Pigging Out at Franklin, NC

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It’s another judging adventure!  This adventure takes me into the mountains of Franklin, NC for the Mountain High BBQ & Music Festival.

Franklin, NC

Located approximately 3 1/2 hours from Charlotte, NC, Franklin is nestled in the Appalachian mountains just minutes from the Georgia state line.  The contest was held at the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center.  There were a grand total of 52 teams entered in this contest.  The festival also featured a car show and other attractions such as a cornhole tournament and several performance artists.

Car show

Competition area

With every KCBS competition I have judged thus far, the theme has been the same in regards to the judges: seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones.  I can’t continue to stress how that barbecue people are just the nicest people on the planet by far!  I enjoy this aspect of the competition almost as much as I enjoy tasting the entries.  😉

Speaking of the entries…  I knew that the table I was at would be in for some good food when I took the first bite of the first chicken entry and was completely wowed!  Overall, the entries that came across my table were very good!  I was certainly not disappointed.

For the most part, the weather was not too terribly hot!  Just prior to brisket turn-in at 1:30pm, a torrential downpour came through the area that lasted about 15 minutes.  After that rainstorm, it was really, really humid!  Also, parking was very much at a premium.  At times navigating through traffic proved to be quite tricky.  Other than that, I thought the competition went pretty well.

For a few minutes prior to judging, I decided to check out some of the vendors.  As I was making my rounds, I came across an area for BBQSuperStars.com.  This site is a great resource for all things BBQ ranging from instructional videos to in-depth interviews with some of the most prominent teams on the BBQ circuit.  After judging, I got to meet the man behind BBQSuperStars.com, Darryl Mast!  And here’s proof.

Big Wayner and Darryl from BBQSuperStars.com

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings on my latest judging adventure!  I’ll be judging a first-year contest in two weeks in Greer, SC!  Let me know if you’ll be there because I’d sure like to meet you!

I do have more pictures posted on the Facebook page for Big Wayner’s BBQ Blog.  You can get to the Facebook page by going to http://www.facebook.com/bigwaynersbbq.