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Brad Malm from Jay Willie's Whiskey Pit B-B-Q had a problem on Friday, the day before the Dodge City Days barbecue contest.
The air conditioning for the Lindsborg man's brightly painted yellow trailer went out.
If you've ever been in a kitchen, you know it gets hot. At Malm's trailer, his barbecue cooker was right out in front of his trailer door, and the sweet-smelling from it drifted inside.
The interior of Malm's trailer was a makeshift kitchen where he was seen slicing brisket on Saturday, nine minutes before he had to send his barbecue to the judges.
By that time, his air conditioning was working again. But in the heat of the contest, no air conditioning could have been a big problem.
Malm said Rod Allen Heating & Air Conditioning fixed his cooling system for free, giving him a spot to beat the heat inside his trailer while he worked.
As Malm was busily slicing brisket and packing up his barbecue for the judges, he said Dodge City hosts a fine contest.
"It's a great contest, one of the better ones," he said.
Malm has attended the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event 11 out of the last 20 years.
"We've placed 10 out of 11 times," he said. It's always close. We've been close to a couple seconds, and our best is third."
The cook-off requires contestants to barbecue pork, brisket, ribs and chicken.
Paula Thomas from Smoking Bones Barbecue said she was having a great time. Smoking Bones was on deadline too, but Thomas she spoke to a reporter as she helped pack brisket for the judges.
Smoking Bones uses wood for its barbecue, she said.
"That's the way we're taught, and that's what we do," she said.
Smoking Bones placed second in 2005 for its skills with the barbecue and has place three times overall, she said.
"We're at the mercy of the judges," she said.
She added: "The officials are taking really good care of us."
It seemed at every tent, people were working on their brisket.
Kelly Wertz from 4-Legs Up BBQ said this was the seventh or eighth year his team has been involved in the contest.
"We won it two years, we'll find out if it's going to be three years," he said without looking up as he sliced brisket in his trailer.
As for how he thought his team would do this year, he said: "It's all up to the 24 people in the judging room."
Brad Malm from Jay Willie's Whiskey Pit B-B-Q had a problem on Friday, the day before the Dodge City Days barbecue contest.
The air conditioning for the Lindsborg man's brightly painted yellow trailer went out.
If you've ever been in a kitchen, you know it gets hot. At Malm's trailer, his barbecue cooker was right out in front of his trailer door, and the sweet-smelling from it drifted inside.
The interior of Malm's trailer was a makeshift kitchen where he was seen slicing brisket on Saturday, nine minutes before he had to send his barbecue to the judges.
By that time, his air conditioning was working again. But in the heat of the contest, no air conditioning could have been a big problem.
Malm said Rod Allen Heating & Air Conditioning fixed his cooling system for free, giving him a spot to beat the heat inside his trailer while he worked.
As Malm was busily slicing brisket and packing up his barbecue for the judges, he said Dodge City hosts a fine contest.
"It's a great contest, one of the better ones," he said.
Malm has attended the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event 11 out of the last 20 years.
"We've placed 10 out of 11 times," he said. It's always close. We've been close to a couple seconds, and our best is third."
The cook-off requires contestants to barbecue pork, brisket, ribs and chicken.
Paula Thomas from Smoking Bones Barbecue said she was having a great time. Smoking Bones was on deadline too, but Thomas she spoke to a reporter as she helped pack brisket for the judges.
Smoking Bones uses wood for its barbecue, she said.
"That's the way we're taught, and that's what we do," she said.
Smoking Bones placed second in 2005 for its skills with the barbecue and has place three times overall, she said.
"We're at the mercy of the judges," she said.
She added: "The officials are taking really good care of us."
It seemed at every tent, people were working on their brisket.
Kelly Wertz from 4-Legs Up BBQ said this was the seventh or eighth year his team has been involved in the contest.
"We won it two years, we'll find out if it's going to be three years," he said without looking up as he sliced brisket in his trailer.
As for how he thought his team would do this year, he said: "It's all up to the 24 people in the judging room."
Dining out
While the cooks were busy preparing their tasty wares, a huge crowd of people lined up inside the National Beef and Cargill tents for free ribs, hot dogs, sausage, brisket and all the makings of a classic barbecue.
There was no shortage of fun and entertainment. There were giant blow-up slides for kids, and beer for adults. And everybody enjoyed live music.
However, there was a shortage of shade. There were so many people in Wright Park on Saturday that every square inch of shade in the park was occupied.
It didn't matter though, because nearly every square inch of non-shade was taken too. And no matter where someone was, the sounds of laughing, talking, music and fun could be heard.
Look for the contest results in Tuesday's Daily Globe.
Reach Mark Reagan at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail him at mark.reagan@dodgeglobe.com.
