If the CIA is looking for new agents, it may want to consider recruiting from among barbecue cook-off contestants.
Charles Brooks, of Clinton, Md., pulls apart some bacon to judge its texture in the whole-hog category
...(more)
Steven Brierley, 8, of Jackson, N.J., bites into some pork ribs.
The head of the pig adorns a Momo BBQ table.
Harry Sensenig, of Martin Enterprises, cuts up some pork loin on the John Deere cooker.
Because those folks know how to keep secrets.
Seventy-two competitors gathered at the New Holland Memorial Park this weekend to vie in the New Holland Summer Fest's Pennsylvania State Championship BBQ Cook-Off. The contestants came not only from Lancaster County, but from as far afield as Canada.
The cook-off is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, a national barbecue association. Launched in 2000 with just 16 competitors, the New Holland cook-off has become a notable stop on the competitive barbecuing circuit.
The competitors fired up their cookers Friday night, and barbecued into Saturday. There was a whole-hog competition, a sausage competition and a chef's choice contest. To vie for the grand championship, the competitors needed to make chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket, and submit their masterpieces at half-hour intervals Saturday.
Saturday's grand champions were the reigning grand champs: The Midnite Smokers, who are the husband-and-wife team of Paul and Brenda Hess, of Hess's Barbecue Catering in Willow Street.
The Hesses have been cooking competitively for nine years. They admitted to a little nervousness as they awaited the judges' decision.
"There's money involved, and there are trophies involved," said Paul Hess.
"And bragging rights," added Brenda Hess.
After they were announced as both the repeat grand champions and winners of the Pennsylvania Cup (the latter because they had accumulated more points than any other Pennsylvania team), Brenda Hess said, "Oh my goodness, we are just ecstatic. This is just unbelievable."
Given that they run a catering business, their desire to spend precious leisure time at a cook-off might mystify some.
"We enjoy doing it," Paul Hess said. "We could be at the beach this weekend, but we chose to be here. Some people enjoy golfing. We enjoy barbecuing."
Asked for the secrets of their success, they spoke only in vague terms. Paul Hess said the trick was to "flavorize, moisturize and tenderize." All of the competitors strive to find the "right wood, the right seasoning and the right sauce," he said.
You can help other contestants "with technique," Brenda Hess said, "but you don't want to give away your secret ingredients."
That philosophy — share general pointers, but not secrets — seemed to be a commonly held one at Summer Fest.
The event had a lot of everything (except maybe vegetarians): Some 3,000 visitors, music, a kids' barbecue competition, a motorcycle ride and contest.
It was a slice of American life that Canadians Cathy and Chris Corrigan said they thoroughly enjoyed.
The Corrigans, who hail from Waterloo, Ontario, said barbecuing isn't very big in Canada. It's mostly a matter of climate, said Chris Corrigan, noting, "The season isn't as long."
They discovered the joys of barbecuing in their travels throughout the American South, they said, and they now compete under the name, Hog Tails Barbecue.
Contestants from the South used to have a competitive advantage, but that's no longer the case, said Fred "Shotgun" Pirkle, a Texas native who resides in Bucks County.
Pirkle, who's 62, said he's been barbecuing since he was 7 or 8; his grandfather taught him to cook on big clay flowerpots. He now manufactures barbecue temperature-control devices, and his team, The BBQ Guru, was competing this weekend.
Pirkle suffered a stroke while at a cook-off in April, but he was back in his element Saturday. "These are my people," he said. "I'd rather be at a barbecue event than anywhere."
Doug Anderson, of Media, whose team goes by the name Smokin' S-Wine, said he loves barbecuing because it's so different from what he does for a living. He works in customer service for a mutual fund company.
His barbecue partner, Scott Netwall, works at a sewage treatment plant.
"We have special sauces," laughed Anderson, in a joking reference to Netwall's day job.
Anderson said people are "genuinely nice" on the competitive barbecuing circuit. "Now, excuse me," he said, as if to demonstrate his point. "I need to go help somebody with a hog right now."
At nearly the edge of the New Holland Memorial Park, the Philly Pigs BBQ team set up an elaborate rig, complete with a portrait of Elvis in a gold frame studded with fake gems.
The 11-member team included a financial consultant, a mortgage broker, a homicide detective, an attorney and perhaps most improbably of all, a guy in the natural-foods business.
Most of the Philly Pigs became friends while they were students at Villanova University.
"We're a drinking group with a barbecue problem," quipped pit boss Jim Boggs.
Beverages account for "30 percent of our operating expenses," said another of the team's leaders, Dan Deon, who may or may not have been joking.
They started in their backyards, hanging out over the grill, and started in 1994 to barbecue competitively. "Your name gets called, and you're hooked," Boggs said.
Another team, K&J Barbeque, was started by two longtime buddies, Korey Swope and Jay Stauffer. They went to Garden Spot High School together, and both joined the New Holland Fire Company as volunteer firefighters.
Swope and Stauffer said they used a couple of secret ingredients when barbecuing. But in their view, it isn't so much the ingredients, as the combination of ingredients, which matters.
They had no intention of revealing their preferred combination.
"When you get down to the nitty-gritty, it's" — he broke off to make a lip-zipping motion — "it's a competition," Swope said. "You don't want somebody getting the edge on you."
Mark Litwin, of Lancaster — a one-man barbecue team, Mr. Mark's Barbeque — maintained that the secret to delicious barbecue is "in the mopping," the process of brushing liquid onto the meat.
The competitive barbecuing routine is not for the faint-hearted, Litwin said, noting that you have to endure summer heat and long hours.
So why do it?
Sal Gobat, of the Shippensburg team Smokin' Gnome BBQ (motto: "Gnome More Mr. Nice Guy"), put it succinctly.
"Truly, to do this," Gobat said, "I think everybody has to have a little crazy in them."
The winnersResults of the competition categories are as follows:
Grand champion: Midnight Smoker.
Reserve grand champion: Who Are These Guys?
Sausage — 1. Smoke in Da Eye; 2. Brique House BBQ; 3. Pequea Pullers.
Chicken — 1. Shenandoah Q Crew; 2. Smokey Bear BBQ; 3. Acme Brothers BBQ Team.
Pork ribs — 1. Who Are Those Guys?; Smoker Dudes BQ; 3. The BBQ Guru.
Pork — 1. Midnite Smoker; 2. Free Range BBQ; 3. Jack's Down Home.
Brisket — 1. Midnite Smoker; 2. Tarheel Smokers; 3. Smokey T's Pit Crew.
Chef's choice — 1. Pigheaded BBQ; 2. Jumping Dog Barbecue; 3. Jack's Down Home.
Whole hog — 1. Lo'-N-Slo' BBQ; 2. 3Eyz BBQ; 3. Midnite Smoker.
Kids, ages 10 and under — Overall Ranking: 1. Will Sharp; 2. Sara Feil; 3. Robbie McDavid. Chicken: 1. Verus BBQ; 2. Anna Harris; 3. Robbie McDavid. Brisket: 1. Anna Harris; 2. Garrett's Smokin' Grill; 3. Will Sharp. Chef's choice: 1. Sara Feil; 2. Rachel Feil; 3. Robbie McDavid.
Ages 11-15 — Overall Ranking: 1. Jeremy McDavid; 2. Katie Chambers; 3. Natalie Dohner. Chicken: 1. Jeremy McDavid; 2. Jordan & Shai; 3. Natalie Dohner. Brisket: 1. Katie Chambers; 2. Jeremy McDavid; 3. Jordan & Shai. Chef's choice: 1. Jeremy McDavid; 2. Dylan Harnish; 3. Andrew Brown.
Ages 16-18 — Overall Ranking: 1. Dizzy Pig BBQ; 2. Sarah Vink; 3. Brendon Harnish. Chicken: 1. Dizzy Pig BBQ; 2. Sarah Vink; 3. Kelly McClay. Brisket: 1. Dizzy Pig BBQ; 2. Brendon Harnish; 3. Sarah Vink. Chef's choice: 1. Dizzy Pig BBQ; 2. Sarah Vink; 3. Kelly McClay.
Suzanne Cassidy is a staff writer for the Sunday News. Her e-mail address is scassidy@lnpnews.com.
(228)
