BBQers battle at Salt Lake contest

This is the kind of food that makes you wish you didn't have to brush your teeth ever again. It's the ultimate comfort food: smoky, tender, juicy barbecue.

And the Gallivan Center was the place to see some righteous ribs and beautiful brisket as 24 teams went smoker to smoker for the title of the first Utah State BBQ Champion.

The smoke wafted up from a battery of barbecue smokers through the early morning light Saturday as teams waited for the first turn-in time. The event was the first in Utah sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

Until about 11:30 a.m., all was quiet along the Gallivan Center. But for the next two hours, teams scrambled to put the finishing touches on masterpieces of chicken, ribs, pork shoulder and brisket. Grown men fussed over arranging slices of brisket on a bed of lettuce. They finessed, they prodded, they coaxed. They were meticulous about making sure chicken and ribs glistened and tasted as mouth-watering as they looked.

And then there were those poor people who had to judge the four categories. They had to sit there for two hours and savor each piece of meat and rate each on individual merits of appearance, tenderness and taste.

Judges were instructed to not eat everything put in front of them, or they would have ended up eating 2 1/2 pounds of meat. And when needed, judges cleansed their palates with saltine crackers and water.

Then came the moment of truth.

In a sneak attack, two teams from Mesa, Ariz., walked away with the titles of grand champion and reserve grand champion, effectively taking first and second place overall, though many Utah teams won cash awards in individual meat categories.

The winner, Oink County Cookers, walked away with $1,000, a trophy and a qualifying spot to compete in three national competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City organization.

"A lot of love," said team member Rex Root. That's what it takes to baby-sit four kinds of meat overnight.

The Oink County Cookers dedicated their win to a teammate, Mike Munkel, who died earlier this year, and they plan to cook in his honor at the Jack Daniel's Invitational in October.

Oink County beat out teams from Idaho, Montana and the Wasatch Front, including a few teams of first-time barbecue competitors.

Home Plate BBQ, from South Jordan, and Do You Q, from Ogden were among the rookies at the event, which organizers expect to become an annual championship. There were 30 open spots this year, and Ferguson expects the competition to grow.

"People will remember this," said Joe Ferguson, co-founder of the Utah BBQ Association.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com