Up in Smoke brings out the best in competitors for Kansas City Barbecue Society, Backyard and Kids' Que

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[June 10, 2016]   LINCOLN - On Saturday, June 4, 2016, fifty three teams competed in the sixth year of "Up in Smoke on the Square" held in downtown Lincoln. State Bank of Lincoln was the prime sponsor of the popular summertime event.

Saturday morning's events began with a blessing by John Means.

The Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) participants prepared chicken, pork ribs, pork, and beef brisket. According to rules on the KCBS website, contest must submit six portions of meat in an approved container, and the chicken, pork and brisket may be chopped, pulled, sliced, or diced; while ribs must be turned in bone-in.

Teams this year were from various parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and Indiana.

Many teams travel around Illinois and throughout the Midwest to participate in competitions with the competition circuit lasting from April to September each year.



The Sleepy Hollow team from Mountain Home Arkansas with members Mark and Matt, joined the Lincoln competition for the first time. They have been competing on the BBQ circuit for six years, travelling to Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Alabama.

The team said, "We play with different sauces and spices. Some like it spicy and some like it tangy." They use trash can drums for cooking.



The Sauced -N- Smoked team from Peoria has members Dave Swanson, Rafael Escobedo, Bill Edwards, and Chad Doty. The team was competing for the second year and were the reigning Anything Goes champions. The team has also competed in Morton and Peoria.

Swanson said "Our meats are prepped with love. We make our own sauces and mix it up each time for the rubs."



Another team competing for the second year is Moor King BBQ from Peoria with members Corey Eadie, David Macak, Justin Day and Will Galloway. For the past three years, the team has been in BBQ competitions in places such as Brimfield.

Moor King BBQ uses a cooker made by Corey Eadie's grandfather in Texas. Eadie said, "We make our own rub and use a mixture of sauces." Macak said, "The secret ingredient is love."

The DanDy BBQ team made up of Doug Ritterbush and Duane Petty of Lincoln is competing for the third year. Ritterbush and Petty use a special blend of spices and rubs on their meats. They won the Backyard BBQ the first year it was part of the contest and soon decided to enter KCBS competitions.

The DanDy BBQ team has also competed in Arthur, Morton, Dwight, Brimfield and Oakford. Though they have not won KCBS competitions, Ritterbush said, "We're in it to win it."




Another Lincoln team is Bear Down Smoking BBQ with members Rick Freed, Chad Emberton and Doug Butler They have also competed in Dwight and Leroy.

Freed said, "Trade secrets make the BBQ special, but what makes it (competing) special is the fun we have."



Rural Route BBQ's  Jeremiah Burris is from McLeansboro, Illinois. He won grand champion at a competition in Missouri last week. It is his fifth season to compete.

Burris said, "I use my own rubs and sauces. There are lots of different ways to cook it."



Three Smoking Stooges Royal Oak Charcoal team with Jason, Jesse and Grant, has been competing all six years of "Up in Smoke" The team has also competed at Westmont, Elk Grove and Arthur. They won fifth in pork last year.

Three Smoking Stooges uses a different combination of sauces and rubs.

Backyard Barbeque

The Fourth Annual Backyard BBQ competition sponsored by Royal Oak, offers the opportunity for amateurs to showcase their BBQ talents. This year, there was about 18 teams. These teams cook pork, ribs and chicken. Some of the teams also vied for a people's choice award for ribs.



No Limit's Matthew Evans entered the backyard competition for the first time. Evans has cooked for the Middletown Methodist Church fundraiser. He hopes to open a food truck some day. Evans said, I make my own sauces, both spicy and non-spicy, and everyone who has tried it loves it."



Pack –N- a Charge BBQ with Shawn and Shannon Kelly, were in the backyard competition for the second year. They placed fourth in ribs last year. Shannon Kelly said, "We have been in a few other competitions and are looking to improve. We make our own rubs. Homemade rub is the key to good barbeque."

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Another team competing for the second year was Backdraft BBQ Crew with Ryan and Katie Lemme. Katie Lemme said, "Ryan does a lot of cooking and smoking meat at home, so we decided to compete. We use a blend of spices."



Double D's Rock Shack BBQ with members Dante, Dakin, and Dayne Dalpaos has been in the competition every year. They won first place for chicken in 2014 and second place for chicken in 2015. The team uses their own rub for ribs and a special blend of secret sauces.

Kid's Que

This year was the second one for the Kid's Que competition. The competition has two age groups with one for children 7-11 and another group for 12-15 year olds.

All the children are provided with ground beef patties, but the cooking and staging of the patties for presentation is left entirely up to the child.

Many of the teams competed last year and most of the children said they compete mainly for fun.


Last year's winners Tanner Strampp and Trent Butterfield of Team Red, White, and Blue BBQ. The boys said, "We are back to defend our title."


Jackson Mathon and Prescott Davis of Country Boys BBQ "enjoy cooking and grilling."

Jake Griffin and Jaden Klopp of Killing It and Grillin It enjoy both "cooking and competing."

Malina and Marin Luckhart of Little Nuthatch learned to cook from their parents, who own Nuthatch Hill BBQ. Their father, Brad, competes in the "Up in Smoke on the Square" and other KCBS contests.



Adrienna Reynolds and Mia Boughton of Grills Gone Wild, "just have a lot of fun." They won a prize in the 7-11 age group last year.



Isaiah Wahab of That One Brown Kid is in it "just for fun and loves cooking."



Burke Wilkin and Cadge Kingsley of Guardians of the Grill came back "because it is fun and we are good at cooking."



Jack Graue and Elijah Burton of Let's Kick Some Ash each have a different role. Graue chose the recipe and Burton is good with sauces and spices.



Dylan Duvall of Kill It and Grill entered for the first time. Duvall "enjoys grilling."

All the competitors worked hard at grilling and enjoyed this past weekend filled with new and renewed old friendships, good-natured ribbing and great food.

[Angela Reiners]

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