{"id":935,"date":"2012-04-24T05:00:17","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T10:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/?p=935"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:14:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T17:14:10","slug":"competition-101-memphis-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/competition-101-memphis-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Competition 101: Memphis in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture this:<\/p>\n

You arrive in Memphis, Tennessee on a Thursday morning in May.\u00a0 In the airport you see a few quick service BBQ restaurants; Neely\u2019s, Corky’s, and Interstate.\u00a0 Even though you are quite famished after your 6am flight, you of course pass these stale airport outlets in favor of the fresh smoked love that Memphis has to offer.\u00a0 Hailing a cab, you tell your driver to high-tail it downtown.\u00a0 Stepping out of the cab at your hotel, your sinuses are assaulted by the smell of roast pork, spices, and sweet smoke. You walk through the revolving door of the Peabody, taking notice of the ducks splashing around in the center fountain, and the tux clad jazz pianist in the bar.<\/p>\n

Checking in at your hotel, you can\u2019t help but notice the hazy blue fog drifting and dancing about the alleys and byways of downtown.\u00a0 You drop your luggage and proceed to relive your own version of \u201cWalking in Memphis\u201d, pretending those Nike’s are blue suede, you are walking with your feet 10 feet off of Beale.\u00a0 You grab a \u201cBig Ass Beer\u201d from a\u00a0vendor on Beale Street, watch the Beale Street Flippers do 27 continuous backward handsprings down the middle of the road; then follow the crowds, and your nose, towards the Mississippi River.\u00a0\u00a0 Walking down the long brick-clad street, Ole Man River comes into view and so does the crowd.\u00a0 There are about a thousand or so people here, all calmly walking to the gates of what many consider to be the Superbowl of Swine.<\/p>\n

\"Memphis

It is an amazing sight to behold.\u00a0 As you walk through the huge gate of the contest, the sweet smell of hickory hangs thick in the air.\u00a0 Over 250 BBQ Team booths (some 3 levels tall) line the over one mile long park. Over 100,000 people flock to this Mecca of BBQ every year to eat, drink, and worship at the altar of swine.\u00a0 This is the Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest.\u00a0 Held every year on the third weekend in May, Thursday thru Saturday, it is certified by Guinness as the “Worlds Largest Pork BBQ Contest”. Believe it or not, over the course of three days, over 84 tons of pork are cooked and consumed.<\/p>\n

My name is Neil Gallagher, and before starting my own team, Too Sauced To Pork<\/a>, I cooked on a few different teams in the contest.\u00a0 I was a guest of barbecue teams for many years before that.\u00a0 I have been a part of this amazing contest in one form or another for 21 of my 33 years of life.\u00a0\u00a0 But alas, for the Average Joe there is a huge drawback to the festival, teams are not allowed to sell or give out samples to the general public. Due to Memphis Health Department regulations the teams can only give food and beverages to “invited guests”.\u00a0 \u201cInvited Guests\u201d are defined in MIM rules as anyone inside the fence of your team booth.\u00a0 The best way to experience the contest is on a team, or at least in a team booth, otherwise you will be on the outside looking in.\u00a0 You can join a team, there are many that offer people just like you a chance to experience this swinetastic\u00a0soiree.\u00a0 Google Join a Memphis in May BBQ Team and you will see 4 or 5 teams that accept new members.<\/p>\n

The days are full of contests, 16 different categories over 3 days. The nights are full of raging parties, many of which have huge buffet dinners, DJ’s, light shows, dance floors and multiple bars on multiple stories of a BBQ booth.\u00a0 When I say booth, I know you picture a ten foot by ten foot EZup\u00a0with a table and some smokers.\u00a0 NOPE!\u00a0 These monstrosities are larger than most people\u2019s houses.\u00a0 Many are 26ft\u00a0wide by 50ft deep.\u00a0 That is 1300 square feet, before you start adding levels to them\u2026\u00a0 That\u2019s right MULTIPLE STORY booths. Some of these scaffolding-boned portable structures are 3 stories tall, that\u2019s 3900 square feet of Pure Porkin\u2019 Party.<\/p>\n

\"Memphis

Thursday is the Best Booth, Best T-shirt, and the Ms. Piggie\u00a0Idol contest. First two are self-explanatory, the third is well\u2026.more complicated.\u00a0 Performers wear elaborate costumes, many featuring full-figured men in Pig Drag, singing porked up versions of popular songs.\u00a0 An absolute MUST SEE!\u00a0 Winners have included \u201cRib in a Box\u201d, \u201cGrills, Grills, Grills\u201d, \u201cSweet Swine O\u2019 Mine\u201d, and the \u201cSwine Warp\u201d. The best time to connect with teams is on this day.\u00a0 Go around and ask about their cookers, no team can resist showing off.\u00a0 Awards are in the early evening and then a band is called in to finish out the night\u2026this year it is Cowboy Mouth.\u00a0\u00a0Jenny says there will be some great times and awesome Que for all.<\/p>\n

Friday is chocked full of competition cooking with the ancillary division contests.\u00a0 Categories include Tomato, Mustard and Vinegar Sauces; meat categories which include Beef, Poultry, Exotic, and Seafood, as well as the Hot Wings contest.\u00a0 A band plays before the awards, and then another after.\u00a0 Many cooking teams throw down the party on Thursday but are very much reserved on Friday night in anticipation for Saturdays turn-ins.\u00a0 Of course that is just the cooking\u00a0 crew (about 5 people), the REST of the team, which on some teams include up to 200 members, live high on the hog and party till the cops shut them down for quiet time at midnight.<\/p>\n

\"Memphis

Saturday is held in the reverence of a Sunday morning Baptist church.\u00a0 There are no loud stereos, no parties, and no sign of the Carnival like atmosphere of the previous days.\u00a0 This is the Church of Cochon.\u00a0 Today we celebrate and piously reflect upon the main pork categories of Ribs, Shoulder, and Whole Hog.\u00a0 Every team has a blind box to turn in, and three onsite\u00a0judges to schmooze.\u00a0 Booths are dolled\u00a0up prettier than a 5th Avenue fine dining restaurant.\u00a0 Silver platters hold racks of ribs, exotic lettuces and fruits ornately decorate grilles and smokers, and you could even spot a team or two wearing tuxes, and greeting judges with a maitre d\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 After all is said and done the long wait begins\u2026only 3 teams from each category make the finals.\u00a0 We all wait for a smiling guy in a golf cart to attach a sign to your fence, signaling you are a finalist.\u00a0 When this happens, and HUGE cheer erupts, then you go into panic mode.\u00a0 That sign means 4 judges are coming to your booth to judge your pork.\u00a0 Fast forward to 6:30pm, everyone gathers at the main stage for the awards. The MC comes on and announces 10th through 1st place.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t final you pray for 4th-10th a HUGE honor in a field of 250.<\/p>\n

I LOVE this contest; it is one of the highlights of my year.\u00a0 Why you ask?\u00a0 Excitement, pure and simple.\u00a0 Where else in the world can you find a BBQ contest two football fields wide and a full mile long with the majestic Mississippi as a backdrop.\u00a0 Where else in the World can you meet BBQ enthusiasts from across the globe, like the Danish National BBQ Team, The Norwegian National BBQ Team, or the Black Pig from Canada.\u00a0 Where else can you rub hoofs with some of the best in BBQ, people like Myron Mixon, Tuffy\u00a0Stone, Moe Cason, The Orrisons, and Chris Lilly just to name a few.\u00a0 Every year as that warm orange sun sinks into the Big Muddy, casting its amber hues over 100,000 swine worshippers, we competitors reflect upon its beauty with true reverence.\u00a0 Dreams are realized and shattered here, blood and tears are spilt, deep friendships are cemented, and lifelong dreams are granted\u2026there is NO place on earth like Memphis in May.<\/p>\n

Do yourself a favor, plan a trip to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Picture this: You arrive in Memphis, Tennessee on a Thursday morning in May.\u00a0 In the airport you see a few quick service BBQ restaurants; Neely\u2019s, Corky’s, and Interstate.\u00a0 Even though… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1011,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11975,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions\/11975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraordinarybbq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}