Three Little "Piggies". . .

Today, I had the privilege of meeting and hanging out with "The Sassy Sows" who are an interesting group of gals with one common purpose. . .PORK RIBS!!!

They have been competing in local and regional BBQ contests for about three years now and as you can see from the photo below have won several competitions and placed 4th in the rib category at the coveted Memphis In May cookoff.


I've never been to any of these competitions until today, but I have friends involved in the judging through MBN and who have encouraged me to go through the process of being certified to judge or possibly to compete, which sounds exciting. Really, I'm only interested in having another reason to drink Heineken on the weekend.

The Sassy Sows were smooth and in control during the run-up to the judging and I must admit as a veteran of many culinary competitions myself, the girls were well prepared! The tension was palpable, but there was nothing to fear. . .there are few constants in the Universe: gravity, life and death, and the Sassy Sows!!




Once the judges arrived is when "real" grease came out.



When you enter The Sassy Sows pig pen, it's all on! Full service BBQ at it's finest! An explanation of the equipment, the type of smoking wood used, techniques, etc. . .



a tasting. . .



I saw a couple of teams there with elaborate trailers, electronic monitoring, high dollar sponsors like Georgia-Pacific, blowers for fire boxes, blah blah.

The Sassy Sows? I think I heard one of them say we don't need all that "stuff".



Their recipe for success is: combine two small smokers, 100 pounds of smoking wood, 1 fine BBQ sauce, 27 cups of cultured Mississippi ladies and a half cup of edgy whoopass. Mix well, let simmer and stand back!

No judge left The Sassy Sows without a smile.



And some spectators even wanted to take a little Sassy Sow home with them.



So, did they win? Well, ya'll just gotta stay tuned! I'll let ya know soon.