Lakeland, FL Results

[iceboxbbq]

OVERALL RANKING Backyard
1 Petes Pork Pit 673.7142
2 The Bigg Pigg Brood 661.7140
3 Breast and Butts 2nd Gen B 650.8572
4 Hoggin the Smoke BBQ 650.2858
5 Gourmet Rednecks 636.5708
6 Lake Buffum Bar B Q 629.1424
7 Bubba Grills 626.8568
8 Kingpins 626.8566
9 Porkin Aint Easy 623.9996
10 Mikes Smokehouse Que 623.4286
11 Hens Hogs and Heifers 621.7140
12 Jazze Blues BBQ 621.1426
13 Mikes Bar-B-Que Pit 618.8568
14 Honey Wagon Bar-B-Que 618.2854
15 Natural Born Grillers 617.7134
16 Smoke Eaters Barbeque 617.7130
17 Rib Twisters 616.5714
18 You Cant Beat Us BBQ 616.5712
19 High Performance BBQ 615.4284
20 Habeas Porkus 615.4280
21 Sugar Creek Smokers 614.8572
22 Bar-B-Que and More 612.5720
23 Pork Brothers BBQ 610.2852
24 Uncle Chubbys Backyard 608.0006
25 Pitbull Bar B Que 607.4290
26 Piggin Out BBQ 605.7140
27 Bar B Que Express 602.2860
28 Background Noise 602.2858
29 Smokin Hooligans 601.7128
30 Good Buddies BBQ 601.1422
31 Big Jays 598.8568
32 Smoke Showin 596.0002
33 Fatback Bar-B-Que 594.8570
34 Sanibel Smokers 594.8568
35 Mootown BBQ 593.1424
36 Batchs Bodacious BBQ 593.1420
37 Boss Hog B B Q 591.9998
38 Bite Me Barbeque 591.9996
39 Is it Reagy Yet 590.8572
40 Polky Porkers 589.1434
41 Granger and Sons BBQ 588.5712
42 North Lakeland Pit Crew 585.1426
43 All Jacked Up BBQ 582.2860
44 Jamaican Me Hungry 577.1424
45 AOC Sticky Pigs 576.5704
46 Limp Brisket 576.0002
47 Newman Boys Gone Hog Wil 573.1428
48 Whos Cookin BBQ 570.2860
49 Lickey - Spit 569.7148
50 Road Kill Grill 565.7144
51 Sultans of Swine 563.4280
52 Limp Brisket II 561.1422
53 Lick Me Silly Bar B Que 552.5704
54 BandB BBQ 548.5708
55 The Bar B Q Zone LLC 542.8566
56 Four Hawgs 525.1416
57 Team Meadow Creek 481.1426
58 Thru the Wall 465.7142
59 Slap Your Mamma 451.4276
60 Palm Terrace of Lakeland 294.8572
61 The Agency Steak Out 133.7142

 

[YankeeBBQ]

OVERALL RANKING Backyard
1 Petes Pork Pit 673.7142
2 The Bigg Pigg Brood 661.7140
3 Breast and Butts 2nd Gen B 650.8572

That's interesting. The Backyard winner scored a 673 but the "pro" winner only scored a 655. I wonder if the backyard food was better ?

 

[smokincracker]

Central Florida News Paper

Sebring, FL-based barbecue team smoking competition

Matt Murphy
News-Sun 1/31/2007

SEBRING - Jimmy Brod and his team of local barbecue enthusiasts are starting to make their mark on the barbecue world.

This past weekend, Brod's Smokin' Crackers Barbecue team took home the reserve grand championship trophy at the Lakeland Pig Festival, and as the highest finishing Florida-based team, Brod's group also won the Governor's Cup. Winning the coveted trophy, awarded by the Kansas City Barbecue Association, was a major achievement for the team, Brod said.

"Any team that takes barbecue seriously goes to this contest to get that trophy," he said. The Lakeland contest is "the crown jewel of the contests in Florida. It's what everyone wants to win."
In 2006, the Smokin' Crackers attended 13 contests and took home two grand and two reserve grand championships. The team has picked up right where it left off in 2007 as well, winning two reserve grand championships, including Sebring's Central Florida Barbecue Festival.

The Smokin' Cracker team has become so successful that Brod is running out of room to store his trophies. Because his wife won't let him bring the trophies home, he keeps them all at his workplace.
"The trophies are a problem," he said. "We've built as many shelves as we can. I'm not sure where to put them anymore."

What makes Brod's success even more notable is that he's only been competing for two years. Brod got started in the world of barbecue competitions while a member of the Good Ol' Boys Supper Club. The club entered the Sebring contest four years ago, but the results weren't what Brod expected. "We didn't do well," he said. "I'm competitive and that chapped me a little bit." After cooking at a contest in Okeechobee the next year, Brod decided to start a team of his own

Since then, he has invested upwards of $30,000 into equipment. He travels in a 24-foot custom trailer complete with kitchen, two upright smokers and a custom smoker.


Long weekends
A typical contest weekend typically lasts from Friday morning until midday Sunday. With that much time involved, the weekends can be tiring.
"It's a lot of fun," Brod said, "but by the end of the weekend you're tired, you're drained." During a contest week, Brod will start shopping for meat on Wednesday. Brod gets all of the meat at local grocery stores, and he gets each of the four meat categories at a different store. Brod starts preparing the meat on Friday, a process that includes marinating and trimming fat. He usually starts cooking around 10 p.m. Friday.

Because his team doesn't sell their meat at contests, Brod isn't forced to cook copious amounts of food. "It's not a quantity thing," Brod said, adding that he usually cooks six or seven racks of ribs and two or three pork shoulders and briskets per contest.

"We don't sell to the public. We're there for competition."

When it comes to the leftovers, Brod said, he usually gives it to friends and family. "We usually give them away because we're sick of barbecue," he said.

The team
The traveling Smokin' Cracker Barbecue team typically consists of Brod, who usually does the cooking, and teammate Doug Barnes.
"I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to cooking," Brod said. "We don't split up duties - I do it all. I like to be in charge."
Even though Barnes doesn't cook, Brod said he is a valuable asset to the Smokin' Cracker team. "He lends a hand anytime I need it," Brod said. "He does things no one wants to do: He cleans, washes dishes, washes the trailer. He does anything that needs to be done and he does it without asking. "Another Smokin' Cracker team member is Dave Irwin, who teaches science at Lake Placid High School. While Irwin doesn't always travel with the team, he plays a valuable role for the team in researching new seasonings, sauces, and the like. Irwin "spends weekends reviewing and trying things," Brod said. "He's come up with a couple of award-winning products."

If the team wins money at an event, it typically goes into a fund used to buy more equipment. "When you win money," Brod said, "you stick it right back in. It's a habit."

A busy schedule

The Smokin' Crackers will be traveling to Wauchula this weekend for the Grillin' and Chillin' on Main contest. But one of the circuit's biggest events, the Florida Barbecue Association's State Championship contest in Winter Haven, is the week after. The furthest Brod has traveled is the American Royal Contest in Kansas City, considered one of the largest barbecue events in the country. The Smokin' Cracker team usually goes to three or four out-of-state contests a year, and this year Brod has two Georgia contests on his schedule. In the past, the team has also gone to Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Although Brod dedicates lots of time to barbecuing, he still considers it a hobby. Brod's day job is as an aviation mechanic at J.B. Aircraft Engine Service, based at Sebring Regional Airport.
"Barbecuing is a time-consuming thing," Brod said. "I have to be careful it doesn't affect my work performance." Brod said he had to take the entire summer off last year because he dedicated too much of his attention to his hobby. "I forgot about the goose that laid the golden egg," he said.
Brod credits his wife with helping out around the house while he travels to contests. "Michelle really picks up a lot of slack," Brod said. "When you figure one to two weekends a month, little chores around the house pile up. She makes it easier to do things."


For more information about the Smokin' Cracker Barbecue team, visit its Web site at www.smokincrackerbbq.com.

 

[smokincracker]

It's nice to be recognized locally.
My phone has been ringing off the hook this morning.
A lot of the people I know didn't even know I was a competition cook.

 

[Smokin Gator]

Congrats on the success and the article. I am looking forward to the Lake City event so I can meet all of the Brethren in attendance.

 

[Rub]

Way to go, Mr. Hollywood! :eusa_clap
That's too cool. I did notice 1 quote that was kind of funny, but not funny. :wink:

 

[drbbq]

It's nice to be recognized locally.
My phone has been ringing off the hook this morning.
A lot of the people I know didn't even know I was a competition cook.

Way to go Jimmy!

 

[smokincracker]

Way to go Jimmy!

Thanks Ray
Will I see you in Wauchula?

 

[drbbq]

No, some yankee bastard came down here and gave me the crud this weekend so I'm just sitting here hating life. I haven't even unhooked my trailer yet.

 

[smokincracker]

No, some yankee bastard came down here and gave me the crud this weekend so I'm just sitting here hating life. I haven't even unhooked my trailer yet.

ooooooo the mung! Sorry to here that.
Hope you get to feeling better!

 

[JohnMcD348]

The cruds been going around. Nothing a few hot totties won't cure.

 

[hvac4u]

georgia contests

hey, jimmy

which events are you gonna be at in Ga this year? i know we will be at dillard and cartersville so far, hope to see ya!

mike
oval rulers

 

[J Appledog]

Belated congrats to all. It's such a great contest - I was so bummed to have to miss it this year!

 

[smokincracker]

hey, jimmy

which events are you gonna be at in Ga this year? i know we will be at dillard and cartersville so far, hope to see ya!

mike
oval rulers

Barnesville, Dillard
see you in Dillard.

 

[MilitantSquatter]

Jimmy... Congrats.... Real nice article too.. Gonna need to frame that article and find a place for it along with all the trophies !!!

 

[Dale P]

Great article. Something to be proud of.

 

[Bigdog]

ooooooo the mung! Sorry to here that.
Hope you get to feeling better!

Okay Jimmy, Yankee here. What the fark is the mung? What setting do I use on my decoder ring for crackerese?:mrgreen:

 

[Rookie'48]

O.K., ya'll; the mung is kinda like the creepin' crud that us'ns give you'ns except in reverse doncha' know?:biggrin: :twisted:
Dave