B Street Rib Off is Full of “A Street” Competitors

I love the smell of barbecue in the morning. Especially at a weekend competition that brings together great cooks, some live music, and plenty of cold beer. ‘Merica. Arkansas is full of such good times, and one of my favorites is the B Street Rib Off held in the Argenta district, in North Little Rock.

It’s definitely about the smoking.

But there’s a lot of fun, too.

It’s a family event….

That brings in a lot of big winners.

Here’s what you win this weekend.

You can compete with chicken…

… or ribs.

But since I was judging ribs, I tried hard to avoid seeing them up close beforehand. So here’s more chicken pics!

Here’s a close up of that pretty chicken:

Here’s some great glazing action:

The choice is hard sometimes.

Under the “smoke ’em if you got ’em” theory, these guys were also smoking a hog and sausage for a wedding they had later that afternoon.

So when it’s time to turn in, you fill the box full. At least 6 servings.

That’s because you’ll have six judges. Make it pretty!

The scoring criteria is simple: Appearance. Taste. Tenderness. And a few comments, to help the team out next time.

This was the first year that I judged this competition, and I had a total ball. I really hope great teams keep coming out to compete, and I certainly hope that the organizers ask me to come back to judge. It’s a whole lot of fun for all!