A ribbing at the racetrack

The Del Mar BBQ State Championship brought 47 grillers and smokers from around California (and Arizona) to compete at the racetrack on Sunday, July 17. While a panel of Kansas City Barbeque Society judges did the grueling and delicious work of scoring each dish behind the stage setup for the racetrack’s summer concert series, all race attendees had the opportunity to get in on the action out front.

Many of the pitmasters participating served sample sizes of their ribs, brisket, chicken, and/or pulled pork in a food-festival atmosphere, complete with a people’s choice vote. Guests could buy tokens at four for a dollar, and for the most part one token could be traded in for one small serving of meat.

Not surprisingly, long lines developed at every BBQ booth, making it tough for the casual visitor to get every first choice, not that there was a lot of local name recognition. While some of the booths represented actual restaurants — including Spring Valley’s Cali Comfort BBQ, which helped organize the contest — most of the competitors consisted of dedicated grilling teams who are just in it to win it at regional contests such as this.

That’s the case of the grand champion of the event — Rhythm ’n’ Que, out of Phoenix, Arizona. The reserve champion, the competition team of Big Poppa Smokers, represents a line of grilling equipment based in Coachella. Those were the overall winners of the judged competition, which awarded individual prizes for the best pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, and brisket (you can find a full list of winners here). I got a peek of the judging in action, where dedicated eaters scored entries based on appearance, tenderness, and taste.

As for the people’s choice, I did my best to try all I could. I made a conscious decision to focus on pork ribs. One, because ribs are awesome. Two, because how often to you get to eat ribs prepared four ways?

I did manage to try ribs from the eventual people’s choice winner: Rub Your Meat, a catering company out of Phoenix. I’ve gotta go with the vote on this one. The dry rubbed, charred black ribs were delectable and the best thing I tried all day.