Competition Changes

I currently cook backyard, and we just do the three categories, no brisket for us, so it's not as expensive as the pro side, but I try to cook every one that's within a reasonable distance to me. All total, I want to say about four to five a year that I can cook and they are not more than an hour drive. I have seen a decline in the number of total teams since covid hit, so I'm sure there are a lot out there with the same sentiments that you are conveying.

I don't think covid has been a factor in not competing any longer.

Life has just become too busy and with the astronomical cost of meat, gas etc. it's just not viable at this time. I still judge when possible.

Has COVID quenched your competitive spirit?

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As a judge, I might say indirectly.... In 2020 all the comps I signed up for except a double-header in October were cancelled. Those 2-days I did judge were the full blown mask/glove multiple table covering kind of thing, which was okay by me. And using 3 tables for more spacing of judges was very roomy and the TC's liked all the extra space for the bread trays and boxes.

In 2021 all of my competitions except one used the 3 table set-up except two. The mask rules went away, and gloves were only used for retrieving samples from the boxes. Several judges I know did get COVID on judging weekends, but they could have been exposed anywhere along the way while traveling to and from the event.

For 2022 I did cancel two comps (out of seven) purely due to travel/lodging costs. As luck would have it our July 4th plans changed, so I had to drop out of a third event. Then business got in the way and another two fell off my calendar (one had a Friday steak comp I really wanted to judge). I'm still in for one in October, but it's in my town so it should be a green light.

YES! I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this Sue. I haven't done a contest since 2019 (COVID and family).

I'm ready to get back out there but my zeal has been hard to get back. Glad to see you've made multiple contests this year. Hopefully I'll get back out there as well

I'm with Pat on this one.

Operating costs are certainly a factor. Plus, my weekends have slowly been getting filled with other commitments. If I can't drive in and out same day (with no more than a 1-2 hour trip to get there) it's not going to happen. I've done a couple SCA and charity cooks since 2020, but the Wounded Vet Non-Profit that used to put on the local rib comp folded right at the start of the pandemic. That dampened my competition spirit a little.

I have not done a comp in a few years now. Factors for me include:

1. General costs. It’s hard to justify spending 5-12k a year doing bbq contests with little return.

2. A few of the contests that were closer to me and reasonable driving distance away are no longer being done.

3. Lack of interest in helping or participating from friends. I think we all can agree that doing a contest is a lot of hard work. I just don’t have people in my immediate circle that love it the way I do. And yes, technically, I could pull off doing a contest on my own. But that is not something I will enjoy the way I do vs having some buddies with me.

We stepped away from competitions several years ago when I started having my vision issues. The wife would not even consider driving the truck and trailer when I lost my drivers license.

Both of us thought that it was temporary until we figured out either someone else to help/drive or we could downsize to how we could make things work.

Then where she worked sold to another company who changed all the rules for her work schedule so then that kept us away a bit longer.

Then my kidney issues started so not only could I no longer drive now i was dealing with the added fun of constant doctor appointments.

Finally get to where we have solved somewhat some issues and the COVID hit, we both got it mildly at one point or another.

After all that we had discussed should we do a couple contests, did a very local rib contest and did what i had wanted to do. And thought if we do 22 is the year we do a handful of contests. After that I had a bit of a health set back and with hour and a half trips once a week to big city and gas like it is, cost of meat, entry fees, etc. We both have come to the realization that we may have the desire but we are done. Probably for the best, but still sucks to know that.

For years, we've averaged about 10 cook-offs per year with a low of 7 and a high of 14. Then, between '18 and '19, ten cook-offs went away, seven in Oklahoma and three in Arkansas. Those 10 were 2 hours or less driving distance and made up the core of the cook-offs that we went to annually. Hammond and the Royal were our big road trips and cook-offs that were vacations of sorts because of the time away from home. We only did 3 in 2019, including the Hammond and Royal, none in 2020 and only the Royal in 2021. We've done two this year with only the Royal left on the calendar.



Meat, sauce and spice costs continue to increase. We've lost our mojo to some degree as well. When we had it, most weekends we could break even or better on the meat, sauce and spice costs. Some weekends we would get extremely lucky and cover all of our expenses. But those days seem to be long gone. It started fading away sometime around 2016. Couple the above expenses with the jump in fuel cost along with entry fees and it's just not as much fun being a field filler. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy seeing friends that we have made through the years.



Had a guy tell me once that for what he had spent on cook-offs over the years, he could have bought a cabin on the lake. Put that into perspective.

I'm thinking the younger generation is not into the Art of BBQ. Been seeing this on this site and other sites. Are we getting old?

I was never a huge competition cook, but I always tried to do at least 1 or 2 KCBS competitions per year. Covid itself didn't deter me, but the inflation + costs associated with the economic downturn (definitely covid-related) has made it much more difficult. Then add in gas prices, food prices, and food availability and it's made the thought of competing a tough sell.

@Happy_Hapgood,
I really don't think that's a fair comment. Competition BBQ is an incredibly expensive hobby, and as its gotten more popular the costs have increased exponentially. I recently read some older BBQ books (Peace, Love, and BBQ being one of them) and the older guys talk about spending roughly $100 on meat for a KCBS competition back in the late 90's / early 2000's. Now the majority of cook teams are spending more than that simply for brisket (many are spending roughly double that number on brisket). It takes a lot of years working and earning good money + saving to be able to have that kind of disposable income. Plus the tools and equipment necessary have also dramatically increased in price and that includes the price of smokers.

I love competition BBQ but it's tough to spend the money required and walk away empty handed. I've enjoyed every single contest I've been to as the people are always fantastic. I got the pleasure of meeting Matt Barber (Hot Wachula's) at a competition in Virginia last year, and he had himself one of the biggest travel trailers I've ever seen...absolutely enormous. I asked him what happened to his "van down by the river" and he jumped right into a long conversation about how competition BBQ had changed, and it was no longer as fun. It was interesting to hear his perspective, and I certainly enjoyed talking to him.

Fair or not, I feel really old when getting up at three in the morning.

When I started competing, I used 2 - 18" WSM and everything I used fit in my 2001 Toyota Tundra. With meat, entry fee and everything else, I was in for about $500 for a contest, which was about as cheap as you could get. I really enjoyed the one or two I'd do each year and always wanted to do more.

Post divorce, I thought about getting back into competition, but I just couldn't justify the cost. For awhile, I tracked some of the closer contests to see what kind of scores it would take to be in the top 10. When the math showed that 888 wasn't even going to be in the top 10, I decided it wasn't worth the cost anymore. I ended my competition career with one top ten ribbon in each category and I guess that was enough for me.

I still cook at home with a comp mindset. I'm even trying to perfect a sticky chicken leg recipe at this time. I could probably afford all of the toys it would take to do it in more comfort than before, but I don't think I could ever justify the money required now to enter one. I'd rather spend a couple thousand dollars on making my backyard really nice and somewhere where I could host friends and family to a bbq. I think I'd enjoy that more now.

I will say that I made a lot of good friends and met some really nice people when I competed and I do miss that.

I loved competing. Great times, Great Fun, and Great People.
Just can justify the crazy costs these days with 5 Kids and a wife.

I wish there were local back yard contest where it didn't cost and arm and a leg
to play.

BBQ_MAFIA said:

I loved competing. Great times, Great Fun, and Great People.
Just can justify the crazy costs these days with 5 Kids and a wife.

I wish there were local back yard contest where it didn't cost and arm and a leg
to play.

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Just a reminder, there are rules that keep championship/multiple, Masters series cook teams from cooking a backyard contest!

Definition for Backyard Cook Team
A. Any member of the team who has not entered in and competed in more than twelve (12) sanctioned “Master Series” BBQ competitions in the past and;
B. Any person who has been a member of a team who has not been awarded a Grand Champion or Reserve Champion status in any KCBS Sanctioned “Master Series” competition and;
C. Any member of the team who has competed in three (3) or less “Master Series BBQ competitions within the current competition year.

Ed

ModelMaker said:

Just a reminder, there are rules that keep championship/multiple, Masters series cook teams from cooking a backyard contest!

Definition for Backyard Cook Team
A. Any member of the team who has not entered in and competed in more than twelve (12) sanctioned “Master Series” BBQ competitions in the past and;
B. Any person who has been a member of a team who has not been awarded a Grand Champion or Reserve Champion status in any KCBS Sanctioned “Master Series” competition and;
C. Any member of the team who has competed in three (3) or less “Master Series BBQ competitions within the current competition year.

Ed

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who enforces those rules?

kurtsara said:

who enforces those rules?

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Good point, and my favorite is the "team of wives" whose husbands have been doing competition BBQ for 10+ years.

I try to keep all of my competitions within a 4 hour drive, which is difficult.
A couple weeks ago we drove 6 hours to Savannah, and glad we did, we walked with GC.


Next week we are driving 8 hours to New Holland PA, the rest of our comps for the year are within the 4 hour driving radius.



It is still expensive, but I am consistently getting calls so that makes it all worth while!

kurtsara said:

who enforces those rules?

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I believe all KCBS reps have access to all team records and should be pre-contest checking teams.
Or upper echelon cook teams can cheat and try to beat the backyard guys and hope you don't get caught!
Ed