Big BBQ Doings In Philadelphia

[Holly Moore]

The First Annual Liberty Bell BBQ Contest will run June 20 and 21st at Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium. The event includes the PA State BBQ Championship (the winner goes to Kansas City for the American Royal Barbecue Invitational), the American Waterworks BBQ Challenge for local chefs and amateurs and the "Iron Chef" (contestants all recieve the same tray of ingredients to prepare).

On May 10, Paul Kirk (the Baron of BBQ) and Philadelphia's Jack McDavid (Food Network Grillin' and Chillin' and chef owner of Jack's Firehouse and the Down Home Diner) will conduct Baron's School of Pitmasters. Fee is $195.

For full details, go to the Liberty Bell BBQ Contest Website

[mrbigjas]

The First Annual Liberty Bell BBQ Contest will run June 20 and 21st at Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium.

Oh man that's excellent news. Why just yesterday a friend of mine returned from North Carolina with a big tub of pulled pork and a jar of sauce for me, and next month I'll be heading to Lockhart TX to eat a bunch of Kreuz's brisket. BBQ is a great thing in all its shapes and forms.

Oh and Holly--as a staunch defender of Jack's Firehouse, you might appreciate the fact that I was firmly in the "overpriced and average" camp for several years, but recently I went there for lunch and had his pulled pork sandwich which was freakin great and a deal at $7 or so with fries and slaw. Makes me glad to work in this neighborhood, yes indeedy.

(first post here after lurking for a while)

[CathyL]

Try Black's in Lockhart too...excellent brisket.

[Holly Moore]

Oh and Holly--as a staunch defender of Jack's Firehouse, you might appreciate the fact that I was firmly in the "overpriced and average" camp for several years, but recently I went there for lunch and had his pulled pork sandwich which was freakin great and a deal at $7 or so with fries and slaw.  Makes me glad to work in this neighborhood, yes indeedy.

(first post here after lurking for a while)

Greetings and welcome to eGullet.

Jack serves his pulled pork sandwich at the Down Home Diner too. Calls it the Poor Man's Special. Think, there, $7 gets you the sandwich and a bowl of hog jowl soup.

[TheBoatMan]

Is this festival a spectator attraction as well? Do they sell their BBQ to the public when their done?

[Holly Moore]

If it's like most of the official BBQ contests I've been to, spectators are welcom to walk through the cooking area. And the awards and such are a public ceremony.

All eating is done at concession stands though. Those cooking usually aren't allowed to give away or sell samples of their products.

[=Mark]

If you go hang out on one of the online BBQ lists you will get to know some folks who compete at contests like this. As a result you can then go say hi at the cookoffs. Once you get on the right side of the counter there is usually more than enough samples being traded around as the contestants generally cook much more than they need so they can pick and choose the best for presentation.

One important note: Don't be hanging around trying to chat and otherwise getting in the way in the 30 to 45 minutes prior to the turn-in times. Contestants have likely been up for 24 or more hours including travel, setup and actual prep and cooking. The interval prior to turn in and judging is tense and busy. This is when to wander around checking out the other attractions.

Another note, if you plan on attending and don't know any of the contestants but are knowlegable about good BBQ be advised that the vendors cleared to sell BBQ to the public are generally pretty bad. The average home BBQ amatuer can turn out BBQ of better flavor and quality than 95% of the commercial BBQ joints/vendors. General rule of Que: "Quality is inversely proportional to the amount of sauce."

[TheBoatMan]

Thanks for the replies. Ive never been to an actual bbq festival before but I just got back from a nc/sc bbq trip and am anxious for more good bbq. Thats a little disappointing about what they do actually have for sale.

[=Mark]

Looks like I'll be joining the Smoke Ring BBQ Team and competing in this event. Come on by, say Hi and I'll sneak you some of the good stuff!

[SG-]

Anyone been yet or will be going tomorrow? What's the best time to go? Feel sorry for those guys with all the rain we have been and will be getting.

[=Mark]

I'll be there as noted above. Hard to say as to the best time. Early on there is more food but the award ceremony is at 4:30. C'mon over to the Smoke Ring team site and say hi!

Am debating on hip boots or a canoe...

[KatieLoeb]

=Mark:

So - how'd it go????

I was really going to try stop by, but was home sick all weekend .

[=Mark]

Team smoke ring got 7th place overall out of 49 teams. We got 3rd in chicken. Hope to post pictures when they make it onto the BBQ list.

[Holly Moore]

So what's your overall impression of the event? Up to other BBQ standards?

[=Mark]

So what's your overall impression of the event?  Up to other BBQ standards?

A couple issues, some could be addressed, some could not.

The weather sucked, but there's nothing that could be done about that. At least the rain stopped by midmorning on Saturday. Perversely the cool temps helped keep the food more presentable (garnishes did not wilt).

The location could have been better thought out. The festival was shoehorned into a strip of pavement between the stadium and a construction area. If the weather had been good there would have been serious crowding and parking problems. Couple this with the fact that the festival coincided with a baseball game that afternoon and things could have gotten really ugly if the weather had induced the crowds to show up.

For some unfathomable reason it was decided by the Powers That Be, that instead of presenting the awards at 4:30 as was scheduled, that the awards would not be announced until the baseball game ended. Instead of allowing the BBQ folks to break down their stuff, cop their trophies and scoot before the game ended, they were forced to endure having to try to exit simultaneously with the crowds from the game. Sounds like a Govt. decision to me... a couple tied innings resulted in the game going past 6pm, which seriously delayed folks who had long drives ahead of them.

Oh yeah, I cut my finger slicing peppers...

Other than this the rest of the event was quite good. There was the usual camaraderie and good natured competitiveness between teams that seems to mark these gatherings. The judging seemed spot on and other than delaying the awards ceremony everything went smoothly.

Of course this was the first of these festivals in Philly, so I assume there will be lessons learned all around.

[=Mark]

The Smoke Ring BBQ Team:

Some members of the Porch BBQ Mailing List who were there:

Ray Frick, =Mark, Garry Howard (Smoke Ring Captain), Bill Arnold, Rich

Rosenthal (One of the Judges), Big Jim, Chuck Dorak

More Details and Images of the event.

[JFK]

Mark,

My wife and I went on Saturday and were dissappointed to find out that all of the Q'ers except two ( Jacks Down Home, and another) were cooking for the competition only. It was nice that a few of the groups offered samples but it would have been nice to know in advance that there would only be two vendors selling their goods.

And Holly once again I credit you for consistently sticking by local legend Jack McDavid. He is certainly pleasant and a real character but I have yet to understand why James Beard let him cook in his kitchen. Against my better judgement we sampled his beef sandwich and his ribs and they were less than average at best. But at least he was there participating.

Hopefully next year the location will be better suited for the group and a few more Q'ers will be hocking their wares.

Cheers,

JFK

[Holly Moore]

Mark,

My wife and I went on Saturday and were dissappointed to find out that all of the Q'ers except two ( Jacks Down Home, and another) were cooking for the competition only. It was nice that a few of the groups offered samples but it would have been nice to know in advance that there would only be two vendors selling their goods.

And Holly once again I credit you for consistently sticking by local legend Jack McDavid. He is certainly pleasant and a real character but I have yet to understand why James Beard let him cook in his kitchen. Against my better judgement we sampled his beef sandwich and his ribs and they were less than average at best. But at least he was there participating.

Hopefully next year the location will be better suited for the group and a few more Q'ers will be hocking their wares.

Cheers,

JFK

Having worked a contest it is my understanding that it is for insurance and local health law reasons that competitors are not permitted to sell to the public. Also the competitors, dispite the beer and frequent jocularity, are quite focused and would be prefered to be left alone by civilians.

As to Jack, Mr. Beard not only allowed Jack within, he also invited him back on a number of occasions. I'm not sure mass production in a concession situation such as I assume went on over the contest is the best basis on which to judge barbecue (talking about vendors, not competitors). I do know Jack has won a number of BBQ competitions, including at least a couple way deep in the south.

[=Mark]

Mark,

My wife and I went on Saturday and were dissappointed to find out that all of the Q'ers except two ( Jacks Down Home, and another) were cooking for the competition only. It was nice that a few of the groups offered samples but it would have been nice to know in advance that there would only be two vendors selling their goods.

See my note about competition BBQ up near the top of this thread...

[JFK]

Mark,

Now that would require reading the entire thread:). Coming from Atlanta and having attended many Southern BBQ contests, which could be every weekend if your cardiologist would sign off on this type of behavior, I might have been a bit spoiled.

Having found it difficult to find solid Q up here in the North I barely made it past the heading of the article when I was ready to camp out to be first in line. I appreciate your heads up and next time I will take a moment and read the fine print.

Cheers,

JFK

[SG-]

Quite dissapointed too myself, really frustrating seeing all that food but not being able to sample any, talk about torture.

Had to settle for Jack's BBQ which wasn't that great... $18 for 1/2 a rack and a chicken sandwhich

[Andrew Fenton]

Had to settle for Jack's BBQ which wasn't that great...  $18 for 1/2 a rack and a chicken sandwhich

ah yeah, there's northern BBQ in a nutshell for you... expensive and not so great. In the south, it's just the opposite...

[=Mark]

Take the time to schmooze with the competitors (again, between turn in times), you'll often get free samples...