Cost of competing in BBQ

S

spartanag

Found some matches.
Joined
Jul 1, 2018
Messages
8
Reaction score
4
Points
0
Location
Mountain Home, AR
I found an old thread from 2011 and figured I would ask this question again to see if there have been any dramatic changes since then.

I'm curious what your average cost per competition is?

How far do you typically travel?

How many weekends a year do you compete?
 
spartanag said:
I found an old thread from 2011 and figured I would ask this question again to see if there have been any dramatic changes since then.

I'm curious what your average cost per competition is?

How far do you typically travel?

How many weekends a year do you compete?
Click to expand...

About 800-1000 a contest. That includes gas/tolls, food for the competition, rubs, sauces, wood, charcoal, etc. Also includes the 250-350 entry fee. Includes personal food/drinks, etc. Realize some people cook waygu brisket which is ~200-$250 a pop plus the entry fee so that eats up almost half that 800-1000 budget mentioned above.
 
spartanag said:
I found an old thread from 2011 and figured I would ask this question again to see if there have been any dramatic changes since then.



I'm curious what your average cost per competition is?



How far do you typically travel?



How many weekends a year do you compete?
Click to expand...



We typically budget $1000 per contest, but haven’t actually done the math in awhile. Our closest contest is 90 minutes away, and we usually travel 4-5 hours for a contest. Last year we did 15 contests.
 
About $800 per contest

Travel about 1.5 hours on average.

Do about 3-5 contests per year.
 
About $800 all in for us. We don't cook waygu and we keep it on the cheaper side. would be closer to $1000 with waygu.

Probably $600 in direct costs and $200 in misc costs that we don't see immediately
 
We counted in the first contests and it was always around $750 depending on the contest/distance. As the others said, most entry fees are $250-300, about $200 for meat, then the rest is gas, rubs, sauce, garnish, food for us, etc. We also don't use Wagyu and would consider ourselves reasonably "cheap" compared to what we see in other teams.

Then you have to factor in all the costs of your equipment and all the new shiny things you want to buy after each contest, but we choose not to think about that anymore :)
 
800-1000 is about right. That's including everything, including beer/food for us to eat, gas, etc. We do cook Wagyu. We're lucky in our area of the country, we don't travel more than a couple hours, and could do all of them within an hour if we wanted. We just like traveling to some close, smaller towns that we'd otherwise have no reason to go to.

We will cook 13 this year, possibly 14.
 
The $1000 number is a good average. The travel method/distance makes it vary.

I cook coast to coast.

I’ll probably hit 50 this year before it’s said and done.
 
I've only done 2 comps but I budgeted myself $600 for each comp. This includes entry fees, fuel, meats, ice, etc... but I do not include the price of rub, injections, foil...all of the little stuff that I always have at home bc I use it often. If all of that is figured in for each comp it would probably be closer to that $750 mark.
 
Personally i budget $800-$1000 per contest. I used to travel up to 6 hours but this year have tried to keep it around 2 hours. The breakdowns with my trailer just have me wanting to stay closer to home even if it pays a little less. Blowing tires just sucks.
 
We'll do 11 this year and try not to go farther than 2 1/2 hours. Between entry fees, gas, meat and supplies we are probably in the $800 range as well, give or take.
 
This got me thinking......


Meat $600
Charcoal $50
Splits $15
Hotel $125ish
Entry $250ish
Supplies $100?
Rub/Sauce $??
Fuel $??


Now I wish I had never read this thread.
 
Barefoot BBQ said:
This got me thinking......


Meat $600
Charcoal $50
Splits $15
Hotel $125ish
Entry $250ish
Supplies $100?
Rub/Sauce $??
Fuel $??


Now I wish I had never read this thread.
Click to expand...


hotel?????? what's that? we sleep under our tents or in our trailer....lol
 
Barefoot BBQ said:
This got me thinking......


Meat $600
Charcoal $50
Splits $15
Hotel $125ish
Entry $250ish
Supplies $100?
Rub/Sauce $??
Fuel $??


Now I wish I had never read this thread.
Click to expand...

Wow! How much meat are you cooking? Here is the meat costs from our last competition...

Chicken (16 thighs, organic) - $35
Ribs (4 racks) - $40
Pork (3 butts) - $45
Brisket (SRF Black) - $180

Total - $300
 
More like

Meat $200-$300 (Depending on waygu)
Charcoal $20-$40
Entry $250-$350
Supplies $200 give or take
Rub/Sauce $20-$40
Fuel $30-$80 (Depending on distance)

That's $720-$1,010. Roughly what we see on our comps.

Don't get me started on depreciation of truck, camper, etc. Best not to think about these things :-D
 
So does anyone actually break even on these, or is it just worth it to you to spend this much as a hobby?
 
Most people compete as a hobby, but also many teams have 2-4 members to spread the cost and work load. You can offset some of the costs by selling leftovers, having sponsors, and winning prize money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cayenne
Well, I pulled the trigger: Blue Smoke Smoker ordered today!!!
2 3
Replies
57
Views
5K
K.W.
K
J
Long Post of Disappointing Rants and Dreaming of a LSG Pellet Grill
Replies
4
Views
1K
jrTheSmoker
J
OneHump
Offset Checkboxes
Replies
8
Views
3K
SkaterSmoker
SkaterSmoker
rwalters
Pellet Cookers 101 - Part Two
Replies
0
Views
356
rwalters
rwalters
motoeric
Bbq story
Replies
14
Views
1K
oldgfbbq
O
Back
Top