Barbecue championships begin June 28 at Kennett

KENNETT, Mo. -- Alan Jones isn't blowing smoke when he admits feeling intimidated by the big-shot barbecuers who arrive in this Missouri Bootheel town one weekend every summer to show who's master of the mesquite.

Jones calls them "The Big Boys," the out-of-staters who converge in Kennett for the Show-Me State Championship Barbecue Cook-Off, now into its 21st year.

With setups Jones considers "top of the line," the traveling teams haul in their huge cookers, entourages and plenty of sauces, rubs and braggadocio.

Some have Web sites trumpeting -- at times selling -- their wares. Some even have corporate sponsors, with one team supplied by Motorola with radios to keep in touch as their caravan rolls between cook-offs.

Beating big guns

"It's real intimidating for locals when you go up against the world-class barbecuers," said Jones, whose ARI Train Gang team expects to again take part when the two-day cook-off fires up June 28.

And make no bones about it: Jones again is gunning for the big guns, those guys who make a business of barbecuing, some who travel to 30 or 40 cook-offs a year with "barbecue rigs" that cost as much as a small house.

"If you beat one of the out-of-towners, you know your product's right up there with the best. That's the measuring stick," says Jones, 25, an American Railcar Industries maintenance technician. Run by the Kennett Jaycees, the Show-Me State cook-off is open to anyone willing to fork over $100 for the entry fee for each of three categories -- whole hog, shoulder and ribs.

Prize money in the championship division runs from $500 for first place to $50 for fifth, while the payout for local grillers is $100 for the title, $25 for third. The overall grand champion -- the piece of meat deemed the best -- wins an additional $1,000 and has its entry fee paid to "Memphis in May." Jones considers that annual "world championship" cook-off "the granddaddy" of barbecue battles.

Organizer Mike Noblin hopes the prize money the Jaycees have doubled this year beefs up the field to as many as 25, up from last year's 14 but still shy of the 30 of years past.

While the barbecue will be dished out largely to judges, the public can take in the event's festival flair, complete with carnival rides and a beer tent. A live band and talent show are planned for June 28, an ATV rodeo June 29.

"For us, it's really about going out there and having fun," says Jeff Rhew, whose Happee End Zone Cookers were the folks behind the ribs that won the local division in 2000 and were third last year.