2000-2016 – In my life barbecue had always been something that my grandfather Ardie Davis always did, and I always thought it was pretty cool. During the 2016 American Royal, Ardie was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame, and attending that ceremony and seeing how this group of people goes about their lives was very interesting to me, and was a community that I could see myself being a part of.
April 2017 – Luckily, a Certified Barbecue Judging class occurred in Lenexa, Kansas, only a short drive away from where I live, so Ardie took me to attend it. During the three hour long class, I learned the basics of what to look for in different samples of meat. I was also given one of my grandfather’s cookbooks that was signed by all of the senior judges at the class which was really cool to get. That was the first time that I met most of the serious barbecue judges and competition representatives. I was able to become certified and was given a judging number, which is decided on a who came first basis. While Ardie’s judge number is 2, mine is 93169, so only a few higher than his. Sharing his judging number compared to mine is always a fun thing to do with other judges because most people have heard of him in some way.
Fall 2017 – While I was not able to judge the open meat competition or the invitation meat competition, I was able to judge the sides competition. It was a good way to kick off my barbecue career as it includes everyone’s favorite category, desserts. At the 2017 American Royal, Ardie gave me a list of teams to go and talk to, so I walked around the common grounds and the team tents with one of my friends and two newspaper writers from my high school. It was a fantastic experience and this is when I first met Megan and Jason Day of Burnt Finger BBQ. I also was lucky enough to be able to be at the 2017 Barbecue Hall of Fame ceremony as Ardie being a previous inductee was allowed to bring a guest.
2017-2018 School Year – Multiple instances throughout the year I cooked ribs with the assistance of Ardie, which gave me the much-needed cooking experience I needed. Since I have no grill or smoker of my own, and lack the tools and know how to cook remotely edible ribs, I have gotten assistance in almost every facet, but each time I tried, I got a little better. I also started volunteering at both the American Royal headquarters and the Kansas City Barbecue Society office, which allowed me to meet many of the people who are responsible for the smooth running of the competitions. It helped me realize how much work goes on behind the scenes that nobody has any clue about, and the hardest thing I ever really did was to sort books and count posters, and that was still an enormous task. A hope of mine was that by helping out and getting my name known, I could reap the benefits in the future, and I was right. Not only did I receive a scholarship from the Kansas City Barbecue Society, but I was also able to judge in the 2018 American Royal open meats and sides competitions.
June 2018 – I applied to judge at the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle and was accepted, and I was super excited as this would be the first contest that would count towards me becoming a Master Judge. The criteria for becoming a Master Judge are participating in at least 30 contests where at least 1 you volunteer at and at least 1 you Table Captain at, along with cooking with a team. This contest is one of the biggest contests in the area, so good food was expected, along with the knowledge that on top of the usual four categories (chicken, pork ribs, pork, and beef brisket), there were three extra categories. Plus there were a few familiar faces from my time spent with Ardie.
Summer 2018 – I accompanied Ardie to a few barbecue competitions where he gave his signature oath and was able to see how some smaller competitions operated, which unsurprisingly mirror the larger ones. I also visited a few restaurants with him to try different types of barbecue to help expand my pallet.
September 2018 – I was able to judge both the open meats competition and the sides competition, as they occurred on separate days. I actually ended up judging with some of the same people which was really nice. Since I was actually judging meats, I was not able to talk with the teams as much as I would have liked to, as it is against the rules to “fraternize with the teams on turn in day” to prevent collusion to get higher scores. It once again was a great learning experience and made me want to judge even more tournament and made me look forward to when I retire and can judge “full-time”. I once again was able to join in the Hall of Fame ceremony and was able to meet more incredible figures in the barbecue world. I also had a part in a documentary about the American Royal where they talk about Ardie, as he is a major figure, and then talk about how I am attempting to follow in his footsteps.
2018-2019 School Year – So far, I have not been able to attend any competitions, but I plan on looking for some as summer comes closer, and throughout the summer to try and get closer to reaching my goals and continuing my passion, all while making my own legacy.
