Georgia Barbecue Association

Oct 28 2012

LJ Smokin’ Takes Pigs & Produce Grand Championship

LJ Smokin’ Takes Pigs & Produce Grand Championship

Grand Champion – L J Smokin’

Hawkinsville — Larry Johns of LJ Smokin’ walked last at the Hawkinsville Harvest Festival Pigs & Produce BBQ contest on the strength of a near perfect (599.7 score) in the Ribs Final round. Bubba Grills,pitmaster Lonnie Smith, finished in the top 4 in the preliminary round in all three categories to capture the Reserve Grand Championship.

Reserve Grand Champion – Bubba Grills

Myron Mixon wins the Rib Cookoff over his son Michael

The crowds began to gather on Friday afternoon for the head to head Rib Cookoff between Myron Mixon of Jack’s Old South and his son, Michael, of Jack’s New South. A panel consisting of GBA Contests Reps, GBA Master Judges, and local VIPs judged two boxes from each of the competitors. The Winningest Man in BBQ, Myron Mixon edged out his protege’.

Mr.Joe Wright of Bethel Smokers dominated the Ancillary contests taking first place in Sauce, Brunswick Stew and People’s Choice. Bubba Grills won the Georgia State Boiled Peanuts Championship.

Bethel Smokers win Sauce, Brunswick Stew & People’s Choice

Boiled Peanut State Champion – Bubba Grills

First Place Loin – Smokin Grill

The Pork Loin category was won by Smokin’ Grill, the reigning GBA State Champions. Second place went to Holy Smokers. Bubba Grills took third place. Anarque edged out Smokin’ 42 BBQ for fourth place by 0.4 of a point. Bubba Grills and LJ Smokin’ tied for first place in Pork with Bubba Grills getting the win after the second tiebreaker. Bethel Smokers got the third place call with Smokin’ 42 BBQ in fourth and Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack rounding out the top five. LJ Smokin’ missed a perfect score by 0.3 of a point in Ribs to win the category. Bethel Smokers came in second with Ray Scott Outdoors in third. Bubba Grills and Kelvin’s BBQ finished fourth & fifth respectively.

	Hawkinsville
	October 27, 2012


		RIBS			PULLED PORK			PORK LOIN
1	599.7	LJ SMOKIN	1	596.1	BUBBA GRILLS	1	595.4	SMOKIN GRILL
2	588.6	BETHEL SMOKERS	2	596.1	LJ SMOKIN	2	592.5	HOLY SMOKERS
3	582.2	Ray Scott Outdoors	3	587.6	BETHEL SMOKERS	3	575.6	BUBBA GRILLS
4	595.5	Bubba Grills	4	590.1	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	4	588.5	AnarQue
5	594.8	Kelvin’s BBQ	5	588.8	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	5	588.1	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
6	591.8	Bomb Diggity Barbecue	6	587.9	Holy Smokers BBQ	6	586.8	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack
7	591.5	AnarQue	7	587.5	Ray Scott Outdoors	7	584.2	Lj smokin
8	589.9	Holy Smokers BBQ	8	585.1	Bomb Diggity Barbecue	8	581.2	Big D’s Firehouse Smokers
9	582	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	9	584.3	Kelvin’s BBQ	9	576.6	ComSouth BBQ cook team
10	582	Old Henry’s BBQ	10	580.9	Aunt Mary’s BBQ Brigade	10	576.6	Old Henry’s BBQ
11	579.5	Aunt Mary’s BBQ Brigade	11	577.8	Big D’s Firehouse Smokers	11	575.2	Bomb Diggity Barbecue
12	579.3	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	12	577.3	Lil’ Jack’s Shack	12	575.2	Smokinwilly Squealers
13	578.7	ET’s BBQ	13	577.1	AnarQue	13	572.9	Kelvin’s BBQ
14	571.4	Smokin’ Aces	14	570.7	Old Henry’s BBQ	14	569	BETHEL SMOKERS
15	569.7	ComSouth BBQ cook team	15	570.4	Butt Rubbers	15	569	Ray Scott Outdoors
16	566.5	Smokin Grills	16	570	Smokinwilly Squealers	16	565.5	ET’s BBQ
17	565.8	Butt Rubbers	17	567.5	Smokin Grills	17	565.4	Aunt Mary’s BBQ Brigade
18	560.9	Smokinwilly Squealers	18	566.1	3 D’s BBQ	18	562.7	3 D’s BBQ
19	558.6	3 D’s BBQ	19	560.5	ET’s BBQ	19	560.8	Smokin’ Aces
20	557.5	Big D’s Firehouse Smokers	20	560.4	Smokin’ Aces	20	0	Lil’ Jack’s Shack
21	0	Lil’ Jack’s Shack	21	547.6	ComSouth BBQ cook team	21	0	Butt Rubbers

	Reserve Scores
		Ribs	Pulled	Loin	Total
1	Bubba Grills	595.5	594.5	595.4	1785.4
2	Lj smokin	598.8	596.7	584.2	1779.7
3	Holy Smokers BBQ	589.9	587.9	592.1	1769.9
4	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	582	590.1	588.1	1760.2
5	BETHEL SMOKERS	599.4	590.4	569	1758.8
6	AnarQue	591.5	577.1	588.5	1757.1
7	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	579.3	588.8	586.8	1754.9
8	Ray Scott Outdoors	597	587.5	569	1753.5
9	Bomb Diggity Barbecue	591.8	585.1	575.2	1752.1
10	Kelvin’s BBQ	594.8	584.3	572.9	1752
11	Old Henry’s BBQ	582	570.7	576.6	1729.3
12	Aunt Mary’s BBQ Brigade	579.5	580.9	565.4	1725.8
13	Smokin Grills	566.5	567.5	590.1	1724.1
14	Big D’s Firehouse Smokers	557.5	577.8	581.2	1716.5
15	Smokinwilly Squealers	560.9	570	575.2	1706.1
16	ET’s BBQ	578.7	560.5	565.5	1704.7
17	ComSouth BBQ cook team	569.7	547.6	576.6	1693.9
18	Smokin’ Aces	571.4	560.4	560.8	1692.6
19	3 D’s BBQ	558.6	566.1	562.7	1687.4
20	Butt Rubbers	565.8	570.4	0	1136.2
21	Lil’ Jack’s Shack	0	577.3	0	577.3

Oct 21 2012

Once, Twice, Three Times a Winner for Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack

Once, Twice, Three Times a Winner for Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack

Grand Champions – Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack

Tennille BBQ Blast Tennille, GA — It was a clean sweep for Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack at the Tennille BBQ Blast as they captured first place in all three GBA categories — Loin, Pork & Ribs. The first place finish in all three categories insured the team would also take home the Grand Championship trophy. Under GBA rules, the same team cannot win both Grand & Reserve Grand awards, so the Reserve Grand award is pass down to the team with the next highest cumulative score in the prelimnary rounds. Backyard Porkers finished 3rd in Loin, 4th in Pork and 9th in Ribs to claim the Reserve Grand Championship.

Reserve Grand Champions – Backyard Porkers

Smokin Grill BBQ claimed runner up in Loin followed by Backyard Porkers in third place. Anarque finished in third place just ahead of former team-mates Holy Smokes in fifth place. In the Pork category, Holy Smokes took second place and Front Porch Gang took third. Backyard Porkers claimed fourth place with Snoot & Toot BBQ in fifth place. ET’s BBQ made the long trip up for Florida and came in second in Ribs with Anaque coming in third. Ivey Rack & Que and Jethro’s Cooking Crew rounded out the top 5.

Winners in the Ancillary categories were: Chicken – Backyard Porkers; Brisket – Engine 2 BBQ; Stew – Engine 2 BBQ; & Sauce – Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack.

The GBA would like the thank the fine folks of Tennille, GA for hosting another great contest.

	Tennille BBQ Blast
		RIBS			PULLED PORK			PORK LOIN
1	595.1	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	1	599.4	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	1	596.1	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack
2	587.1	ETs BBQ	2	590.5	Holy Smokes	2	595.4	Smokin Grill BBQ
3	567.3	Anar-Que	3	585.6	Front Porch Gang	3	567.9	Back Yard Porkers
4	582.9	Ivey Rack & Q	4	587.5	Back Yard Porkers	4	593.4	Anar-Que
5	580.5	Jethro’s Cooking Crew	5	583.7	Snoot & Toot BBQ	5	584.9	Holy Smokes
6	579.6	Engine 2 BBQ	6	580.9	Jethro’s Cooking Crew	6	581.3	Front Porch Gang
7	579	Holy Smokes	7	580.6	Ivey Rack & Q	7	576.3	Crossroads Grilling
8	573.4	Old Henry BBQ	8	579.7	Smokin Grill BBQ	8	575.7	Snoot & Toot BBQ
9	573.3	Back Yard Porkers	9	578.6	Crossroads Grilling	9	572.7	Engine 2 BBQ
10	572.7	Crossroads Grilling	10	574.1	Old Henry BBQ	10	569.1	Ivey Rack & Q
11	566.6	Smokin Grill BBQ	11	568	Engine 2 BBQ	11	563.7	Jethro’s Cooking Crew
12	560	Front Porch Gang	12	565.3	Anar-Que	12	560.7	Old Henry BBQ
13	548.1	Snoot & Toot BBQ	13	561.6	ETs BBQ	13	557.6	ETs BBQ

	Reserve Scores
		Ribs	Pulled	Loin	Total
1	Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack	599.7	597.1	596.1	1792.9
2	Back Yard Porkers	573.3	587.5	596.4	1757.2
3	Holy Smokes	579	591.2	584.9	1755.1
4	Anar-Que	595.4	565.3	593.4	1754.1
5	Smokin Grill BBQ	566.6	579.7	594.8	1741.1
6	Ivey Rack & Q	582.9	580.6	569.1	1732.6
7	Front Porch Gang	560	589.4	581.3	1730.7
8	Crossroads Grilling	572.7	578.6	576.3	1727.6
9	Jethro’s Cooking Crew	580.5	580.9	563.7	1725.1
10	Engine 2 BBQ	579.6	568	572.7	1720.3
11	Old Henry BBQ	573.4	574.1	560.7	1708.2
12	Snoot & Toot BBQ	548.1	583.7	575.7	1707.5
13	ETs BBQ	586.9	561.6	557.6	1706.1

Oct 21 2012

Jethro’s Cooking Crew Takes Grand at The Hog Jam!

Jethro’s Cooking Crew Takes Grand at The Hog Jam!

Blairsville, GA, The Lodge at Copperhead – (by Greg Hoyt) The North Georgia Mountains were smoky the weekend of October 12-13. The Hog Jam at The Lodge at Copperhead just outside of Blairsville, GA was the northern most GBA Contest to date – barely 14 miles from the Georgia-North Carolina State line.

The owners, staff and friends of The Lodge at Copperhead rolled out the red carpet Friday night starting with heavy Hors d’oeuvres an open bar and a rock’n band on the back porch at the Lodge. The food was fabulous; the drinks were great, the music was wonderful. Everything our hosts planned for Friday night set the perfect atmosphere for fellowship that is always part of a great GBA Weekend. Anthony, Michelle, Jerry and Paula all worked tirelessly to be sure that everything ran smoothly through the awards on Saturday.

Pitmaster Jeff Schram and Jethro’s Cooking Crew arrived late Friday evening. Once they got set up, they set the pace for a field of GBA Teams that included Smok’n Willy Squealers, Bubba Grills, The Pampered Pig, Rufus Smokehouse BBQ, Old Henry’s BBQ, Onsite Ribs, Smokn’ 42 and Natural Born Smokers.

Friday Night ancillary winners were: Sauce – Smokn’Q and Onsite Ribs, Stew – Smokin Willy Squealers, Wild Game – Onsite Ribs, Dessert – Rufus Smokehouse, and Bloody Mary – Onsite Ribs.

Saturday morning cookers poured smoke into the mist coming off of the mountains. Bright sun and mild temperatures burned the mist off early as everyone had a great time cooking to win one of the unique locally made pig trophies.

Four teams double finaled: The Pampered Pig (Loin and Pulled Pork), Jethro’s Cooking Crew (Loin and Ribs), Bubba Grills (Loin and Ribs) Smokin’Willy Squealers (Ribs and Pulled Pork).

Jethro’s Cooking Crew won the Hog Jam Grand Championship with their Ribs. After years of supporting the GBA as a cook and past President, it was Pitmaster Jeff Schram’s first GBA Grand Championship. A strong cook by Smokin’Willy Squealers brought the Reserve Champion trophy to Carl and Mary Williams.

Full results are here:

		PORK LOIN * score from finals
1	592.1 *	Jethros.’s Cooking Crew
2	586.8 *	Bubba Grills
3	580.9 *	The Pampered Pig
4	585.4	Old Henry’s BBQ
5	582.4	Smokin Willy Squealers
6	579.7	Natural Born Smokers
7	577.9	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
8	570.7	Rufus Smokehouse BBQ
9	563	Onsite Ribs

		PULLED PORK * score from finals
1	595.4 *	Smokin Willy Squealers
2	589.5 *	Onsite Ribs
3	578.6 *	The Pampered Pig
4	588.5	Jethros.’s Cooking Crew
5	584.39	Natural Born Smokers
6	582.9	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
7	581	Old Henry’s BBQ
8	571.1	Bubba Grills
9	560.3	Rufus Smokehouse BBQ

		RIBS * score from finals
1	596.7 *	Jethro’s Cooking Crew
2	594.8 *	Bubba Grills
3	584 *	Smokin Willy Squealers
4	586.3	The Pampered Pig
5	583.9	Smokin’ 42 BBQ
6	572.7	Rufus Smokehouse BBQ
7	571.7	Old Henry’s BBQ
8	570.5	Onsite Ribs
9	554.1	Natural Born Smokers

	Overall Preliminary Scores
		Ribs	Pulled	Loin	Total
1	Jethros.’s Cooking Crew	591.8	588.5	593.4	1773.7
2	Smokin Willy Squealers	591.5	594.2	582.4	1768.1
3	The Pampered Pig	586.3	590.2	587.3	1763.8
4	Bubba Grills	599.7	571.1	588.2	1759
5	Smokin’ 42 BBQ	583.9	582.9	577.9	1744.7
6	Old Henry’s BBQ	571.7	581	585.4	1738.1
7	Onsite Ribs	570.5	594.5	563	1728
8	Natural Born Smokers	554.1	584.39	579.7	1718.2
9	Rufus Smokehouse BBQ	572.7	560.3	570.7	1703.7

The GBA Pro teams were joined by a small but very talented group of backyard teams, Diggen Q, Rollin Smoker, Screaming Eagles BBQ, Wilber’s Been Smokin’ Somethin’ and Smokin Q BBQ. These teams received the full “Pro” experience from meat check-in to judging by certified Judges, comment cards through the awarding of the backyard Grand and Reserve Champion. The caliber of product turned out by the backyard teams was extraordinary. On the backyard side, Diggen Q was Grand Champion with Rollin Smoker taking Reserve.

	Copperhead Lodge Backyard
		RIBS			Pulled Pork			Pork Loin
1	590.8	Diggen Que	1	586.5	Diggen Que	1	578.5	Wilbur’s Been Smokin’ Somethin’
2	585.2	Screaming Eagle BBQ	2	585.2	Screaming Eagle BBQ	2	577.9	Rollin Smoker
3	581.3	Rollin Smoker	3	582.9	Rollin Smoker	3	575.9	Diggen Que
4	570	Wilbur’s Been Smokin’ Somethin’	4	564.2	Smokin Q BBQ	4	565.7	Screaming Eagle BBQ
			5	560.69	Wilbur’s Been Smokin’ Somethin’

	Reserve Scores
		Ribs	Pulled	Loin	Total
1	Diggen Que	590.8	586.5	575.9	1753.2
2	Rollin Smoker	581.3	582.9	577.9	1742.1
3	Screaming Eagle BBQ	585.2	585.2	565.7	1736.1
4	Wilbur’s Been Smokin’ Somethin’	570	560.69	578.5	1709.2
5	Smokin Q BBQ	0	564.2	0	564.2

Oct 14 2012

Bubba Grills is Perfection Times Two

Gordon, GA — Lonnie Smith, pitmaster of Bubba Grills, proved to be master of the perfect rib at the Fall Line Festival BBQ Contest. Not only did his team score a perfect 600 points in the Ribs preliminary round; he also claimed a perfect score in the Ribs Finals. Perfection times 2 equals a Grand Championship for Bubba Grills.

Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack placed first in Loin, 4th in Ribs and 8th in Pork in the preliminary rounds to win the Reserve Grand Championship.

In Pork Loin, Anarque, Holy Smokers and Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack were the three finalists. Anarque won the finals round and claim first place in the category. Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack took second with Holy Smokers in third. Bubba Grills took fourth place with SmokinWilly Squealers in fifth.

		PORK LOIN
1	595.8 *	Anarque
2	594.5 *	Sauced Hog Smoke Shack
3	588.2 *	Holy Smokers
4	588.2	Bubba Grills
5	584.9	Smokin Willie Squealers
6	583.7	Party Porkers
7	583.3	Five O’Clock Somewhere
8	577.9	Loose Bones
9	577.3	Beaver Creek Cookers
10	575.9	Smokin AJ’s
11	564.5	Old Henrys BBQ
12	562.3	Ivey Rack and Que
		* score from final round

Anarque, Smokin AJs and SmokinWilly Squealers were the three finalists in Pulled Pork. Only 0.6 of a point separated first from third place in the finals. Anarque, once again, claimed the top score with SmokinWilly Squealers as runner up. Smoking AJ’s finished third. Party Porkers and Holy Smokers rounded out the top five.

		PULLED PORK
1	598.8 *	Anarque
2	598.5 *	Smokin Willie Squealers
3	598.2 *	Smokin AJ’s
4	589.2	Party Porkers
5	582.9	Holy Smokers
6	580.2	Five O’Clock Somewhere
7	579.6	Bubba Grills
8	579.6	Sauced Hog Smoke Shack
9	578.3	Loose Bones
10	571.3	Old Henrys BBQ
11	569.8	Ivey Rack and Que
12	566.3	Beaver Creek Cookers
		* score from final round

Bubba Grills perfect preliminary score secured a spot in the Ribs Finals along with Five O’Clock Somewhere and Ivey Rack and Que. Bubba Grills again scored a perfect 600 in finals to take first place. Ivey Rack and Que and Five O’Clock Somewhere finished second and third respectively. Fourth went to Sauced Hogs Smoke Shack with fifth place going to Smokin AJs.

		RIBS
1	600 *	Bubba Grills
2	593.6 *	Ivey Rack and Que
3	591.9 *	Five O’Clock Somewhere
4	593.6	Sauced Hog Smoke Shack
5	592.5	Smokin AJ’s
6	587.1	Smokin Willie Squealers
7	586.9	Loose Bones
8	574.7	Party Porkers
9	571.6	Old Henrys BBQ
10	569	Beaver Creek Cookers
11	563.4	Holy Smokers
12	559.3	Anarque
		* score from final round

	Overall Standings Preliminaries	Ribs	Pulled	Loin	Total
1	Sauced Hog Smoke Shack	593.6	579.6	597.7	1770.9
2	Smokin Willie Squealers	587.1	596.7	584.9	1768.7
3	Bubba Grills	600	579.6	588.2	1767.8
4	Smokin AJ’s	592.5	594.8	575.9	1763.2
5	Five O’Clock Somewhere	598.5	580.2	583.3	1762
6	Party Porkers	574.7	589.2	583.7	1747.6
7	Loose Bones	586.9	578.3	577.9	1743.1
8	Holy Smokers	563.4	582.9	595.7	1742
9	Anarque	559.3	590.2	589.9	1739.4
10	Ivey Rack and Que	595.4	569.8	562.3	1727.5
11	Beaver Creek Cookers	569	566.3	577.3	1712.6
12	Old Henrys BBQ	571.6	571.3	564.5	1707.4

Sep 26 2012

Hog Jam October 12-13, 2012

Hog Jam October 12-13, 2012

The Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) will be sanctioning the Hog Jam 2012, Some Jam Good BBQ, at The Lodge at Copperhead in Blairsville, GA on October 12-13, 2012. This is the first year the GBA has sanctioned the contest sponsored by Forty Creek Whisky.

Cook Team Application Judge Application Hog Jam Website

Over $6,000 in cash & prizes will be awarded to the contestants, including $1500 to the Grand Champion. There will be ancillary contests on Friday evening in Stew, Dessert & Sauce. Saturday morning will host the ancillary Bloody Mary contest. Backyard teams will also compete, with $250 to the Grand Champion of this division.

Friday evening will feature music by the 12 Gauge Persuaders with a welcome reception for the teams and advance wristband holders. Modern Vinyl and Mike Watson Band (2012 Blues Band of the Year) will perform. Vendors & Artists will be on hand Saturday as well.

A Car & Bike show sponsored by Lawbike.com on Saturday will round out the events of the competition. $15 admission, includes parking and BBQ tasting. Advance wristband holders can also join us Friday evening for the Welcome Reception.