Category: Contest Reports

Mar 25 2019

Hold Your Horses didn’t hold anything back at the Fireant BBQ Bash!

Forty-one professional BBQ teams, including teams from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina traveled to Ashburn, Georgia on March 23, 2019 for the 24th annual Fire Ant Festival.

Not only was $10,000 in prize money and trophies awarded to the winners in three different BBQ categories, but Team of the Year points were also doubled for this event.  The high level of competition was evidenced by five different scores of 600 during the preliminary rounds.  Many teams also participated in the SCA Steak Cook-off held on Friday night.

Hold Your Horses claimed their long sought first Grand Championship and $2,000 after several previous trips to the finals.  The Pitt Crew GA also won $2,000 and Reserve Grand Champion in only their second GBA contest after finishing 4th in loin, 1st in pork, and 12th in ribs.

Holy Smokes won loin after scoring a 600 in the preliminary round.  Weekend Warriors also scored a 600 in preliminaries and finished second in loin.  Bubba Grills returned after a long absence from GBA with third place in loin.

The top two finishers in the pulled pork category each scored 600s for their preliminary entries.  After finals, The Pit Crew GA came out on top in first place.  Second and third places in pulled pork were a repeat from the last GBA contest with Pot’s BBQ again in second place and Jack Fallin with Captain Jack’s BBQ Crew taking third.

Hold Your Horses won the rib category on the way to their Grand Championship.  Local Ashburn team Real-licious finished in second place after scoring a 600 in the preliminary round.  Shark Bite BBQ came in third in their first GBA finals.

The final TOTY standings will be decided on April 6 in Donalsonville, GA at the last points contest of the GBA season.  Acworth will host an event “In Association With” the GBA on May 11 that is open to any team with at least one current GBA member, but the results will not count towards the Team of the Year standing.

The full results for each category and Pro reserve scores can be found at the following links:

Loin, Pork, and Rib Results

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Ashburn%202019%20categories.pdf

Reserve Scores

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Ashburn%202019%20Reserve.pdf

 

 

Mar 18 2019

Budmeister BBQ Returns to the GBA and wins it all in Tifton

Thirty-three professional cook teams gathered in Tifton, Georgia on March 2, 2019 for the GBA’s 6th Annual Rhythm and Ribs BBQ Festival.  More than $10,000 in prize money was awarded to the winners, in addition to the now famous “Sqealbert” trophies.

Budmeister BBQ returned to usual form after some time off from the GBA with the Grand Championship for their pork entry.  Rescue Smokers won Reserve Grand Champion for the second week in row after finishing 1st in loin, 7th in pork, and 1st place in ribs.   Rescue Smokers also had the only 600s of the day in both the loin and ribs preliminaries.

Rescue Smokers finished first in loin, followed by East Coast BBQ for their first time in finals.  Weekend Warriors rounded out the top three in loin.

In the pulled pork category, Budmeister BBQ came in first place.  Pot’s BBQ finished second, with Ashley Home Store, led by Jack Fallin, taking third place.

Rescue Smokers also took the rib category.  In their first finals, Smoking Outlaws finished second, with Budmeister BBQ coming in third place.

The GBA returns with the last double points event of the year in Ashburn on March 23, and the last sanctioned contest of the season in Donalsonville on April 6.  Acworth hosts an event “In Association With” the GBA on May 11 that is open to any team with at least one current GBA member, but the results will not count towards the Team of the Year standing.

The full results for each category and Pro reserve scores can be found at the following links:

Loin, Pork, and Rib Results

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Tifton%202019%20scores.pdf

Reserve Scores

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Tifton%202019%20reserve.pdf

Feb 27 2019

Off the Chain starts 2019 with the Grand in Dilly Dally in Dooly

The GBA returned for the first competition of 2019 at Dilly Dally in Dooly on February 22, 2019.  Fifty professional teams gathered on the historic grounds of the Big Pig Jig to battle for trophies, bragging rights, and over $10,000 in prize money.  As an added bonus, longtime pitmaster Darryl Strickland was married in front of his BBQ family in a ceremony held right before the awards.

Off the Chain claimed the Grand Championship for their loin entry.  Rescue Smokers won Reserve Grand Champion by finishing 5th in loin, 6th in pork, and 1st place in ribs.

As an example of just how competitive the GBA has become, all three loin finalists finished the preliminary round with the highest possible score of 600.  After the finals round, Off the Chain was declared the loin winner, followed by EZQ and Smoke Show.

Big Butts BBQ finished first in pulled pork.  The Pit Crew came in second in their first ever GBA competition.  Meanwhile, Southern Hogs/Dexter Meat Company retuned to competition for the first time this season with third place in pulled pork.

The ribs category was won by Rescue Smokers.  In their first BBQ competition ever, Big Daddy’s Meat House finished second in ribs, followed by newlywed Lang BBQ Smokers in third.

Finally, Smoke Show won the ancillary brisket contest, with Smokin’ the Good Stuff coming in second and Uncle Toads finishing third.

The full results for each category and Pro reserve scores can be found at the following links:

Loin, Pork, and Rib Results

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Dilly%20Dally%202019%20Scores.pdf

Reserve Scores

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Dilly%20Dally%202019%20Reserve%20scores.pdf

Brisket Scores

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Vienna%202019%20Brisket%20scores.pdf

Jan 14 2019

Smoke ‘Em Low takes Grand at the (muddy) Americus Brickyard Bash


The inaugural Brickyard BBQ Bash was held in Americus, Georgia on December 15, 2018. Thirty-one professional teams and a GBA record fifteen Cooking for Fun teams gathered for the final GBA event of 2018 at the KOA campground in Americus. Although rain was a factor until sunrise on Saturday morning, everyone was in great spirits for the event thanks to the hospitality of the host and organizers.

Smoke ‘Em Low walked away with their first Grand Championship with their pork entry. Off the Chain won their second Reserve Grand Championship of the season by finishing 2nd in loin, 2nd in pork, and 9th in loin.

Bite My Butt finished first in the Pro loin category, followed by Off the Chain and Weekend Warriors. Off the Chain received the only 600 of the event for their preliminary loin entry.

Smoke ‘Em Low took the Pro pork entry, with Off the Chain in second and Flint River Cookers in third place.

The Pro rib category was won by Uncle Toad’s BBQ. Rescue Smokers came in second place, with B’s BBQ taking third.

In the Cooking for Fun division, The Fire Hut Brew & Que won the chicken category in their first ever BBQ competition. Big Ed’s BBQ finished second and Smokin Sprays came in third in chicken.

CFF Pork was won by Pigliscious BBQ, followed by Rack ‘n’ Butts and Big Ed’s BBQ.

Richland BBQ Company won CFF ribs, with Big Ed’s in second and Smokin Sprays in third.

Big Ed’s was awarded a special gift basket provided by the Atlanta BBQ store for the highest combined scores across all three cooking for fun categories.

The full results for each category and Pro reserve scores can be found at the following links:

Pro Loin, Pork, and Rib Results
https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Americus%202018%20Pro%20Categories.pdf

CFF Chicken, Pork, and Rib results
https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Americus%202018%20Backyard%20Categories.pdf

Pro Reserve Scores
https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Americus%202018%20Reserve%20Scores.pdf

Dec 13 2018

Weekend Warriors wins Smokin’ Flamingo in Jacksonville

Weekend Warriors win Grand at Smokin' Flamingo

Weekend Warriors win Grand at Smokin’ Flamingo

Fifty-nine teams travelled to Jacksonville, Florida on November 15, 2018 to fight for their share of over $15,000 in prize money at the 6th Annual Smokin’ Flamingo BBQ and Music Festival .  Although this event has been around for several years, we were honored that this was the first time it was a sanctioned GBA event.    In addition to the GBA BBQ contest, there were two different SCA cook-offs, along with live music and other activities.

When the smoke cleared, Weekend Warriors claimed the Grand Championship trophy and a check for $5,000 for their loin entry.  The trophy and $2,500 check for Reserve Grand Champion went to Big Papa’s Country Kitchen, who finished 8th in loin, 7th in pork, and 4th in ribs in the preliminary rounds.

Loin winner

Loin winner

While Weekend Warriors won the loin category, We Want Que finished in second place and Off the Chain came in third.  Both We Want Que and Off the Chain received the highest possible score from the judges, a 600, for their preliminary loin entries.

Pork Winner

Pork Winner

Just Smoke N’ Around won the pulled pork category, followed by Rescue Smokers and Bayshore Porkers.  All three finalist in pork tied during the preliminary round with a score of 599.7.

The top three finishers in the rib category were Smokin’ the Good Stuff, Pot’s BBQ, and Nut Job BBQ.

Smokin’ the Good Stuff also won $1,000 for the winner-take-all Brisket ancillary after breaking a three way tie.

The full results for each category and reserve scores can be found at the following links:

Loin, Pork, and Rib Results

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Jacksonville%202018%20Category%20scores.pdf

Brisket results

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Jacksonville%202018%20Brisket.pdf

Reserve Scores

https://gba.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/Contest%20Results/Jacksonville%202018%20Reserve%20scores.pdf