Of the 40 outdoor chefs who participated in Saturday’s Allen County Fair Kansas City Barbeque Society cookoff, Randy Hill and his Southern Krunk BBQ Society rig were in Iola by happenstance.
Hill was on his way home to Hot Springs, Ark., a couple of weeks ago when a wheel on his recently purchased trailer-mounted barbecue grill broke off near Perry, Okla. Purchased from Yoder Smokers in Hutchinson, the company sent a crew to retrieve the trailer and upon repair told Hill they could meet him in Iola, where the cookoff was being held.
“I’m glad I decided to come,” Hill said Saturday morning, as he slathered a side of ribs with brown sugar, honey and his secret ingredient, a hefty squirt of rum. “The rum is what puts the krunk in my Southern Krunk meat,” he said.
“I’m having a good time, although you might say I’m a little dumb for cooking against some of the people who are here,” Hill noted. “You have three of the top ten barbecuers in the nation and lots of other good ones.”
Hill mainly competes in Arkansas cookoffs and has been at it two years.
“In a way, I came here kind of to relax,” Hill said. “They’re having a Harley (Davidson motorcycles) rally in Hot Springs this weekend and it’s a lot quieter here. Also, it gives me and my son (11-year-old Seth) a little daddy-son time.”
Hill finished in the upper half of the field in pork ribs and chicken, 13th and 15th, 30th in pork and brisket and 29th overall.
THIS WAS the sixth year for the Allen County Fair cookoff and its second as a sanctioned Kansas City Barbecue Society event, which prompted many to enter. Annual standings in the KCBS are determined by points accumulated throughout the year and every event gives cooks a chance to add to their point totals.
Those placing in the top 10 shared $3,500 in prize money, which came from $115 entry fees that generated $4,600. The remainder went to help with fair expenses.
Katy Donovan organized this year’s event, taking over from her father, Wayne Garrett, who proposed and organized the initial and subsequent cookoffs, before his death in a traffic accident in September 2008.
TOP FIVE RESULTS:
Overall: Bibs N Ribs, 686.8572 points; 4 Men & a Pig, 680.0002; Munchin Hogs at the Hilton, 675.9996; The Pickled Pig, 671.9998; Pork Me Purple, 670.2858.
Chicken: Yo Ho Ho BBQ, 176.5716; Munchin Hogs at the Hilton, 173.71.44; Wild Blue BBQ, 173.1428; Pork Me Purple, 169.7142; All 4 Aces, 168.5716.
Pork ribs: Butcher BBQ, 175.4288; Bibs N Ribs, 172.5714; Stu’s Q, 171.4284; Smokin Bad Habit, 170.8574; 4 Men & a Pig, 170.2858.
Pork: Bibs N Ribs, 174.2856; The Smoking Hills, 173.7142; Moo Cow, 171.9998; Burn One BBQ, 171.4286; Wild Blue BBQ, 170.8572.
Brisket: Bibs N Ribs, 174.8572; Hoggy Style, 174.2860; The Smoking Hills, 174.2858; Pork Me Purple, 171.4286; 4 Men and a Pig, 170.8574.
