Wednesday, April 22, 2015
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The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
Midnight Burn picks up t
Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey congratulates Wayne Blessing and Kim Hicks, who led
N
Midnight Burn to a Grand Championship. The pair also picked up first place in the chicken
category.
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Teams sauced the
meat in their unique and
confidential concoctions
of spices, brines and rubs.
Then they slow cooked
pork ribs, pork butt,
brisket and chicken for
hours — sometimes over-
night. When their best
efforts were turned in to
the picky and discrimi-
nating judges, one team
emerged Saturday as the
most all around talented
at Saturday’s 19th An-
nual Firehouse Cookoff.
“We’re excited right
now,” said Wayne
Blessing, who along
with partner Kim Hicks
led Midnight Burn to a
Grand Championship and
a $4,000 check. “We felt
like we had a very good
cook this weekend.”
A good cook indeed.
The pair wowed judges,
picking up first place in
the barbecue chicken cat-
egory, third place in pork,
fourth place in pork ribs
and tenth place in brisket.
Hicks and Blessing own
and operate Flat Rock
Wood Room, a popular
Hendersonville Restau-
rant. Saturday’s big win
marks their second grand
championship; Midnight
Burn grabbed its first top
prize at a Kansas City -
Barbecue Society sanc-
tioned event in Kentucky
last year.
“We’ve been on the
circuit for about eight
years and this is what it’s
all about,” Blessing said.
Rounding out the big
winners over the week-
end were Two Old Men
and a Grill, a BBQ team
based out of Bessemer
City, which picked up the
Grand Reserve Cham-
pion trophy and $1,000
in prize money, and K&D
Smokers, a cook team out
of Winston-Salem, which
came in third overall
Photos by DAVE BLANTON
4 }
iE BIN
Two Old Men and a Grill pitmaster Bob Roberts receives
1st place for pork ribs. Roberts was also the competition's
Grand Reserve Champion.
out of the 41 competing
squads.
The barbecue spe-
cialists pulled into town
Friday, when they set up
their gear and got settled
in. Judges inspected the
meat to ensure it wasn’t
pre-seasoned, brined
or injected before the
competition. Then the
competitors spend hours
trimming and prepping
what they think will be
the perfect cut of meat
in the four categories
they’ll be judged in: pork,
chicken, pork ribs and
brisket.
“We’ll spend all this
money and time and
equipment on one bite for
a judge,” said Big Show
Cooking Team pitmaster
Mat Griner said during
Friday’s preparation
time: “You have to have
a passion for it.”
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ternoon, the teams turn
in their best samples for
judging. At that stage, a
room full of KCBS-cer-
tified judges will work
mostly in silence -- look-
ing, smelling, tasting,
chewing and finally
mark a score from 1 to 9
for each sample they re-
ceive. Judging is blind:
the identity of the team
is kept obscured to the
judges.
Open to the public
every year at the walking
track, the contest draws
barbecue lovers from
across the region. Many
are looking for hints at
the highly secretive rec-
ipes and techniques used
by the competitive cook-
ers. Others come for the
fun atmosphere, which
this year included live
music by Kings Moun-
tain’s Oak Grove String
Band.
“This is a great com-
petition every year here
in Kings Mountain,” said -
Mayor Rick Murphrey.
“It’s the best barbecue in
the world and everyone
has a good time.”
Other top place fin-
ishers, by category: Pork
Ribs: Two Men and a
Grill; Brisket: Sue E.
Pigg, a_ cook team from
Clemson, S.C.; Pork:
Banjoman’s BBQ, a cook
0 £
First place winners col-
lected $550 each.
Many of the compet-
itors were familiar to
each other. They com-
pete on the same barbe-
cue circuit and a large
fraction of the teams at ff /
Saturday’s cookoff were
also at a contest the pre-
vious weekend
The top-performing
team originating out of
Cleveland County was
Grover-based Bite Me
BBQ, which finished
with an overall ranking §
of: 23rd.
The Mayor’s Choice |
award went to Holy
Smoke BBQ, based in
Ayden, N.C. That came
with a $550 prize.
BBQ prize
Page 3A
i oe re
A judge scrutinizes the appearance of pork barbecue Saturday.
Jay Henson, the pitmaster for Banjoman’s
place trophy in the pork category.
Mayor pro tem Mike Butler, left, and city commissioner Keith Miller, right, welcome
A
ns
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Norris McCleary to city hall. McCleary, a former NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs
and Seattle Sea Hawks, is in commercial real estate. The 6'4" McCleary played
football seven years.Customers received mementos and refreshments and chatted
with Mayor Rick Murphrey, City Manager Marilyn Sellers, and city council members.
+ April 23
April 24
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