Playing with Fire Ants

 

This weekend was the Fire Ant festival in Ashburn Ga and it was our second competetion and a total BLAST. We would like to thank our sponsor again for a great weekend of cooking and fellowship without Greens Electric this would not be possible. Friday was a beautiful day,Bobby and I headed out of Macon around 11a.m. and had about an hours drive ahead of us. We got into Ashburn around 1:30 after a short stop in Byron to meet with our graphic designers to pick up our new banner and drum magnets. The Fire Ant Festival was a smaller version of the Cherry Blossom Festival but it was very well organized. Chuck(sponsor),Mitch,Cody and Chris were about two hour behind us. I had to get there kinda early so I could prep the food for the Friday night Ancillary cook that consisted of Chicken,Brunswick Stew and BBQ Sauce. I was also to meet with Carl Williams of SmokinWilly Squealers BBQ Team because he was bringing me some Red Oak to try instead of the White Oak I have been using. I got the 15 chicken Thighs trimmed and prepped and gave Bobby the rest to use on the UDS he brought to prepare dinner for the guys that night. Amber joined us right after the sauce turn in at 5:15 and just in time to get the Brunswick Stew ready for turn in at 5:45. I got the chicken cooked and boxed for turn in at 6:30. Competetion Meat prep was next which was a little butt rubbing and rib tickling and the loin ready for the brine. We got a little down time to go explore the sights for a few hours. Amber found a variety of good fair food to tempt her pregnant taste buds and it was a very festive atmosphere complete with a great fireworks show. We got to spend some times with friends that we had made in Dublin out of Atlanta (SmokinGrills BBQ Team) and tried some of the food they were vending and in return we took them some stew for something a little different. I got the rig fired up around 10p.m. and ready to put the butts on a while later.

That red oak that Carl brought me to try was really good and burned really slow and even making holding temps in the rig a little easier. I got a little sleep early that morning while Amber got the ribs and loin on the rig. Our first turn in was between 10:15 and 10:30 and it was loin, the next was between 11:15 and 11:30 and was pulled pork. Our last turnin was at at 12:15 and 12:30 and was the final catagory of ribs, then waited to see if we made the finals.Amber had to leave early to pick the childern up and Bobby and I stayed for the awards ceremony that was held at 5. At the end of the Day we got two calls that day we took second in Brunswick Stew and 5th in Pork Loin. I really have to work on my timing with the butts and ribs as I was'nt happy with what we turned in and it reflected in the scores.
Our Results were as follows
Ribs-18th
Pulled Pork-21st
Pork Loin-5th
Friday nights cook
Brunswick Stew-2nd
Sauce-10th
Chicken-8th
Overall Finish- 12th
We improve considerably from the first contest and we are looking forward to the rest of the season.
Thanks for sharing our contest with us
Alan