The following is a re-post of an article written by MEATME Blog. It's mostly about Meat, Inc. BBQ Team - the pictures are awesome - and the article is about Meat, Inc. All great reasons to copy it here!
We did get permission from Meat Me to copy it. You should visit his blog and check out his other stories. They are all great!
Santa Anita BBQ Competition 2012
It couldn’t be a better day for a BBQ competition. It is hot but not too
hot, it is packed but not over crowded and the smell of BBQ filled the
air. When most people in Los Angeles, California hear the words BBQ they
think of summer, swim suits by the pool, and hot dogs and hamburgers
over an open flame. That is not real BBQ, it is a myth created by
television.
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| The most perfect day to have a BBQ Competition and eat as much BBQ as possible. |
Real BBQ is cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with heat
and the hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of charcoal.
Typically, to grill is to cook in this manner quickly, while barbecue is
typically a much slower method utilizing less heat than grilling,
attended to over an extended period of several hours.
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| Meat fans feed each other as Rooftop shows off their trophies and BBQ sauce. |
Barbecue
competitions are a whole other sport. Professional barbecue competitors
will spend tens of thousands of dollars to build the perfect smoker in
order to achieve that exemplary barbecue taste. They will spend
countless hours smoking to enjoy a piece of meat that may take 5 minutes
to eat. Spending that much time, money, and effort has got to be worth
it.
 |
| People line up for Rooftop's pork ribs. |
I have always loved BBQ and came across the blog
http://www.meatinc.blogspot.com/
and was introduced to Aaron Black. A professional smoker with a
passion to educated people on barbecuing for themselves. He invited me
out to the Santa Anita BBQ Competition as a fellow meat lover how could I
turn him down.
 |
| MEAT Inc's smoked skin on pork shoulder. |
I
headed out to Santa Anita Race track for the time of my life. Only
heaven had 37 BBQ teams competing to be the best BBQ. When I arrived I
expected to see a billow of smoke coming out of the middle of the track.
That was not the case but the sweet smell of smoke hit my nose the
second I got off the freeway.
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| Pork gets pulled as people dive in to MEAT Inc's pork ribs. |
I
parked, got my ticked and headed into meat town. I skipped breakfast
just for this day. I walked on to the BBQ grass field of meat battle for
some of the greatest flavors my mouth had ever experienced. The second I
met Aaron Black of Meat Inc. I had so many questions and here is what
he had to say.
 |
| Aaron Black of MEAT Inc works the BBQ as some smoked bologna. |
MEAT ME: Who judges these BBQ’s? What makes someone a certified BBQ judge?
Aaron
Black: Typically the judges are certified BBQ judges; by the Kansas
City Barbecue Society. They have to take classes. This particular event
the judges are 100% CBJ qualified, 3 or 4 of them are first timers,
which means they took their class not too long ago and this is their
first event being a judge.
 |
Left: Pork Fatty: Hot dogs, home made chili wrapped with sausage and weaved bacon.
Right: Breakfast Fatty: pancakes, apple pie filling, and cream cheese wrapped with sausage and a weaved layer of bacon. |
MEAT ME: How many judges are there?
Aaron
Black: There is one judge for every team. So 37 teams, 37 judges; no
judge will taste more than one of your meat types. So if you turn in
chicken to judge one, he won’t try any of your brisket, pulled pork, or
ribs. It will then go to another judge. A lot of people moan that if it
is not 100 percent CBJ they will get bad scores because your loosing
that consistency across the board from competition to competition. A lot
of people complain that the judges don’t have more training; may be
they get stuck in a rut and all of a sudden they don’t like anything
spicy and they only prefer sweet. It is kind of a tricky thing. Some
people cook to the judges and do a really good job; and some people cook
what they like and they typically don’t win. Some people try to make a
happy medium which is kind of where we are at.
 |
| Aaron Black carefully cuts the pork fatty to give to carefully selected taste buds. |
MEAT ME: So how many different MEAT’s are cooked?
Aaron
Black: There are 4 meats in every competition. You start out with
chicken; then you go to pork ribs; then you go to pork butt; and then
you go to brisket.
 |
| Aaron Black explaining how they make their Pork Fatty! |
MEAT ME: So is brisket the only beef that they have?
Aaron Black: Yes.
MEAT ME: How many years have you guys been doing this?
Aaron Black: Since 2005.
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| All the meat you could ever need from MEAT Inc. |
MEAT ME: How many events do you guys do in a year?
Aaron
Black: We do between 9 and 11 events a year. We’ll do as many events as
my wife will let me do. That is basically the limitation.
MEAT ME: What kid of meats did you guys bring today?
Aaron
Black: We brought all kinds of extra meat for people’s choice (the
people get to vote for their favorite BBQ as well) we always bring extra
chicken, cause people love chicken. We brought bratwurst cause that’s
easy to cook and its relatively inexpensive. We also did pulled pork and
we made brisket chili. We just came back from Lake Havasu where we won
first place in chili and first place in people’s choice chili. So today
we did the same chili we made there.
 |
| LEFT: Barbecue Chicken RIGHT: MEAT Inc's signature Pork Balls. |
MEAT ME: How did you get into this?
Aaron
Black: One of my buddies; his dad sold BBQ’s. So we bought up a bunch
of BBQ’s and thought this was great. My friend said, “Hey my Dad’s gonna
be in this BBQ competition!” and thought, “Hell yeah! We can do that
too!”. So we went out cooked meat, played cards, drank a few beers,
threw some meat in a box and had a great time. We only did 1-3 contest a
year and now we take it a lot more seriously.
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| The MEAT Inc. team safely guards their precious beef brisket as they take it to the judges. |
MEAT ME: How many of you guys are there?
Aaron Black: We have 4 core members but today we have 18 guys.
MEAT ME: How many people do you serve up at these events?
Aaron Black: Today we will server about 1,500, probably more.
 |
| MEAT Inc. drops off their Beef Brisket with the KCBS judges. |
MEAT ME: So what is your favorite MEAT?
Aaron Black: I really like chicken. A lot of these BBQ guys don’t like
chicken because they have to cook it all the time. I love it. I cook
chicken almost every weekend.
MEAT ME: And you like it barbecued?
Aaron Black: Yea
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| People stand around MEAT Inc. as they enjoy their beef brisket. |
MEAT ME: So you guys do rub and then smoke?
Aaron Black: Yea our competition chicken we actually do a
butter bath. We cook it in butter and brown sugar for about 40 minutes
and then we put it on the grate. It is really sweet and really juicy.
We are about to cook smoked spam, do you like smoked spam (spam fries)?
MEAT ME: I don’t know.
Aaron Black: Well you’re about to (laughs).
 |
| Aaron Black of MEAT Inc. slices up his Spam Fries. |
I was so fascinated by what the judges do that I just so
happened that as the judges were leaving I was able to grab KCBS Judge
Steve Alvarez and ask him a few question about what a barbecue judge
really does.
 |
| The judges stop by Meat Inc. to give thanks for participating in the BBQ competition. |
MEAT ME: What is involved when judging BBQ?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: Every BBQ society has its own standards
and qualifications when judging. In this particular instance it is the
Kansas City Barbecue society. There are 4 basic categories Chicken, Pork
Ribs, Pork Shoulder, and Brisket. Those 4 are always included in the
competition.
 |
| KCBS Judge Steve Alvarez |
MEAT ME: What do you look for when judging BBQ?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: What The 3 things that we look for when
judging individual meat entries is its appearance, the second thing we
look at is tenderness, and finally the most important would be flavor.
We score every one of those items individually. We grade every single
entry to the same standards. We don’t compare the meats to each other;
each entry stands on its’ own.
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| Evil Pig BBQ prepares their perfect Beef Brisket for the Judges. |
KCBS Steve Alvarez: I love being able to taste the best of the best.
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| Spicy Bull's Eye BBQ Sauce over pork shoulder. |
MEAT ME: How many meat’s might you taste in one event?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: 6 meats per entry times 4 is 24 meats. I
take a good bite out of each one so I can give a fair judgment. If I am
going to grade something really high, I generally give it a second bite
to make sure I am right before I give it a top score.
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| Pork shoulder from High Gravity with their Spicy BBQ sauce. |
MEAT ME: What about low scores?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: I also do the same thing for the lower
scores. If I taste something that isn’t getting a very good score I will
always give them a second bite to make sure my first conclusion was
correct. This is how I operate. Generally its one good bite per meat and
you can generally tell what you are getting.
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| A mother feeds her husband, as he feeds his son. Everybody needs their BBQ. |
MEAT ME: What does one have to go through in order to become a judge?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: The Kansas City Barbecue Society hold
periodic judging classes. I lived in California at the time; there was a
judging class in Lake Havasu; I drove down there to pay the fee and
take the class. It is a 4-hour class. 2 hours of classroom and 2 hours
of practical application. It was open discussion after you tasted your
meat and you got an idea of a system.
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| I have never seen a little girl so excited for BBQ, that is until I tasted their Pork Shoulder. |
KCBS Steve Alvarez: After that you are considered qualified
and you start entering competitions. You are judging along master judges
who have been judging as many as 30 to 40 judging years under their
belt. You learn from them and no one is ashamed of discussing it
afterward. We discuss the meats after they are graded and the scores are
turned in. It’s a “What did you think of this? And what did you think
of that?” and that is a learning experience as well. It is an education
all the way through you’re never gonna stop learning about meat.
 |
| Here is Big Mista's pulled pork shoulder just soaking in juice after being smoked for several hours. |
MEAT ME: What is your favorite type of MEAT?
KCBS Steve Alvarez: Well my initial favorite was always pork
ribs. That is how I got into this. As time has gone on I have tasted
such wonderful, wonderful meats that now I am thinking that a very well
cooked brisket will compete with a very good rib. A brisket is very
difficult to cook, and get top scores – than when you find it, it is
very, very good.
 |
| Pork It Up's beef
brisket put on yesterday around 8pm. They let it marinate with a little
garlic, worcestershire sauce, and smoked it with some mosquito and red
oak. They are from Sacramento, CA. |
The BBQ at this event was amazing it didn't take a judge to
see that. I arrived at the event at 1pm and by 3pm most of the stands
were out of BBQ. When I arrived at the event I payed $4 to get in (which
also gave me access to the horse races, and then $10 for my vote ticked
and $10 in food tickets. For a taste it cost me $2 per stand which
wasn't bad at all. I was almost full by the 5 stand.
 |
| Last horse race of the day before the awards ceremony. |
I didn't bet on any horse races but you could tell from the
screaming that a lot of the people around me did. This really was the
setting for a perfect day. A belly filled with just about every spice
ever made, the weather was perfect, and I was at a sporting event. It is
the perfect place to bring the family and an ideal event for a pregnant
women to over indulge (I saw like 20 pregnant women there, they must
love this stuff). As Aaron's wife explained it to me, "It is the perfect
place for woman where all she can do is eat!"
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| Rooftop BBQ runs up to collect their trophy for Best Pork Ribs. |
After the last race of the day it was time to give out the
awards. Everyone gathers around as they announce the best of the best.
It really wasn't a competitive as I was expecting a lot of these people
were friends and where very happy for all the winners. My next quest is
to try the food of all the winners to see what it takes to be the best.
 |
| The TOP winners of the 2012 Santa Anita BBQ Competition. |
Starting Top Left to Right, Top then Bottom :
Winner Best Chicken - The Pitt Crew BBQ
Winner Best Pork Ribs - Roof Top BBQ
Winner Best Pork Shoulder - Brazen BBQ
Winner Best Brisket - Bad Ass BBQ
Winner Peoples Choice - Big Mista's BBQ
Runner Up Best Overall - Leftcoast Q
Winner Overall - Slap Yo Daddy BBQ
 |
All amazing things must come to an end.
They may not be in the top 10 but their passion for MEAT creativity is enough to leave you wanting more. |
Scoring results…
BBQ Chicken
1 The Pit Crew BBQ
2 Fun Time BBQ
3 Butchers Daughter
4 Slap Yo Daddy
5 Leukemia Sucks Too
6 Leftcoast Q
7 Big Papa Smokers
8 Smokin’ Yankee’s
9 All kinds of BBQ
10 All Hogs Go To Heaven
BBQ Pork Ribs
1 Rooftop BBQ
2 Big Daddy Q’n Crew
3 Patlans Applewood BBQ
4 Smokin Yankees
5 Leftcoast Q
6 All Kinds of BBQ
7 Lady of Q
8 Butchers Daughter
9 The Rub Company
10 Hog Wild BBQ
BBQ Pork Shoulder
1 Brazen BBQ
2 Simply Marvlous BBQ
3 Burnin & Lootin
4 Chillin and Grillin
5 Who’s Smoking Now
6 Mad Dogs BBQ
7 Big Papa Smokers
8 Lady of Q
9 Hog Wild
10 The Rub Company
Brisket
1 Bad Ass BBQ
2 When Pigs Fly
3 Slap Yo Daddy BBQ
4 Butchers Daughters BBQ
5 Mad Dogs
6 All Sauced Up
7 the Rub Co.
8 Leftcoast Q
9 Pelletheads.com
10 Big Daddy’s Q’n and Crew
Over All BBQ
1 Slap Yo Daddy BBQ
2 Leftcoast Q
3 Butchers Daughter
4 Burnin’ and Lootin’
5 Who’s Smoking Now
6 Big Daddys Q’n Crew
7 Smokin’ Yankees
8 All Sauced Up
9 Fun Time BBQ
10 Brazen BBQ
Peoples Choice Award
BigMista’s Barbecue
 |
| The end of a long day at an empty Santa Anita Race Track. |
I would like to thank Aaron Black at MEAT Inc. for inviting
me out and making me their special guest. I would also like to thank
Steve Alvarez for his time and inside into being a KCBS Judge. If you
ever have the chance to go to a BBQ competition, go for it. I would do
it all over again.
BBQ is Life,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME
