Smokin' in McMinnville

August 15, 2009

For the past several years we normally find ourselves headin out to the Wilson County Fair's Amaizin Blazin BBQ Contest however after a twelve year run the organizers decided enough was enough. There wasn't many August contests so we figured we would take the month off. Then we heard about Smokin' in McMinnville. So much for the vacation! McMinnville is about 90 minutes South East of Nashville & is known for their Nurseries. Lots of sod farms, tree & shrub farms, & produce come from the McMinnville area. Arlie Bragg was the organizer so we decided to give it a try! Gary "Nickelback" was not making this trip as he was helping his Mom move. We would miss him but family comes first! When we pulled in we were greeted by Smokey Mountain Smokers, Lotta Bull, Jiggy Piggy, Wild Bunch Butt Burners, Team Allegro, & the rest of our BBQ Family! Everyone was there (Yoko brought a walrus, there was magic in the air....)

As you know we always have a cook out on Friday night. Usually we throw some pork chops & potatoes in the smoker and keep it simple. Not this time. If you know Richard then you know aside from BBQ one of his favorite hobbies is fishin! Well it seems that Richard is pretty good at this fishin thing cause he had a freezer full of fish that he was needin to git rid of! So we decided to have a Friday Fish Fry! Richard brought his FCR (Fish Cookin Rig) & enough hush puppies to feed an army & commenced to cookin! Swiggin Pig, Smokey Mountain Smokers, & High on the Hawg all chipped in some side dishes & it was time to strap the feed bag on! Man what a meal! I was afraid we weren't going to have enough to go around but it went much further than I thought. After dinner Richard outdid himself again by making some home-made peach ice cream! We topped the night off with some tunes & a few shots of AP (Apple Pie) & we were good to go!

Saturday morning was routine. No surprises except we had Dinosaur Thighs for chicken. They were huge! Even after trimming the heck out of them we could barley fit six in the box. I think they grew overnight! Richard & I struggled with prepping the boxes (Gary's specialty) & we managed to get everything turned in barely. I was not feeling very positive. I thought our food was good but not good enough. Well as it turned out I was mostly right! We were 21st with our "Thunder Thighs", 25th in ribs, & 21st in brisket. About as below average as you can get! Our lone call was in pork, we managed 7th place! Finishing 19th overall.

Well....we still had a great time & the fish fry was a big success. Maybe we should find us a fish frying contest! Congratulations to Smokin Triggers, Jiggy Piggy, House of Q, & Adams Rib for their category wins. Smokin Butt Crew took the win with Smokin Triggers taking the RGC! Congrats to them! A shout out to the organizers and the town of McMinnville. A great site, a great turn out, & a great contest! We look forward to next year.