Brisket, Butter and Better Not Forget the Beer

With expert smoking techniques, perfected seasonings and a bit of good luck, Sam Waters and Brandon Larson have been crowned the Grand Champions of the 2021 Glasgow Elks "Middle of Nowhere" BBQ Cook-off. The competition drew nine teams from as far away as Shelby.

The teams set up their smoking accoutrement Friday night, and bets were made as to who would win this year's tourney, the first held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Its great," Larson said after learning his team, "Smoke on the Waters," had won Saturday evening. "I honestly didn't think we were going to get it. It was a complete shock. We have been [competing] three years now, and this is the one and only competition we do every year, just trying to get something going. It was well worth the wait. I love it."

"It feels great," Waters added. "Brilliant. Unbelievable, as a matter of fact."

If able, Smoke on the Waters will be back in 2022 to defend its hard won crown.

"Oh yeah," Waters said. "We will be ready. We thought we did well on everything, except in brisket, and we won second in brisket, so that was really good. In chicken, we have always been last, and we got third this year. It was a really good year."

The other teams this year included Kevin Taylor and Zac Garsjo of "Hard Meat to Beat!," Bruce "Cubby" Damon and Liberty Crawford of "Baby Got Back BBQ," Mike Merideth and Arlie McMichael of "Hawgnutz BBQ," Ross Kastet and Cindy Swanson of "Team Kastet," Jory Schipman and Rick Nease of "Burger Boys," Thomas Doney of "Team Doney," Shane Rhodes and Ryan Feezell of Road Kill Café, and Gordon Smedsrud, Amy Mangulara and Mary Ann Harwood of "Mangia."

Baby Got Back received Reserve Champion.

There were four main categories the participants entered: brisket, ribs, pork and chicken. A wild card category was also available, and could include any type of barbecued meat. The most popular choice this year seemed to be pork belly.

Roadkill Cafe earned 1st place in the chicken category, Team Kastet earned 1st place in the ribs category, Hard Meat to Beat! earned 1st place in the pork category, Hawgnutz BBQ earned 1st place in the brisket category, and Roadkill Cafe earned 1st place in the wild card category. There was no popular vote this year.

A dozen volunteer judges scrutinized entries in each category, tracked by number only to ensure anonymity. The highest overall score won grand champion.

"It is a little bit of everybody from around the community that volunteered to stuff their faces," said Zak Peterson, an Elk and BBQ Cook-off committee member. "You do get pretty full, because you sample a lot."

Public attendees got to taste the goods beginning at 4 p.m., before the winners were announced.

"They cook extra, so that is fun too," Peterson said.

Waters said the team to beat this year was Team Kastet, who won Grand Champion during the last competition in 2019.

"Kastet is good. There is no doubt about it. And then, Mike Merideth on the other end. He has been reserve for the last couple of years."

Before judging, Kastet definitely felt his team was in the cross-hairs this year.

"They might have it this year," he said."I would rather have taken last [in 2019]. At least I got top ten if there are nine teams."

"You can't win every year because then everybody else will back out and no one would join," joked his smoking buddy and mother-in-law, Cindy Swanson.

Smoking meats is a family tradition for Kastet, he said.

"My uncle Dennis does a catering business. He has a couple of trailers he hauls around. He cooks for a lot of people. That is how I got into this. They are really good at it. I just try to take part and do my thing and do what I can."

Kastet, as with many of the other competitors, said the best part about the tourney is the camaraderie, sorely missed in 2020.

"It is good people, always, that come to this stuff."

Bruce "Cubby" Damon of Baby Got Back BBQ got off to a tough start Saturday. Early in morning, he sliced his pointer finger severely while cutting meats.

"It was rough," Damon said.

Still, refusing to surrender, Damon wrapped the wound and kept on going. His perseverance would lead to Reserve Champion status. This was a good result for the Wolf Point resident, who has competed in the tourney three times.

A test of endurance

The teams began smoking their meats well before dawn Saturday, keeping wary eyes on their smokers over the next 12 or more hours. This meant little sleep and a test of the alcohol tolerance of many participants as having a beer in hand at all times while observing sizzling meats is a near unspoken law for those who imbibe.

Jory Schipman of Burger Boys, based in Malta, runs a butcher shop and offers catering services.

"We figured we would give her hell and come down here to see what happens," he told The Courier near the noon mark on Saturday. "I am pretty confident. I cook good. But, here is the thing. It is not about winning. We are here to have a good time. This is my getaway, to come here and enjoy it. Win lose or draw, we really don't care."

When asked what his favorite part of the experience was, Schipman responded "to be honest, drinking with friends. Camaraderie. I want to have a good time. I don't want to work too hard. Booze and BBQ."

Starting at about 3:30 a.m., Burger Boys prepared four briskets, nine racks of ribs, four pork butts and a few dozen chicken breasts, Schipman said. The team also chose pork Belly for the Wild card category.

"If you caramelize it with good sauce, you can't beat it," Schipman said.

Team Hawgnutz began smoking at about 10 p.m. Friday, with the next round of meats going on at 7:30 and 11 a.m. Saturday.

"These competitions are always fun," Merideth said. "The last thing you put on is the first thing you turn in. This is my third one here. I just did one over in Malta, and I cook for everyone all the time."

This coming weekend, Meredith will smoke 26 butts for the residents of Frazer.

"A guy who did a big job over there wants to feed the whole town," Merideth said. "Then, the weekend after that, I am doing the benefit over at the VFW. Then I get a couple of weeks off before the fireman's ball over in Nashua."

For the Elk's tourney, Hawgnutz prepared 36 pounds of brisket, 40 pounds of butts about 17 pounds of ribs, Merideth said. With meat prices soaring thanks to inflation and supply chain problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Merideth paid a pretty penny for the meats.

"About four times [as much as 2019], I think," he said. "It was nothing the first year we did it over here. It was 'go get some butts, go get some ribs. Oh s***, I ruined that rack, go grab a few more.' Briskets were cheap. [This time] I got $220 just in briskets, and there is nothing special about them. They are just off the shelf."

Merideth said he ascribes to the tried and true "low and slow" method of smoking meats, keeping the temperature in the smokers at near 200 degrees Fahrenheit .

Well, at least until the first round of judging nears.

"I always panic," Meredith said at 11:15 a.m. "Nothing is where I think it should be right now. It probably is, but I get into panic mode. The chicken will be on for three hours, then I am still panicking, thinking it won't be done. I have to take my briskets apart so I can do my burnt ends, or they wont be done. But, they will be. I have never not been able to get something turned in that wasn't really good, but my mindset, I panic. I would be happier if it was all done right now and I could put it into the cooler and stare at it."

For his brisket, Meredith prepares the cut of meat - one of the toughest on a cow and one of the hardest to cook properly - by injecting the muscles with beef onion soup and au jus.

"That is what I spray it with too," Meredith said. "About every hour I spray it. The butts, i inject with apple juice and apple cider vinegar and that is what I spray them with. The ribs, I am trying something a little different this year. I am not telling you what that is until it works. My chicken is just my chicken. It is my apple brine and I make a honey powder rub for them. I make all my own rubs."

Merideth uses a competition blend of all fruit hard woods - apple, cherry, peach and hickory - to smoke his meats. Mesquite is too harsh, he said.

For Arlie McMichael, Meredith's smoking buddy, this was his first year at the competition as a team member.

"I have always wanted to do it," McMichael said. "I just never took the jump. I am just trying to do chicken. He has been so close every year, but that chicken kicks his ass."

"I missed grand champion the last time we did this because of my chicken," Merideth said. "I put Italian seasoning in my brine and when I took the chicken out I didn't rinse it off.

That meant the judges were getting large bites full of thyme or rosemary.

Merideth learned his lesson, and this year neither spice could be found anywhere near his smoking station.

Glad to be Back

Peterson was pleased the event was able to return this year after hiatus.

"We are glad to have it back," he said. "It is good to see everybody, and great getting together and socializing. That is one of the big things, the social aspect."

It appears men are at there happiest when standing around watching meat cook "with other guys, with a beverage in hand," Peterson added.

Peterson expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in making the tourney a success this year.

"This was a total team effort by our Elks BBQ Committee," he said. "Countless volunteer hours were put in to pull this off. A huge thank you to our local business who sponsored the event. As with many of these activities in Glasgow, we couldn't pull it off without great local support."

Peterson said the crop of contestants this year were strong in their craft.

"Out of the nine, six have been here every year. Then we have got three who are new this year. One came over all the way from Shelby. They are a great crew and having fun. It will be a tough competition."

About half of the teams were from the Glasgow area, with others representing Nashua, Poplar and Malta, Peterson said.

Waters, of Glasgow, and his smoking buddy, Larson of Minot, North Dakota, were also pleased the competition was held once more this year.

"We are out of practice, so we needed to get back," Waters said before he learned he had become champion.

"This is my third time with it."

Waters said his strongest category was usually brisket.

"But, I don't know about today. I think I overcooked it today. It was at 200, but hopefully it tightens back up. It has a little separation in the grain."

Knowing the price of meats has inflated this year, Waters said it is good to know one's butcher on a first name basis.

"I got [brisket] at Reynolds, and it wasn't that bad. It was a little over four bucks [per pound]. They put it on sale. You've got to know your butcher. It pays to know your butcher."

Waters said the best part of the experience, before being crowned champion, was begin amongst friends and competitors and participating in "a little trash talking."

"There are a lot of different characters," Larson added.

Friendly competition

Kevin Taylor of Hard Meat to Beat! did not have a great start, but finished strong in the pork category.

"My stuff was done way too early. I thought I was screwed and another team came over to tell me what to do to fix it. We will know here in about an hour if it worked or not."

It did.

That was great news for Taylor, who said it was a struggle all night long.

"It is frantic here. Their hairs have gotten grayer. The power went off somewhere around six am. If it wasn't for Ryan Feezell walking around saying "your stuff went off,' some of us would have been dead in water."

The competitors didn't want to win the easy way, but wanted everyone on top of their game, Taylor said.

"I compare this to rodeo, because I did it for so many years. You get done riding a bucking horse, you go back to the chutes to help the next guy beat you. You want to see everybody do good and everybody here does the same thing. Everybody helps everybody out. You cant beat it. It is a hard thing to beat, much less my meat."