THE BARON'S BARBECUE: The 28th Annual Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle ~ State Championship

Wow! It is hard for me to believe that this weekend marks the 28th anniversary of the prestigious Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle. I have competed in every contest put on by Lenexa. Hell, I am the Grand Pubah of this event as I won the very first Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle! There were 16 contestants in the very first contest, and the Grand Champion was decided by the number of number of high placing ribbons you won. The first year I had 6 blue ribbons (first place ribbons) and 1 red ribbon (second place ribbon). I won hands down! The second year I had 6 blue ribbons and 1 red ribbon. Though I had more high placing ribbons than anyone else, I did not win! The Grand Champion, Gene McKee, came over to me after the awards ceremony and said “Paul, there’s something wrong. You won this contest”. POLITICS! They make strange bedfellows.

I really had mixed emotions about the contest this year. Though I look forward to this contest every year, I was somewhat disappointed by a few changes that have been made.

· Contestant spaces were shifted and somehow I ended up with a space that was five feet wider in the front with an extreme taper in the back. I am grateful to have a neighbor like Jeff that exemplified the spirit of barbeque. Jeff shared his space and helping hands without hesitation. Thank you Jeff.

· A decision was made not to give the teams the traditional 1x4 with your teams name engraved on it (I was looking forward to this as I wanted to reveal my new team name to the public, “Chef Use-ta-wuz”).

· We went from receiving as many as 14 complementary bags of charcoal in the beginning years to just 4 bags of charcoal and a bottle of barbeque sauce.

· As much as I hate to say it, I was put off by the KCBS judging system at this contest for not allowing me to enter my “Bacon Bomb” in the sausage category (sausage stuffed into pork belly, the pork belly acts as the casing). I was told that it was not allowed as the bacon is a pre-seasoned meat. Well what is sausage then?! POLITICS!

The one consistent thing that you can count on every year at the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle is the weather! It was 93 degrees and humid. I am truly grateful for the person that forgot to order the rain for this years contest.

I really enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new people this year. Thanks to all that stopped by for an autograph or just to say hi.

I feel that we turned in decent products though everything was cooked 25 to 30 degrees hotter due to me misplacing my pit thermometers. Lesson to everyone; check, check, and check again to make sure that you have everything you need to be successful when cooking. It does make a difference.

Our chicken was juicy, tender, and flavorful. On the other hand, you could have soaked up the Missouri river with our brisket. The judges saw things differently. It turns out that the judges really enjoyed our Smoked Pork Tenderloin glazed with a Blueberry – Pomegranate sauce. This is how our score sheet reads:

Chicken: 163 of 188
Ribs: 151 of 188
Pork: 38 of 188
Brisket: 32 of 188
Sausage: 128 of 176
Miscellaneous: 7 of 151
Overall: 94 of 188