Putting the ‘Q’ in Olathe: One of the 1st barbecue contests in area unites community

The rain stopped and the smokers fired up at Stagecoach Park in Olathe last weekend for the Qlathe BBQ Championship. The barbecue contest, among the first official barbecue challenges of the season, was a first for the city.

Although wet weather earlier in the week resulted in some muddy ruts in the field and a few competitors getting shuffled to other spaces on the grounds, the competition itself seemed to run smoothly.

Sixty-four teams competed, with most entering all four categories. The overall grand champion was Man Meat BBQ from Stilwell; that team also prevailed in the pulled pork category. Other teams took home top prizes in the three other sub-categories. The Boys in Que won for chicken, Unfamous Dave’s for pork ribs and PorkerStars for brisket.

The winners of each category took home $500, and the next nine places received cash prizes ranging from $400 to $50. The top three teams overall won $1,500, $750 and $550, respectively.

People who will grill all night for the perfect ribs are in it for more than the prize money, however.

“There’s a culture about it, the way they talk,” said Charlou Lunsford, who had family on the Shorthorn BBQ team. “Everyone likes to eat barbecue, but when you come out here, it adds a whole other level to it.”

For many teams, the competition was a family affair. Mick Davis Jr., of Mission, came with two uncles and a cousin. Each of them took one of the meat categories.

“It brings us together. … Everyone’s got a specialty,” said Davis, as he spread sauce on the chicken — his area of expertise.

Jeff Riley of Olathe came to the competition with six of his 13 brothers and sisters.

“Our dad brought us up on it,” Riley said. “He was really good at it, and we love a challenge.”

Even within families, ideas on barbecuing vary.

“Everybody’s technique is different. You couldn’t find three people here who do it the same,” said Bill Riley, who lives in Overland Park.

Each team had its own combination for success, whether it was cooking with pecan wood or layering dry rub and sauce. A variety of different-sized smokers and grills dotted the grounds, with some teams favoring hot and fast, while others cooked through the night, opting to go low and slow.

There was a lot of camaraderie between teams, as well.

J.P. Bustamante of Kansas City, Kan., said that’s one of the reasons he loves barbecue competitions.

“I’ve never been to a competition where if you forgot something or have a problem, people won’t help,” he said.

Bustamante said that when he had a power problem when cooking in the early hours of Saturday morning, the team members next to him let him plug into their electricity.

Overseeing the contest was the Kansas City Barbeque Society. The 66 volunteer judges had each taken a Barbecue Society class to be certified to evaluate the entries.

Jeff Vonfeldt of Olathe was judging Saturday and said that among the competitors were a lot of professionals but also a lot of novices.

Each of the 11 tables of judges tasted approximately six entries and rated them on taste, tenderness and presentation.

That last category is no joke — teams carefully arranged the meat on beds of greens in plastic foam containers, and no team wanted to be the one that got sauce on the lid.

In addition to the cooking, organizers brought a little bit of athletic fun to the event with a cornhole championship. The tailgate game challenges players to toss small bags of dried corn onto a tilted board.

Players get points for landing their bags on the board and even more points for getting the bag through the single hole in the board. The winners, Team BartLieb, received a $300 prize.

This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Putting the ‘Q’ in Olathe: One of the 1st barbecue contests in area unites community."