I decided to put my BBQ skills to the test and competed in the 2022 WhistleStop Festival in Alabama.  I participated in the ShadeTree competition where I smoked and turned in ribs and chicken thighs to be judged for appearance, tenderness, and taste.  I also did the People’s Choice where the patrons tasted samples of smoked pork and voted for their favorite. 

Some thoughts on the competition before we begin.  I have a smoker with an offset firebox.  I used charcoal and hickory wood as the fuel source.  I was awake at 2:30 am lighting a fire in the drizzling rain and had the pork shoulder on around 3:30 am.  I specifically don’t provide measurements for the seasonings.  It was a competition, so I was cooking for one bite by the judges.

It was a very long and tiring weekend.  I met some great competitors and awesome teams who were friendly, and we all helped each other in various way.  I helped one team with extra charcoal.  And one guy hooked me up with much needed coffee at 3:00 am – I found out later he was a Grand Champion, you wouldn’t know it though, super cool guy!  Was it worth it??  Absolutely! 

Here are the recipes I did for the competition.

People’s Choice Pork Shoulder

Materials

Hickory Wood

Kingsford charcoal

Charcoal Chimney

Aluminum Foil

4 aluminum tin foil pans

Binder – olive oil

Spray Bottle

Ingredients

Coarse Salt

Coarse Pepper

Apple Juice

Preparing the Pork Shoulder

Apply the binder and a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Install the foil pans in the smoker to catch the drippings and act as a fire barrier.

Preparing the Fire

Put the charcoal in a pyramid in the firebox and light.  When the fire dies down spread the coals.  When you have a good bed of coals add the wood.

When the temperature reaches 250℉ – 275℉, place the pork should on the smoker – larger end towards the fire.  From here just keep an eye on the temperature and add wood as needed.

Smoking the Pork Shoulder

After 1-2 hours, spray with the apple juice every 60 min.

When it reaches an internal temperature of 170℉ -175℉ place in a foil pan and cover with tin foil.

Continue smoking until it reaches an internal temperature between 195℉ -205℉, remove, and let rest for an hour.

Shred and serve with optional sauce on the side.  Don’t forget to add the juices back in!

Pork Spareribs

Materials

Hickory Wood

Kingsford charcoal

Charcoal Chimney

Aluminum Foil

3 aluminum tin foil pans

Binder – olive oil

Spray Bottle

Ingredients

Coarse Salt

Pepper

Seasoned Salt

Apple Juice

BBQ sauce

Butter

Brown Sugar

Honey

Preparing the Ribs

Cut out the breastbone and remove the membrane. Cut off the skirt meat.  Add the binder. Generously apply the salt, pepper, and seasoned salt.

Install the foil pans in the smoker to catch the drippings and act as a fire barrier.

Preparing the Fire

Technically speaking, the fire was already built from smoking the pork shoulder.  But here’s the process anyway…

Put the charcoal in a pyramid in the firebox and light.  When the fire dies down spread the coals.  When you have a good bed of coals add the wood.

When the temperature reaches 250℉ – 275℉, place the ribs on the smoker – meat side up and face the larger end towards the fire.  From here just keep an eye on the temperature and add wood as needed.

Smoking the Ribs

After 1-2 hours, spray the ribs with the juice every 60 min.

When they reach an internal temperature of 180℉ -185℉ they can be wrapped.  In the aluminum foil add the butter, honey, BBQ sauce, and brown sugar.  Wrap meat-side down and place back on the smoker.

When the internal temperature reaches 195℉ – 200℉, they are done.  Vent the aluminum foil and let rest.

Chicken Thighs

Materials

Hickory Wood

Kingsford charcoal

Charcoal Chimney

Aluminum Foil

3 aluminum tin foil pans

Binder – olive oil

Ingredients

Coarse salt

Coarse Pepper

Kosmo’s Dirty Bird seasoning

Kosmo’s Cherry Habanero BBQ Sauce

Preparing the chicken thighs

Cut off the excess fat. Apply the binder and a generous portion of the Kosmo’s Dirty Bird seasoning.

Install the foil pans in the smoker to catch the drippings and act as a fire barrier.

Preparing the Fire

Technically speaking, the fire was already built from smoking the pork shoulder.  But here’s the process anyway…

Put the charcoal in a pyramid in the firebox and light.  When the fire dies down spread the coals.  When you have a good bed of coals add the wood.

When the temperature reaches 250℉ – 275℉, place the chicken thighs on the smoker.

From here just keep an eye on the temperature and add wood as needed.

Smoking the chicken thighs

When they reach an internal temperature of 175℉ -180℉, apply the Kosmo’s Cherry Habanero BBQ Sauce.

When the internal temperature reaches 185℉ – 190℉, they are done.