We Will Rock 'Que Competition BBQ

08/28/2026

All set up at Smokin' Ribs for Kids in Cherry Valley, IL. A quick rib cook, then a 50 minute drive home.
I was surprised how large my pull list was for stuff to do just one cook, without a trailer. Flashbacks to our beginnings ten years ago.

08/24/2026

Now that's cool to be on the top of the list for last week! Congrats to everyone else, especially my friends "With a 180".

The 700 Club had a strong field this weekend, led by We Will Rock Que at 707.4172.

A special shoutout to Smokey Bey’s Barbecue, who posted a 705.0972 and also won the keys to a successful barbeque restaurant at Kansas City International Airport starting in March of 2027. That is huge!

Outstanding barbeque recognized by KCBS Certified Barbeque Judges.

Congratulations to everyone joining the 700 Club.

08/23/2026

After a two month bbq break, we got back to comps on August 1, starting in Westland, MI for the All American BBQ Throwdown at VFW 9885 "Bova". This comp is always great, between the beautiful grounds at "The Bova" and spending time with bbq family. Cooking wise, it was a refresher course on what not to do.
Congrats to Bucked Up BBQ on their first GC and Janky Leg BBQ on their RGC.

Last weekend was my first venture down to Troy, IL for the Smoke N for the Kids double competition put on by The Shriners. The location was a nice park, though it was stupidly hot with heat indexes hitting 105°. Luckily, the air conditioner worked really well. Unfortunately, the trailer water pump died during day 1 clean up, so there was an emergency run to a nearby RV dealer to get a new pump that I was able to easily install. The only calls we got that weekend were for ribs, with a 3rd place on Saturday and a 7th place on Sunday.
Congrats to 1 Bite Stand and Scuffletown Smokers BBQ Team for their respective Day 1 GC and RGC's.
Congrats to Janky Leg BBQ and Scuffletown Smokers BBQ Team for their respective Day 2 GC and RGC's.

This past weekend, Lisa and I went to one of our favorites in Madison, IN for the Madison Bbq Party KCBS. Madison is an old Ohio River town that we enjoy browsing the resale shops and a family owned fabric store. Unfortunately, Lisa took a fall as we were walking to the Friday afternoon cook's meeting, spraining her ankle pretty bad. I wrapped it and she found a way to prop it up on a cooler to keep it elevated. Thankfully, there were plenty of friends with rental golf carts, so she got plenty of rides for turn-in's.
I finally got my cooking mojo back so we had a good day. Out of 39 teams.
1st in Chicken
3rd in Ribs
5th in Pork
9th in Brisket
Overal Grand Champion!
Congrats to BrewsCue Competition BBQ and Catering on their RGC.
Thanks to Steve, Justin, John, Jan, Dave & Becky for transitioning this competition from the legendary Madison Ribberfest into the future. Cooking wise, it felt the same, save for having a really nice view of the river. Thanks to Lisa Skiroock for her help while on injured reserve. Monday morning we'll get some x-rays done to make sure it is just a sprain.

I don't hashtag much, but feel these are some folks worth giving a shout out:




Janky Leg BBQ gets a shout out for a great class I took last December and continued customer service as I sort through the details.
Gail from DB BBQ also gets a big thank you for all of her coaching on making cheesecake for the dessert category. Our bourbon-peach cheesecake was delicous but was in the middle fo the pack at 12th place.

Next up is a Friday night Ribs only cook in Cherry Valley, near Rockford, IL for Smoking Ribs for the Kids.

05/27/2026

Home and recovered from a long weekend in Lebanon, TN for the KCBS World invitational BBQ which included a Friday night invitational Chicken and Rib contest, a Saturday Open and a Sunday invitational. We had a few great moments, and plenty of not quite enough to even be in the middle of the pack, which makes for some initial frustrations, until you look at the calculated scores. Generally the top third of each category were scores that would normally win a competition, with less than a 100th of a point between places, and plenty of ties that get broken with mathematical and digital coin flip decisions. To good at these type comps, you need to be at the top of your game and then some.

Friday night
Chicken 65th out of 74 teams.
Ribs 47th out of 79 teams.

Saturday Open with 117 teams
Chicken 30th (I made some seasoning changes to bump up taste scores)
Ribs 70th
Pork 100th (taste and tenderness not appreciated)
Brisket 2nd with a 180. We agreed
38th overall

Sunday Invite with 82 teams
Chicken 66th
Ribs 46th
Pork 9th (what a difference a day makes)
Brisket 72rd (ditto)
65th overall

Thanks to Lisa Skiroock for her help and especially box running through rain and puddles on Saturday.

As always, we had fun hanging and joking with friends.

Next, a two month break, as there are no comps within a few hours of home. Gas is too expensive to run eight to ten hours each way for a single day competition. Plus, I am going backpacking at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico that has me gone for the first half of July. Come August and September, I'll be competing all but two weekends.

Have a good summer everyone!

05/17/2026

Another midwest comp weekend, this time at Rockin' BBQ in Warsaw, IN. Due to recurring conflicts, I haven't done this comp in a few years, but Kevin still works as hard as ever to keep the event running smoothly.
Friday night, I did the optional chicken contest, getting 6th out of 25 teams.
On Saturday morning, I woke up to and invasion of midge flies from the nearby lake. They invaded my back porch wall and dozens snuck into the trailer. They look like big mosquitoes but are harmless.
The cook went really smooth and I liked everything I turned in. Thankfully, the judges agreed.
35 teams
7th in chicken
2nd in ribs (having great luck with Wichita Packing lately
3rd in pork (trying some new pork from The BBQ Maestros
8th in brisket
Reserve Grand Champion with a 706.9028 score
Congrats to Scuffletown Smokers BBQ Team on their astounding GC.

It was great being surrounded by teams I consider good friends and family, though my neighbors heard from me on Saturday morinng about them blasting Michael Jackson's hits when I was trying to get to sleep Friday night.

This upcoming coming weekend is a return to Lebanon, TN for the KCBS World invitational BBQ, with cooks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

05/03/2026

Had a great weekend at Smoke in the Mitten BBQ Competition, in Westland, MI at the VFW 9885 "BOVA". This VFW has a great field to set park a bunch of teams, stable power hook up's, and a great garden bar set amongst numerous memorials and military recognitions.
Thursday night was party night. Friday featured a ribs only competition. I made some sauce changes after doing a taste test with Keith and Jason from DB BBQ. I rolled with our top choice and thought they were great. Unfortunately, I was on a table of judges that didn't like most of the ribs they had, which yielded an 18th place finish out 24 teams. After a bit of grumbling and reflection, I decided to shake it off and run the same ribs again on Saturday.
It was in the mid 30's cold at 4am on Saturday morning, but the space heater in the trailer did well and my cook went without issues. Out of 34 teams, the results were:

20th Chicken
1st Ribs with a 180 (big flip from the night before)
9th Pork
2nd Brisket

2nd overall for Reserve Grand Champion!
Congrats to Buddy Hammett with Shiggin Ain't Easy on his GC.

Thanks to Jim Hart and his crew that work really hard to put this excellent competition together. Jim announced he was stepping back from the lead, but I hope he keeps being the awards presenter, as he is really fun.

Next up, Warsaw, IN in two weeks.

04/21/2026

The other day, I posted about this past weekend, but it seems to have vanished. We'll try again.

This past weekend was the Great Lakes BBQ Association's Spring Fling competion in Coldwater, MI. It was one of the comps where you are happy you have a trailer to take shelter in from the wind and rain.
48 teams
4th in Chicken
23rd in Ribs (a little tough)
28th in Pork (not sure)
4th in Brisket (finally doing better after a year of not)
9th overall

Congratulations to Que-U on the GC and Smokin' E's on their RGC.

Next up is Smoke in the Mitten BBQ Competition, back in Michigan, on May 1-2.

04/04/2026

Good morning from Gadsden, AL for Smoke on the Falls.