The history of KC BBQ:
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/19...-barbecue.html
Posted on Wed, May. 19, 2010
Right on 'cue | Your guide to this weekend's Great American Barbecue Festival
By TIM ENGLE
The Kansas City Star
With all the meat at a big-time barbecue contest, you would think it would be easy to get your mouth on some.
Not necessarily true.
But this weekend’s Great American Barbecue Festival outside Sandstone Amphitheater is not just a competition, it’s a celebration of ’cue. And it’s hard to celebrate barbecue without sampling some. Vendors will sell traditional saucy fare — brisket sandwiches, ribs, pulled pork, wings — as well as exotic meats such as ostrich and alligator. (We bet it all tastes like barbecued chicken.)
“There will be absolutely no vegan specials,” promises organizer Paul Satterfield.
The people behind the Great American Barbecue like to call it the Mardi Gras of Meat and the Carnivore Carnivale, but it’s actually a family-friendly event. The only thing you’ll see flashed, as far as we know, is pork butt.
In honor of the festival’s sixth year, we’ve cooked up an assortment of lists, each with six items.
6 just-the-facts, ma’am
1. The Great American Barbecue Festival is Friday and Saturday in the parking lots outside Sandstone Amphitheater in Bonner Springs. Friday daytime is devoted to barbecue contests, so public gates don’t open until 3 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 9 a.m.
2. Yes, the festival used to be on Memorial Day weekend. It’s a week earlier this year.
3. Admission is $10 per day for anyone 13 and older. Kids 12 and younger get in free. Or go both days for $15. Parking is free.
4. No animals, no coolers, no drinks or alcohol allowed in. But beverages (including beer) will be for sale.
5. Live bands on two stages 6-11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Fireworks at about 10 p.m. Friday.
6. More info at
www.thinkbbq.com.
6 wacky-named bbq teams
Some teams likely to be cooking at this weekend’s contest:
1. Briskets & Gravy
2. Hoosier Daddy
3. Jurassic Pork
4. Notorious P.I.G.
5. Ribs for Her Pleasure
6. Guys With Wood
6 things for the kids to do
1. Check out the “Kidz Que” competition 4:30-5:30 p.m. Friday — younger kids are cooking steak; older ones are doing pork chops. Adults are around to lend a hand. Awards ceremony at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
2. Bounce around on inflatables in the Kidz Zone.
3. Finger-paint with barbecue sauce.
4. Get their faces painted (not with barbecue sauce).
5. Ride carnival rides.
6. Sample Mother’s Cookies, making their KC area debut, and a new mac and cheese from Velveeta.
6 qualities a certified bbq judge looks for
You know, in barbecue. Not in a potential hookup.
1. Presentation: color, uniformity of pieces, aesthetic layout of pieces in the presentation box. And nothing weird: A team can’t make an initial with the sauce, for instance.
2. Tenderness. Overly tender = overcooked.
3. Taste. Although this should probably be at the top of the list.
4. Only three garnishes allowed: parsley, cilantro and green leaf lettuce.
5. Judges certified by the Kansas City Barbeque Society are “very picky,” Great American organizer Paul Satterfield says, but their training keeps subjectivity in check.
6. You can’t hurry barbecue: It takes six hours or so to smoke a chicken. It can take 20 hours to smoke a brisket.
6 regional bands you’ll want to catch
The festival has two stages this year. These six acts will appear on the main stage:
1. Scott Ford Band, 6 p.m. Friday
2. Loozin Sleep, 7:30 p.m. Friday
3. Six Degrees West, 9 p.m. Friday
4. Red Letter Hero, 12:30 p.m. Saturday
5. Brandon Miller Band, 2:30 p.m. Saturday
6. Big Foam Finger (with Fox 4’s Mike Thompson on guitar), 4 p.m. Saturday
1 eating activity and 5 non-eating activities
1. Help judge the sauce competition. You’ll get a little cup of meat, then you can choose the sauces and rubs you want to sample. (Find the People’s Choice tent.)
2. After you wolf down a plate of ’cue (for sale in BBQ Alley), something fried on a stick, some kettle corn, a funnel cake, an Italian ice and a couple of beers … go hop on a carnival ride. The whirlier the better!
3. Or take it a little easier, like a nice, calm Ferris wheel ride.
4. Watch other people eat: The competitive rib-eating contest goes down (and stays down, with any luck) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (Fox 4 stage).
5. Check out the Southern Living mobile demonstration kitchen, the homegrown Bacon Explosion guys and other culinary demos.
6. Buy some barbecue gear — a smoker, maybe, or knives or sweet-smelling wood — for the Q-lover in your life.
6 fun festival factoids
1. The Great American Barbecue claims to be the world’s biggest barbecue festival and the second-largest sanctioned barbecue contest (behind the American Royal). Prize money up for grabs: $73,000.
2. There are two divisions of competition: The invitational is, as you’d guess, by invitation (those 30 teams have to have won a state championship). The open has attracted 200-plus teams this year. The open has lots of categories, including wings, side dishes and desserts.
3. Teams (whether competing in the invitational or the open) have to cook four meats: chicken, pork butt, pork ribs and brisket.
4. The winner of last year’s rib-eating competition ate 8.3 pounds of ribs in under seven minutes.
5. The festival is expecting 50,000 participants and attendees this year.
6. All those hungry people will require some 300,000 wet naps to wipe the sauce off their hands, faces and other body parts.