Barbecue contest boasts grills, glaze, good tastes

Smoke circled the cook site as Skip Thurman lifted the lid of his Weber charcoal grill, exposing 15 hot and seasoned chicken thighs. After taking them off the grill, his wife, Denise, drizzled on just enough honey to make them sweet.

“It just puts a little glaze on it, and that glaze is just a nice touch,” Skip Thurman said.

The 15th Annual Boone’s Lick Trail BBQ Contest began Friday at the Boone County Fairgrounds as 30 teams set up camp and seasoned their competition meat. At about midnight Friday, teams put on their respective pork shoulders and beef briskets, while the ribs and chicken went on later Saturday. As Saturday wore on, the cooks worked toward plating their ideal barbecue.

“It should be moist, tender and juicy with a nice hint of smoke and with ooey-gooey sauce — the kind that sticks to your fingers,” Skip Thurman, a second year competitive barbecue cook from Columbia, said.

Once the chicken was off the grill, the team’s taste-tester, Skip and Denise’s son, Samuel, 9, was ready to try it.

“Ooh, these look good,” Samuel, who was also grand champion of ages 6 to 10 Kids Q competition, said.

“Samuel will always tell us his opinion,” Skip Thurman said.

As for the score on a two-to-nine scale, with nine being the best, the chicken is “probably an eight or nine,” Samuel said.

“That’s good enough for me,” Skip Thurman said.

The Thurmans compete as the Chick’n Pig BBQ team.

Mike McMillen has organized the Kansas City Society-sanctioned contest for the past six years.

“I do this mainly for our local people,” McMillen said. “We know most of these competitors because they are part of our community.”

Teams began turning in their entries at noon Saturday. Thirty judges, meanwhile, evaluate entries for taste, tenderness and appearance, after taking an oath “to objectively and subjectively evaluate each barbecue meat that is presented to my eyes, my nose and my palate.”

Ray Jansen of Jefferson City hasn’t changed the rub he uses since he developed it in 2001. But this weekend, he is trying something different with his brisket in hopes of winning.

“We’re hopeful we’re on the verge of doing better,” he said. “I’m looking to develop a winning record to promote my catering around Jefferson City.”

He and his son-in-law, Derick Miles, built their first cooker in 1996 to compete at the Missouri State Fair. “And we kind of got hooked after that,” Jansen said.

Now his wife, June, and daughter, Misty Miles, travel along to help the Ray J’s Bar-B-Que team.

The Pig Roy team of Mark Grieco of Olathe, Kan., and Don Allee of Butler won the grand champion award. Team Q was named Boone County’s Best Barbecuer.

Saturday ended with an awards ceremony to acknowledge the contestants’ work. The grand prize winner received a $500 award and an invitation to compete at the American Royal contest, McMillen said. The four other overall top winners and the top 10 teams in each meat category were awarded various prizes. As for winning, it takes the right recipe to bring in a prize.

“Everyone’s trying to find that one secret ingredient that sets them apart,” Skip Thurman said. “And when they find that, they’re hot.”