Getting into competition bbq

Look for some local church or community events. and go cook. you will learn as you go on how the competitions are held.

I cooked small venue competition for a while. There is a trophy or two here somewhere. Never went to Memphis, but I have a Memphis story (following) that I like to tell.

Ingredients Corp, Memphis, TN

The guys listed above (ICA) sell dry rub, blends, sauces, whatever. They are located in Memphis and a good old/old friend of mine is their blend guy (Spice Scientist - Master Blender). He really is a master at what he does. Old fart, just like me. I have known him for 20-30 years.

He tells me that every year when the Memphis in May competition comes around, many of the big (well known) guys in competition cooking drop by ICA and buy their rubs as soon as they get to town. The past (four?) winners of Memphis in May whole hog competition have used one of their blends. Not their spices - their premixed blends. My friend says they never don't ask what so-&-so bought. Of course, ICA never shares that information with the competition guys.

They ICA will sell you whatever blend you want as long as it belongs to them and is not a custom (private) blend that someone provided the recipe for.

The funny thing is most of the competition cookers they do business with purchase house blends. They may tweak them at the competition, but they buy house blends. IF they have a BBQ restaurant back home they also usually order the house blends in bulk for their restaurant too.

IMO, all of their in house rub blends are first rate and as you can see from their product list, they have many recipes to select from.

I sat here a long time trying to decide whether to share this or not, but I am getting too old to keep my secrets as if they were special. Currently, I use #02-1993. I use it on brisket, pork and chicken. I think it is best on chicken, but it is nice on all three. I buy it ten pounds at a time and give most of it away a half pound at a time to friends and people I love.



I am not an expert and will not share some things I know to be fact, but I would speculate more than one of the (commercial BBQ) places folks on TG rave about use ICA rubs on their meats before smoking them. The rubs are that good and ICA could care less if Joe's BBQ refuses to tell his customers that his secret rub comes from ICA's house blend list.

I know the bourbon rub is nice. I have some of it in the cabinet. The Chipotle 02-4509R1 is also good, with a nice chipotle pepper profile. The mesquite has nice flavor. I have tried some others (maybe 8 total) and like most of them. They do all do have different tastes - sometimes slight, but most of the time dramatically different. Sometimes I will add a little Lawry's garlic salt to mine or maybe brown sugar or a pre rub diluted honey smear to change it slightly. If you are a customer, they will adjust a blend for you (maybe 25 pound minimum for any custom blend and you are obligated to buy it if you order it).

I think they pack on 1 pound bags, but there are minimums for orders. Call them for details, because I do not order through their commercial order desk and whatever I tell you will be a lie.

If you consider yourself to be a master BBQ (or other style) Chef, they will make your blend and package it for you in Jars, cans or whatever, labeled with custom designed label or not.

If you have a liquid, they will produce (mix and bottle) it for you. The bottles are dead ringers for the Kroger Bottle shown in another post on TD today.

There are minimum quantities for everything they do and they are a big company, so don't expect your lifelong dream of having 100 bottles of your Grandpappy's sauce produced for you to sell at the craft fair to be all that important to them.

Enough. I can answer questions if there are any.

It's pricey and very very time consuming.

Would start by getting your own custom rig. Maybe advertise as an on site caterer and test out your skills.

I’m trying to get a team together for Holy Smokes BBQ competition at saint Aloysius
On October 7

You cook for me and I’ll handle the rest ??

Two key things to start. First, have a rig or access to a rig that works for you. You might have an awesome pit/smoker that works great for family cookouts, company events, or even tailgating, but it might not work great for competition cooking where you need to place different types of meat on for different cooking times and maybe temps. Also, I would do at least 10 test smokes before entering your first competition.

Second, plan at least 2 hours of work for every hour of on-site competition time and have some help. Yes, you can do some prep while on-site but getting supplies, food, and pre-event prep, then post event clean up takes a lot of time. Meat, wood, smoke, and hopefully good bourbon are your family during the entire weekend of most competitions.

quote:

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I’m trying to get a team together for Holy Smokes BBQ competition at saint Aloysius On October 7 You cook for me and I’ll handle the rest ??

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Bring your A game son!

Always have a blast there... good people and we've placed a good bit.

Meridian.... I'd like to look into this. Just for their own house rubs though. Have you ever ordered from there or do you just go by the joint?

Not worth it. Cook what you enjoy. Serve it to friends. Competitions are all Shams.

i will not mention your name around Yazoo City either. you have my word

are the rubs more coarse ground or fine ground?

I usually do several competitions per year. If you are really interested, a better source for information would be
BBQ-Brethren

Much more knowledgable people on that forum who will help you get started and answer any questions you have.

Don't do it