Pauley's Brew-B-Q Part 1

Well we went, we saw, and we didn't finish last. This may seem odd for me to say but it was our first and foremost goal. The second goal was to have fun. Which we also did.

Setup of the our are started Saturday about 1pm. During the setup period we were approached by many of the other teams asking if it was our first time and that if we had any questions not to hesitate to ask. Of these teams, The Black Pig offered to help us put the canopies up (which we were struggling with and would later return the favor). The Black Pig would quickly become our friends that weekend as they took us well hydrated and entertained.

After we got the are mostly setup, it was time to call over one of the contest reps and have the meat inspected and checked in. This went much better than expected and he was gone within a couple of minutes. This meant we could move on to prepping the meats however we saw fit. We kept it pretty simple using a store bought rub for all four meats and using a marinade for the ribs. We were all done by 4 o'clock and had an hour before the team meeting.

At the meeting, we got our goody bags and a brief overview of the rules, very brief. I had read over the rules numerous times before the contest so I was pretty confident in my understanding of them but some teams looked a little confused and worried.

After the meeting they had a team dinner for us and it was time for the rest of the team to head home as I would do the night shift by myself. After I made sure everything was in place for the fifth time I decided to grab a beer and relax for a bit and way for the festival's fireworks to start. I still had 3 hours before I needed to start cooking anything. Again the Black Pig team showed true hospitality and invited me over and treated me like a member of their team. Drinks, laughing, and some great advice wrapped up the early part of the evening and two members of their team were off to catch some sleep and get ready for their respective shifts of the night.

At 10:30 I started getting the smoker's ready and by 11 the first one was ready and put the brisket on. At this time it had started to grow cool but I was confident that my shorts and t-shirt would keep me warm enough through the night. I spent the next two hours obsessing over the temperature of the smoker checking what seemed like every couple of minutes.

1 am rolled around and it was time to put the Butt on. I was pleased to see at this time that I would have company for the evening. My sister had come to the site after she got done working and was there to keep me company and help with anything I might need. The temperature at this time was now cold and it still felt like it getting colder. The only thing to do until 8am was to watch the fires and make sure the temperature held. I settled into my chair with a blanket and a book and tried to at least relax for a bit. The cold temps actually helped me stay awake which was good as I was adding fuel to the smokers at least once an hour.