GHS BBQ teams smoke the competition

Smoke filled the air and the smell of delicious barbecue came with it as Graham played host last weekend to a regional high school barbecue contest, presented by High School BBQ Inc.

Twenty high school barbecue teams gathered Saturday, Nov. 18 on Graham’s downtown square to put their meat cooking skills to the test and look for a qualification to the state championship in May 2024.

Graham’s two teams, the Smokin’ Steers and the Graham PitSteers, already qualified for the state championship in their first event of the season back in October. But that didn’t hold either team back for earning accolades in this competition.

The Smokin’ Steers placed fourth overall as a team while having some high individual placements, as well. The Smokin’ Steers took first place overall in ribs, sixth place in chicken and seventh place in beans.

While the Graham PitSteers didn’t finish in the top 10 as a team, they placed in the other two categories of the competition, taking fourth place in both dessert and brisket.

Competing for the Smokin’ Steers were Bryan Sanchez, Lucio Arvizu, Case Etling, Grady DePriest and Gabe Shook. For the Graham PitSteers team, it was Jacob Collins, Joey Livingston, Jesus Lucio and Matthew Monrreal.

Landan Locker, who filled in as coach for his father Brendan, was pleased with the overall performance of every team member no matter what the results were.

“They did pretty good, honestly. It was a good experience. They loved it. They had a great time and they made some pretty good food, so I can’t be more proud,” Locker said.

The two teams woke up bright and early Saturday morning to get started on the competition. All the teams set up the night before, but couldn’t begin any work on their food until the morning of the competition.

Participants arrived at around 4:30 a.m. to begin lighting their fires and preparing their meats for the rest of the day. The first items to get judged were the desserts in the morning, due to the meats typically needing a longer time to cook.

Following the desserts the teams submitted an order of barbecue beans and then began working through the meats. The first meat to be judged was chicken, followed by the ribs and the day ended with brisket.

Each team submits chicken, seven fully cut pork ribs and seven full slices of brisket in the correct size.

With the pressure off due to already having qualified for the state championship, these competitions allow the participants to experiment and try some new things.

DePriest tried something completely out of the norm for his ribs. After the competition, DePriest shared his unusual secret ingredient: White Frost Glacier Cherry Gatorade.

“At state last year, just as a joke, I was like, ‘I’m gonna put Gatorade on my ribs.’ So I did it and it did pretty good (in the judges’ results) and they tasted really good, too,” DePriest said.

What started out as a joke turned into reality. In addition to the usual ingredients that one would put on the ribs before wrapping them and cooking them like honey and brown sugar, DePriest added in some of his white Gatorade and let the sweetness take over.

“The (Graham) police officers actually wanted to take some to let everybody (at the station) try them,” he said. “At first I didn’t think they tasted that great, but apparently they taste really good.”

Although DePriest’s ribs didn’t place high in the category, it was a popular item for spectators and team members to try. It’s something he’ll continue to work on throughout the season.

For these students, competitions like these are learning opportunities as well as bonding experiences.

Team members spend a lot of time with each other through the setup, prep time, cooking and cleanup, but it’s all worth it to see the final results come together in the end.

“The biggest thing they’ll learn from it is team bonding and they came together today,” Locker said. “A lot of them have been here and a lot of them have not, and so they really all came together and put out some great food and I’m proud of them.”