BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — The second annual Almost Heaven BBQ Bash will make your mouth water enough to take a trip to Upshur County–and that’s exactly what the amateur participants in Saturday’s cook-off were hoping.
Lost Creek native Ed Layton and his daughter Lyndsey began catering parties like birthdays and weddings, poker runs, and fall festivals about five years ago. They didn’t realize–at least at first–that their passion for food was also a marketable asset.
“We got a passion,” he said. “We like to cook. We like to eat.”
On Saturday, they competed in the backyard competition, but they hope before long to find their way to the pro-side of the Almost Heaven Bash.
“Our competitors was six judges today,” he said. “We have to meet their criteria–the taste, the chew of it, the right seasoning.”
When you listen to the pitmasters, it’s like listening to a quarterback in a post-game press conference. They talk about what they did well lovingly, but are quick to offer up ways they can improve.
“Our learning curve was getting our temperatures right,” Layton said. “You fluctuate up and down. In the competitions, your meat has to meet a certain criteria and we have to stay in that window. Temperature is very important.”
Eight teams in total competed on the amateur side–including Brother-Uncle Barbeque from Greencastle, Pennsylvania. They haven’t been on the amateur BBQ competition circuit for as long as Layton and his “Smokin’ Hillbilly” team have been, but they feel like the competition in Buckhannon was a chance to get their name out and work towards perfecting their craft.
“Just learn off of each other,” Chris Schreiver said. “Trial and error. You go to different competitions and you pull things from people too.”
The Brother-Uncle team, like virtually all of the amateur teams, are wading through the murky waters of the BBQ circuit like true entrepreneurs. They aren’t entirely certain of themselves, but they take something new home from each competition.
Schreiver said the team has noticed that BBQ in the northeast and mid-atlantic region seems to be sweeter–and that’s their goal when they compete in the region–a helpful nugget of information they hope to use one day when they really achieve their goal: opening a food truck back in their Pennsylvania home town.
“It’s kind of a little secret weapon that we’ve come across,” Schreiver said. “Made a little change from brown sugar to peach preserves and we’ll see if the judgets like it today.”
The judges awarded Brother-Uncle third place in the ribs competition, but Schreiver said the ultimate judges–at least when they are trying new things–are their friends and family.
“If they like it then hopefully others like it,” he said.
On the pro side, the judges crowned Checkered Pig BBQ from Virginia as the second ever West Virginia Grand Champion–following last year’s champion 3 Eyez BBQ from Maryland.
The winner earns an automatic entry to the Jack Daniels Invitational–essentially the World Series for pro BBQ teams.
42 teams in total competed.