Maybe you think you know what makes the best barbecue. Heck, maybe you think you cook the best barbecue. But what if you actually submitted your legendary ribs, chicken, pork, or brisket to a panel of discerning judges? Well, I followed a guy who does just that.

Click through for a behind-­the-­scenes look at what it takes to compete for $10,000 worth of prize money. (Plus loads of glorious meat photography!)

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Paul Kita of Men's Health documents the exploits of Tom Feil.
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18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

At sunset the night before the first annual Lehigh Valley Que Fest, Tom Feil, begins preparations for tomorrow’s competition. He’s the head of his team, Christmas City Competition BBQ, which is named after where they take up residency in Bethlehem, Pa. So who makes up this award-nabbing force of slow-smoking savviness? Upgrade your cooking skills, impress your date, and reinvent your diet with 150+ easy, chef-approved recipes and tons of useful kitchen tips in Guy Gourmet cookbook.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

From left to right: Stacie Feil, Tom Feil, and Sara Feil. Rachel, their oldest daughter, (not pictured) also competes. The family entered their first barbecue competition back in 2005. There, they won multiple awards and took fourth place overall. "At that moment, I realized I can't not do this again," says Tom, who by day works as a cardiothoracic physician assistant. Yes, relish the irony. Tame your barbecue's flames and sear these 10 Foods Every Man Must Grill.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

On the eve of competition, Tom helms the smokers solo. By the time I arrive around 10 p.m., he’s already slid the beef briskets into his Abe's cabinet smoker and the pork butts into his Cookshack FEC100 pellet smoker. I missed him injecting the butts with fruit juice, but caught him just in time for the rubbing of ribs. First, he lights the coals in a separate smoker that will cook ribs and chicken. Between bites of grilled pork chops, smoked ribs and fire-roasted s'mores, Try Best Beer for Grilled Food.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom uses only spare ribs for competitions. That’s because most judges in this part of Pennsylvania expect that cut -- and the judges aren’t looking for curveballs, he says. When selecting rib racks, Tom looks for thick, meaty slabs of pork with fat marbling the meat throughout. Do you have a friend who is vegetarian? Try thisVegetarian Meal Meat Eaters Love

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Before applying the rub, he shakes on a bit of cayenne. "You want a balanced flavor. The sweet, the meat, and the heat should all work together," he says. "You don't want one to overpower the other." For the rub, Tom uses Head Country's Championship Seasoning, which he buys in 50-pound boxes. Brines, marinades, and rubs are three fabulous ways to flavor your food. Learn what to use, when, and how to make the ultimate starter recipes for each.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom reviews the plan for tomorrow morning. "You gotta be detailed and have a routine," he says. "I’ve been competing for a while now, so most of my plan is in my head. But you have to have a plan." I head home to sleep. Tom will rest among the meat.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

It’s a little before 6:00 a.m. the morning of the event. Wood smoke billows above the makeshift campgrounds of the competitors. The air is awash in oak, hickory, and cherry. Even at this early hour, you can smell the competition.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

All considering, Tom's had a restful night. He had to check the brisket at midnight, and then again before waking up at 5:00 a.m. to start preparations for the day. He sleeps with the radio on to make sure his electricity doesn’t go out. "If everything goes according to plan, I might even be able to take a shower later," he says.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

As the sun breaks over the campground, Tom assesses the temperatures on each of his smokers (the ribs are running a little too hot). With the planning going relatively well thus far, I walk the premise to scope out the competition.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Unlike big-league BBQ competitions such as Memphis in May or "The Jack," smaller competitions often include a range of cooking hardware. Some teams cook on oil-drum style smokers, while others turn to trusty backyard Weber bullet smokers.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

This team opted for nothing but The Big Green Egg, a ceramic grill and smoker. Estimated cost: Upwards of $5,000.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

But despite the term "competition," the interactions between teams are frequently friendly. They share tips and war stories. They BS over beers. They loan each other supplies. At one point, a guy, seeing my camera, yells me over: "Hey! You want a meat shot?" Chris, a former radio personality from Connecticut, pulls his pork butts from the smoker.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

A little before 9:00 a.m., Stacie and Sara arrive. Stacie begins "building boxes," which requires twisting together small bouquets of curly-leaf parsley. Set atop a chiffonade of lettuce, these bundles form an Astroturf-like mat for the meat. Sara opts for a smartphone check.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

One box can take as long as 30 to 40 minutes to produce. Today’s competition requires four boxes.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

As Stacie meticulously crafts the boxes, Tom adds the chicken to the smoker. Each piece of chicken, after bathing in a commercial bottled marinade overnight, receives a shake of spice rub, and a thick butter pat. "If you like the taste of something, take it a little further," he says.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Address Tom at any point throughout the day and he’ll likely look up from a timer to reply. He'll mutter phrases to himself, such as "Okay, so the chicken just went in, which means we'll check the pork in 20 and then the brisket in another 45." I counted nearly 20 timers, probes, and clocks scattered throughout the Christmas City BBQ camp.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

At 9:15 a.m., Tom removes the pork butt from the smoker. As he peels back the foil, the muscle of meat sends forth a plume of steam. Though the protein is smoked perfectly, Tom will only send a portion of this cut to the judges: a tender, succulent piece the competitors refer to as "the money muscle."

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

The money muscle is actually where the loin of the pig begins. This muscle doesn’t do much during a hog’s life, which is why the coveted meat is so tender. Tom detaches the muscle from the rest of the pork butt in order to begin preparations for the judges.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

As judging approaches, Tom checks the status of the brisket and remaining pork butts. His pellet smoker is festooned with probes, each designed to keep a precise gauge on the temperature of each protein. A few degrees of doneness can make the difference between overcooked meat and a giant trophy.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

"There are two things you'll find in every camp: a bottle of Jack Daniel's and Parkay," Tom says. I'll address the Jack Daniel’s later. But the Parkay? It’s the secret to great ribs. No, really ...

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom removes the ribs from the smoker around 11:05 a.m. Immediately afterwards, Stacie rolls out a sheet of aluminum foil, and goes Jackson Pollock with honey, brown sugar, and Parkay. Tom places the ribs atop this bed and Stacie adds more brown sugar and another squirt of the butter product. "Parkay adds saltiness, butteriness, and moisture," Tom says. He wraps the ribs and shoves them back into the smoker.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Some meats reach doneness before the judging begins. When that happens, Stacie tucks the proteins into a sleeping bag. The bag keeps the meat juicy by avoiding any sudden drops in temperature, Tom says. I resist an urge to crawl inside.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

There's an ebb and flow of competitive barbecuing. Moments of furious activity are interspersed among stretches of waiting, waiting, and some additional waiting

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

After hours in the smoker, the chicken is ready to be glazed. So far, everything is running according to Tom's schedule. From here, the chicken gains a helping hand from Sara, who has won numerous trophies in this category in competitions past.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Inside the trailer, Sara applies a liberal coating of barbecue sauce to each piece of cooked chicken. After experimenting with an additional application of honey, the team abandons the idea. "We're sweet enough," Tom says.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

After glazing, Christmas City BBQ puts the cuts back into the smoker for a final blast of smoke flavor. The heat helps caramelize the sugars in the sauce and renders the skin tender. "You don't want a crunch," Tom says. "The idea is that the judge should be able to bite through the skin easily."

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

At 11:45 a.m., 15 minutes before judging, Tom pulls the chicken from the smoker. I swear I hear angels sing.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Sara nominates which pieces of chicken they’ll send to the judges' table. "We're looking for pieces with uniform shape, plumpness, and size," Tom says. They'll select just six from the batch.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

With seven minutes until judging for the chicken begins, Stacie offers her consultation. The temperature in the trailer has increased significantly.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom and Sara apply a shake of cayenne to the undersides of each selected chicken piece. "The judge's tongue will hit the bottom of the chicken first," says Tom. I take a bite of chicken piece not chosen. The skin yields to my teeth, a rush of juicy meat follows, and I taste the faint fire of the seasoning. It’s some damn good chicken.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

A few minutes before noon, the team has picked and prepared their six chicken pieces. Using forceps, Tom carefully transfers each piece to the box, the parsley cradling each cut.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

As goes the Christmas City BBQ pre-judging ritual, Stacie kisses the closed boxed of BBQ and then presents it to Tom.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Then Tom lays a wet one on the box.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

And, finally, Stacie and Tom kiss. Then, dashing out the screen door of the trailer, Stacie is off to deliver the box to the judges.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Stacie returns, the chicken entry delivered successfully, just in time to consult with Tom about the ribs. They have 30 minutes to prep the cut for judging. Upon opening the first package, Tom worries that they might be slightly overdone. "See the ribs popping right there?" he says, pointing to the bones breaking through the meat. A brief moment of concern settles among the team.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

The tension passes, however, after Tom opens the remaining parcels of pork. Several racks offer the thick, substantive sections he’s looking for. Tom glazes these racks in barbecue sauce and slides them into the smoker for a final blast. It’s 12:14 p.m.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

The ribs emerge a rich mahogany, with a slight crunch adorning the exterior. Tom selects a total of eight ribs for the box from the original total of four racks.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom transfers the ribs to a box and plucks any imperfections from the ribs using his trusty forceps. Stacie leaves the trailer with the box at 12:27 p.m. Just two more categories await. Tom looks like he’s just run a few wind sprints.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

While Stacie hoofs it to the judges' table, Tom puts the finishing touches on the brisket. He adds a can of condensed beef broth to the meat, to intensify the beef flavor, and prepares a "hot tub," a mixture of brisket juices and secret ingredients.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Christmas City BBQ removes the money muscle from their sleeping bag and transfers it to the hot tub. (Yes, that's a real sentence.) After slicing the tender meat with an electric knife, they arrange the pork in a box and ship it off for judging.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

And now, as promised, for the Jack. As is tradition, Tom and Stacie each take a shot before starting work on the final category, brisket.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Just after 1:00 p.m. Tom tastes the brisket and is especially pleased with the burnt ends of the beef. "When they turn out well, they taste like meat marshmallows," he says. "If the rest of the brisket tastes as good as this, it’s going to be hard to beat." Though it's not mandatory to include burnt ends in the brisket box, adding the meat marshmallows can score extra points with the judges.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom trims and slices the brisket with an electric knife. The slices should be about the thickness of a No. 2 pencil. "The test," he says, "is to drape a slice over your finger. If it bends without breaking apart, you’re good."

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

Tom decides to include the burnt ends into the brisket box. "You just want more of them," Stacie says. "They're like a little baby's cheeks.” And, with that, they send the box away. As the brisket leaves the trailer, so does the tension. The hard work is over. After Stacie returns, the family goes to find a fellow competitor to relax with until the prizes are awarded.

 

18 Hours In The Life Of A BBQ Champion

The verdict: Christmas City BBQ scored third place in the brisket division, second in pork, and first place in deviled eggs, a subcategory. They’re pleased, Tom says, and will go on to barbecue another day. “It’s family, it’s competition, and it’s getting to travel,” says Stacie. But for me? I’m with Santa on this one. It’s all about the meat. 10 Foods Every Man Must Grill.

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