Take a moment to read through the previous episodes, especially the first one if you haven’t already. It will give you a better understanding of the “characters” involved with the show and with the rules and procedures for the BBQ competition circuit.

BBQ Pitmasters Episode 1 Smokin’ in Mesquite Nevada Open BBQ Championships
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 2 Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 3 Decatur Riverfest Cook Off
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 4 American Royal Invitational

This episode was the American Royal Open held in Kansas City, Missouri. Held right on the back of the Invitational which took place Friday & Saturday October 2-3, 2009. The Open took place on Sunday and as it’s name implies is not exclusive with is competitors as you can see with the nearly 500 who have entered.

This is one of the largest BBQ competitions in the nation…so any finish remotely near the top is darn good. One of things about the American Royal Open is that there is a group of competitors that tend to do it more as a party rather than a contest. More power to them but the real serious guys don’t appreciate that much. Harry Soo had an issue with this as the team stationed right next to him held a party with 300 guests that went into the wee hours of the night affecting his sleep.

Another interesting thing about this competition is that they require a 1:1 competitor to judge ratio. That means that there are a lot of judges that have been certified just for this contest…which also means that they’re brand new and don’t have experience. Myron discusses this a bit and brings up the point that their tastes are different and mentions that if he had chicken legs he would serve those over his thighs.

American Royal Open BBQ Contest
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Date: October 4, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 473
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Chicken
14 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
59 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
186 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
261 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
266 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
315 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ

Pork Ribs
30 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
46 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
62 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
66 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
192 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
365 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ

Pork
6 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
78 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
139 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
199 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
210 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
353 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ

Brisket
3 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
75 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
87 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
248 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
320 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
385 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ

Overall
47 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
50 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
70 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
139 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
177 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
256 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ

“I don’t give two shits if somebody stood up back there and held their hand up and took the damn oath of BBQ and says well hell I’ma certify BBQ, my ass. Ya know, just because you sit there and said some words how in the hell does that make you a judge?” All you’ve done back there, you took a damn oath to eat. And that’s all they are…damn eaters.” – Myron Mixon

“One error lead to a second error and second error lead to a third error. Ah, that has never happened to me in a contest where I’ve kind of lost my focus on 2 of the 4 meat entries. Usually we’re very focused but I was just tired. And waking that one hour late on the morning of the cook just really threw us off.” – Harry Soo

“I’m just 1 of 500 that cooked their ass off. I know everybody else did too…but I know what kind of damn stuff I had, same kind of stuff I got has probably done won me $100,000 this year already. Ya know, and you come here and you don’t even damn walk, I mean it’s damn heartbreaking. You know I could have stayed close to my damn house and won me 5-6 thousand dollars this weekend.” – Myron Mixon

As always there were some guys from the show that weren’t featured. This episode left out Johnny Trigg (mostly) and Tuffy Stone. I really don’t know why TLC decides to do this each time. Obviously it has something to do with what they think people will like to see and which teams have the most “drama” or sound bites.

I personally would love to at least see something on everyone each episode so you know they are there and kept in the loop on how they are doing. Even more surprising about this is that Johnny actually finished the best in the Overall category at 47th and Tuffy finished a respectful 70th. They did at least show a very small bit on Johnny at the end of the episode but really just on the relationship between him and Paul.

Take a moment to read through the previous episodes, especially the first one if you haven’t already. It will give you a better understanding of the “characters” involved with the show and with the rules and procedures for the BBQ competition circuit.

BBQ Pitmasters Episode 1 Smokin’ in Mesquite Nevada Open BBQ Championships
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 2 Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 3 Decatur Riverfest Cook Off
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 4 American Royal Invitational
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 5 American Royal Open

This episode covered the Dover Delaware BBQ Championship that took place last October 16th and 17th. There was a total of 81 competitors and $15,000 at stake. The biggest thing here was certainly the weather. They continued to mention the hardships that were brought up by trying to cook in such cold conditions. It was very difficult for a lot of the cooks to maintain the proper temperatures to cook their meats the way they would like. They attempted to insulate their barbecues with mats and blankets. That’s not to mention having to be out in the cold and rain to actually cook too.

As always there were a couple of people from the 6 featured throughout the show that didn’t make this particular episode. There was no mention of either Johnny Trigg or Paul Petersen this time. The show mainly featured the competition between Myron and Tuffy. Tuffy has beat Myron the last three years in Dover and on top of that Tuffy supplied Myron with his brisket because his was not going to arrive in time.

LeAnn was featured a lot as well. She had a lot of problems because she normally has the help from her boyfriend of three years Billy but we learn that they have split up and she is not going to have his aide. She brings along her 10-year-old daughter Sam to help. Sam is knowledgeable and is able to help LeAnn but there is a lot of things that Billy would normally do that either LeAnn has to end up doing herself or just doesn’t know how to do it.

Another fun thing in this episode was Harry Soo’s buddy Gary Notley branching off from Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ and competing against him as Notley Que. Harry taught Gary a lot of what he knows about BBQ and it was interesting to see them compete. It’s not entirely new for them, they’ve been up against each other several times on the California BBQ competition scene.

Diamond State BBQ Championship
Location: Dover, Delaware
Date: October 16-17, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 81
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Chicken
6 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
34– Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
37– LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
46– Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
50– Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
58- Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Pork Ribs
3 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
17 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
24 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
32 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
39 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
45 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Pork
4 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
6 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
14 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
35 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
54 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ
55 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ

Brisket
1 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
6 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
7 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
16 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
17 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
23 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Overall
6 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
8 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
10 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
12 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
29 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
41 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

“Diamond State BBQ Championship…be our 4th year cooking in it. First year Grand Championship, second year Grand Championship, last year we shrunk down to fifth place…little bitty trophy, this year we’re looking to go back aand regain a trophy that you take two hands to carry.” – Tuffy Stone

“Been cooking a long time, since 96′,  and I can count on one hand the real bad weather I’ve really had ya know, from tornadoes, to high winds and stuff…and Dover it ranks right there in the damn top 5. I mean, that’s been some miserable ass weather. You know winds blowing 40 miles an hour, you damn near got sleet and rain, mud up to your ass.” – Myron Mixon

“I’ll be glad when I get my happy ass back in Georgia.” – Myron Mixon

“I believe, if ahhh, if we have to take some of the dough and he doesn’t, his wife is going to be chapped ass with him.” – Myron Mixon

“There’s no way in hell that Myron will give me any money if he beats me in brisket. He might come over and thank me, he might shake my hand but he’s not going to give me any of his cash.” – Tuffy Stone

“Tuffy helped me out in the end, ya know. But he’s a sucker, I’d a never give someone that type of brisket, I’d give ‘em something from the damn supermarket or somethin’.” – Myron Mixon

This was a great episode. Considering the weather and all the issues I would say that the group did a fantastic job. Even Paul, who wasn’t shown, placed his best that I think I’ve ever seen. He got 41st overall which is much much better than he’s been doing. Seeing that there were 81 competitors that’s darn close to the 50% mark. Normally he places dead last or close to it.

Myron ended up not only getting 1st in brisket but the highest overall of the bunch at 6th place earning a total of $300. LeAnn did surprisingly well when you look at all the things she overcame and realize that she probably didn’t sleep hardly at all the entire weekend. She got 3rd in ribs, 6th in brisket and 8th overall earning $150.

Again, not shown, but Johnny came in 10th overall meaning he did really good as well. He placed 6th in pork and 7th in brisket. Tuffy unfortunately had his worst showing at Dover coming in 12th overall but that is nothing to scoff at, that is still a really good finish.

So Myron beat Tuffy out using his brisket, but he also beat out everyone else. Tuffy joked about it saying that Myron hadn’t even paid for the meat yet. Gary came in 26th and edged out Harry by a few places finishing 29th.

BBQ Pitmasters Episode 1 Smokin’ in Mesquite Nevada Open BBQ Championships
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 2 Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off
BBQ Pitmasters Episode 3 Decatur Riverfest Cook Off

This episode was the American Royal Invitational held in Kansas City, Missouri. It has been called  “the Super Bowl of Swine” by some. To be eligible you must won Grand Champion in at least one event the year prior.  The total at stake is $10,000 and there are 124 competitors.

Due to the fact that it’s an invitational, understandably Paul Peterson was not an entrant. However, he took this opportunity to be schooled by the great Johhny Trigg and join Smokin’ Triggers for this competition. A wise move on his part and actually quite an enduring team the two made. It seems like Paul really took the chance to get inside the head of Johnny a learn from a master. I found him to be genuine in his interest to learn.

It was fun to watch Myron and Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson BBQ go at it a bit. The nice thing is that Chris can hold his own with Myron which isn’t the case with others sometimes.

American Royal Invitational BBQ Contest
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Date: October 2-3, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 119
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Chicken
14 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
23 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
51 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
89 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
92 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South

Pork Ribs
33 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
57 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
69 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
72 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
84 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South

Pork
7 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
40 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
53 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
71 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
79 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ

Brisket
3 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
18 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
21 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
23 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
33 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers

Overall
3 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
25 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
40 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
51 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
73 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South

“I’ve been told that I’m a bit anal retentive when it comes to cooking BBQ. For me, everything is important, from the cleanliness to my pit, to the freshness of my rub, to the quality of my meat, to the age of my wood. Every detail is important.” – Tuffy Stone

“To get to go to the American Royal Invitational you gotta win a damn contest. You got to damn be a grand champion to be invited. And…It’s an honor to get to come here and cook against your peers. So getting to come here and try to kick their ass…it’s a unique opportunity.”  – Myron Mixon

“Chris…how many Grand Champions have you won? Two. How many have I won. Three. That’s one cut above…now then!.” – Myron Mixon

“I just had to hug the man, what he did for me was unspeakable. Nothing but tremendous amount respect him.” – Paul Peterson on Johnny Trigg

“I felt like he was a student of mine and also felt like he was a son of mine…he’s a genuine good kid.” - Johnny Trigg on Paul Peterson

Oddly enough LeAnn and Harry were not featured in this episode at all. It’s always strange to me to see who and how they decide to include in each episode. It seems sort of random. Either way you can see how they finished above. I would love to see more of the two of them in the coming shows.

Overall the teams did alright, it was the best of the best, so placing anywhere above half should be considered good. Obviously Tuffy did the best from the bunch (even though he completely forgot to sauce his pork) with finishing 3rd overall and he was the only one to earn any money with a total of $2,900.00. Chris Lilly came in 45th…a whole 28 spots ahead of Myron who finished 73rd.

The second episode of BBQ Pitmasters was more like the Myron Mixon show featuring LeeAnn Whippen. Johnny Trigg and Harry Soo were also in the episode but both Paul Petersen and Tuffy Stone were strangely absent. The odd thing is both Tuffy and Paul were in the competition (I’ve included their results) so I’m not sure why they weren’t on the show. Tuffy actually did extremely well beating 4 other of the show’s cooks and placing 7th overall and a very impressive 2nd in both chicken and brisket.

This competition was a 2-in-1 at the Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off. The first was the Kansas City Barbecue Society featuring chicken, ribs, pork & brisket. This was done as a blind judging (the exact same setup as last week’s). The second competition, which was held simultaneously was the Memphis Barbecue Network featuring whole hog, pork shoulder and ribs. This was a presented judging, where a series of judges come to the cooks rigs and do a tasting and walk-through of their cooking process.

If you liked to see a little more background on the 6 cooks and how the KCBS judging works you can read last week’s review of the premiere episode. Also Diva Q has a very thorough and in-depth interview with Myron Mixon on her blog.

If the cooks chose to they could very well be cooking 7 different meats. I think Myron was the only one who did all seven but most of them entered all of the KCBS and a few of the MBN categories.

The only time Johnny was really in the show was during two disputes. The first at the initial meeting of the cooks. He tried to get them to change the timing for plating the brisket. He felt that there was too short a window. A number of the other cooks spoke up about them wanting to change everything for one guy and thought it was unfair. It was a bit confusing but I believe they increased the window slightly. The second dispute was with another cook in the competition who, while drunk, came up to Johnny mouthing off about how he was better than him. Johnny and him got pretty heated and in the end put a $100 bet on who would place better (Johnny won this bet).

Johnny and Heckler

The MBN was a first for Johhny, LeeAnn and Harry. You could tell that experience in the presenting to the judges helped a lot. Myron was very relaxed and extremely versed in what he was doing. Johnny on the other hand actually came right out and told one of the judges that his ribs were tough and he didn’t even want to use them.

One of the interesting things was Harry talking about the differences in competition in the south as opposed to the west. He mentioned that he had to change his recipes quite a bit to make them a lot sweeter when in the south, adding a whole lot of various sugars. He has never won a competition outside of California. It was also interesting to see how much meat, and the cost, that each cook brings. Myron had nearly 190 lbs and $400 in pork shoulder alone.

Here are the results for both the KCBS and the MBN:

Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off State Championship – KCBS
Location: Murphysboro, Illinois
Date: September 24-26, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 44
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Chicken
2 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
4 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
7 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
11 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
18 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
40 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Pork Ribs
5 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
14 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
21 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
24 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
37 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
38 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Pork
7 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
28 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
29 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy
34 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
36 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
40 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Brisket
2 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
5 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
7 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
11 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
16 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy
43 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Overall
5 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ
7 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke
10 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South
17 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers
18 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
42 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ

Murphysboro BBQ Championship – MBN
Location: Murphysboro, Illinois
Date: September 26, 2009
Categories: Whole Hog, Shoulder, Ribs
Total Competitors: ??
Promoter: Memphis Barbecue Network
Website – Results

Grand Champion – Jack’s Old South (Shoulder)

Whole Hog
1 – Jack’s Old South (Myron Mixon)
2 – Tower Rock
3 – Party Q
4 – Bonefide BBQ Team
9 – Wood Chick’s BBQ (LeeAnn Whippen)

Shoulder
1 – Jack’s Old South (Myron Mixon)
2 – Tower Rock
3 – Redneck Grillers
4 – Hawg N’ Dawgs

Ribs
1 – Jack’s Old South (Myron Mixon)
2 – Big Briq. Com
3 – Hawg & Dawgs
4 – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ (Harry Soo)
8 – Wood Chick’s BBQ (LeeAnn Whippen)
20 – Smokin’ Trigger (Johnny Trigg)

Some memorable quotes:

“Lot a people come to these competitions they want to party have a good time, meet folks, socialize, have a damn homecoming. That ain’t what I’m about. I’m all about damn work, this is my damn job, this is what I do for living. Whole hog is a big part of that, it’s made me probably more money for any category out there. Get the damn hog on, get the judges ass in here, let them taste it…get my money and get my ass outta here.” – Myron Mixon

“When it comes to Myron Mixon cookin’ whole hog…well, that’s just like spitting off a damn train, that’s just how easy it is for me. What I do best is beatin’ everbody elses ass.” – Myron Mixon

“Been a long time since I built a fire this early. I got 18 slabs of ribs I’ve got to cook so I got to get my brisket and my pork off…never in my life have I done this before. Ah this is a new experience for me. It’s gonna be fun…I can BS with the best of them so…maybe I’m just hoping I don’t overdo it.” - Johnny Trigg on entering the MBN.

“I am the best hog cooker out here. Now whether I win or not, you know anyone can get bit on any given day but if I get bit it won’t be because my hog ain’t perfect…it’ll be because they got some sorry ass judges.” – Myron Mixon

“Well he reached up there and poked me in the chest and I said don’t you touch me one more time and I had fire in my eyes. I was getting revved up right there and Jaime thought I was fixin’ to pop him.” – Johnny Trigg

“I guarantee that in the 10 minutes that you did it in last year your box looked like s%&@ and you got a bad score. We’re not talking MBN we’re talking KCBS, that’s the whole point…you don’t know your ass from a whole in the ground about KCBS.” – Johnny Trigg talking to the heckler.

Jack's Old South Grand Champion

So there it is. Myron Mixon won Grand Champion again and over $3000 coming in first in all three categories. Not a shabby weekend. I must admit that his “damns” and “asses” got to be a bit much this time. I like him because he’s cocky and he can back it up but now it seems like he is doing it all just to spite people.

This episode was good but I enjoyed the first one more. I really liked Tuffy and hope he makes an appearance next show. I also like watching the cocky Paul fall flat on his face, which happened again this week placing 42nd out of 44, but we didn’t get to see it. Next week is another KCBS, the Alabama state championship at the Decatur Jaycees Riverfest.

TLC Has a new reality “docu-series” titled BBQ Pitmasters. It debuted Thursday night and initially has 8 episodes. It follows 6 BBQ chefs around the US at various competitions.

The episode was centered around the inaugural Smokin’ in Mesquite Nevada Open BBQ Championship that took place September 4th – 6th, 2009 in Mesquite, Nevada.

At first I was quite skeptical of another cooking show and another reality show. How many of these things can the Food Network, Bravo, Travel Channel, TLC, Discovery Channel,etc. continue to pump out. Whenever something is a small success they suck the genre dry (anyone remember who won American Inventor?) I didn’t have much faith in TLC and this new offering but before I get ahead of myself let’s meet the 6 chefs. (Note: if you don’t want to know the results do not read any further).

Myron Mixon “The King”
Team Name: Jack’s Old South
Location: Unadilla, GA
Name/style of pit: Jacks Old South Indirect Water Smokern
Overall competition winnings: $683,489
Favorite dish to cook: Whole Hog
Secret tip: Select High Quality Meat Before BBQing

Johnny Trigg “The Godfather”
Team Name: Smokin Triggers
Location: Alvarado, TX
Name/style of pit: Jambo,26” Offset
Overall competition winnings: $593,817
Favorite dish to cook: Ribs
Secret tip: Good quality meat

Tuffy Stone “The Professor”
Team Name: Cool Smoke
Name/style of pit: Jambo Pit, offset style pit and I use hickory wood.
Overall competition winnings: $172,822
Favorite dish to cook: Chicken
Secret Tip: Wrap your meat with aluminum foil after it has nice color. Then finish cooking until done. This will prevent over smoking.

Harry Soo “The Challenger”
Team Name: Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ
Location: Diamond Bar, CA
Name/style of pit: Weber Bullet Smoker
Overall competition winnings: $24,938 in 2009
Favorite dish to cook: Spareribs
Secret Tip: Cooking BBQ from the heart with love and intention. Practice, practice, practice.

Lee Ann Whippen “The Queen of Q”
Team Name: Wood Chick’s BBQ
Location: Chesapeake, VA
Name/style of pit: Jedmaster (rotisserie) and Green Egg Ceramic Smokers
Overall competition winnings: $174,336
Favorite dish to cook: Shrimp stuffed with Crabmeat.
Secret tip: When cooking and deciding on a recipe to cook, don’t substitute with low calorie.

Paul Petersen “The Rookie”
Team Name: Pablo Diablo BBQ Team
Location: McKinney, Texas
Name/style of pit: David Klose Pits – Custom Built Offset Smoker
Overall competition winnings: $0
Favorite dish to cook: Ancho Glazed Quail with Fried Quail Egg

The first competition had four categories, Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork and Beef Brisket as well as the Overall category with the Grand Master Award going to the chef with the greatest total score. The Grand Master does not necessarily have to place high in each given category but must have the most accumulative points.

There does not seem to be a designated preparation method for the meats as some cooked whole chickens some just cooked thighs. Some used Wagyū beef and others did not. There are certain standards and guidelines they must meet, like no prep or marinades prior to the competition, but other than that it’s pretty wide open. There is a ten minute window where they must supply the entry to the judges in a white Styrofoam box with only a small garnish of lettuce. If they are even a second late they are disqualified. No one missed the time window but Cool Smoke was with 23 seconds.

The judges receive the entries “blind” and do not know one from the other. They’ve all gone through extensive training on what to look for in BBQ. They look for the presentation of the meat, the tenderness and taste. They want to taste the meat and not the sauce.

Here are the standings in the individual categories as well as the overall:

Chicken
4 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South ($250)*
6 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke ($100)
8 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers ($100)
20 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ ($0)
35 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ ($0)
47 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ ($0)

Pork Ribs
4 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ ($125)
5 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke ($125)
10 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ ($100)
22 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers ($0)
23 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South ($0)*
47 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ ($0)

Pork
2 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers ($1000)
3 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South ($500)*
14 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy ($100)
19 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke ($0)
24 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ ($0)
33 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ ($0)

Brisket
2 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South ($1000)*
11 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers ($100)
13 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy ($100)
19 – Johnny Trigg – Cool Smoke ($0)
33 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ ($0)
46 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ ($0)

Overall
1 – Myron Mixon – Jack’s Old South ($11,750)* – Grand Master
3 – Johnny Trigg – Smokin Triggers ($3700)
4 – Tuffy Stone – Cool Smoke ($850)
13 – Harry Soo – Slap Yo’ Daddy BBQ ($450)
26 – LeeAnn Whippen – Wood Chicks BBQ ($100)
47 – Paul Petersen – Pablo Diablo BBQ ($0)

They did fairly well considering there were 47 competitors and 3 of the top 5 were from the bunch. These are the results posted during the show but when I was looking into the standings I noticed that they were slightly different and I couldn’t find Jack’s Old South listed anywhere. Digging deeper I found the following statement from the Kansas City BBQ Society:

“The KCBS Board is hereby requested by Myron Mixon of Jack’s Old South competition cooking team, whom upon discovering an inadvertent error in registering for two contests on the same date, under the same name, and to further the Spirit of BBQ competition and the Creed of KCBS that the results of each contest be modified to award the Reserve Grand Champion in each case the Grand Championship, and all other places be corrected accordingly. Jack’s Old South wants to do what is right and honorable thing.

Myron Mixon stated he made a mistake in filling out his applications and he is sorry for that. Jack’s Old South was meeting an obligation and promise he made to a friend and organizer of the Myrtle Beach, SC contest several months ago. After that the TLC BBQ Reality Show came along and it was a fast paced deal. Myron Mixon never intended to get or want points from two contests. The KCBS Board stated Myron Mixon has never done anything but promote BBQ and KCBS and other BBQ events. Myron Mixon and Jack’s Old South is a team of integrity that loves BBQ and the competition and will compete by the rules of any organization and abide by those rules. Vote: 11 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions”

So Myron removed himself from the competition and returned his winnings. The result is that all other competitors move up one place in ranking and some have earned a little more, but none of this is mentioned in the show.

Overall I really enjoyed the show. The cast of characters is a good mix. You have the old master in Johnny Trigg, the cocky but deservedly so Myron Mixon, the cocky and not deservedly so rookie Paul Petersen, the lovable underdog Harry Soo, the lovable but tough girl that fits in with the guys in LeeAnn Whippen, and the all around nice guy Tuffy Stone. The episode included a little excitement with a flat tire on a trailer, a hail storm, broken BBQs, fires going out and a whole lot of good looking food.

Here are a few memorable quotes:

“I ain’t afraid $%&# ‘cept my daddy…and he’s dead. If I don’t bother you, you don’t bother me. It’s about f@$%^&# winning. Everybody’s not Michael Jordan, everybody’s not Tiger Woods and they DAMN sure ain’t me. There’s no f@$%^&# way you can beat me.” – Myron Mixon

“I’m a woman in a man’s world. Do not get near me, do not talk to me when I’m competing. Do NOT underestimate me” – LeeAnn Whippen

“These BBQ guys don’t know how to do this. I don’t believe that there’s anybody out there that can cook like I can. I’m faster than anybody, I’m more effecient than anybody. I’m a young gun to the BBQ competition circuit but I AM the grill master. I’m the Johnny Cash of cooking because I’m nothing but rock and roll. I’m actually looked at as one of the best chefs in Texas. I try to keep it humble…but people know. I’m going to cook circles around these guys…seriously, with my eyes closed” – Paul Petersen (he placed 47th of 47)

“He don’t win sh&@. He’s a good guy though…a good guy to beat up on. He ain’t no rival, $%#!%^#&@ can’t even shine my shoes.” – Myron Mixon on Paul Petersen

“What the hell’s this all about Tuffy, you going to wipe his ass too?” – Johnny Trigg on Tuffy having to park Paul’s RV and trailer.

“I looked around over there and I saw Harry Soo meditating…I didn’t know how to take that ’cause we don’t do that s^&# down in Georgia. Thought it’s supposed to be getting him in sync with his environment, whatever to beat my ass. He was wasting his meditatin’ time.” – Myron Mixon

There are all the different stereotypes that you want to root for and the ones you want to see lose. Personally I love the guy that thinks he’s the best because he is the best, as Myron does and is.I also love to see the new cocky guy lose as what happens with Paul. I’m not sure if they follow the same cast of chefs during all 8 competitions but I know I’d love to see these same 6 throughout the series.

They do a good job of educating the viewer on the BBQing process and what it takes to make the difference between a mediocre finished product and something that will win competitions. I know I’ll be watching every single one of the first 8 episodes. I’m pretty sure the next episode is Whole Hog, and I’m looking forward to that. The only problem with this show is that it makes you hungry for some BBQ.

Some of the other competitions look like they’ll be the Big Pig Jig in Vienna, Ga (I’m pretty sure that’s the upcoming episode), as well as ones in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri and Delaware. The show airs Thursday nights on TLC at 10:00 PM EST.

Update: I’ve compiled a list of what looks like the upcoming competitions. I’ve included links to their sites along with links to the results. Do not click on the results link if you don’t want to know the outcome until the show airs.

Decatur Jaycees 15th Annual Riverfest
Location: Decatur, Alabama
Date: September 17-19, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 59
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off State Championship
Location: Murphysboro, Illinois
Date: September 24-26, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 44
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

30th Annual American Royal Barbecue Open
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Date: October 2-3, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 473
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

American Royal Invitational BBQ Contest
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Date: October 2-3, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 119
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Diamond State BBQ Championship
Location: Dover, Delaware
Date: October 16-17, 2009
Categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork & Brisket
Total Competitors: 81
Promoter: Kansas City Barbeque Society
Website – Results

Big Pig Jig
Location: Vienna, Georgia
Date: November 6-7, 2009
Categories: Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulder & Whole Hog
Total Competitors: 100
Promoter: Memphis Barbecue Network
Website – Results