Barbecue Judgement Day at Tilley Harley Davidson Biker, Blues & BBQ

Whew! What a Weekend at Biker, Blues & Barbecue


I headed back to the Tilley Harley Davidson Biker, Blues & BBQ yesterday to see if any of the barbecue competition teams had drowned (talk about some rain around here this week) and also to see who would be taking home trophies.

The rain had stopped by turn in time, and barbecue teams were walking the competition boxes up the side of the building. With four categories in a Kansas City Barbecue Society competition spaced a half hour apart, the turn in time is a pretty long process.

Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke Walks His Competition Box In


I was weaving in and out of the barbecue tents but staying in the background and out of the way. The last thing you want when you're trying to get your chicken thighs just right is someone gabbing and asking you to pose for photographs.

Fast Eddie's Fine Swine On the BBQ Competition Home Stretch

Once the barbecue boxes were turned in, most of the teams kicked back for a while and shared chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket with family, friends, and random nice people. This is when it's great to have lots of barbecue Facebook friends and a camera.

I visited with some of the teams I'd met the day prior like Yadkin River Smokers (great sauce) and Smoke-a-holics (Pig Pen - terrific BBQ seasoning). They hooked me up with some fabulous samples. It's amazing the variety of wonderful barbecue these guys turn out. Now, I'm sounding gushy in this paragraph, but there aren't enough adjectives to really capture the yummyness of slow smoked meat right off the smokers.

Catawba College Kids Give D&D Hickory Hogs the Thumbs Up


My crew which ended up including my son who goes to Catawba College and his roommate and a buddy home based with D&D Hickory Hogs. We'd been talking about the competition for several months. It was the first time Darrin and Donna had ever entered.

Darrin was a little nervous about his food. Some of the teams do talk junk like you see on Barbecue Pitmasters (Myron Mixon - hi there), but most (at least in private) were worried. I tried out Darrin and Donna's meat, and I was pretty certain the pork and brisket were going to be in the money.

By this point I was so full of barbecue that I needed a nap and a membership to the YMCA, so I hung out with Kevin Sandridge who had been judging. Kevin owns the BBQ Smoker Site, and we had fun sharing barbecue writer war stories.

It was finally time for the winners to be called, and Gary Moss took the stage and began handing out trophies. I crawled up through the crowd and parked it on the curb so that I'd not block anyone's view but could still get some photos. Darrin and Donna found me, so we were all curbside and hoping for the best.

First Timers Darrin and Donna Vasseur Score Big


Yahoo. D&D Hickory Hogs took 7th in brisket and 8th in pork to land in the winners circle. They were 15th overall in a field of 37. That's really rocking especially for a first timer team.

Tuffy Stone Cool Smoke Takes Grand Champion at Biker, Blues & BBQ


The Grand Chamption at Biker, Blues, and BBQ was Tuffy Stone of Cool Smoke (from Barbecue Pitmasters TV). We had chatted both days, and I took him a bottle of Ralph's Dipping Sauce which is my favorite North Carolina western barbecue mop. He's going to give that a try and see what he thinks of our local sauce which is made by my co-worker at the college.

Smoke This at Biker, Blues, and BBQ


The Reserve Champ was Smoke This. So, I'm seeing a pattern here. If I ever have a barbecue team, I think I will have to name it Smoke Something. Both winners had short names featuring the word Smoke. Yes. I do have random thoughts like that - all the time.

Pickin' Porkers with pitmaster Roger Wise won People's Choice. That's a real honor. Folks at the event voted on them.

You can see all the teams and scores at the KCBA site.

Also check out the Biker, Blues, and BBQ photos from Friday evening and a large set of competition day photos.

Biker Blues & BBQ - Tilley Harley-Davidson of Salisbury, North Carolina

KCBA Barbecue Competition at Tilley Harley-Davidson of Salisbury, NC

Salisbury, North Carolina is a barbecue town, but it's not been a BBQ competition town. We've had a couple of small comps but not much to write or call home about. So, I had been looking forward to Biker Blues & BBQ at Tilley Harley Davidson.

After work today, I headed over to see how Salisbury would do with a circuit barbecue competition.

I was greeted in the parking lot by a guy with a brochure. I was pretty sure he was going to shake me down for a few bucks to park, but he didn't. Parking was free, and they even had the golf cart taxis to haul us up one block to Tilley's. Hey now, you can't beat that.

D & D Hickory Hogs Barbecue Team

I went looking for Darrin and Donna Vasseur. We are friends on Facebook, and they were out for their first barbecue competition.

Our golf cart taxi driver took us around back where there were more vendors and the teams and helped us look for D&D. We hopped off right beside them and finally got to meet face to face.

Last night was a gully washer, but Darrin and Donna had weathered it well along with Bella - their rescue dog who was enjoying the heck out of the barbecue comp. The rain had put a dent in the canopy, but the trailor borrowed from a friend who races dirt bikes was dry and ready for the big prep.

Donna was doing something with parsley. I won't say what she was doing, since that might just be one of those barbecue competition secrets. It was cool to watch though, and I might parsley up something here soon.

Pig Pen Barbecue Seasoning

I wandered on down the line of campers, and I must say that barbecue cooking must pay better than barbecue writing, since some of those rigs were fancier than my house.

Down at the end of the row I found Pig Pen. I've been wanting to meet him. I bought his seasoning at Food Lion, and then I got my reading glasses out (Argh - hate not being able to see well now) and noticed that he is local. I've been enjoying the heck out of his seasoning, and he gave me a bottle of his new Pig Pen hot mix which I can't wait to try out.

Cool Smoke - Tuffy Stone

Jimmy told me that Tuffy Stone was taking photos. He's been on BBQ Pitmasters, and he's on my Facebook friend list too. I looked closer, and . . . yes . . . that was Tuffy Stone.

I went over to chat with Tuffy and got my photo made. I don't guess I've tried to get a TV star photo since I was about 12 years old and was at Tweetsie Railroad and had my photo with Jody from Family Affair (a TV show - dating myself for sure now). I was so nervous that time that I sat about 6 feet away from Jody, so I did much better this time. Tuffy was very easy to talk to, and I managed to stay in the photo frame.

Yadkin River Smokers - BBQ Team and Pork Skins

Before we headed off for the night, I wanted to get some pork skins. Before you say, "Oh gross," you really must try them. Pork skins (or good ones) are light and airy and kind of like chips but not really and much better.

The Yadkin River Smokers out of Lexington had the pork skins spot on. They were making them right there at the competition. I had a hard time deciding which flavor to get but went with the plain ones. Fabulous. I am munching as I type, and since this computer is about to give up the ghost, well . . . no problem with crumbs.

Robert gave me a bottle of their barbecue sauce too. It's a North Carolina western - vinegar with some red (tomato) and a little more sugar than typical. Robert suggested that I heat some and use it as a dip with grilled chicken, so that's on my list to check out soon.

We were hitting it off great with Yadkin River Smokers, and they gave us cupcakes by The Cake Plate from Winston Salem too. Yum. The key lime frosting was terrific. I was also impressed with the really cool pig cake that they had on display. Perfect way to end a night on a sweet note.

The Tilley Harley-Davidson barbecue competition was really solid. We enjoyed the evening, and I think we will drop back tomorrow. The food was yummy. We had wings and French fries by TGIF and listened to some great blues music. I tried some wine from Old Stone Winery of Salisbury, and it was so good that I bought a bottle of the peach wine for a birthday gift coming up. I may have to get another when we go back. It was an all round great time, and I'm glad I went out. I guess I better wrap up here soon, so I can drop by tomorrow and see the winners. But, I must say they are all winners. Just a great bunch of folks and a really nice barbecue gathering.

Enjoy some Biker Blues & BBQ photos from Friday evening that I posted on Facebook and a large collection of competition BBQ photos from judgement day.