Sweet, smoky aroma wafts through Sterling during third year of Art of BBQ – Sterling Journal-Advocate

The third year of the Logan County Arts League barbecue competition was tastier than ever, with 25 teams from across Colorado and beyond descending on downtown Sterling last weekend to compete for $10,000 in cash prizes — and some awesome custom trophies.

The competition hosted by the Kansas City Barbecue Society kicked off Friday night. As professional teams circled the Logan County Courthouse Square and began preparing their entries, LOCAL’s 20th annual July Jamz also kicked off with a performance by Eagles tribute band The Long Run, drawing a crowd to downtown Sterling as the smell of smoking meat began to fill the air.

Things really heated up on Saturday when the Backyard Division competitors arrived and began cooking their ribs and side dishes.

Behind the scenes, judges and volunteers organized within the United Methodist Church of Christ. Judges for KCBS competitions must be certified, which includes membership in the organization and completion of a judging course. This year’s competition included a handful of novice judges as well as several judges who were certified as master barbecuers, meaning they had judged at least 30 competitions and met other criteria, including cooking with a team in a competition.

Before the judging began, the judges all took an oath as KCBS judges, pledging to “objectively and subjectively evaluate every piece of barbecue meat that is presented to my eyes, nose, hands and palate…so that truth, justice, the excellence of barbecue and the American way of life may be strengthened and preserved forever.”

When the atomic clock struck 11:55 a.m., teams had 10 minutes to drop off their chickens at the drop-off table behind the church. The boxes were then wheeled inside to be sorted and delivered to one of four tables of six judges each, who first rated each chicken on appearance, then taste and tenderness, on a nine-point scale.

The cycle repeats every half hour for the three remaining categories: ribs, pork and finally brisket. The sorting gets more difficult with each round, because KCBS rules require that no judge taste entries from the same team in the same competition.

Once the KCBS competition was over, it was the backyard competitors’ turn. They had two entrees to complete; first, ribs, followed by an “Anything Goes” side dish. Entrees in this category ranged from mac-n-cheese to sliders to a grilled peach dish.

While judges sampled the food prepared in the gardens, community members sampled pulled pork prepared by some of the KCBS competitors at a fundraising dinner on the courthouse lawn. Attendees enjoyed live music by Robert Woodward and browsed vendor booths set up on the plaza, while a children’s area featured several inflatable rides.

Once the final results were tallied, the teams gathered around the kiosk for the awards ceremony.

The first three were:

Backyard — Coasts

  1. Sasquatch Barbecue
  2. Bovins Brothers Barbecue
  3. Smoked Barbecue B

Backyard — Side

  1. Dig and discover
  2. Barbecue with locomotive breath
  3. ThriverQ

Backyard — Global

  1. Sasquatch Barbecue
  2. Bovins Brothers Barbecue
  3. Rudd’s Barbecue

KCBS — Chicken

  1. Papa Pig and Pork Chop
  2. Bracken Barbecue Grills
  3. Bushmaster Barbecue

KCBS — Coasts

  1. Barbecue of heifers, buttocks and clucking
  2. Colorado Bulldawg Barbecue
  3. Hot Butt Barbecue

KCBS — Pork

  1. Papa Pig and Pork Chop
  2. Barbecue at ease
  3. BrewsCue

KCBS — Beef Brisket

  1. BrewsCue
  2. M-Dubs Barbecue
  3. Papa Pig and Pork Chop

KCBS — Overall

  1. Papa Pig and Pork Chop
  2. Bushmaster Barbecue
  3. American Heroes Barbecue

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