Fine eatin” and hot competition were all part of the 2011 Roast n” Boast barbecue cooking competition at Columbus Fairgrounds Aug. 26-27.
“Everything went smooth; we couldn”t have asked for a better weekend,” said Paul Clardy, president of the Roast n” Boast committee.
There were plenty of young barbecue lovers and future cooks on hand. Along with the young-at-heart, they roamed the grounds admiring team booths decorated for the contest”s “Texas” theme, made new friends, and took advantage of inflatables, craft vendors and other activities.
In the meantime, 37 cooking teams pulled out all the stops for discerning judges.
One of those teams, the Barnyard Roasters, is made up of Mickey Fromm and his wife, Margie, and son, Bill. Just as they”ve done every year, they staked out their familiar spot under a big pine at the fairgrounds and went about the business of preparing delicious entries that went on to win first place in the Memphis Barbecue Network Whole Hog category and first place in the MBN Ribs category.
“It”s a lot of fun, but it”s a lot of hard work, especially when you do all three — whole hog, ribs and shoulder — like we do,” said Fromm, who noted the team is currently sixth or seventh in the nation in MBN point standings. (They”ve been in the Top 10 for the past 11 years.) “You have to stay up all night long with the hog and the shoulders; you have to cook a hog about 20 hours and shoulder about 18.”
What makes these competition cooks keep coming back for more?
“The other teams you cook against, you get to be friends with ”em,” Fromm said. “It”s fraternal. Sure, everybody wants to beat everybody, but it”s like a club, like a fraternity.”
Overall grand champion in the Memphis Barbecue Network division at Roast n” Boast was Brown Chicken Brown Cow, a team from Southaven. Jones Be Smokin”, of Hattiesburg, won the grand championship in the Backyard division.
The Short Bus Cookers of Columbus took first place in the Baked Beans category and won the Joe Niles Hospitality Award, as well. The Brassy Pigs garnered the Showmanship Award.
Other area teams placing in the top five in a variety of categories were the River Rat Pig Porkers, Jiggy Piggy, Snout Smokers, Paradise Pigs, Butt Burners, Creek Boys, Road Kill Grill, Seys Sports Bar and Grill, Construction Hawgs, Beer-B-Que, Sobley Pig Diggers, Microtek Medical, Goat Farm Posse and JW and the Wild Boars.
Clardy joined the event committee in thanking fairgrounds staff and every team that supported Roast n” Boast, which benefits the American Cancer Society”s research into pediatric cancer. The contribution will be directed toward ACS efforts in Lowndes County.
“It was just a super, great event,” said Clardy. “And we”re shooting for even bigger and better things next year.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.