Praise the Lard 17th St BBQ Barbecue Competition Festival

This three-day celebration provides numerous sponsorship and vending opportunities. We’re grateful to last year’s sponsors, many of whom have supported us for the past 25 years. Please be in touch with me if you’d like to help sponsor this year’s event.   Praise the Lard 17th St BBQ Barbecue Competition Festival

http://17bbq.com

http://www.17thstreetbarbecue.com

http://www.nowoncue.com

http://www.17thstreetbarbecue.com/Cook-off.aspx

We recommend Mike Mills’ food, Amy Mills’ restaurant consultation and their hospitality.

Praise The Lard Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-Off, 17th Street BBQ’s annual BBQ cook off… produced by Arthur Agency. 2012 marked the 25th anniversary of the legendary event located in The Apple City, Murphysboro, Illinois. Salivation lies within.

barbecue, bbq competition, bbq, 17st, 17th street, 17th street bbq, bbq cook off

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

In recognition of the contribution of the Kentucky State BBQ Festival, the Heart of Kentucky United Way (HKUW) Board wanted to thank Brad and Cindy Simmons for their commitment and service to HKUW by presenting them with a Certificate of Appreciation. Brad and Cindy are co-founders of the BBQ Festival which brings over 40,000 residents and visitors from all over the country to visit Danville for the 2 day event.

“We realize that there are lots of good services and programs being done in our communities, but the BBQ Festival recognizes that HKUW serves as the backbone organization in pulling together resources (funding, people, organizations, etc.) to advance the common good for all by creating real and lasting change,” said HKUW Executive Director Stephanie Blevins.

“The investment the BBQ festival made to HKUW will be used to mobilize people to give, advocate, and volunteer creating opportunities for a good life for all. No one organization or agency or person can do what we can all collectively accomplish together. At HKUW we wanted to recognize Brad and Cindy for their vision and continued dedication to HKUW.”

The Kentucky State BBQ Festival generated over $20,000 for HKUW which aides thousands of people in Boyle, Mercer, Lincoln and Garrard counties.

The Kentucky State BBQ Festival Committee is proud of HKUW’s recognition of our founders and looks forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with Heart of Kentucky United Way.

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

Smokin’ Butt Bike Ride Coming to the 2013 KY BBQ Festival

The Kentucky State BBQ Festival Committee has announced that a 24 mile “Smokin’ Butt Bike Ride” will be a part of the 3rd Ever Kentucky State BBQ Festival at Constitution Square Historic Site in downtown Danville, KY on Saturday, September 7, 2013.

The “Smokin’ Butt Bike Ride” will leave downtown Danville at 9:00am on September 7, 2013 for a leisurely 24 mile round trip out beautiful Bluegrass Pike to Harrodsburg, across the rolling terrain of Bellows Mills Road and returning to Danville via Buster Pike. A specially designed T-shirt will be afforded all registered riders. Registration forms (soon to be ready) will be available on the Danville Bike and Footwear website and in the store. The bike shop will also be available the morning of the event for minor bicycle adjustments. The ultimate prize will be returning to Danville for the hugely successful Kentucky State BBQ Festival to enjoy the BBQ, beer, and music. Y’all come!

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

On January 31, 2013, the Kentucky State BBQ Festival Committee presented a check in the amount of $20,395 to Heart of Kentucky United Way. The proceeds were raised from the Bourbon Barrel Art Project Auction and the 2012 Kentucky State BBQ Festival.

Attending the presentation on behalf of the Kentucky State BBQ Festival were Festival co-founders, Brad and Cindy Simmons, Bob Stovall and Myrna Miller as well as Bourbon Barrel Art Project Chairperson Susan Hensley and Maureen Loar. The check was presented to Heart of Kentucky United Way Executive Director Stephanie Blevins and Trina Kern.

Left to right: Brad Simmons, Stephanie Blevins, Cindy Simmons, Maureen Loar, Bob Stovall, Myrna Miller, Susan Hensley and Trina Kern.

“The Kentucky State BBQ Festival has been a wonderful partner for Heart of Kentucky United Way,” said Blevins. “The awareness and contribution to HKUW serves as an investment in our communities in education, income and health. Together we can transform our communities.”

Festival founder Brad Simmons added, “The Kentucky State BBQ Festival is proud to be a partner of Heart of Kentucky United Way, providing funding for their various community programs. We look forward to continuing this relationship at the 2013 Festival.”

Simmons and Blevins emphasized that both the Festival and the Bourbon Barrel Art Project couldn’t have happened without the generosity of sponsors and volunteers who gave to the projects.

Sponsors purchased the Bourbon Barrel Art Project barrels and the artists volunteered to decorate them. Other volunteers helped move them and ran the auction from start to finish. Food for the auction was donated by Festival Pitmasters. The barrels were donated by Jim Beam Brands.

The Kentucky State BBQ Festival relies on hundreds of volunteers in the days leading up to the Festival and on the Festival weekend itself to serve the 37,000+ attendees last September.

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

Professor Wes Berry is a great friend of the Kentucky State BBQ Festival and of barbecue all over the Commonwealth.

Curious about Kentucky barbecue specialties like mutton and burgoo? Dying to know which joints are serving up the smokiest meats and most mouthwatering sides? Ready to meet world-class pitmasters from across Kentucky who regularly server up humorous tales with their pulled pork? If you answered yes to any of these questions, The Kentucky Barbecue Book is for you.

From the banks of the Mississippi to the hidden hollows of the Appalachian Mountains, author and barbecue enthusiast Wes Berry hit the trail in search of the best smoke, the best flavor and the best pitmasters he could find.

While writing this book, Wes visited dozens of barbecue joints in every corner of the state. What he came away with is a book that shares his love of all things barbecue, especially in his beloved Kentucky.

Get you copy of Wes Berry’s The Kentucky Barbecue Book by clicking the “buy Now” button below. Then bring it to the Festival on Sept. 7 or 8 so Wes can sign it.

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

About the Kentucky State Barbecue Festival Danville KY BBQ

We all LOVE BBQ competitions and they are great – but they are not spectator sports. competitions are great for the teams, but not the public necessarily. This event will be about Food, Family, BBQ and Americana. You’ll get to see, smell and EAT the BBQ here. Demos, Talks, mini-seminars – all on BBQ and from TOP BBQ cooks.  This page is about the Kentucky State Barbecue Festival Danville KY BBQ.

In the southern United States, barbecue initially revolved around the cooking of pork. During the 19th century, pigs were a low-maintenance food source that could be released to forage for themselves in forests and woodlands. When food or meat supplies were low, these semi-wild pigs could then be caught and eaten.

It was the Spanish who first introduced the pig into the Americas and to the American Indians. The Indians, in turn, introduced the Spanish to the concept of true slow cooking with smoke. The Spanish colonists came to South Carolina in the early 16th century and settled at Santa Elena. It was in that early American colony that Europeans first learned to prepare and to eat “real” barbecue. So, people were eating barbecue in South Carolina even before that name had been applied to the area by the English.

According to estimates, prior to the American Civil War, Southerners ate around five pounds of pork for every one pound of beef they consumed. Because of the poverty of the southern United States at this time, every part of the pig was eaten immediately or saved for later (including the ears, feet, and other organs). Because of the effort to capture and cook these wild hogs, pig slaughtering became a time for celebration, and the neighborhood would be invited to share in the largesse. In Cajun culture, these are called boucheries. These feasts are sometimes called ‘pig-pickin’s.’ The traditional Southern barbecue grew out of these gatherings.”

Each Southern locale has its own particular variety of barbecue, particularly concerning the sauce. North Carolina sauces vary by region; eastern North Carolina uses a vinegar-based sauce, the center of the state enjoys Lexington-style barbecue which uses a combination of ketchup and vinegar as their base, and western North Carolina uses a heavier ketchup base.

Lexington boasts of being “The Barbecue Capital of the World” and it has more than one BBQ restaurant per 1,000 residents. Another distinguishing characteristic of Lexington barbecue is barbecue slaw, which has no mayonnaise, is composed of cabbage, ketchup, vinegar, and black pepper. Eastern North Carolina slaw contains cabbage, mayonnaise, yellow mustard,and salt with pickles and/or celery seed optional. Slaw can be served either on the side or in a sandwich. South Carolina is the only state that includes all four recognized barbecue sauces, including mustard-based, vinegar-based, and light and heavy tomato-based. Memphis barbecue is best known for tomato- and vinegar-based sauces. In some Memphis establishments and in Kentucky, meat is rubbed with dry seasoning (dry rubs) and smoked over hickory wood without sauce; the finished barbecue is then served with barbecue sauce on the side.

The barbecue of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee is almost always pork served with a sweet tomato-based sauce. However, several regional variations exist as well. Alabama is particularly known for its distinctive white sauce, a mayonnaise- and vinegar-based sauce, originating in northern Alabama, used predominantly on chicken and pork. A popular item in North Carolina and Memphis is the pulled pork sandwich served on a bun and often topped with coleslaw. Pulled pork is prepared by shredding the pork after it has been barbecued.

Kansas City-style barbecue is characterized by its use of different types of meat (including pulled pork, pork ribs, burnt ends, smoked sausage, beef brisket, beef ribs, smoked/grilled chicken, smoked turkey, and sometimes fish), a variety attributable to Kansas City’s history as a center for meat packing in the US. Hickory is the primary wood used for smoking in KC, while the sauces are typically tomato based with sweet, spicy and tangy flavor profiles. Burnt ends, the flavorful pieces of meat cut from the ends of a smoked beef or pork brisket, are popular in many Kansas City-area barbecue restaurants.

Pit-beef prevails in Maryland and is often enjoyed at large outdoor steer roasts, which are common in the warmer months. Maryland-style pit-beef is not the product of barbecue cookery in the strictest sense, as there is no smoking of the meat involved; rather, it involves grilling the meat over a high heat. The meat is typically served rare, with a strong horseradish sauce as the preferred condiment.

The state of Kentucky, particularly Western Kentucky, is unusual in its barbecue cooking, in that the preferred meat is mutton. This kind of mutton barbecue is often used in communal events in Kentucky, such as political rallies, county fairs and church fund-raising events.

In much of the world outside of the American South, barbecue has a close association with Texas. Many barbecue restaurants outside the United States claim to serve “Texas barbecue”, regardless of the style they actually serve. Texas barbecue is often assumed to be primarily beef. This assumption, along with the inclusive term “Texas barbecue”, is an oversimplification. Texas has four main styles, all with different flavors, different cooking methods, different ingredients, and different cultural origins. (cf. Barbecue in the United States) In the June 2008 issue of Texas Monthly Magazine Snow’s BBQ in Lexington was rated as the best BBQ in the state of Texas. This ranking was reinforced when New Yorker Magazine also claimed that Snow’s BBQ was “The Best Texas BBQ in the World”.

http://www.KYBBQFestival.com – this is the Official Website page of the 3rd Ever Kentucky Barbecue Festival which will be held at Constitution Square in Danville, KY 40422. September 6-8, 2013 – Sat. 11AM-10PM; Sun. 11AM-6PM

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

The Kentucky State BBQ Festival has been named a Top 20 Event for September 2013 by the Southeast Tourism Society.

The Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events publication received extensive coverage in print media, web and television and radio in the U.S. and Canada.

The Top 20 events are are listed on the STS website as well as the Escape to the Southeast website.

We’d like to thank the Danville/Boyle County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) for nominating us for this honor.

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

KANSAS CITY, MO. — For Alex Swanstrom, an auditor at a financial firm, cutting into the dead pig wasn’t hard. It was what happened next that made him rethink whether whole-animal butchery was something he was ready to dive into.

Decked out in a black apron on a recent Sunday afternoon, Mr. Swanstrom, 27, slipped a six-inch boning knife into the carcass of a 275-pound Berkshire-Duroc hog that was splayed out in two large hemispheres on a table inside Local Pig, a butcher shop in this city’s industrial East Bottoms area. He was supposed to carve off the front shank…

By BEN PAYNTER
Published: January 28, 2013

Click to read the full article in the New York Times

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

Awesome Barbecue Video Diners, Drive Ins and Dives Real Deal BBQ

Guy Fieri of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visit three of America’s top barbecue joints in this episode, Real Deal BBQ.

Guy’s first stop is Gardena, CA where he visits Jay Bee’s BBQ, run by Beverly Neely, sister of Jim Neely of Interstate BBQ in Memphis, TN. Jay Bee’s is known for their pulled pork, brisket and ribs. They make their famous BBQ sauce 3 times every day.

Next up is Smoque BBQ in Chicago, IL. Three friends decided they had enough of the IT world and turned their hobby into a business. Texas Style Brisket, Memphis Ribs and Carolina Pulled Pork are featured on their menu. Smoque BBQ is teaching a Baby Back Ribs town the virtues of St. Louis Style Spare Ribs and winning converts along the way. They have won numerous accolades from Chicago area and National media.

The final stop of this tour is Rick Schoenberger’s BBQ Shack in Paola, KS. Serving all the staples of Kansas City Barbecue, the BBQ Shack also features whole hog by special order. Here, Guy is treated to some smokin’ Jalapeńo poppers. After the smoke clears, BBQ Shack is a clear winner.

So no matter where in the country you are, take this opportunity to catch up on some real barbecue joints service real barbeque. And when that hunger for some real smoked meat builds to where you just can’t stand it, get out and find some real barbecue where you live.

Watch this video to see some Real Deal BBQ served up just for you.

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party

Wes Berry goes to Danville KY, where he attends the Danville KY BBQ Festival. On day one we visit a Bourbon Barrel Auction for charity. Then on day two, Wes grubs on some of the best barbecue cooked by Pit Masters from all over and interviews some really passionate barbecue people. Join us as we have some fun at the Danville BBQ Festival!

From a post at: Kentucky State BBQ Festival - Danville, KY's own Barbecue Block Party