Competition barbecue, explained by people who have cooked it. The technique, the clock, the scoresheet — and the gear that actually earns its place at a contest.
From the circuit
Write-ups from contests and events — Memphis in May, the American Royal, Jack Daniel’s, Tupelo, Goat Days: what happened, what worked, and what we learned watching teams who knew more than we did. They all sit in the competition section.
Technique that comes from competing
Start with the meat: the money muscle and the other cuts inside a pork butt. The same thinking runs through competition technique and through the recipes.
Gear: what earns its place
Thermometers, grills, smokers. If you are choosing between machines, the grills section takes them fuel by fuel; the gear guide covers the rest.
If you are new to this
Three articles, in this order.
- How a barbecue contest actually works
The rules everything else hangs on. - Charcoal, gas, pellet or kamado
Which fuel suits the way you cook. - Understanding the money muscle
The cuts inside a pork butt, and what to do with them.
Everything here is written to be useful rather than to fill a page. Where we cite a number, it comes from a source we name. Where we have not tested something ourselves, we say so.