Hello, you may not know me, but I have been a member of the BBQ Club for almost my entire time at Jesuit, a part of the club right when it started. A lot of people that I talk to do not realize the true holy beauty of the BBQ Club, fervently cooking BBQ and cheeseburgers, BBQ trips, and BBQ competitions. So, I have decided to break it down for non-BBQers how the BBQ Smokies get it done.
1. Jesuit Events
Probably before even entering high school, you have attended one Jesuit football game. At every home Jesuit football game since Fall 2022, the BBQ Smokies attended and served delicious double cheeseburgers, mouth-watering hot dogs, and more. You can learn as a BBQ smokie at a Jesuit Football game how to improve your casual grilling skills, flipping burgers and serving food at a mass scale. If you are good enough, you help others grilling and create customized burgers. Other Jesuit events done by the BBQ smokies allow us to mainly focus on pork shoulders and other forms of BBQ. My favorite event, though, is Open House, since we get to smoke Jalapeño poppers, one of my favorite forms of BBQ.Â
2. BBQ Road tripsÂ
In the spring semester, if you have attended at least 3 Jesuit BBQ Smokies events, you will be eligible to attend BBQ Road Trips on Wednesdays. BBQ trips allow you to see different kinds of BBQ, different techniques, and different types of sides. The BBQ Road trip also allows one to sample more BBQ so they can cultivate their taste buds, hopefully allowing one to improve their own BBQ. I remember my first BBQ Road Trip was to Hurtado’s, a rising BBQ restaurant that attracted large crowds despite opening up during COVID. When I got there, me and my friends ordered a big platter so we could sample every type of BBQ they have, a must for BBQ-pros. This made me expand my taste pallet, while also garnering me and my friends inspiration for our next practice cook and what to focus on.Â
3. Practice Cooks
There are multiple occasions during fall semester and spring semester where the BBQ Smokies all do a practice cook. A practice cook allows for BBQ Smokies to experiment new types of BBQ, improving your own favorite BBQ cuisine, and team cooperation. Experimenting with new types of BBQ allows for people to dip their toes in culinary innovation. The BBQ Smokies recently have been experimenting with new types of desserts, such as Chocolate Pecan Pie. In BBQ Competitions, there are many different types of desserts, such as Banana Pudding and Upside Down Pineapple Cake.
Next, practice cooks allow for BBQ Smokies to improve their own takes on their favorite BBQ food. For the “Big 5”, ribs, brisket, chicken, dessert, and beans, you can learn from the coaches and experienced students how to cook them on the varsity and junior varsity smokers. Another meaning behind BBQing one of the “Big 5”, is that coaches can see your abilities and determine if you can compete in BBQ Regional Competitions. The usual route to BBQ Regional Competitions is by joining the BBQ Junior Varsity Team.
But the most important part of BBQ Practice cooks, is the feeling of community and how to work with others on the smokers. This is extremely important later on, since as the metaphor goes, “teamwork makes the dream work”.Â
4. BBQ Regional CompetitionsÂ
The Day Before the Competition
Arrival
BBQ Regional Competitions range from all across Texas, as shown on the High School BBQ Competition website, so the travel time widely varies depending on what regional competitions we want to do that year. From our first BBQ Regional Competition, there are usually 20 teams, all with their distinct smokers that show off their school’s BBQ spirit. When you first arrive, you first set up the smoker in the team’s desired space in the parking lot for the competition, making sure the smoker can last through the night.Â
After the smoker is set up, your team, if they have the time, attends a BBQ presentation, where they can learn how to BBQ the “Big 5” and how to keep it up to BBQ Competition regulations. For example, as the Beans Guy on the BBQ team, anything added to the beans have to be cut up to be smaller than a dime. After attending the presentation and learning a few tips on how to improve your BBQ Competition, on your way out you will get to see the BBQ Awards that will be awarded the next day.
Next, all the team captains pick out a number from a hat. These numbers are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, since the numbers indicate when the team gets to choose their meats from the meat selection the next day. A lower number is always the best, since that means the team will have a better quality meat.Â
Final Touches
Finally, the teams finally head out from the designated BBQ Competition location. If the team haven’t already picked up their extra ingredients, the team usually goes to Walmart to pick up everything else they need, and maybe some extra stuff for breakfast the next day.
The team tucks in the night, grabbing dinner on the way to the hotel, soaking the beans in water or chicken broth to prepare them for the BBQ competition.
Competition Day
The team wakes up extremely early, usually 3:30 am, and head over the competition site. The teams then prepare their work stations and get them as clean as possible, since a team can get disqualified if their work station is dirty. At 6 am, the Competition finally begins, and the teams light the smokers. Most teams, not the BBQ Smokies unfortunately, use makeshift flamethrowers to start their fires. Then the team gets to work preparing everything, dessert given priority since it is the first to be turned in. As a rule of thumb, it is generally better to turn in your BBQ later than earlier, as it will take some time for the judges to eat all of the BBQ. After the dessert is beans, then spatchcock chicken, then ribs, and finally brisket.
At 5-6 pm, the judges make a decision, and rank the teams. People that place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their respective category get an award. If your team places in the top 10 in any category, your team gets a point. If your team gets enough points, they can compete in the BBQ State Competition. Teams with the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd amount of points get a even bigger prize. Another important note is that if other teams already qualify for state, they cannot accept more points. So, the teams that were ranked above 10th place, starting from 11th to last place, will get the points. Even if your team doesn’t get in the top 10, you can still go to state.
5. BBQ State Championship
If your team makes it to the big leagues, the BBQ State Competition, a competition with over 90 teams competing, ranging from all over Texas. There is practically no difference between the BBQ State Competition and BBQ Regionals Competition. The competition only has bigger awards, and if you break into the top 30 for your category, your team gets formally recognized. The Jesuit BBQ Smokies Junior Varsity team had two people get into the top 30 for their respective categories. I got 15th in Beans at State, and Liam Rainey got 21st in Chicken at State.
Conclusion
The Jesuit BBQ Smokies, in my time at Jesuit, is the best club to join at Jesuit because of its community. The Jesuit BBQ community is so strong that BBQ club alumni occasionally stop by during practice cooks, helping newcomers and telling stories around the camp fire. If any this information fires you up about BBQing, stop by A120 during Community Time on Monday.Â
