***IMPORTANT NEWS***

Annual Meeting, Membership Drive and Fundraiser

Date changed to Saturday, 3 April 2010, 6:00 - 10:00pm

Eagles Lodge (200 First Avenue), Fairbanks.

Brrr-B-Q Barbecue Contest: Cold Day, Hot Barbecue!!

            The Alaska Barbecue Association (ABBQA) 2010 competition season started with a blast.  A blast of cold air that is!  The second annual Brrr-B-Q Barbecue Contest was held on February 27, 2010 in downtown Fairbanks adjacent to Golden Heart Park.  True to its name, the temperatures during this contest never rose above -7f.

            Barbecue teams began arriving around 7:30 in the morning and when the spaces were filled, there were seven brave barbecue teams facing the elements.  Teams used all manner of protection from the cold and snow, there was an ice fishing hut, a pop-up canopy with sides attached, an Arctic Oven tent, and an RV.  One team protected itself with nothing more than a carpet and a couple really brave teams used nothing at all!  Kettle grills, vertical smokers and other assorted grills were the order of the day as cooking equipment went.  There was even a computer controller and custom made jackets used to control the temperatures of one team’s smokers.  Teams ranged in size from 1 to 5 people and it appeared that all were having fun.

            There were only two categories for this contest, Chicken and Pork Ribs, and pitmasters used different cooking approaches for both.  Some teams had ribs in their smokers as early as 9:00 am and cooked them slow over low temperatures while others took a faster and hotter approach.  The same could be said of the chicken entries.  Competitors could be heard ribbing (pardon the pun) each other over their preferred styles of cooking, low and slow versus hot and fast.  When the cooking was done, world class barbecue was presented to the judges for judging.

            Thanks to the folks at Lavelle’s Bistro the judges were able to receive their refresher training and judge the entries in comfort.  A table of six judges judged the entries on appearance, texture/tenderness, and taste. Comments from the judges indicated that the entries turned in were as good as ever.  One judge has asked that the competitor who used the mustard based sauce contact her as she was very impressed with it and she would like the recipe.  Another judge who has judged barbecue in Washington stated that the entries she judged at this contest were as good as any she has ever judged.

            3 Dogs BBQ was crowned as the Grand Champion with a First place finish in Ribs and a Second place finish in Chicken. Squeal on U BBQ was crowned the Reserve Grand Champion with a First place finish in Chicken and a Second place finish Ribs. Rub it Out BBQ took home a Third place finish in Chicken and Turnin-n-Burnin took the Third place finish Ribs. Overall the third place finisher was Turnin-n-Burnin, fourth place was Turnin-n-Burnin Too and Pork U rounded out the top 5.

            The 2010 ABBQA competition season is under way and the Brrr-B-Q contest lived up to its name with sub-zero temperatures and sizzling hot BBQ.