-Ben Lobenstein

Contest Organizer

West Coast BBQ Championships

Just a reminder that we are approaching the weekend of the 21st Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue Contest. This is the most prestigious BBQ contest in the world. And all of our winners of the 2009 West Coast BBQ Championships  – All Hogs Go to Heaven and Rhythm n’ Que are there representing us and all of the West Coast BBQ family. These two teams are there with assistance from close friend and mentor Brent Walton of QN4U, which if you are following West Coast BBQ Championships history has won the Grand Champion title at the West Coast BBQ Championships in 2004 & 2006, they also took Reserve Grand Champion in 2005 & 2007. We hope these 2 teams take top honors at “The Jack”.

We’ll let everyone know the results after the weekend.

Here are a few fun facts the fine folks at Jack Daniels put together*.

Every president since Thomas Jefferson has hosted a barbecue while in office. That means for 207 years Americans have been “grilling out.”

Jack Fact: This year marks the 21st Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue. More than seventy-five championship teams from around the world will participate, eager to slow cook their way to flame fame.

The word barbecue is believed to have originated from either the Spanish word “barbacoa” or the French word “de barbe a` queue.” In Asia, they use bamboo, stones and metal to grill meat such as goat, snake and the occasional prairie dog. You won’t find that at your regular family cookout!

Jack Fact: Of the teams participating at least 15 are international, representing countries such as Australia,Jamaica and Croatia. There is even an international category called Home Cookin’ from the Homeland where teams show off their country’s traditional recipes.

Nearly 74 million U.S.households own at least one grill. According to Consumer Reports, the average cost of a grill is $275.

Jack Fact: Our cookers come with rigs costing as much as $15,000 that consist of several custom racks, smokers and rotisseries to ‘cue a hog to perfection.

The most popular food for barbecuing is burgers (82%), followed by steak, chicken and hot dogs.

Jack Fact: In one day, more than 3,900 pounds of pork, beef and chicken will be seared and served to entice our pavilion of Kansas City Barbeque Society and (lucky)celebrity judges.  Winners will take home their share of more than $30,000in cash and prizes

The most popular days in America to grill out are July 4th, Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Jack Fact: Down in Lynchburg (pop. 361), one day stands above the rest. On Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008, the world’s best barbecue will be judged to crown the Grand Champion at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue.

* Barbecue facts courtesy of Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (http://hpba.org/), Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org) and Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.org).

Facts post originally appeared here.

All Hogs Go to Heaven & Rhythm 'n Que

As if it wasn’t enough that never before in the more than 25 years of the Kansas City BBQ Society have THREE open/non-invitational full FOUR meat BBQ State Championships ever been accomplished in just 2 days. It turns out that ALL of the winners will advance to the 21st Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue, yes all of them. The odds of that happening are just astronomical.

Here’s how the contest played out – less than 30 hours from the first turn in to the last award. There were some good reasons behind this idea, and even a rule had to be waived by the KCBS Board of Directors to allow this to occur. There were 1.5 contests on Saturday 8/15/09, and then the remaining 1.5 contests on Sunday 8/1/609.

The background – for the last 6 years California’s longest running BBQ contest – the West Coast BBQ Championships has been partnered with the Fairfield Tomato Festival, which for most of those years was a single day event. The last 2 years have seen the host/tomato event expand to two days, and therefore it was asked of the West Coast BBQ Championships to come up with a way to stay in place both days. The first idea was simple, do one regular four meat KCBS contest each on Saturday and Sunday, but then what to do with our group of “backyarders” who have only cooked chicken, ribs and tri tip in our contest for the last few years? The best idea was to move these

Rhythm 'n Que with #7

“backyarders” up to a “split” contest. So we created a 3rd KCBS contest that was divided over the 2 days – this allowed anyone who had been daunted by turning in the standard 4 KCBS meats in the normal 100 or so minute time span, or didn’t have enough cook space to manage all four meats simultaneously, could still compete. Chicken and ribs for this split contest were turned in BEFORE the Saturday four meat contest, and the pork and brisket for this split contest were turned in AFTER the Sunday four meat contest.

As such 1.5 contests a day would be in violation of KCBS Rule #2, for which the West Coast BBQ Championships had applied for and received a waiver from KCBS, thanks to the help and support of Gene Goycochea and Merl Whitebook.

To add just another layer of challenge to this iron man cook, the West Coast BBQ Championships also had a Mystery Meat category, which was free and available to any team who was entered in any of the other contests. Most of the competitors were very afraid of the concept of Mystery Meat – since many are very calculated in their cooking styles. There were many guesses as to what the meat would be, but in the end many of the cooks had great fun with this, and nearly everyone said they enjoyed it enough to want to do it again. The only real thing that the contestants knew about the Mystery Meat was that it was Rancher’s Reserve beef (and thus many called it the Mystery Cut as technically they knew the meat), until they received the product at about 9pm Friday evening. The meat that the cooks were given was Cordelico Sirloin (flap meat) supplied to the contestants by Safeway’s Rancher’s Reserve, Alan and Mary Odor of Big O’s BBQ from Meridian, CA took top honors for this entry, with many of the contestants getting VERY creative in this category – most of the judges were blown away with the creativity and effort put into these delicious and delectable entries.

The team that can’t be kept away from a BBQ contest based out of Lancaster, CA – All Hogs Go to Heaven led by Steve “One Sock” Madaule, has been doing well in recent contests but has always come up shy of top honors redeemed

All Hogs Go to Heaven & Rhythm 'n Que

themselves by taking Grand Champion not just once but, TWICE! That’s right All Hogs Go to Heaven took the GC at state championships two days in a row! Then the final award of the weekend which became the most special for the not just the teams present at this contest but many others who were not present. It’s not many times that contests get to announce a direct entry (no draw) into the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue. But this is how history is made for the California BBQ Association 2008 Team of the Year, Vincent Carrocci and Alexa Fairbairn of team Rhythm n’ Que out of Scottsdale, AZ . West Coast BBQ Championships was able to be the contest that gave them their 7th Grand Champion win (this draw year), which would give them an automatic to the 21st Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue, which in turn would take them out of the draw for all of their other wins.

The final and most remarkable turn of events came almost 3 weeks after the contest as we all found on on September 3, 2009 that All Hogs Go to Heaven won the 21st Annual Jack Daniel’s Invitational “California” draw making this another piece of history. Two teams crowned GC at the same event on the same day, make it to the Jack together. A big congratulations to All Hogs Go to Heaven and Rhythm N Que for doing what likely NO other BBQ teams can ever claim to have done. A testament that the best in competitive BBQ can be found on the West Coast – where history is best served smoked.

Saturday’s Contest

Sunday’s Contest

Split Contest

There are 3 Costco’s within 20 miles:

Closest

About 15 miles South

About 10 miles North

There are also 3 Wally Worlds within about the same 20 mile range:

Closest

About 10 miles north

About 10 miles south

For local groceries we strongly prefer Safeway.

Also in town there is a Railey’s, and lastly FoodMaxx, and there are 2 within 2 miles and both open 24 hours: North Texas & West Texas

In case you need them there are also a Target, Home Depot and Walgreen’s across the street from  where the FoodMaxx is on West Texas.

There is a Smart & Final about 15 miles South in Vallejo if you need that.

There is a BofA and Wells Fargo Banks/ATMs  and a Chevron gas station within steps of the contest site. The Chevron is about 2 blocks West, should be open 24 hours and sells ice if you don’t want to drive to get some.

Safeway Rancher’s Reserve® beef is Naturally aged beef. Because you can’t rush greatness. Once we choose beef that’s good enough to be Rancher’s Reserve®, it is naturally aged to tender perfection. This process improves the beef, so you can enjoy the rich, buttery texture and flavor of the meat, a difference you can taste. And after one bite of our tender beef, we’re sure you’ll agree that good things come to those who wait. Our ranchers are committed to bringing you trusted beef that comes exclusively from the USA. We believe the wide open space of America’s plains yields the best tasting, highest quality beef in the world. Our standards for quality and safety are unmatched, so you can always feel confident serving Rancher’s Reserve beef, and we guarantee you’ll enjoy it’s melt-in-your-mouth juicy tenderness.

1. Must be cooked, raw/uncooked product will be disqualified.

2. Must have 6 servings, or enough to get six samples from the entry.

3. Must be cooked and prepared ON SITE, meat should not leave the contest site, period.

4. Can use ANY cooking method or fuel – gas, electric, solar, etc.

5. Can use ANY garnish – ANYTHING GOES!

6. Not required to use 9 x 9 turn in containers, we’ll supply a 3 x 5 index card for your number and tape if need be to secure it. You MUST have your number on the entry (and not on the underside please!).

7. Limit turn in overall size to 18 x 18 x 18 or so, and must be carry able by a single person without assistance.

8. If you feel the need to ask – Can I/we make it part of a _____________________, most likely our answer will be YES! Keep in mind we are judging the MEAT, not the sides/extras.

9. Have fun and get creative!

10. Teams will get the Mystery Meat during the cooks meeting, and we hope to have enough to allow teams to do a test cook Fri night.

If  you have any additional cooked Mystery Meat, rest assured some of the support staff would very much enjoy trying your creations, hint hint, nudge nudge.

There will more hints before the contest….

It’s official….

Don’t be afraid, it’s really not that big an issue….

Nonetheless, in what seems like an annual tradition, at least for those who have been to the West Coast BBQ Championships before, we are once again on the move.

This time we are moving farther West!

A whopping FOUR blocks to be exact.

Our new digs offers us more shade, better judging accommodations, and hopefully more obstruction of the notorious Fairfield wind. This also means for teams who were with us last year and have requested to be placed in the same spot, chances are extremely unlikely that you will get it, and if you did, not only are you facing a very very long walk to turn in’s, but an enormous amount of solitude as if you were an outcast from the rest of the BBQ family, which is not what we want.

For the last several years we have been in the general area of Jefferson street at Texas:

One of the main reasons for this move is the building in the top right of the image above *could potentially* be demolished around the time of the contest.  If this indeed becomes the case, the possibility of dust or debris affecting the contestants and their entries would be HUGE. A risk far beyond what we are willing to accept.

In 2009 we will be re-locating to Taylor street at Texas.

For those that have been to the contest during its inaugural year in Fairfield this is right about where it all started. We look forward to seeing you there.

Fresh off the press at Solano Magazine, click here to read the article.

Our head spokesperson Ben Lobenstein was invited to be a guest on Comcast Newsmakers a few weeks ago. Watch him talking up the contest and the Tomato Festival with Jack Hanson. Check out the video below…

In case the player above doesn’t work, here is the direct link to the YouTube page – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxdKcv1O4I