Joining a Team Just to Learn

[rcbaughn]

Hey guys! I am a smoker of younger age and novice experience and very interested in trying to find someone who would let me tag along for one of their cooks. I'd be very happy to the the bi*** of the team and do anything that anyone else doesn't care for! Being 25 I know I have a lot to learn about a lot of different things in life, and I would love to try and up my game on smoking and maybe one day have a team of my own. Maybe pick up some other life lessons along the way! LOL.

Anywho, I'm located in Birmingham, AL. Anyone who is close to there let me know, I'll be glad to be the go to boy for running around and being a side helper. I don't want any credit towards the cook at the end, I just want to leave with a better understanding of the comp circuit. I have a guy on the Weber forum that I might get to do Stokin' with here in Bham in August, but anything else I would be glad to be involved with. I'm ready and willing to work my ass off.

BTW, I didn't know if this was the place I needed to post this, or if it was frowned upon, but I am very interested in learning more and excited from what I have learned so far from the site and what I might be able to gain from someone who has done it for years. If this is an unacceptable kind of post, please take it down. I do not want to do anything that might offend anyone or break the rules of this site.

-Cory Baughn

 

[smokeisgood]

How do you smoke "youngs"???? hahahaha, I crack myself up....
Good luck on your endeavor...

 

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

There is a section on here called BBQ Brethren Team Mentoring where your request might get more notice. Perhaps a Mod will see this and be kind enough to move it there for you.

 

[rcbaughn]

Hahahaha! I'm sure if I tried to go out right now and compete on my own I'd get smoked by everyone and their momma there! Be a nervous wreck too, drive myself mad. And thank you SO MUCH for telling me about the mentoring section. Maybe it will get moved there. Thanks so much again for that, I don't know how I didn't see it.

 

[jketron]

First question, how long do you boil the ribs before you smoke them?

 

[jketron]

ok ok, all jokes aside, if you make it out to California I'd be more than happy to show you what I have learned. I'm just beginning to cook competitively myself and can't wait to learn even more

 

[rcbaughn]

First question, how long do you boil the ribs before you smoke them?

My last rack about 4 hours, then I just broiled in the oven! That's barbecue right? Right. :becky:

But yeah, thank you so much for extending an open invitation to etting me hang around your team. I wish I could get out that way, the farthest I've been west was Las Vegas and that was a pretty place when you got outside the city. Grand Canyon was life changing too.... But maybe not as much as Vegas at night. :laugh:

 

[rcbaughn]

Well I may have found someone that is willing to let me join their team for an event in Gadsden, AL in August! I'm excited about it so hopefully it will work out and I'll be able to pick up a few things. If not I'll go anyways and just try to pick some stuff up from meandering around!

 

[Pigs on Fire]

Where does your heart lie in the Fall?

And where exactly are you from? Nobody lives "in Birmingham"...

 

[Pigs on Fire]

First question, how long do you boil the ribs before you smoke them?

He's from Alabama. Not up north.

 

[rcbaughn]

Where does your heart lie in the Fall?

And where exactly are you from? Nobody lives "in Birmingham"...

My heart lies anytime with learning about cooking slow and learning from someone older and way smarter than I am. I'm willing to travel a good piece as long as I can find somewhere to stay for a good price if it's overnight. The price of learning can't be measured if ya ask me, but college funds kinda cut that short if ya know what I mean.

I live IN Birmingham, right i, downtown on Southside in an old house that I rent. I'm originally from Lynn, Alabama though which is about 60 miles north of B'ham and 20 miles north of Jasper, AL. It's in Winston County, bottom left hand corner. Small town. Very, very small town. Around 600 population.

 

[Pigs on Fire]

So you're a Bama fan.

:tsk:

 

[rcbaughn]

So you're a Bama fan.

:tsk:

NOT NO BUT HELL NO!!!!!!! Auburn is where my heart lies in football. Alabama can stick it where the sun don't shine as far as I care. I am also a UAB fan since I take classes there, but tailgating at Legion field just ain't the same and UAB football just isn't serious at all. It's not supported by hardly anyone and that sucks. War Eagle though!

 

[New Pal Frank]

Hey, you can't knock the kid for asking. I was there a couple years ago and a team took me in for a couple contests and last summer my wife and I went out on our own and did 8 contest. We heard our name call 13 times.
Good luck RC and don't give up.

 

[hogzillas]

NOT NO BUT HELL NO!!!!!!! Auburn is where my heart lies in football. Alabama can stick it where the sun don't shine as far as I care. I am also a UAB fan since I take classes there, but tailgating at Legion field just ain't the same and UAB football just isn't serious at all. It's not supported by hardly anyone and that sucks. War Eagle though!

I knew there was something I did like about you from your post on Vitual Weber & as well as something in common - we both hate that university down the road. Yes tailgating at LF is problematic but that's what you get when your BOT doesn't care for your program nor 1 of the other universities (UAH) in the 3 university system & you're stuck at a century old stadium run by the gumps of the same ilk. Now if we could only get our own stadium things would be a different matter . I tailgate at the UAB games & a fan of it as well as employee.

 

[dosvans]

You are more than welcome to come hang out with us during a cook Cory. We are cooking Pensacola on the weekend of the 2nd, Mobile on the 9th, and Tupelo on the 16th. Tupelo may be the best one for you to come hang out at because there will be close to 100 teams from all over the country. It will give you a chance to see what a lot of teams are doing. Our team (Smoke Me Silly) is fairly new (starting our second year), but we would be more than happy to show you some things. Send me a PM if you are interested.

 

[Pigs on Fire]

Yes, please go cook with Smoke Me Silly and then bring all their secrets to us.

:mrgreen:

 

[rcbaughn]

I knew there was something I did like about you from your post on Vitual Weber & as well as something in common - we both hate that university down the road. Yes tailgating at LF is problematic but that's what you get when your BOT doesn't care for your program nor 1 of the other universities (UAH) in the 3 university system & you're stuck at a century old stadium run by the gumps of the same ilk. Now if we could only get our own stadium things would be a different matter . I tailgate at the UAB games & a fan of it as well as employee.

No way Hog! Nice to see another UAB tailgater and also a fellow hater! I always tailgate with the fraternity in the student section (Delta Sigma Phi) when I go. When I was an active brother as an undergraduate I was always over the food and grilling. You mighta saw us once with a big trailer grille with fryer and all, but I doubt you'd remember seeing it since we only did that twice and it was a few years ago. One of our guys dad's loaned it to us.

Tailgating at UAB has it's good and bad weekend for sure. Homecoming is always damn fun and it feels like a real football tailgate if the weather is right. I just wish they'd get us that damn stadium build downtown like they've proposed a billion times. If they'd do that and get us a fraternity row close to it we'd have the feeling of a real southern college when you went to hang out at games. Probably never gonna happen though. Ever. The BOT can go to hell, and I'm serious about that. We do all the academic work and get ALL the grant money for research and they ride us while they enjoy the fruits of they're precious football program. I hate it to my core what they do to UAB and UAH.

What do ya do at UAB BTW? I know several people who work for the system. It's a huge thing though for sure, all kinds of jobs out there with UAB. My ex GF's dad was a painter for them.

 

[Limp Brisket]

We cooked Battle of the Bones a few months ago at Legion Field, had a good time.

 

[rcbaughn]

Yeah tailgating with UAB can be fun if you have a bunch of people there. Homecoming is good fun and Memphis is definitely the most hyped game of the year. I can only imagine how much fun it would be if we had a really good facility.

$1000 prize money for it sounds pretty good too. How many teams were there if you can remember?