GHS BBQ team brings the heat at state competition News Staff Tue, 05/14/2024 - 9:59 am
- (GHS BBQ | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) The Graham High School BBQ teams competed at the state championship Saturday, May 4 in Round Rock. The PitSteers brought home 10th place overall and had three individuals place in the top 30 in one of the five categories.
TC Gordon news@grahamleader.com
The Graham High School barbecue team is on a hot streak and has been for the last several years. The Smokin’ Steers and Graham PitSteers recently competed at the state BBQ championships and had a strong showing.
Out of 98 teams at the final event, the Graham PitSteers brought home 10th overall as a team. At the competition, only the top 30 teams were placed with the rest of the results set to come out within the next few weeks. While the Smokin’ Steers don’t know the details of their performance, they represented their school well.
Both GHS teams qualified for the state championship in their first event of the season back in September 2023. Throughout the season there were 12 regional events for teams to try to qualify for the state championship with the top 10 teams from each regional earning a spot in the finals.
The PitSteers placed in three out of the five categories in the competition. Each team submits three meats for judging: a whole chicken, seven fully cut pork ribs and seven full slices of brisket in the correct size. Teams also turn in an order of pinto beans and a dessert made entirely from scratch.
Dom Glick placed fifth overall with his beans, Bobby Harp earned seventh place overall for his chicken and Jacob Collins came in 28th with his dessert. They were the only three team members to place in the top 30 in one of their categories.
“They were all pretty confident. We had one boy (Harp) that had never cooked a chicken before; he was a fill-in and he’s the one that placed,” parent and volunteer coach Stacy Etling said. “My son (Case Etling) had to cook beans because we had three seniors that chose to go to prom… So several of the boys had to cook two things.”
Although the competition only lasts for one day, there’s plenty of work involved both before and after. On Friday night, the teams set up their stations before they return early Saturday morning for the full day of cooking and judging.
Their day started at 4:30 a.m. and they were able to light their fires at 5 a.m. At 6 a.m. each team got to pick their meats based on numbers drawn. This helped ensure that each team got a fair chance rather than having some teams bring better meats to the competition.
“All the schools are on an even keel. You have a big school…that has a lot of money compared to somebody like us or a school that’s just first started. (That big school) could go buy the best of the best meats where a lot of the schools couldn’t afford to do that,” Etling said.
The Smokin’ Steers got to choose 14th while the PitSteers picked their meats 86th. But once the teams had their meat, they got to work while parents and coaches had to step back. At the end of the day, the Graham teams showed their abilities with the best of them.
“They were stressed…but they were glad,” Etling said. “I think they’re always glad at the end of the season to take a break and reset for next year.”
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