The Under belly of BBQ

The names of all the people involved have been changed to protect there identity.

I was invited to be a judge at the Sayville Fall Festival in LI NY. I was contacted but Jim who said he was a member of an organization called the bbq-brethren . (wait maybe i don't need to change there names!!! the guys name was Eric) So Jim (or Eric) told me i would be a judge for part of a BBQ compation. So being the nice guy that i am (also a bit of a publicity whore) i was happy to help out. Little did i know this would lead me to the under belly of a secret world... the dark, smokey depths of the world of competitive BBQ!!!!

On the morning of October 25th at 10 am i got into my truck and started my hour and ten minute trek to a little water front community named Sayville. I have been in this town before. Well maybe not in the town but i have cruised through it on my way to Fire Island. The ferry to FI is located on the coast of Sayville. So with the vision of gay sandy beaches in my mind i arrived at my destination. There was a smell in the air that i have never smelled before and this was nothing like my gay oasis across the bay. So with hesitation i went in search of Jim (or Eric). I found him in a corner of this very large field that was coved in tents and overhead lay a large cloud of very aromatic smoke. So we discussed the days events and he informed me that i was in the realm of Competitive BBQ. When i look more closely at the tent i realized they where more of a community of tents each one labeled with its own logo and insignia.

So as any fat kid with the smell of bbq in this nose would do, i went to inspect the tent town for some grub. I first came across a tent labeled bbq-brethren with all the curiosity of a young child i peered in. Little did i know this would be the beginning of a very interesting day that may change the course of my life forever (or the way i look at BBQ) In this tent was a weird looking bald dude who said hello then took a double take... He then approached me and said something along the lines of "hey your the guy who shit the bed on that food network show" ummmmm "yea thats me" lets see what he has to say about what's going on here. He went on to explain that this was a competition bbq event and he was one of the very proud members of the BBQ Brethren.

Lets discuss this BBQ Brethren for a moment. Its this group of people who label them selves BBQ enthusiasts and spread the word and teachings of REAL DEAL BBQ... This is not the bull shit BBQ you see in your back yard as a kid. This is a whole new game, a world of slow smoking and custom grills. A world where pork is king and propane is not heard of. This my friends is the under belly of americas favorite pastime (no not base ball ass hole) BBQ. Well bbq may be a favorite of most people but we the common man no nothing of the secret art that is being preserved by the Brethren!!! check out this link for a little more about them

Ok back to the bald freak!!! this guy chewed off my ear about BBQ for a good 20 min.... and i hung on his every word. He was truly a wealth of information (and of weirdness) and for the first time i realized i am missing out on a subculture i was made for. This is the tailgaters of tailgating. These people spend weeks preparing recipes and trying them out so they can join there fellow bbq enthusiasts here in the middle of a fucking corn field to see who is the true master of the grill. WOW at this point i'm totally blown away!! so weird bald guy finally lets me go and check out what's going down in BBQ land. He let me go after we took a picture together

So i wander around the tents peaking in to see what's going on. The first thing that catches my eye is the variety of grilles. Wow you got huge grilles custom made and pulled in by trucks, you got webber smokers, you got home-made smokers and grills, you got Kamados this is just to name a few. I then meet some guys who invite me into there weird tent world to try there ribs and pulled pork... so like any gay fat dude would do... i followed them into this dark tent hut. This guy then went into a corner and pulled out the most flavorful tend succulent pulled pork to ever grace my lips!!! OMG this shit was good and like nothing i have ever tasted. I realized all my life has been a lie!! i have never had true BBQ.. NEVER!!!!

i then felt like i needed more of this... my brain filled up with questions... what makes it so good, is there a rub on the meat, why have i never had this before, are you married?? so i set off to the next tent to try to get answers.

I passed a tend named "smoking Aces" and not only where the aces smoking but so where the boys so like any guy ... i stopped to say hi!! and it then became clear that not only was this a weird bald guys game but it was any man's game.. young and old, fat and thin this was a world open to any person with the love of smoked meat in there heart!!! this was a world i needed to be part of!!! so Smoking Aces gave me some of there tender ribs and agin i was in heaven.

I sit here remembering that day like it was yesterday, a day that will change my life forever. I wish that i could give you some more information but at this time i cannot. I need to keep my identify and my next move into this world as hush hush as i can. I will be purchasing a smoker/grill in the near future and will spend this winter honing my BBQ skill and learning the secrets that make this bbq-brethren true leaders in a world so unfamiliar to so may of us mere mortals.

MVP