MEAT, INC Wildomar BBQ Competition: Episode 6

Aaron Black finds himself down a rack of ribs. Chicken and ribs finish getting prepped. Cory is irresponsible when it comes to managing the turn in boxes. Aaron's wife and kids stop by while he gets teased at the cooks meeting. Stay tuned to find out if MEAT, Inc. can make it through the night.

Total Shenanigans,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

MEAT, INC. Wildomar BBQ Competition: Episode 5

They start out the day loading up the truck with all the gear. They arrive at the Wildomar BBQ Competition and make sure they let everyone know. Cory slacks off, while Aaron starts prepping the MEAT's for competition. He explains how they cut their pork butt and St. Louis style ribs. Dan leads them to believe he knows how to remove the membrane off a rack of ribs. Stay tuned for more episodes next week.

Live, Love, MEAT!!!
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

MEAT, INC. Wildomar BBQ Competition: Episode 4

Finally Aaron and Cory finish unloading the car. Cory challenges Aaron to a cooler packing competition while testing his patience. Dan Stutts shows up to help with absolutely nothing. Cory learns how to make tags and Aaron struggles with being the best "Barbecue Dad" in the world.

They're just getting started,
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME

Extras. Here you see a little behind the scenes and what I have to deal with. It is a never ending fight for good content.

"OC BBQ & Music Festival 2012" Part 1 of 2

As a man of MEAT I take a lot of pride in everything I do. I believe in having a balanced life that includes staying healthy combined with equal amounts of work and pleasure. If one of these areas in my life starts to suffer, it throws the whole life balance out of whack. So in an effort to stay balanced… I am single Bitches! Let’s get this party started!!!

With OC BBQ & Music Festival my original intent was to cover the event in through the eyes of the children with terminal illnesses that Kristie’s Foundation is supporting. What I did not realize is that these kids suffer a great deal of discomfort from what ever illness they are suffering from and just making it through the day is very difficult. Not to mention how hard it is on the parents and how sensitive they are to each child’s condition. In an effort to not stress these wonderful children and parents I decided to focus on the BBQ teams and what it is like for a team to go through 3 days of a BBQ competition. Being newly single, I decided to take the opportunity to be there for all 3 days.

At the OC BBQ & Music Festival each team is competing for best chicken, pork, brisket, and ribs with the option of doing potato salad. All of this has to be done and submitted on Saturday. On Sunday each team had the opportunity to compete in a burger competition. The winner gets their hamburger featured at all 3 Slater’s 50/50 locations. How cool is that? The entire time the teams are competing they are also selling food to the crowd attending the event in an effort to win the People’s Choice award.

I arrived at the OC County Fairgrounds on Friday afternoon to find out how the whole process works. My good friends at MEAT Inc. were kind enough to let me stay with them the entire time and I couldn’t be more grateful for their hospitality.

Once I unloaded all my gear on Friday afternoon, I met up with Krisite’s organizer to find out what I could do to help. A lot of it was finding spots for all 70 BBQ teams and then getting them all the food and ice they need. At most competitions each team is responsible for bringing their on food for the People’s Choice portion of the event. At this competition all of the People’s Choice food was donated by Farmer John’s , Reser’s Potato Salad and a few other vendors.

Once everyone was settled in it was time to start campaigning for the Mr. BBQ Competition which required me running around to all the teams with my Hot Dog suit on. On Friday evening I was invited to Reser’s VIP party to entertain all of the local venders that sell their products. Reser’s is one of MEAT Inc. BBQ Team’s sponsors so it was up to the team to provide, BBQ and serve the food for this special occasion. There was a shit ton of food Aaron Black of MEAT Inc. had to prepare for this event on top of all the competition and People’s Choice meat that was waiting for special treatment.

I did my best to entertain and once the guests were able to engage with me they realized I was more than just a hot dog. After tons of photos and hours of laugher it was time to get my drink on and get back to campaigning for Mr. BBQ.

I ran around to as many teams as possible but being my first year I really had no idea what I was in for. These teams are up almost all night smoking barbecue in order to have it ready for their turn in times of 11:00 am for Chicken, Ribs at 11:30 am, Pork at 12:00pm and Brisket at 12:30. That is a tight time schedule so they have to start cooking the night before.  If any team misses the window of 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after the designated turn in time, they are disqualified from that category.

When I was done making my campaign rounds it was about 2 am and time for me to get to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and with all those drinks I was gonna need all the sleep I could get. Some people slept in RV’s, the back if their trucks, and even in cots and sleeping bags so they can hear temperature alarms in case the BBQ Pit temps get too high or too low during the night.

I woke up the next day not feeling so good. It was rough for someone who only drinks about once a month so I was probably operating at 45%. Almost every team I visited with Friday night / Saturday early morning was kind enough to offer me a drink and I couldn’t say no to such wonderful hospitality. Lesson learned for next time - don’t fall in to the alcohol trap that the BBQ Teams often suck you into.

The gates opened to the public at 10am on Saturday morning and crowds of people started to pile in. I ran around to as many teams as I could to try and get shots of their competition food before it was submitted for judging. As chaos ensues, you can see people from various BBQ Teams running full speed across the fair grounds trying to get their entry in before they miss the turn in window.

At this point it’s about 1pm and its time to make one last go around for support as I take on the Mr. BBQ Pageant. My nerves are a little frayed at this point but I am pretty sure I got this. The Mr. BBQ crown will be mine! As we approach the 2 pm mark, Kelliegh, the event organizer, gathers all the Mr. BBQ Pageant competitors up and gives us a ride on her golf cart through the crowd and up to the main stage.

We are all back stage standing in line about ready to go on and I am informed that each contestant will be asked questions by a Lucy Ball look alike and more questions from the host for the Pageant. All I kept thinking is that all that XBOX Connect Dance training better pay off when the music starts.

Everyone takes their turn on stage and last but not least was last year’s winner… Big Country. Last year he took the stage in cut off overalls throwing out ribs to the crowd.  This year he was dressed in a Raiders Apron and Black Gym Shorts hidden under a very fuzzy bathrobe. The second he took that robe off and revealed what he was wearing, I knew it was no contest. I figured if that’s what I had to do to win then that guy can have it. There’s no way I ‘m wearing black gym shorts. I did win the Best Chicken Legs category and since I was dressed in a hot dog suit - I’ll take it. Congratulations to Big Country - the winner of the 2012 Mr. BBQ Pageant. He earned it! I just felt bad that he would have to wear the Purple sash and fuzzy royal crown for the rest of the day.

On Saturday evening it was time for the awards ceremony and for all the BBQ teams to find out how they did. The Grand Champion went to Left Coast Q and the Reserve went to Big Poppa Smokers. You can find out the full results at KCBS.us website. This time I wanted to interview the teams after the results just to find out how everyone felt about their scores.

I got a chance to meet with the 3rd place team Ridge Route Boys BBQ:

MEAT ME: So where are you guys from?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: Bakersfield

MEAT ME: So what is your history with BBQ?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: We started last year. We probably did 5 events last year and we are hitting it pretty hard this year. This is our 5th competition this year.

MEAT ME: How many are you guys planning on doing this year?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: At least 15.

MEAT ME: How did you guys do at this event?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: We did really good. 2nd in chicken, 3rd in pork and 3rd overall.

MEAT ME: Wow that’s great. Cause it is really tough out here. A lot of people did not do as well as they thought they were going to.

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: Yeah, it really is great. We did not expect to do as well as we thought we did. Got Lucky!

MEAT ME: What would you guys consider to be your specialty?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ:: It appears to be chicken right now. At Brentwood we got 1st Place in chicken two weeks ago. So it seems to be chicken right now. You would think because of our pit the big meats would be better, but we seem to be doing really well with chicken.

MEAT ME: So how did you get into BBQ?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: Well we saw it, liked it and wanted to do it. I have never had any cooking lessons or schooling or anything. We just jumped right into it. A lot of reading and talking to a lot of people.

MEAT ME: Do you have a lot of family history with BBQ?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: Yeah been doing it all my life.

MEAT ME: So what is your favorite MEAT?

Ridge Route Boys BBQ: Brisket. I really worked hard on perfecting brisket, if you can perfect brisket. We seem to do really well with it most of the time.

You can check out their website at: http://ridgerouteboysbarbecue.webs.com/

The Pit Crew BBQ was holding up a stop sign so that’s exactly what I did:

MEAT ME: So where are you guys from?

The Pit Crew BBQ: Anaheim Hills

MEAT ME: So How long have you guys been doing BBQ Competitions?

The Pit Crew BBQ: 1 year and 1 contest.

MEAT ME: So this is contest number? How many are you guys doing this year?

The Pit Crew BBQ:  Overall this is contest #16. I believe this is #8 so far this year.

MEAT ME: How did you guys get into competition BBQ?

The Pit Crew BBQ: I was watching BBQ Pit Masters and I called up my buddy and I said, “Hey we can do that, it doesn’t look very hard.” (Voice in the back ground) Yea we leaned the hard way, we are not better than they are. (We laugh)

MEAT ME: So how have you guys been doing?


The Pit Crew BBQ: Pretty good. Probably after this contest we will be first in the chicken for this state. We are in the middle of the pack with everything else, but we are having a blast. The camaraderie of the people is why we come out here. The competition is fun but the people are great.

MEAT ME: How did you guys do in the competition?

The Pit Crew BBQ: We got 7th in chicken and we did 6th in the Reser’s Potato Salad. We over cooked our ribs and under cook our butts, but we’re good.

MEAT ME: What would your advice be to someone that is thinking about getting into BBQ Competitions?

The Pit Crew BBQ: Come on out. It is a blast! The people are very willing to help the rookies to get better. I have become good enough to where the other more experienced teams have stopped giving me advice. Yea literally!

Matt over at Left Coast Q posted on Facebook; give me 2 tokens and I’ll give you one minute of advice and let you sprits the ribs. 5 tokens I’ll let you sprits the ribs, pull the pork and 5 minutes of advice and for 10 tokens you get to work with us for an hour. (Laughing our asses off!)

He said “Everybody but you Steve Wilson - I can’t give you advice because you’re getting too good”. He’s a blast.

That’s the thing the camaraderie of the people is just so much fun.

MEAT ME: If you are not entirely sick of seeing all of this food what is your favorite?

The Pit Crew BBQ: I always thought that beef tri-tip was the best thing barbecue could ever create until I started doing this. But now it is by far brisket. It is so good. We are doing pretty well in brisket we are 4th overall in California. It’s unbelievably tender and because it cooks so long it absorbs so much flavor and smoke. We use Wagyu and it melts in your mouth it is unbelievable how good it is. Everybody loves our ribs but brisket is my favorite.

You can find on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/thepitcrewbbq.oc?ref=ts

I sat down with Left Coast Q to get a feel for what it’s like to be a Grand Champion:

MEAT ME: So where are you guys from?

Left Coast Q: Banning, California.

MEAT ME: How many of you are there?

Left Coast Q: There are 4 of us. There is my main team member Moe Lyons, my son Matthew Dalton, and James Miranda.

MEAT ME: How long have you guys been doing barbecue?

Left Coast Q: We started May 2010.

MEAT ME: How did you guys get into Barbecue?

Left Coast Q: I had been cooking for about 15 years doing back yard BBQ. I saw the Pit Masters Show and thought - hey that looks like something cool. So we went to Myron Mixon’s BBQ class and 3 weeks later we picked up a pit out there in Georgia and brought it back to California. It was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing, but it all comes back to the passion for me. Of course it was a collaborative effort. Once we came back we practiced 8 weeks in a row before we ever went to our first competition. Taking that class took our backyard level to the competition level. Lots of people will have their friends tell them, “Hey this is the best BBQ I have ever had!” That might just be average to a seasoned judge. That’s how we got into it. We walked reserve grand our first competition. We took rookie team of the year in 2010 at Bakersfield. At the time that competition was a state record with 54 teams. All of the heavy hitters were there except for Slay Yo’ Daddy. From that point on we were hooked. You see the big trophy. We just kept going forward from there.

MEAT ME: So how many Grand Champions do you guys have?

Left Coast Q: We have 2 now, Wildomar and here, but before that we actually had 7 reserve champions and we were really close. Santa Anita as a matter of fact was less than 1 point separating Grand and Reserve Champion.  Yesterday we won by 15 points which is huge.

MEAT ME: Wow that is pretty big. So what did you guys do best in?

Left Coast Q: We walked 2nd pork, 2nd ribs, 5th brisket, and 10th chicken. So we took 4 walks. There were a few teams that took 2 walks. No one took 3 and we were the only team that had 4. (walks meaning, walked up to the podium to collect a trophy)
When we got 2nd in pork I pretty much know we had it at that point.

MEAT ME: Do you think you guys are doing things very different than you were in 2010?


Left Coast Q: Oh yeah! Absolutely! Our game has come full circle just from changing rubs from here to there. Techniques we have changed adding things, taking things away: you know always-forward thinking. Not being closed minded. You know, a lot of teams stick to one game plan and never deviate from it. I’m not changing everything every competition. Take for instance I changed one thing with my injection on my pork. I switched to another rub for my chicken. It’s those little things that make a difference. You also have to make sure that every piece of meat that you put in that box is tender and excellent. You know the judges are going to taste it. You may put a piece of meat in there just to look good and if it doesn’t taste great, that good looking piece is going to kill ya. It’s the little tiny details that are gonna kill ya, or set you over the top.

It’s the attention to detail and working like a well oiled machine. These guys, they get up in the morning, they build a fire. Our cook is the same every time. Even though it was an hour earlier turn in for this comp, we just adjusted back an hour.

MEAT ME: What advise would you have for someone that is trying to get into barbecue competitions?

Left Coast Q: I would say as far as cooking… Not so much smoke, limit your smoke. Foil when your color and bark is right. Make sure your flavors pop. It is one bite barbecue; it has to wow them with one bite. As far as getting into it; it’s an expensive game. You have to have passion if you don’t have that your gonna get tired of this really quickly, especially if you don’t do well. It is fun, the camaraderie is great and we have met tons of people across the country. There is so much information out there and there are lots of people willing to help new teams jump in feet first.

MEAT ME: How many competitions do you guys do a year?

Left Coast Q: Last year we did about 13 or 14. This year we are gonna push the 20 mark.

MEAT ME: Are you guys going to do the Royal in Kansas City?

Left Coast Q: Well we don’t know if we are going to do the Royal yet. We’re also shooting for the Jack. We now have 2 Jack draws or chances to be invited.  You get one draw for each GC.  That comes down to the end of the year in September when they draw one winner from each state unless you win 7 GC’s – then you are automatically in.

We are trying to make a push into the KCBS top 20 in points with Who’s Smokin’ Now.  They’re next to us and they just won the last 2 Sam’s events. We are trying to elevate Barbecue to that National level in California to say, “Hey we’ve earned respect here, we are not a joke, we are serious!” When you have more California teams in the Top 20 then maybe we’ll get the respect we deserve. It really is that way.

I was looking at points last night and we should be in the top 10 in the nation. This event may end up being our only shot at bonus points. So we made an even bigger gain on 2nd place in California right now we have 2 Grand’s, 2 Reserves, and a 4th for our top 5 over all and that’s all they take. If we win a couple more we’ll have it for sure. It is still early in the year with about 10 more events here in California.

It’s that passion man, I tell ya!


MEAT ME: Well good luck and congratulations on winning Grand Champion here at the OC BBQ & Music Festival.

You can check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leftcoast-Q/125103440847709


Next week you can look for:
El Fuego Fiasco
Mr. BBQ Pageant Winner "Big Country"
The results of the Slaters 50/50 Burger Challenge

To be continued…

The newly single,
MEAT ME
Aka Sean Rice

Photography and Writing by Sean Rice; Edited by: Aaron Black (MEAT Inc.)

On a side note I would like to congratulate the Los Angeles Kings on winning the Stanley Cup. I have been a huge fan since I was 5 years old and it has been a very long road but well worth the wait. I am looking forward to going to the Parade this Thursday at the Staples Center to see Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Wildomar BBQ Competition and Festival 2012

What is better than coming home after a long day, sitting down and realizing that you smell like Barbeque. As someone who doesn’t need cologne (that’s right I’m all natural) there is nothing better than the musky scent of smoked hickory combined with a heavy dusting from the City of Wildomar. The name is self sounds a little Harry Potter-esk but the only Wizards you’ll find here are the ones that magically make your mouth water and your stomach full.

Wildomar? Never heard of it. Let along the BBQ competition. Meat Inc. invited me out and since they didn’t disappoint last time I had to honor their invitation. Sadly I made the mistake of not looking at the map until the day of. For the first time living in California I took freeways I have never heard of the 101, to the 10, to the 15, 71, 91 and some small road off a main street. God only knows I am in for a treat. I pull into the dirt filled parking lot struggling to find my way through all the dust. Dust does wonders for my camera by the way, but I’m over 90 miles committed so there is no turing around.

Just when the dust clears I notice a huge carnival at the entrance to the BBQ Competition. Wildomar is near Lake Elsinore, which means it’s in the middle of nowhere. Carnivals are a magnet for interesting people and running along side a BBQ Competition only fuels my already excited fire. As soon I am through the entrance I can see more activity than at my local gay bar in West Hollywood and that’s looking in from the street. Meat Inc. never disappoints and now I have struck entertainment gold. Between the BBQ, beautiful women, and interesting people endless amounts of entertainment await me.

At the last BBQ competition I had the chance to get to know Meat Inc. and what its like to be a BBQ judge. This time I wanted to get to know everybody and find out what everyone is about. This way you the reader can find out what you're missing.  I don’t want to waste anymore time so I went right up to Rooftop Barbeque and this is what they had to say:

MEAT ME: So what is Rooftop Barbeque?

Rooftop Barbeque: I like to call ourselves the under dog team. We have been around for 3 years and everything we do we make ourselves. We make our own rub. We make our own sauce. All our products we make. We come up with our own recipes and we cook it on a grill that we made ourselves. We do have a couple of pellet smokers that we got sponsored with and that helps us get a little extra sleep but when were doing the big cooks that’s our baby right there (points to his giant barrel smoker). I am a welder (armor) by trade and I’m from the south and I have been eating barbeque my whole life. I am a huge fan and that’s what we are all about. We’re a huge family oriented team and our goal is to win a Grande Championship on a grill we made ourselves.

MEAT ME: Where are you from originally?

Rooftop Barbeque: Originally I am from Georga. These guys (points at his time) are all from out here in California) Lake Elsinore. Yea, we are a local team. What I would like to do is sample all of our stuff to you so you can see what we are all about.

This is our… Do you know who Scott Roberts is?

MEAT ME: No.

Rooftop Barbeque: He is a BBQ Critic and he named our sauce, Sauce of the Year. This is our Chipotle Molasses Sauce. So taste the sweet first and the heat kick’s in a little bit later.

MEAT ME: It's funny you can feel it on the middle of the tongue and then on the side of my tongue. (It’s defiantly one of the more stimulating flavors I have tasted.) It’s really good.

Rooftop Barbeque: This is our competition rub and it’s got a little bit of vanilla in it, little garlic, I would just wet your finger and dab it on your tongue.

MEAT ME: It’s good its really sweet.

Rooftop Barbeque: This is our jalapeno peach jam. It acts like a meat glaze. A lot of people really like this. I have even heard of people putting it on shrimp.

MEAT ME: It’s good. Wow you really feel that jalapeno later. Cause it’s like you get the texture and then, “Oh Shit! That’s gonna heat up!” (I laughed I was so surprised.)

Rooftop Barbeque: Some people say it is not hot enough for them. You know when your trying to push stuff like this you want it to taste good and you don’t want it to over power. So that’s kind a what we are going for. It think it accents the meat really well. I personally think our sauce is better than anything you’ve tasted at the grocery store. I do. One thing is we use a more expensive molasses; we don’t put water in our sauce. We use a honey clover for our sauce as well and you can taste it in the ingredients. When you go to pour our sauce out it takes forever to come out. It’s thick and it is good stuff.  It’s good on chicken it’s good on ribs, it’s good on just about anything.

You can check them out at: http://rooftopbarbeque.com/
LIKE them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/rooftopbbq

Their samples definitely ranked up there with some of the more interesting things I have tasted. I consider myself more old fashioned and classic in the tasting department. I don’t like to get too adventurous, I like the less is more approach to simple fatty foods. If it’s something complex I feel like I have to work a little bit and not enjoy it as much. I feel out of my comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong I love trying new things; I am probably just suffering from “old ways” (aka fat and lazy) as I get older.

I turned my head and was drawn in by the beautiful young ladies over at Southfork BBQ. Like every man I suffer from the disease of being attracted towards a pretty smile and the desire to fill my belly. These ladies were kind enough to pose for a few photos for you and talk about what makes them special...

MEAT ME: So where are you guys from?

Sourthfork BBQ Girls: We are from Wildomar, CA it is owned by Ron Guglielmana. He has more than 20 years experience doing all types of corporate events, catering, and private parties.

MEAT ME: Is it all catering? Is there a restaurant?


Southfork BBQ Girls: It is all catering. He has a huge 20 food BBQ that he brings and travels all over California. Sometimes he goes out of state but mostly California. Tri-tip is his big thing. He does prime rib; he does a Mahi Mahi that is bomb. His menu’s are all on the website.

You can check out Southfork BBQ at: http://web.mac.com/sfr4vg/Southfork_Catering/Welcome.html

Short and sweet! These ladies are masters in the art of “don’t tell me all the information” so I go to the website because I think you hiding something or have a secret. Then they’ll want me to hire their catering company so I can find out about all the wonderful goods and services they offer.

Luckily I work in advertising and didn’t fall for their little consumer trap, so I walk away before I got sucked in even more.

I drop my gear at Meat Inc. and say a quick hi. Right behind me I see When Pigs Fly and I remember them from Santa Anita and I thought they did pretty well so lets go see what their deal is.., Ha when pigs fly?

MEAT ME: So what is the story behind the name?

When Pigs Fly: When Pigs Fly and that’s what I called it when my husband told me he wanted to do this. So I said, “When Pigs Fly.”

Our very first contest he did his very first brisket that he ever cooked. He hadn’t really done any of this before. He like that he’s very spontaneous.

MEAT ME: Who is he?

When Pigs Fly: Dale Ginos and we are from Vista California. He made enough money to pay for all the smokers and everything he bought. We were stuck at that point.

MEAT ME: So you were committed?

When Pigs Fly: He was in and happy and I was stuck. (I laugh)

MEAT ME: So what is your specialty?

When Pigs Fly: Of the meat, probably our brisket or our pulled pork. I am really excited about our chicken today, we made a lot of changes to it and we think may be we have nailed the chicken. What I am know for on this circuit is my Smoked Peach Cobbler which is in the smoker right now.

MEAT ME: Really! (Excited) I am a pie connoisseur myself so I love pies.

When Pigs Fly: Oh Really!

MEAT ME: So how long have you guys been doing this?

When Pigs Fly: 7 years. I think it is 7 years. Seven. Long. Years.

MEAT ME: How many competitions do you guys usually do every year?

When Pigs Fly: We used to do about 5 or 6, but I actually quit my day job at the first of the year because this is too much to juggle. So I have been trying to let him compete a lot this year. We have already done about a half a dozen. He better start making some good money or we are going to run out of money. It is not a cheap hobby.

MEAT ME: You guys did really well at Santa Anita this year. Right?

When Pigs Fly: Yeah. We got 2nd in Brisket.

MEAT ME: Did you guys do Vegas?

When Pigs Fly: We did and out of 112 top team in the nation; actually the world. There were teams there from the UK. There was one right next to us from the UK. There is another team that is here this weekend from the UK. We got 20th in Pulled Pork we were pretty excited that we got called at all.

You can check out When Pigs Fly at: http://www.whenpigsflycatering.com/

I can’ t believe I missed the pie. So disappointed in myself. Oh well gives me a reason to come back next time.

Now its time to submit the BBQ to the judges. I went back to Meat Inc. to get a little insight into what he goes through to prep the food.



MEAT ME: Is this your first time at Wildomar? How many times?

MEAT Inc: This is their third annual event - I've been to this event the last two years.

MEAT ME: Why Wildomar, what makes is so special? It seems like its held in a small town…

MEAT Inc: I live in Murrieta - about 4 miles away.  You can't pass up an opportunity to cook in your own back yard with lots of support from your local friends and family!  It is a small town but the sense of community is awesome!

MEAT ME: What are the different categories you are being judged for today?

MEAT Inc: Today we cooked the four standard KCBS meats - chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork, and brisket.  In addition we had an extra meat category - Beef Ribs.  The scores from the Beef Ribs don't count toward the overall scores and winner of the contest but it's always fun to cook some extra meats!

MEAT ME: What sort of step do you have to take when preparing chicken, ribs, and brisket etc?

MEAT Inc: All the meats take extra effort to pick out the best.  What you are looking for in each meat is enough for a whole separate article.  Basically most of the meats are trimmed, shaped, and then could be injected, brined, and dry rubbed - all before their cooked.


MEAT ME: Why do you use the parsley?

MEAT Inc: We have to.  Well... the official rules say that we don't have to but I don't know anyone that has a big enough set of... um... so sure of themselves and their meat that they could by pass setting up the box for presentation.  You can use a list of green things for the bottom of the box and presentation and there's a list of things you can't use.  Some newer teams have been disqualified for using something they weren't supposed to.  Also - should be pointed out that the judges aren't supposed to judge the presentation using any of the greens.  I'm sure you can't find one judge that will agree (off the record of course) that a box will win not using greens.

MEAT ME: What happens if you are late delivering the food to the judges?

MEAT Inc: We have a turn in time with a 5-minute window on either side.  Chicken turn in time is usually at 12.  So from 11:55 - 12:04:59 we can turn in.  If the clock hits 12:05 - you are disqualified.  10 minutes sounds like a big window but when you are cooking 4 plus meats plus maybe some meats for People's Choice, all kinds of things can happen.  We've been late once for a side competition but I could not serve the judges meat that wasn't cooked properly.  We were 20 seconds late.  Sucked because I think we had a shot at that one too.  The meat doesn't always participate!

MEAT ME: What category do you think you will do the best in here today?

MEAT Inc: We're pretty good at chicken.  The rest is kind of a crapshoot and we don't have any loft expectations.  It would be nice to get a walk on Beef Ribs - I've got some beauties today!

MEAT ME: How does it feel to win 2nd in Beef Ribs? What do you get?

MEAT Inc: We got some really nice beef ribs from our friends at T & H Meats in San Marcos.  Hand picked out of a few cases.  We had a secret trick up our sleeve that helped us get a 1st at another competition last summer.  We played that hand again and with a solid presentation, the scores came up for us.  2nd place took home $400 which is great because we're real close to breaking even on this event counting our People's Choice so I will probably be able to sleep in the house tonight!

You can check out MEAT Inc. at: http://meatinc.blogspot.com/
LIKE Meat Inc. on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Meatinc
Follow Meat Inc. on Twitter @meatinc

Just across the way from Aaron I noticed a booth selling giant bacon wrapped hot dogs. I just had to find out what the were all about.

MEAT ME: So are you guy’s apart of the competition?

Raul’s Concessions: Nawh.

MEAT ME: So what is your specialty?

Raul’s Concessions: The bacon wrapped dawgs. We have garlic fries. But that ain’t meat. Philly Cheese Steak… You know it’s a West Coast style Cheese Steak, we don’t do East Coast because people out here like they like sharper cheese like nacho, something like that. It’s different it taste good.

MEAT ME: How long have you guys been doing this?

Raul’s Concessions: For 8 years. This is all we do for a living.

MEAT ME: So you guys are mobile?

Raul’s Concessions: Yeah mobile. We go Cisco, San Diego, Arizona, Nevada, and everything in between.

MEAT ME: Is there more of you or just one?

Raul’s Concessions: We do 2 at a time. It depends where ever they have a dollar we try to get there. This is what we do.

You can contact Raul’s Concessions at: firedog4u@sbcglobal.net
Or by phone at: (909) 322-2194

I am sure he would love to hear from you.

I could not help but notice on the other side of the park there was the rookie team I met at Santa Anita All Kinds of BBQ that actually placed at their first event. I knew I had to go back and find out what they were up too.

All Kinds of BBQ: Are you with the event?

MEAT ME: No actually I am my own thing… (handover the card)

All Kinds of BBQ: Oh my gosh, we Twitter you all the time!

MEAT ME: That’s funny. So Santa Anita was your first event?

All Kinds of BBQ: It was our first event.

MEAT ME: So what is your full name?

All Kinds of BBQ: All Kinds of BBQ

MEAT ME: Did you guys place at Santa Anita?

All Kinds of BBQ: We placed in two categories. We placed 9^th in Chicken and 6^th in Ribs. That was our first competition. This is our second.

MEAT ME: What is your specialty?

All Kinds of BBQ: I don’t know I am kind of partial to the ribs, but then again I think the chicken is amazing. They don’t have a category for Tri-Tip here but we nail it every time. Yeah, every time. People who have only had the Tri-Tip think that is what he is famous for.

MEAT ME: Where are you guys based? Do you have a restaurant?

All Kinds of BBQ: Glendora, CA. No this is a mobile catering business.

MEAT ME: How long have you guys been doing this?

All Kinds of BBQ: We have been doing BBQ for 10 years but we officially made it a business last year.

MEAT ME: Where are you guys from originally?

All Kinds of BBQ: Well I am from Santa Ana, Orange County and he is from Whittier, California.

You can check out All Kinds of BBQ at: http://allkindsofbbq.com/index.html

Follow All Kinds of BBQ on Twitter @AllKindsOfBBQ

If there is one thing I miss about being a kid it's being awesome and not having a care in the world of what other people think. Being able to dance and move to a beat like it is no bodies business. This is exactly what I ran into before the awards ceremony...

Please take a moment to enjoy the awesomeness that is Breakdance BBQ Kid...

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Now it all comes down to business. Who's meat was tastier, flavorier, and textureier than everybody else's. Who came here to do work, to be crowned the king of the meat?

All the players gather round in anticipation as to who will be crowed the next King of BBQ! The smokiest of the smokeys.

After the judges have already made up their minds the kids get together and talk about what they really think about the judges. I believe I even over heard one of them saying, "It's no Happy Meal but it will do!"

The new king is crowned Left Coast Q is the Grand Champion at Wildomar BBQ Competition 2012.

Aaron Black of Meat Inc. picked up 2nd place in Beef Ribs. Congratulations to them on job well done.

Here is a link to the official results: http://www.kcbs.us/events.php?id=3217

It was a long day and well worth it. I saw more beautiful things at this event than all the others combined. I hope you have enjoyed my perspective of such an awesome event. They only get better so please go out, have fun, compete in the art of BBQ or just eat it, like me.


Live. Love. Meat.
Sean Rice
aka MEAT ME