Today at 6:18pm we received word from the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest that we are officially in the contest.

If you are interested in joining us for the contest we still have spots left on the team, click “Join Us” in the menu to the right to get more info…

A few of us from Too Sauced To Pork are teaming up with other Barbecue Teams to cook for our troops.

Take a soldier fishing day will be held on April 26, 2014 and is an event for the soldiers of Fort Drum and is held on Oneida Lake in NY.  Members of the NY BASS Federation take soldiers fishing for the day.  Afterward, the soldiers are prepared meals by professional competition barbecue teams.  Teams from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Canada will be participating.  The teams are donating their time and equipment to make the dinner a success, but we are raising funds to purchase the food necessary to feed our men and women in uniform as well as other expenses associated with this event.

Check out the website, and help if you can.

Take a Soldier Fishing website

We have received many inquiries over the last couple years on the subject of past Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest winners.  No one could find a full complete list anywhere on the Internet.  Fear not friends, we researched and now we bring you the list of Grand Champions; broken down by year, name, and category cooked…Enjoy!

1978    Bessie Lou Cathey                                  Ribs

1979    Don Burdison                                           Ribs

1980    John Wills                                                 Ribs

1981     John Wills                                                 Ribs

1982    Martec Coaters                                        Ribs

1983    Willingham’s River City Rooters        Ribs

1984    Willingham’s River City Rooters        Ribs

1985    Holy Smokers Too                                 Whole Hog

1986    Pig Iron Porkers                                      Whole Hog

1987    Cajun Country Cookers                        Whole Hog

1988    Holy Smokers Too                                 Whole Hog

1989    Super Swine Sizzlers                              Whole Hog

1990    Apple City Barbecue                             Ribs

1991    David Cox Barbecue Team                 Ribs

1992    Apple City Barbecue                              Ribs

1993    The Other Side                                         Shoulder

1994    Apple City Barbecue                             Ribs

1995    Rebel Roaster Revue                            Shoulder

1996    PyroPigmaniacs                                       Ribs

1997    Wildfire Gourmet Cooking Team     Ribs

1998    The Other Team                                       Ribs

1999    Custom Cookers                                       Whole Hog

2000   Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q                       Shoulder

2001   Jack’s Old South                                       Whole Hog

2002   PyroPigmaniacs                                        Ribs

2003   Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q                        Shoulder

2004   Jack’s Old South                                       Whole Hog

2005   Gwatney Championship BBQ              Whole Hog

2006   Red Hot Smokers                                     Shoulder

2007   Jack’s Old South                                       Whole Hog

2008   Natural Born Grillers                             Whole Hog

2009   Sweet Swine O’Mine                                Shoulder

2010   Yazoo’s Delta Q                                         Whole Hog

2011   Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q                        Shoulder

2012   Yazoo’s Delta Q                                          Whole Hog

2013   Sweet Swine O’Mine                                Shoulder

2014 Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q                           Shoulder

We had a few First Time teams email us and ask for some tips about competing at Memphis in May…

Here’s the “Crap they don’t tell you about Competing in Memphis in May” list…

Let’s start with the planning, since they are still accepting applications til March 3rd

Application here

1. At this time you need only sign up for the entry fee and cleaning deposit, this includes

• a. What category you are entered in
• b. What size space you want
• c. Do you want Riverside(more expensive) or a regular spot.

We choose riverside for the view…but MOSTLY for the Breeze.
2. The $350 clean up deposit. Of which $150 is returned to you upon site clean up
3. On the application it asks about wristbands, ancillaries, Big Hog, and Wednesday night tickets.

• a. Wristbands can be purchased at the Cooks Meeting in April (see below)
• b. Wednesday night tickets can be purchased at the Cooks Meeting in April (see below)
• c. Big Hog can be purchased at the Cooks Meeting in April (see below)
• d. Ancillaries can also be entered at the cooks meeting in April…but we pay them on the front end to show MIM we enter everything.
• e. Cooker Caravan – Your team gives 1 tour a day of your booth to the public. You have a question and answer session, and send them off with a smile. It is totally free for the public and you meet some very interesting and cool people. It is a great program, please think about doing it
• f. Kingsford Tour of Champions. You can only enter this if your team has placed top 20 at MIM before

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1. Cooks meeting – first timers – go if you can…great way to network
You can add ancillaries, wed. night tickets, and 3 day wristbands up until cooks meeting in April
2. Patio Porkers get 5 – 24 hour bands
3. Regular Teams get 15-24 Hour bands
4. 3 day wristbands are only for gate hours 11AM-12AM Thurs and Fri – 11am-10pm Sat
5. Big hog package can be a waste of money for a small team…check if you really need it
6. Cattleman’s offers free sauce to teams…sign up for it, get the maximum amount…free stuff is good stuff, and if you sign up for the max, that’s like 200 dollars worth of free bbq supplies. It includes French’s Mustard, Katsup, Worstershire, 5 kinds of Franks, and 6 kinds of Cattleman’s.

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Electric – NONE is provided

You will need to buy Electric hookups PRIOR to the Contest. If done before April, there is usually a good discount.

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TENTS

Classic Party Rentals rents tents and floor…and they have a contract with Memphis in May. No other tent rental companies are allowed in the park.

Rent tents and floor BEFORE April and there is a discount

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The Contest

1. If you have a large trailer you want in your team booth get there the Saturday before the contest starts because once the fences go up it is dang near impossible to get that hoss into a muddy rutted out spot.

2. Put up your fence as soon as you get there – If you do not, then your empty spot will be used as a parking lot, a turn around, and a way to put a trailer into the spot behind yours. THIS SUCKS. The booth gets all rutted out and very nasty with mud. So prevention is the best policy

3. BRING some kind of floor. You will thank me for this. They don’t call it Memphis in Mud for nothing. It has to sit above the ground. No wood chips, plywood directly on the ground, etc. We use pallets then hammer plywood over em…cheap and easy. I say bring b/c the rental company charges 48 bucks per 4ftx4ft square of flooring.

4. Get the Fire Marshall permit tag as soon as you can on Monday or Tues…DO NOT FORGET…it will be absolute HELL trying to track these guys down come Wednesday

5. Bring your own grounding wire kit for your tent, if you don’t the electricians will charge you for a kit..AND INSTALLATION…if you bring your own they will hook you in no charge

6. WATCH your team boundaries…there are some teams that will move paint and stakes to get a bigger area. I won’t name names, but it is rude and sh**ty to do. Measure your spot, then drive BIG stakes into the ground at the corners…

7. Count on electric to not be hooked up until Tuesday…it usually gets hooked up before, but there have been snafu’s in the past. Make sure you have an
alternative plan for meat, tools, light, etc

8. RENT A PORT-O-JOHN, and put it in the BACK of your booth. You can thank me later for this. If your crapper is in the front people will just walk into your booth and use it without permission…not cool. If you don’t have one you will regret it when you go to relive yourself only to find overflowing crappers from the 100,000 people that used them before you. Plus all the drunks= PUKE in the public ones…NASTY

9. Team Beer sales end early by 9pm everyday…PLAN FOR THIS. Wed is like 6pm and Sat is 7 pm…Remember to stock up or you will be SOL…

10. Wednesday is the last day to load in…7am – NOON Vehicles must leave by 3pm…those of you driving in from points unknown This is the ABSOLUTE LAST time to load big stuff in…otherwise you will be hoofing it in from ½ a mile away…that is no exaggeration…½ a mile at least carrying stuff.

11. GET A WAGON – this will save you LOTS of heartache. From kegs to meat, to the 2 kids you can haul everything you need in them. A must for MIM.

12. You will need to have Blockers and runners for your entries. The crowds are thick and you will need 2 or 3 person teams to get your stuff to the judging quickly and safely.

13. You need to bring a fire extinguisher with a CURRENT INSPECTION TAG ATTACHED. They will not give you a fire permit without one.

14. All propane tanks must have a holder…a milk crate is perfect for this, without a holder…no permit

15. Bring PLENTY of bottled water. The Sams Club on site runs out…

AND THE BIGGEST RULE
If things go wrong with your pork entry put the beautiful portions in the blind box. (remember pork entries can have NO garnish) You have to learn to B.S. and sell your onsite judge on your product. You can talk your way out of a burnt looking rib or shoulder to an onsite judge, you can’t explain anything to the blind judges….

If any visitors or first timers need tips, don’t be afraid to ask.

Hello All,

It is less than 90 days to the load in for the Memphis in May BBQ Festival,

We still have 12 membership spots available for new members. As we have posted before, we at Too Sauced To Pork believe in inclusion vs exclusion. Every year we open up 20 Team Memberships to BBQ Lovers both near and far. We give tours of our booth to passers by because we beleive in being hospitable and love to educate visitors about our team, the contest and Barbecue in general.

Need a good guide for the Festival

If you are interested in joining our BBQ Family, please look to the main menu on the right of this page and click “Join Us”

In other News:

Memphis in May has released the link to sign up as a judge for the contest…
Here it is:

Judging Signup

Christmas is fast approaching. Have you or someone you know ever wanted to be on a BBQ Team for the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest? Here is your chance. We here at Too Sauced To Pork open up 20 membership spots every year for people from all over the World to join the team for MIM. Last year we had members from 8 foreign countries and 21 US States. This years contest honors the country of Panama and is held Wednesday May 14th to Saturday May 17th on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. (follow the link in the Main Menu to the right for our guide to the contest)

No cooking experience needed, we have members that cook all meals and contest entries…and if you feel comfortable, you are welcome to pitch in if you like. We are a team with no secrets, if you want to learn from us we will be elbow to elbow with you in the kitchen…We try to be good ambassadors of Barbecue.

We have a full bar, Kegs and Liquor, with bartenders and a double frozen beverage machine stocked with Bourbon Slush and Margaritas. We also have our own label of Wine (Too Sauced To Shiraz) made by the talented and award winning winemaker, Ms. Sara, as well as gallons of our own homemade Apple Pie Moonshine made by our resident good ole boy Johnny.

We have a BBQ buffet everyday for lunch and dinner that includes at least 3 meats and 3 sides…usually much more.

This all comes with a membership. If you or someone you know is interested please look to the main menu on the right of this page and hit “Join Us”…these memberships don’t last long.

Too Sauced To Pork took 1st Place Cabrito, 1st Place Ice Cream, 2nd Place Pulled Pork, 3rd Place Ribs, and 4th Place Bloody Mary at Goat Days this weekend….WOOT!!!!

We are in Millington, Tennessee at International Goat Days this weekend. This is a KCBS cook, with a great track record for us. We pulled 4 trophies last year, including the first place chicken that landed Too Sauced To Pork on Diva Q’s show BBQ Crawl.

Come down and say hi.

Video from this past Memphis in May (2013)

Party Like a Pork Star: Memphis in May BBQ Competition from Big Teeth Productions on Vimeo.