later when they pulled into their new cooksite the one with a shade tree.
“Cliff gave us the choice spot,” Don said.
Hanging out with the Wills Friday afternoon was a fellow competitor, Donny Teel, Sperry, Okla.
Teel competes in barbecue contests from April through October. The rest of the time he’s an electrician. He said when October rolls around he’s ready for a rest.
“For a month or two you’re kind of glad it’s over, but by the first of the year you start getting antsy,” Teel said.
To alleviate that, he hunts up barbecue contests in Texas, where competitions are held in the winter.
“It works the bugs out,” Teel said.
This year, Teel will participate in 26 contests. The Wills, who have have downsized, have cut back to 19.
To lighten the load it takes to travel, the Wills and Teel, sleep in their vehicles. The Wills put an inflatable mattress in the back of their Ford Explorer, and Teel simply tilts his front seat back and goes to sleep.
“In July and August it really gets hot,” Teel said. “I keep the motor running a lot.”
After participating in a few competitions, people tend to change their view of what’s important, Don Will said. At first, he said, most people think the goal is to win, which remains important, but as time goes on, the friendships take on weight.
“Winning is always nice, but it’s not everything,” Don Will said.