On March 26th and 27th it was finally time. My personal history books were rewritten, because Spring Break Bbq Competition in Lommel was my very first Bbq competition ever.

It had been on my bucket list for a long time, but the lack of all the information, time, but also a lot of unanswered questions made me leave it alone. "Unachievable and I don't have time"

Then corona came and there was time in my agenda. I cleared my head and started a journey to finally be able to do this. A quest. A goal. And I was focused.

In my previous posts you could follow my adventure.

I am not an inexperienced bbqer and have quite a bit of gear, but I decided to act like a contest rookie and ask a lot of questions. I would not go into this competition unprepared.

Afterwards I started looking for the right material that I wanted to use.

I chose a reverse offset smoker, a smoker that is not electrically controlled in any way.

It's not that I wanted to choose the most difficult way, but I was looking for the best way.

Was this the best way? I didn't know, but I wanted to try.

I fed that smoker wood for hours. I had to and would keep this device under control.

I have tweaked and adjusted the smoker. But in the meantime I have found my way.

It has become a fantastic home smoker. A reliable machine. But with a manual.

And then the time had come. Saturday, March 26th.

Together with my teammate Dimi we arrived last.

Felt a bit awkward but in hindsight it wasn't that bad. We had trimmed our meat in advance, which gave us full control to build and prepare everything.

Even socializing and bedtime.

We cook hot and fast, which means low and slow but at a slightly higher temperature.

The advantage is that you can start a little later, so we could gain a few hours of sleep.

That was the theory.

The reality was that winter time became summer time and that we would therefore have an hour less to sleep anyway.

Anyway, I was nervous enough not to sleep very deeply, but the adrenaline was a great engine.

And then the adventure began.

The smoker was brought up to temperature and the step-by-step plan was ready.

Ignorance is the greatest gain in this case, because I did not panic as I had no point of comparison.

At a KCBS Low and slow competition you can start preparing after your meat inspection (on Saturday).

So you decide when you start, but the turn in time is fixed.

12:00: Chicken

12:30: Ribs

1:00 PM: Pork

1:30 pm: Brisket

So you really have to have a game plan for each assignment, otherwise you won't make it.

Our game plan was ready and we succeeded.

We got everything ready on time and were able to submit everything on time.

When we tasted the chicken we knew right away that this was good. Nice and tender.

Taste is subjective, but tenderness is not. This was our first dish and we were very pleased.

I'm not going to say there wasn't any stress, because it's a super tight schedule, but overall I was confident that we were going to make it.

And then it's out of your hands.

The jury will taste and decide your fate.

Decompression is lurking around the corner, so cleaning everything up and then letting the fatigue come in was a good plan. So we could quietly enjoy the sun and nice company of other teams in the afternoon.

At 5 or 6 pm the time has come: the awards ceremony.

It's a competition, but you're still happy for the other teams. Everyone puts their heart and soul into it and you wish everyone well, because everyone who finishes well has also simply delivered something well.

Then you were defeated by someone who was better.

At 6pm the time had come and the results were announced.

The jury starts by announcing the top 10.

If you are mentioned then you have "a call."

You've reached the top 10.

But from 5th place onwards you also get a prize: Places 5 and 4 get a ribbon.

That's what you call 'a walk'

So with those tired legs you still have to get your ribbon.

Places 3, 2 and 1 will receive cups, prizes and possibly a cash prize.

First category: CHICKEN

We knew this was good so there was an expectation. Dimi said we definitely had top 10 but since I have no point of comparison I couldn't confirm it. But he was right:

No. 6: Barbecoa

What!? A bit of disbelief but joy! We immediately get the 6th place with our first category.

Incredibly happy.

Second category: RIBS

We knew this wasn't going to go perfectly so there were no expectations.

And that feeling was correct: no mention and ultimately only 18th place.

Third Category: Pork

We knew we had made a beautiful box

But because this is a difficult category I had no expectations.

N5 5: Barbecoa.

What!? Again?

And with a ribbon this time! My first ribbon.

I asked Dimi if I could keep this one :-)

4th Category: Brisket.

Also very difficult and perhaps the king of Low and Slow.

No. 4: Barbecoa

Nooooo... this can't be!

Overall we took 6th place out of 31 teams.

The euphoria is huge!

I dreamed of a good result in one of the categories, but more like a striker who wants to score in his first match.

We hoped not to be last. We certainly succeeded.

The result was more beautiful than I could have imagined.

and now we continue! And with the meat from Carmans / Atelier Francois we already have prize meat ;-)

I couldn't have done this without my teammate Dimi, who gave me the confidence to do it. Thanks Dimi!