2022 San Antonio Rodeo Cook-off
There was no shortage of whooping and hollering after being invited to compete at the 2022 San Antonio Rodeo Cook-off. It is the 2nd largest sanctioned barbecue contest in the USA and the world for that matter! One of my favorite aspects of this contest is the money raised at this and the Rodeo itself goes towards Texas youth and scholarships. How awesome that a hobby passionately partake in, can also support a community?
Located on 64 acres of land owned and used exclusively for the San Antonio Rodeo Cook-off, you can guess there is going to be a lot of teams, 299 in fact. 32 acres is devoted to team spaces and remaining space for limited parking. Attendees for this event are shuttled in from other parking locations. Registration for this contest reportedly sold out in <10 minutes and yes, there’s a wait list. This highly coveted event attracts the newbies, the local pals who throw a team together, the barbecue teams on the competitive circuit and teams who religiously prep and compete as their annual “thing.” Specifically, San Antonio also holds reciprocating invitations to other competitive barbecue events like BBQ Austin, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo World’s Championship BBQ Cook-Off (in about a month), American Royal World Series of Barbecue and the Jack Daniels World Barbecue Championship. My belief is that most teams are vying for a spot at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Cook-off as there is a 15-20 year wait list for the chance to compete there.
Kash for Kids is an ongoing charitable aspect of the weekend. BBQ teams will invite the average Joe attending the event to eat barbecue and drink at their site/ tent for a cash donation. The top raising registered cook-off team receives a free entry into next year’s contest. This year, the top team collected over $10,000 in cash!!! Unbelievable the love and effort for barbecue and youth!
Schedule
Wednesday is move-in day where trucks, trailers, party tents, trailer mounted or carried smokers are being moved to site. This is Texas, so you can bet that everyone drives a pick-up truck. The trailers are 40 feet long. Some of the smokers are so large, they are about the size of a small vehicle and could easily fit a small child or adult for that matter.
Thursday is the last of move-in and prep day. Being part of the International Village, we are fortunate enough to provided tent space. I spent the day doing groceries, setting up borrowed barbecue equipment, attending the cooks meeting and cooking my dessert for Friday’s turn in.
Friday is competition day for Jackpot aka side categories. If you think your Bloody Mary, Dessert, Rib Eye Steak, Pinto Beans, or Open Meat (except half chicken, ribs and brisket) will stand out against all others in a white styrofoam cup or box, this is the day for you. Ongoing is a Kids barbeque competition, which is so awesome that kids of ALL ages cook pork chop on provided grills and charcoal in a coral <of course ;)>
Saturday is competition day for 1 half chicken, 7 individual pork spareribs (back ribs are not allowed) and 7 slices of brisket. In parallel and offsite, there are high school barbecue teams also competing, so the youth really have a chance to work as a team and show their stuff!
Sunday is the sad day of move-out
Turn-Ins for Judges is the BBQ lingo for submitting your entries to a centralized area with a double blind to ensure that the contest is not actually a popularity contest. Most contests have a 10×10 pop up tent that is identified to team’s advance for the area to submit your entries within a 10 minute window at the turn-in time. The day before turn-ins, a cook’s meeting will be held to clarify rules and to collect unmarked Styrofoam boxes that will tagged with a QR code or ticket number to anonymously identify winning boxes. With 299 teams, this is an orchestrated effort!
Judges at the 2022 San Antonio Rodeo cookoff are the “average Joe.” Anyone off the street can be asked to judge any of the categories. The judges are provided the criteria and respective weightings for the category being judged. High scoring entries are collected, then submitted for an additional round of judging. Depending on the number of entries, especially possible ties, turn-in boxes that score well will continue to three or or even four rounds of judging. Once the scores are tabulated, winners continue to anonymous until the ticket numbers are identified at the awards ceremony.
Cookoff Entries
6AM on Friday, I baked a Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake in a Dutch Oven on the smoker for the Dessert entry. I will admit, its no small feat to attempt to bake a boutique quality dessert onsite at freezing temperatures. Without an oven, a fridge or walls to insulate against weather is what makes a cookoff exciting. No matter how many practice desserts I’ve made at home, the thrill of cooking onsite is always eye opening and hugely rewarding. Since this cookoff did not track results past 20th place, I’ll hold onto the earnest hope that it was 21st place. Ha!
My cook partner for the weekend, the awesome Rob Reinhardt, grilled a mouthwatering rib-eye Steak entry <I know, because my mouth is watering just thinking about it>. He grilled the steaks over charcoal, finishing the steaks with uber delicious roasted garlic crab cream sauce and seasoned with his rub, Steak Shake. Come awards that same night, the judges agreed, when we heard a 16th place steak call.
Half Chicken is one of the entries that makes cooking in Texas unique (as compared to barbecue contests in Canada). The real challenge of cooking a chicken over live fire is to ensure the white meat is properly cooked whilst moist and tender. The dark meat of the half chicken also cannot be under or over cooked. Dark meat tends to be more forgiving, but the balance of cooking both white meat and dark meat together and ensuring both are well cooked is an achievement. And deliciously wonderful when I heard that SmellaQue’s half chicken came 18th place out of 299 teams!
Seven St Louis cut pork ribs are to be placed in the turn-in box parallel to box seam. Garnishing in the box is not allowed <phewph! No green putting greens need to be prepared for judging at this contest.> Flavorful meat on a bone. The flavor becomes that much sweeter when SmellaQue finished 17th place in ribs.
When I think of barbecue in Texas, I think brisket. There is not other state that is as famous for smoked bovine and its my personal favorite cut to enjoy at a BBQ joint. Oh boy, my mouth is watering just thinking about brisket with a darkened caramelized crust and tender inside. Bold and beefy is what I strived for, so 87th place brisket is a decent placing as a Texas import.
Such an opportunity to cook in Texans is a big honor. Barbecue and football are pretty much religion, so to finish at an overall 14th place amongst 299 cooks is a top finish I am proud of. Even better is the ambiance of BBQ and friends. Where the cook tents and trailers run on for great lengths, that just means that means the comradery can be felt for acres on acres.
Support for International Teams Cooking in a different country brings its own set of challenges. The San Antonio Rodeo Cook-off Committee is the largest and most prominent supporter of providing such an opportunity, for which, I am incredibly grateful. The Committee ensured international teams had a space to work in, tents to mitigate weather, utilities and even a place to enable dishwashing. From an individual team perspective, it is necessary to have cooking equipment, a smoker or a pit. Fortunately, BBQers tend to have extra cookers and I’m fortunate to have a good friend that enabled me to borrow a few smokers. Thank you Joey! Next, sourcing meat in the USA is not as much of a hurdle as one may think. Texas loves barbecue and so competition grade cuts can be found at the beloved local grocery store, H-E-B. Even better, H-E-B was a sponsor of the whole event! Lastly, sponsors play an incredible large role in the support for International Teams at the Rodeo Cook-off. Additional thanks to La Costena, Kosmos Q, Bolner’s Fiesta Spices for their assistance to make such cooking opportunities possible.