Fredericksburgs, VA
We skipped a year somewhere down the line, but otherwise have been downtown DC ready to compete on a late Friday night in June for 9 of the past 10 years. To say the Safeway DC Barbecue Battle is different from any other contest is an understatement. The schedule, with a midnight setup, then brisket and chicken due on Saturday and ribs and pork on Sunday…well, it is brutal. Dizzy Pig was set up in the middle of the street…right at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street…for nearly 48 hours with our Big Green Eggs smokin!
For the past couple of years we’ve been set up right near our good friends that also happen to be stars. Tuffy and Cool Smoke, Johnny and Smokin’ Triggers, and Heath and Pork Barrel were all lined up in our row…and we were right across from Myron Mixon, Jacks Old South and his large crew…many who we’ve gotten to know over the years. At most contests you don’t get to hang out much with the teams on the other end of the event, but instead spend most of your social time with teams that are close. It was a blast getting to see these old friends all weekend long.
Dizzy Pig had a great cook…in fact so good that Chris felt it was the team’s best turn ins in over a year. With Neil, Susan, and Teresa all there, plus Brian W, Daren, Joel, Nancy, Neil O, and more helping out, we had a crew that really clicked. Our scores showed it as well! With 170 points in brisket (which ended up 9th overall), and 160s on every other category, our 656 points would normally put us in the hunt. But this group of teams came to cook! The top six teams scored over 670 points, which is pretty rare here in the mid-atlantic region! Big congrats to Pork Barrel BBQ on their grand championship! They continue to dominate their “hometown” contest. Congrats as well to Tuffy and Cool Smoke on a very strong Reserve Grand!