By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
MESQUITE – Barbeque was big business over the Labor Day weekend when the top 15 of 47 teams competing in the “Smokin’ In Mesquite BBQ” cook-off divided $40,000 in prize money.
Smoked to the Bone from Gilbert, AZ, took home the grand champion title winning $10,000 for its entry of chicken, pork, beef brisket and pork ribs, according to Christian Adderson, Casa Blanca sporting events manager. The teams were judged on the appearance, taste and tenderness of their entries.
Teams labored for hours over smoldering beds of wood or charcoal or both to perfect their ideal barbeque meats. While many teams used the same rocket-shaped black grills most homeowners have in their back yards, there were some amazing outfits at the Mesquite event including a $485,000 semi-truck and cab that was a virtual professional barbeque kitchen on wheels.
The massive shiny steel barbeque cooker in the truck took up half the bed of the enclosed semi-trailer.
Second place overall in Mesquite was taken by Scottie Johnson’s cancersuckschicago.com BBQ team, which uses a smaller, though still impressive, barbeque set up to compete in events across the country.
Johnson’s rig consists of a 31-foot toy hauler motor home boasting 10 feet of space to haul a working barbeque kitchen. The team, which won $5,000 in Mesquite, was formed after Johnson’s wife Corliss died in 2003 of cancer.
The third place prize of $2,500 was taken by Santa Ynez BBQ from California.
Adderson said the Mesquite cook-off was sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) which does some 300 barbeque events around the country each year. Sponsors here included Mesquite Resort Association, Get Fresh, Monster Energy drinks, Bud Light Lime, US Foods, Warren Energy, Art Advertising, Sysco, Cargill Food Service, Daily’s Premium Meats, McCormick Food Service, Desert Meats and Provisions and the Desert Gold Food Co.
Arlie Bragg, a KCBS contest coordinator, said the secret to great barbeque is a consistent temperature.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Bragg said.”The team that keeps the temperature steady is going to do well.”
He said while real traditional barbeque cooking is usually long and slow, teams in recent years have been cooking over a hotter fire for a shorter time.
