Hot time to be had at cookoff

By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
Register Reporter
There’s more to official barbecue than pouring sauce on meat.
The 2010 Allen County Fair’s barbecue cookoff is a Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned event. That means contestants are serious about what, for others, is a simple backyard hobby, said organizer Katy Donovan.
“Ours is a state championship,” Donovan said. “The governor has issued a proclamation.”
And, the fair grand champion is invited to participate in the national American Royal Barbecue Oct. 2-3 in Kansas City, Mo., Donovan said.
“We’re one of the last contests (of the year) they can participate in” to qualify for the event, Donovan noted.
Those stakes lure former award winners to Iola, Donovan said. “KCBS is a big deal.”
This is the sixth year the cookoff has been held at the fair, and the second year the contest has been KCBS sanctioned.
“The cookoff starts Friday night, anytime after their meat is inspected.”
All cooking is done at Riverside park, in specially designed — and expensive — trailers that the barbecue aficionados haul with them from contest to contest each weekend throughout the region.
“Most of these contestants have typically done this for years and they’ve spent a fortune on their equipment,” Donovan said.
Contestants cook chicken, beef brisket, pork and ribs over smoke for judging.
“There’s no actual fire anywhere near the meat,” Donovan explained.
Competitors come from other communities and other states.
“These people plan these (trips) out starting in January. It’s a society of its own.”
Yet in the traveling world of competitive barbecue, Iola is highly ranked.
“We offer them free electricity, free water, free ice. We have the pool, the park, the shade; restrooms are open. They’re well taken care of,” Donovan said.
And, she noted, “we’ll have an ice cream social for contestants Friday night.”

THE BARBECUE community is friendly — to a point, Donovan said.
Cooks enjoy meeting with locals and shooting the breeze Friday evening, Donovan said, but come Saturday “they want to be left alone. They’re in competition mode.”
And that means business. Serious business.
One judge is brought in for every contestant. They are kept secluded from the cooks.
The contest is a double blind — cooks never know who judged them, and judges have no idea whose food they’ve tasted.
Each contestant receives four labeled containers, Donovan said, to place their product in. Containers are then relabeled before being passed on to judges, ensuring total anonymity.
“They take this very, very seriously,” Donovan said.
And well they should. Besides the specialized equipment needed, contestants buy their own meats and pay an entry fee of $115.
“This makes money for the fair, but it’s not a spectator sport,” Donovan said.
There is also a $3,500 pot surrounding the contest. The grand prize winner gets $1,000. The reserve champion receives $500. Even tenth-place winners receive $10 and a ribbon, Donovan said.
All winners are announced at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. After that, contestants pack up, put their remaining food on ice, and hit the road, back home or to the next sanctioned event.
For those who would like a taste of the smoke, barbecue meals prepared by Iola’s own Steve Hoyt will be available for $5 on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the New Commuting Building. A pulled pork sandwich, chips and a pickle are included in the price. Drinks will be available. All meal proceeds go back to the fair.