61 Teams

6th Overall
4th Pork
11th Chicken
18th Brisket

This was our first ever invitational competition. The Great American Invitational consists of teams who have won qualifying contests in the prior year. Qualifying contests are those with a governor’s proclamation of a state championship and have at least 15 teams if a first year contest or 25 teams if not a first year contest. Our qualifying win was the Jesse James contest in Kearney, MO last fall.

As our first invitational against some of the very best teams in the country, we were extremely thrilled to have done so well. This was the first time that Randy and I have had a chance to cook a contest together in 2008. We immediately moved on to contest number two: the Great American BBQ Open contest. With the pressure off having already received a call and a top ten overall finish for the weekend, we looked forward to a more relaxing Open contest.

52 Teams

2nd Overall - Reserve Grand Champion

8th Sausage
8th Chicken
5th Ribs
1st Pork

Again cooking with my friend Andy Groneman, we were able to hoist some hardware at our second competition of the year.  We were pleased with all of our entries and, thankfully, so were the judges.  Grand champion was our friend Rod Gray of Pellet Envy.

52 Teams

1st Overall

2nd - Chicken
4th - Ribs
2nd - Pork
6th - Brisket

This was the first contest of the 2008 season, and what a way to start. We were cooking with the new BBQ trailer that had only been in our possession for 6 days. As someone said, a great way to christen the new BBQ rig.

My good friend, Andy Groneman joined me for this contest. It was my second Grand Championship and Andy’s first. It was the first time that I’ve had top 10 calls across all four categories in a single contest. It was an amazing feeling for both of us.

Our son, Michael embarks on his first BBQ competition on April 4.  He’ll enter chicken wings and a hamburger.  My wife and I thought it would be fun for our boys to have their own logo.  This was done by Patrick at www.BBQLogos.com.

The annual KCBS banquet was held this last weekend.  KCBS and Kookers Kare hold raffles during the banquet.  Kookers Kare is a charitable organization of BBQ cooks feeding and supporting local food pantries.  Kookers Kare raised a couple of thousand dollars during this raffle.  The money will purchase the 8000 pounds of pork that will be cooked during the annual cook in mid March.  The 8000 pounds of pork will go to local food pantries.

Our Plowboys BBQ baskets held a shaker each of our Yardbird rub and our new brisket rub that hasn’t been launched yet.  In addition to a Plowboys Barbecue shirt, each basket contained a Pig Face Hitch Insert that we are starting to sell.  They are made of 100% billet aluminum.   The same materials used to make aircraft.  They are tough and will not rust.  We are selling them through our online store.

Not getting everyone sick should be job one when cooking for the public or your family. Food safety is something that everyone should be aware of and practice. Latex gloves, combined with hand washing, should be a regular practice for all BBQ cooks.

In addition to food safety, I like using gloves for keeping my hands clean. BBQ can be a messy business. Sauce, food, and grime from the cooker can get all over your hands. I’ll grab a pair of gloves when I’m cleaning the cooker or handling grates. A box of large sized gloves is handy for most jobs, while an extra large size will fit over a pair of cotton gloves. We use latex gloves over ordinary cotton gloves when handling hot food. They are easy to replace or have multiple pairs around. I now buy them by the case. A case hold ten boxes of 100 gloves each. Never have to worry about never having the right tools available for the job.

Pork Pullin Plowboys: 2007 Missouri State BBQ Champions

During the awards for the 2007 American Royal BBQ Open Competition, our team was presented with a special award.  The Missouri State BBQ Championship is given to the Grand Champion with the highest score from the following contests: Blue Springs, Kearney, and North Kansas City.

5th Overall - 17 Teams
3rd Ribs
1st Pork
5th Brisket

Third week in a row with a top 5 finish. The most thrilling moment was of course the 1st place in pork. It marked our nineth top 10 finish in pork for 2007 and our first ever blue ribbon in pork. I wasn’t happy with the pork at Blue Springs and Kearney, even though Kearney’s pork placed 9th. This week, however, I felt our pork was back on track. Got to cook with Randy and Brandon once again. It was good to have the whole team together. Brandon was our box runner… and didn’t even trip.

The contest a state championship. The grand champion, Grillas, will be invited to the Great American Invitational, American Royal Invitational, and have a chance for the Jack Daniel’s Invitational. It was set in a very quiet area. We had a playground directly behind us for the boys. The organizers were doing a lot for local groups like senior citizens, Boy Scouts, and local Fire Department. It was really nice to see.

The surgeons and staff at the IABS performed a Lab-Band procedure on Todd Johns in January 2006. He was able to lose 170 lbs. in one year and regain his quality of life. We are very proud to have this great group as a sponsor.

The Institute for Advanced Bariatric Surgery and the Minimally Invasive Surgery Hospital are an American Society of Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence and accept Medicare patients. We have helped hundreds of patients take control of obesity and their lives all over the United States, in both adults and adolescents. Patients report choosing services through our program based on our expertise, our quality and our record of safety in the performance of laparoscopic bariatric surgery.

My friend Andy Groneman was featured on both the front page of the Atchison Globe and the paper’s Web site.  Cooking as Smoke on Wheels and sometimes as HoDeDo’s, Andy was both competing at the local contest and selling his BBQ to the public.  If you look closely, you’ll see that Andy is sporting a Plowboys BBQ hat that I gave him a couple weeks ago.

Andy and I cooked together a couple of times this year at Sugar Creek, MO and Columbia, MO.