Has the interest in BBQ contests dried up?

[Juggy D Beerman]

This page used to be an active site with competitors posting about contests, competition questions, hints and tips. That all has seemed to have passed. In the last 100 days, there has only been one thread posted. I don't cook the contests like I used to, but I still cook the Royal.

So what gives? Where are all the contest cookers who used to hang out here?

 

[smoke ninja]

it has been slow on this side of the forum lately. if I remember correctly it's always been pretty dead around here in the comp off-season

 

[TravelingJ]

I don't think the competition interest is drying up, I think this forum is drying up. It was already a bit slower-then there were all the issues with subscriptions, and now it's usually a struggle even to get on the site. It's 'force of habit' that keeps the tab open on my web browser, but I imagine to many people it's just not worth the headache any more. Especially when there are other options that make it so much easier to post and share pictures and cooks.

I still see a ton of posting about competitions on my instagram, so it's alive and well.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Smoke Ninja, The contest season has started with no fanfare here. In the last six months including today, there have been have been a total of 33 posts. That includes the fall season which includes the American Royal. Ten of those 33 posts were made by me.



Justin, I guess I am just a Luddite and a dinosaur. Posting on this site is as close to participating in social media as I get. I have a Facebook site with nothing posted on it. The only reason I have that page is because the Royal did a write up on me and my team on their Facebook site and the only way I could access the article was to be a member of Facebook. I am not active on Facebook at all. It was 25 years ago this past week I made my very first post on Ray Basso's forum. This site was not yet up and running in 1999. I miss the exchange of ideas and cooking tips for competition BBQ. I was wondering where everybody went.........

Thanks for the replies!

Juggy

 

[thirdeye]

So what gives? Where are all the contest cookers who used to hang out here?

I think Facebook has become wildly popular because an event with a FB page will directly connect organizers, sponsors, teams, judges, and special events like Kids-Q, Calcutta wagering, peoples choice, etc. The FB page for our local event updates the teams signing up every couple of days.

 

[PatAttack]

The exorbitant costs makes doing a contest prohibitive.

A lot of folks doing contests on the regular are sponsored making it somewhat easier on the pocket.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Interest up north may or may not have dried up, but it certainly seems to have around here.


Quick KCBS.us search of Illinoiz from now through 11/1 shows 7 contests in the Northern half of the state (9 total in the state), 3 contests listed have been Cancelled already, including the only State Championship up north, the next closest being around 6 hours south. Another 3 of the 7 are Backyard only. 2 more are listed as One Meat Ribs, only one appears to be a full contest.


Not sure how much was waning pre-post Covid, as my membership lapsed over a decade ago.

 

[eap0510]

I know that here in Ga. there use to a ton of contests around but within the past 2 or 3 years it has dried up. My normal driving range to judge a contest was 2-3 hours from the Atlanta area and I was able to easily judge 10 contests a year. Now I am lucky to judge 3 contests with a 2-3 hour driving range. For some reason, I assume lack of sponsors, the contests around here are all dying for sure.

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

Around here a lot of sanctioning bodies have pulled out and BCA has come in to fill the gap. When we first started doing comps years ago, we were competing in KCBS, Memphis in May and IBCA sanctioned events. Now it seems the only group putting on contests here in Louisiana is BCA.

 

[BBQchef33]

Around here there were 3 each year. Now there's non.

Maybe because I was the organizer for all 3 of them and won't ever do that again.

I competed for 16 years. Was an organizer for 4.

Between the KCBS drama. The bullshit at the American royal every year. Tables of angels, tables from hell, broken scoring systems, whiney teams bitching about long grass or bad weather. Imo many of us just got fed up. As contests became further and further apart teams got more frustrated.. travel further for more stress and drama. Organizers were prepping contests for 6 months only to find they couldn't fill the spaces. I think that bbq pitmasters was the start of the downfall. Contests went from a bunch of us burping and farting and smokin cigars under a 10x10 ezup while we cooked a 25$ brisket on a wsm and had a pot luck dinner to $100k rvs, $20k jambos and $300 SRF briskets that would cook perfectly on the parking lot asphalt. To me..it just wasn't fun anymore. Within 20 miles of me there were 15-20 teams at one point.. now there's none. I think folks just got fed up between costs and drama and just gave up. I for one do all bbq charity work now. Cook for veterans and cancer coalitions. Less stress, more warm and fuzzies and no one grades my cooking for texture and tenderness.

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

ontests went from a bunch of us burping and farting and smokin cigars under a 10x10 ezup while we cooked a 25$ brisket on a wsm and had a pot luck dinner to $100k rvs, $20k jambos and $300 SRF briskets that would cook perfectly on the parking lot asphalt. To me..it just wasn't fun anymore.

Basically how it has gone here. If my employer didn't fund our team, I probably would not compete anymore. I'm using my equipment but they foot the bill for all of the supplies, fuel, etc..

We used to compete in up towards 10 contests at year but now are down only to 3 or 4. Lot of sanctioning bodies have pulled out and a lot of local contests don't exist anymore.