We always get a little uncomfortable whenever we take time off of the competition BBQ trail. Sure, the extra time is nice, but we start to get antsy and ask ourselves, “just what have we done lately?” Well that moment started to present itself as I sat down to write this blog post. Turns out, we did quite a lot.
Oh yeah?
First we watched two of our friends get drawn for The Jack! The Jack Daniel’s World Championship BBQ Invitational contest is the Superbowl of BBQ and at the very top of every pro team’s list of dreams.
Teams make The Jack either with an automatic entry (such as by winning 7 Grand Championships at qualifying events) or by being lucky enough to have their “bung” (barrel stopper) drawn.
Last Friday was “Draw Day” and Smoke Freaks was stoked to see that two of our friends got in! We’re so proud of our friends Bill (Thunder Hog BBQ) and Mark (Smokin Aces at thebbqsuperstore.com) who are headed to Lynchburg in October. Wishing you all the best!
We think our friend Mark from Smokin Aces at thebbqsuperstore.com said it best:
"A journey that began in 2009 with my good friend Scott.... Since that journey began I had 1 goal, to make The Jack. Well after almost 175 contests, 15 Reserve Grand Champions and 8 Grand Champions, tens of thousands of miles and dollars spent chasing a dream, that dream finally came true!"
(The Jack. One of our goals for Smoke Freaks in 2017.)
Next, I did a test cook to keep my chicken skills sharp for our final competition in October. I think it’s impossible to practice too much and took away some new knowledge about trimming, placement in the smoker and ideal pit temps.
The bite-through skin was nice, but that's about it. Definitely not my best work.
Then off to our neighbor’s annual BBQ party, where I thoroughly enjoyed being a guest, not a cook! Steve’s ribs and brisket were smokin’ and it was nice to taste some backyard-style BBQ after all those competition flavor profiles.
We consider ourselves very lucky to have nextdoor neighbors who are fellow freaks of the smoke!
And then we started a business. Smoke Freaks, LLC. It's real. We're going to make something of Smoke Freaks. We're on our way with several business paths that we're working on.
Coincidentally, our business became official on the 39th anniversary of Elvis’ passing. And so, I leave you with an Elvis quote that sums up our drive to build Smoke Freaks into something that matters.
"You only pass through this life once, you don't come back for an encore."
Stay tuned for our next freaky chapter of Smoke Freaks...
Hi! This post was initially published on 8/17/16 on our original blog platform and has since been moved here. Thanks for reading and Freak ON!