Everyone knows that PRIER is located in Grandview, Missouri. I’ll bet most of you don’t know that we are less than four miles from the Kansas City BBQ Society headquarters and that on any given weekend between spring and fall, you can find a BBQ contest within an hour’s drive of PRIER. If you didn’t know that, then I’m sure you do not know that those contests need judges and the judges are presented with a minimum of two pounds of mouth watering BBQ at each of those contests!
By now, you are beginning to think I’m pretty clever for figuring out how to get some of the world’s best cooks to give me free food every weekend. I’d love to take the credit, but my husband and I were introduced to BBQ contests by a couple of friends who thought it would be a great way to meet guys. We signed up for a judging class given at The Great American BBQ contest. To become a Master BBQ Judge, you need to judge 30 contests and have cooked with a competition team.
This past fall, I cooked with the Culinary Center of Kansas City’s Midwest BBQ Institute at the American Royal. The American Royal is the world’s largest contest and I was able to work alongside past American Royal Champions and learn their secrets. They even allowed us to make some of the final decisions on how to prepare the competition meats. Our decision to cut our sausage patties before we cooked them so that each bite could be coated with Rib Stars BBQ rub is surely the reason we walked away with a ribbon!
At PRIER, we want to help all of our partners become all that they are meant to be both inside and outside of PRIER. I’m not sure that I’m destined to be The American Royal Grand Champion of BBQ, but I’ll just bet you we see some of my new techniques at a luncheon or two!
