Barbeque Competitions And Barbecue Styles
Barbeque Competitions are an American tradition that every year brings folks from all over the country together to prove who produces the best barbeque. Cook-offs are held in just about every state in the union with the largest being The American Royal Barbeque Contest in Kansas City, Missouri and is affectionately called the World Series of Barbeque. This event is held over a four day period with the first half being an invitation only event and the second half are open Barbeque Competitions.
Competitions usually reflect the Barbeque styles of the region inwhich they are being held.These four regions are responsible for most of the Barbeque styles across the country. They are…
- Memphis Style.
- The Carolinas.
- Kansas City Style.
- Texas Style.
There are other regions or sub regions, but they tend to be acompilation or combination of two or more of the major regions above.
Memphis Barbeque is comprised mainly of pork ribs that may be brushed with a sauce or be prepared dry. A dry BBQ is one in which the meat has been prepared using only a dry rub only prior to cooking.
Carolina Style BBQ, like Memphis relies mostly on pork as its main meat dish and again may be brushed with a sauce or served dry. The difference here is in the sauce as they say. South Carolinauses a sauce that is mustard based and is referred to as Carolina Gold. North Carolina on the other hand uses sauces that are tomato based for the most part. North Carolina also has two sub regions, eastern North Carolina and western North Carolina with the western region being known as Lexington BBQ.
Kansas City Style utilizes both pork and beef in their meat dishes, with the meat being smoked with a dry rub added. Sauces are usually thick and served on the side for use after cooking. KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce is probably the most famous sauce to come from this region and is available on just about all grocery store shelves.
Texas Style is big just like Texas and pretty much runs the gamut, drawing from their own four sub regions. These sub regions are East Texas, Central Texas, West Texas and South Texas. The BBQ in Texas can run from traditional in the east to hot and spicy in the south. Texas folks definitely have the edge when they want to fill up on BBQ.
No matter which region or sub region you are in barbequers take their competitions seriously with thousands of dollars in prizes a steak for the best BBQ. Not only is money a motivating factor, notoriety as well can come into play, with these competitions sometimes drawing thousands of spectators.
Are you interested in finding a BBQ Event in your area? Check out the links below.
BBQ’s Party Bog – A great place to start when looking for a BBQ cook-off
Kansas City Barbeque Society – This is the grandaddy and one of the biggest.
Memphis in May International Festival – Another good reason to go to Memphis.
The Great American Barbeque Festival - Another Kansas City original.
Florida Bar B Que Association – You won’t belive how many cook offs they have in Florida.
New Holland Summer Fest – BBQ in Pennsylvania.
BBQ Festivals.com – BBQ cook-off from sea to shinning sea.
California BBQ Association – BBQ’s all over California.
Pork in the Park – Maryland BBQ.
Fiery-Foods.com – The winners osf the Scovie Awards.
