Colonnade

Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Claire Kersey Joshua Youmans of the tem Ivey Rack & Q serves up some barbecue for the judges. This is the team's second year competing.

Barbecue is a labor of love. Smoke Shack team member Scott McDaniel can certainly attest to this. After saving $2,500 for an engagement ring for his girlfriend, he saw a smoker for $2,499.

"I asked if instead of buying a ring, I could buy a cooker," McDaniel said.

She agreed to receive her ring later on, and they are still happily married.

"You gotta be crazy to do this," said Alvin Meyer, who is one half of the husband and wife team Quenut. "It's a very expensive hobby."

These teams have cooked in rain, sleet, snow and even tornadoes.

The Deep Roots Festival's annual barbecue cook-off drew quite an eclectic crowd to Milledgeville this past weekend. Teams from around the Southeast came to compete to prove that their barbecue reigned supreme.

"We spent $800-900 to prove we're the best," Meyer said. "The prize money won't offset the expenses."

In addition to entry fees, the cost of the meat makes a huge dent financially. Jay Weems of J&J Southern Smokers had approximately $300-400 of pork to prepare.

"You'll spend $1,000 easily just going to contests," Weems said.

Some of the teams attend up to 40 competitions in a year all over the country; others just enter a few.

Clearly money is not the motivation for the hardcore hog-cookers. They come with trailers equipped with full kitchens, complete with a convection oven, refrigerator and multiple sinks.

"Some people say it might be nicer than most people's kitchens," Meyer said.

The atmosphere is often very laid-back, as competitors set up tents and tables where they relax while the meat is cooking.

"It's like a big tailgate party that travels," McDaniel said.

McDaniel's trailer sat on Jefferson Street, and just beside sat Rufus the fiberglass Hampshire pig, his team's mascot.

"Rufus is a pimp daddy hog. He gets more action than any man here," McDaniel said. "Kids love him, dogs bark at him."

Some people had laptops, others enjoyed a smoke or a beer and basked in the mild weather, hoping that the rain would avoid them this time around. They stayed there through the night Friday, as some teams had to maintain the flame on their smokers.

Continued...

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