Champion Pitmaster Christie Vanover is bringing KCBS back to Vegas with the BBQ Jackpot Master Series Competition.
It will be held in December at Bass Pro Shops and promises to be the Biggest BBQ Bash in Sin City. Tune in to learn all about how you can compete, judge or even sponsor the event.
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Table of Contents
This week, we are going to be talking about competition barbecue in Las Vegas.
It’s been more than five years since there has been a KCBS-sanctioned comp in Sin City. And I’m ready to bring the biggest barbecue bash to Sin City in December. We’re going to talk all about that today.
But first, I am excited because I got my hands on my first copy of the Steak Cookoff Log Book. You guys know I already talked about the KCBS Competition Barbecue Log Book.
This is where you can log your barbecue scores that you get from your judges in all four categories for a KCBS comp, and you can add your notes. Well, now with the Steak Cookoff Log Book, you can do the same thing.
You can add all the scores that you get and all the different categories in your Steak Cookoffs, whether it’s a single or a double, along with the notes about how you cooked it and what you thought about your performance.
So that way when you get ready to go to your next comp, all you have to do is look at your book, see where you scored well, remind yourself what you did really well in each of those categories, or in each of those steaks.
Then, you can then replicate that so you can keep winning those trophies. So both of these are now available on Amazon. They’re only $9.99.
The Steak Cookoff allows you to, log up to 50 steaks in each book. And with the KCBS one with this Competition BBQ one, you can do up to 15 competitions with the four meat categories. So be sure to go to Amazon and check those out. I will include a link in the show notes for both of them.
Update on Spices
Other updates that I have for you guys about products are my spices.
So many of you have been reaching out to me asking, when are my spices going to be back on the shelves? And I am so sorry.
The process has been taking so long. I do have a new co-packer. We’re working on the formulations. The chicken rub is done and it’s actually better than it was before.
I’m so happy with the size of the granules. It’s going to dissolve much better into the meat, but still give you that really nice herbaceous profile that tastes really great on chicken, plus beautiful mahogany color.
The pork and the brisket, we are so close on getting them perfect. I could go to market with them now, but to me they just need a couple more tweaks, so I’d rather wait a little bit longer. And get them to you guys to where they are at perfection before I launch them.
I love my pork rub, but for some people they’ve said it’s a little bit chunky. Well not anymore. We’re going to make sure that those garlic granules are much smaller. So everything’s going to dissolve beautifully.
So again, hopefully we’ll get those formulations locked down within the next week or so. And then it is going to take about 1 to 2 months before we can actually get it all bottled and get it on the shelves and make it available to you.
I’ll be selling them direct this time. They’ll be available on my website at Girls Can Grill, and I’m already setting up my Amazon store, so I hope to be selling them through Amazon soon once they’re all ready. So again, thanks for your patience guys.
Holiday Grilling Cookbook Coming Soon
Another big project that I’m working on that I’ve only told like 3 or 4 people about is a new cookbook.
I am publishing a holiday grilling cookbook that’s going to include so many of my favorite family recipes. Everything from the appetizers to get the party started to some cocktails, side dishes, entrees, desserts, you name it.
There’s going to be a full collection of things that you can cook on your grill, some things that you can cook in your oven, a couple things that are like no-bake recipes, but they’re again, the family classic recipes that we love to make every holiday.
My goal is to have the Holiday Grilling Cookbook ready to you with more than 100 recipes by hopefully, September, so keep a lookout for that and I will definitely keep you guys updated.
BBQ Jackpot Competition
All right. Who is ready for the biggest barbecue bash in Sin City? I’m talking about BBQ Jackpot. It is the first KCBs competition that’s going to be held in Las Vegas in more than five years.
Let’s get into the details.
A little bit of history on KCBS in Las Vegas. So back in 2013, KCBS was huge out here. We had the World Food Championships. They held a barbecue competition here for a couple of years before they moved east.
We also had the Sam’s Club series that was going on in 2013. That went on until about 2017. And we had the Downtown Throwdown, which was held every December on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. That was put on by Steve Overlay and the Nevada Barbecue Association. That one ended in about 2018.
And then of course, Covid hit. And then there were just challenges. Nobody really wanted to be an organizer. Everybody wanted to be a competitor, myself included.
And finding a location I have found is one of the most challenging things in Las Vegas. And here’s why. The casinos are huge. They’ve got super huge parking lots, right? So you’d think that’d be no problem.
But they want top dollar whether the casinos are on the strip or off the strip. They want like $5,000 to $15,000 a day just for the location fees. And then there’s a lot of other fees that get piled on top of that once you get into the contracts with them. And unfortunately, a KCBS contest just doesn’t pull in that kind of revenue to be able to pay those type of expenses.
I’ve promoted and organized several competitions in Las Vegas, but they’ve always been SCA competitions. I never really thought about doing a KCBS competition because I thought if there’s a competition in Vegas, I want to cook it. Like, selfishly, that’s what I want to do. But I have realized over the past five years and 6 or 7 years since I’ve been in competition barbecue, sometimes things aren’t going to happen until you do it yourself.
So I finally decided it’s more important to me to bring KCBS barbecue back to Las Vegas than it is for me to be a competitive cook at a KCBS comp, because otherwise it just may never happen.
I decided several months ago that I’m ready to help promote a contest in Vegas. So the biggest challenge after I went through that was figuring out where I was going to hold it.
The Location
For months, I’ve been looking for a location. And finally, just last week, I secured the Bass Pro Shops in Las Vegas. What was important for me about a competition location is I wanted to make sure that there was plenty of room for parking, because I know there are teams, including myself, who like to have 4 to 6 parking spaces.
So I wanted a location that could accommodate that. I also really wanted a location that was within walking distance to 1 or 2 hotels. Because it’s Vegas, you want to be able to just go out to the competition, walk to your hotel, maybe go to a casino, grab a drink at the bar, and then just walk on up to your room.
That makes it so much more enjoyable than having to hop in an Uber or to rent a car. So with this location, we’ve got all that taken care of. There’s a Hyatt Place within walking distance, and there’s the Silverton Casino, which is also a hotel that’s right there on property. There’s also plenty of restaurants that are within walking distance, a Starbucks if you’re into that, and other stores that you can walk to as well.
The Dates
Once the location was on lock, then I had to figure out the dates. Well, the Downtown Throwdown, which was the traditional contest in Las Vegas, was always held in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo, which is held in Vegas every December. So I decided, why not stick with tradition and go with that date? So Bass Pro was all excited about that.
So December 6th and 7th is the weekend that we’ve decided on, and it’s going to be that first weekend in December in conjunction with National Finals Rodeo.
There’s lots of other activities happening in town, country music concerts, all sorts of stuff happening in Vegas. So you can definitely make a full weekend or even a full week out of it, if you want to come out and enjoy the festivities.
Current Status
In order to organize a KCBS competition, you do have to be a certified organizer, which I am not yet. So I couldn’t pull this off without Jim Palmer.
For those of you who don’t know Jim Palmer, he’s a huge part of the California Barbecue Association. Basically, every West Coast competition has his fingerprints on it, either he’s the organizer or he’s trained the organizers, or he’s helping the organizers. He definitely has his hand into everything to make sure that KCBS stays alive on the West Coast.
So I’m so, so thankful that he has agreed to help me as the official organizer for this event. And then I’m going to get my certification and training so that I can become official and then do these on my own. Although, honestly, it’s really hard to do it without Jim because he’s so good and he knows the ropes.
So again, I’m so thankful that he’s here holding my hand as we get to this, because it’s going to make sure that it’s super successful.
So here’s how the process works. It’s kind of a chicken and egg series. You have to apply to be sanctioned by KCBS. You have to find a location. You have to get permits with the county. But it’s like where do you start?
Like do you start by getting the county permits? Because what if they say no? Or do you start with KCBS because what if they say no and then you’re getting these permits for an event that you can’t happen?
So it’s just kind of like throwing the dice in Vegas and hoping that everybody says yes.
So we have gone ahead and applied through KCBS Actually, by the time of this podcast, perhaps we’ll have our approval. Fingers crossed. I’m also going to be working with the governor’s office, because I need to get a state proclamation from him in order to make it a state championship, because this will be a qualifier for the Jack Daniel’s.
I’m also working with Clark County and the City of Las Vegas because unlike some small towns where maybe you can just throw on a competition, there are quite a few rules that we have to follow in the City of Las Vegas. But I’ve got that stuff under control and we’re getting all that knocked out.
So as soon as KCBS accepts the dates and makes this an official contest and I start that paperwork process with the county, we will be opening up registration for teams and for judges.
Judging Requirements
Before I talk about teams, I do want to talk about judges.
It’s really important for me at this contest that we have 100% certified barbecue judges. And I know we can do that. There are so many judges already on the West Coast.
I also think some judges may be interested in flying in because, hey, it’s Vegas after all. But I do want CBJs because I think that’s going to be to the benefit of the teams to have certified barbecue judges.
I also would like the certified barbecue judges to be JCUP certified. It’s really important if you, as a judge, have not completed that JCUP program, that you do. That it is a requirement or at least a highly recommended requirement by KCBS. And I really think it’s important for the teams that you take that JCUP class, because those are the rules that you’re supposed to be judging by.
They have revised slightly from maybe the original class that you took, so be sure to take that. JCUP.
You’ve got six months to get it done. It really doesn’t take that long. But that’s what I’m looking for in judges for this competition, certified barbecue judges and JCUP certified judges as well. So make sure that you guys take that class.
Team Registration
All right, moving on to teams. So this will be a master series competition. That’s the four meats chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. If you’ve never cooked in a competition before, make sure you listen to my previous podcasts.
I talk all about judging and all about each one of those meat preparations, what the judges are looking for, etc. but it’s going to be a four meat contest.
I right now believe I have room for 57 teams. I already have close to 100 teams who have already told me that they’re interested in this competition. So I think it’s going to sell out fast.
Just to give you guys some perspective. When we had the Downtown Throwdown in 2018 with the Nevada Barbecue Association, we announced registration and it’s sold out in four minutes, four minutes.
I think we had spots for maybe 25 or 30 teams, so it was a little bit smaller. But four minutes. People got the email. As soon as they got the email, they got registered and it was sold out.
I don’t know if it’ll be that fast this time, but I do know that there are quite a few teams from across the United States who are definitely interested in this competition, so be sure that you go to bbqjackpot.com.
If you haven’t already, click that subscribe button. You will be among the first to know when the registration opens.
You can also go to our Facebook group, which is BBQ Jackpot. If you join that group, I will also announce when registration opens there. So if you’re part of those two places, you’re going to know that registration is open.
Once the registration is open, there are going to be two steps. First you’re going to need to fill out the registration form. This is your basic information like what’s your team name? Who’s your head cook. What’s your phone number, all that stuff.
Site Sizes
You will also select your site size, at that time.
I can’t guarantee that you’re going to get your site size because it is first come, first serve. We do have three site sizes.
There’s an 18 by 18 size, which is basically two parking spaces side by side. Then there’s an 18 by 36, which is four parking spaces, basically two side by side and then two deep on top of that. And then we have three sites that are 18 by 45. So that’s going to be five parking spaces basically side by side.
So if you have like a long toy hauler or a long RV, we’ll have three spaces available for that. With the sites that are 18 by 36, I think we’ll have 17 spaces.
And then the 18 by 18 sites,I think we’ll have 37 of those. So in total we should have room for 57.
After I receive your registration form, I will go ahead and send you another email with the invoice so you can make the payment for your site spot.
Your space and your registration is not complete until you make that payment in full. So if you want to compete at this competition, you are going to need to register and pay early in the process in case it sells out.
If you have questions about any of that, you can email me. You can DM me. You can leave a comment to this post. Go to BBQjackpot.com. There’s a full comment board there. Or go to the Facebook group and leave some information there in the chat, and I’ll be happy to answer it there as well.
Youth BBQ Registration
In addition to the master series, we’re also going to have a youth barbecue competition. We’ll have the kids Q Division for kids ages 6 to 10, and then we will have the junior barbecue division for kids 11 to 16. To me, the future of barbecue is really important.
That’s why we’re going to be hosting this youth barbecue series.
Sponsorship Opportunities
I know the question I haven’t answered yet that you’re probably curious about is what is the prize purse? What are the payouts?
Honestly, I don’t know yet, and I’m sorry that I don’t have that information for you yet. I hope to get it for you soon. I am working on details of what the exact registration fee amounts are going to be.
I’ve got some estimates of what I think those are going to be. I do want to give you guys a really nice prize purse, definitely $10,000 or more, but I want to go even higher than that.
What I’m doing right now is balancing out what all the expenses are going to be, all those permits that I have to get with the county, some other costs. You know, there’s obviously porta pots and there’s dumpsters and all of that stuff.
There’s a lot that goes into organizing a comp when it comes to expenses. So I’m just trying to figure all that out.
And in addition to that, I’m also open to sponsorships. We have a full sponsor package everywhere from the bronze package, which starts at $500 all the way up to $10,000, if you want to be a diamond sponsor and a headliner for this event.
If you’re interested in sponsoring a barbecue competition, if you want to get out there in front of some of these champion pitmasters, some of these Food Network celebrities, some of the really big dogs in barbecue, you should definitely be at BBQ Jackpot as a sponsor.
Go to bbqjackpot.com, click on that sponsor tab and all of the information and the different sponsorship levels are listed there.
Once we possibly get some more sponsors, then we can raise that prize purse even more to make this more attractive. But you guys know, one of the most attractive things about it is that you’re going to get a bung for the Jack.
Now there will be two barbecue competitions in Nevada for the 2025 Jack Daniel’s draw. That’s going to be this competition as well as the Best Dam Barbecue Festival, which is in Boulder City every Memorial Day weekend. So it’s not a guarantee to the Jack, but a one in two shot is pretty darn good.
I think that about wraps up all the information I have for right now on the BBQ Jackpot, which is going to be December 7th at Bass Pro Shops in Las Vegas. As soon as I have more details, I will add it to the Facebook group.
I’ll add it to the website. I’ll also do highlights on the BBQ Tips Podcast so you guys can keep up to date, especially as soon as that registration opens.
I hope you guys have an opportunity to either cook it, judge it, or just come out and see what it’s all about.
Tune into more of my BBQ Tips podcasts or scroll around the website for even more helpful BBQ Tips.
