Smokin 42 BBQ Rules at Three Rivers Festival
After battling the elements over the past few contests, the teams of the Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) found picture perfect weather for the Three Rivers Festival at Towns Bluff Park. The teams responded by turning in outstanding BBQ. A common theme among the judges was how tough it was to pick a favorite among so many great entries. In the end, it was the Finals round Pulled Pork entry turned in by Smokin’ 42 BBQ of Tifton that got the last call of the day as Grand Champion.
Grand Champion – Smokin’ 42 BBQ
CaJenn Smokin’ Que of Hoboken had the highest cumulative score across all three categories in the preliminary rounds to take the Reserve Champion award.
Reserve Champion – CaJenn Smokin’ Que
1st Loin – Bethel Smokers
Bethel Smokers of Douglas captured the first place award in Pork Loin. CaJenn Smokin’ Que edge out Just Blowing Smoke of Canton for second place by 0.3 of a point. LawDawg BBQ from Brunswick took third place. Just Smoke N Around of Jackson took 5th place by 1/10th of a point over Smokin’ 42 BBQ, Seventh place went to Lizzy Lou of Middleburg, FL. Swainsboro’s Real South BBQ came in 8th place in Pork Loin with 92 BBQ/Assassin Smokers of Griffin in 9th place and H & J Cooking Team of Vienna in 10th place
First place in Pulled Pork went to Smokin’ 42 BBQ with 92 BBQ/Assassin Smokers as the runner-up. Dobey Q of Buena Vista captured 3rd place. Just Smoke N Around captured 4th place and Real South BBQ captured 5th place. Just 7/10th of a point separated 6th place from 9th place. in 6th place, it was LawDawg BBQ just ahead of Bubba Grills of Haddock in 7th place with Buffalo Chip BBQ of Hazlehurst taking 8th place and Mojo Smokehouse of Willcoochee taking 9th place. CaJenn Smokin’ Que rounded out the top 10 in Pulled Pork.
1st Ribs – Bubba Grills
Bubba Grills topped the Ribs category. Dobey Q took 2nd with Just Blowing Smoke taking 3rd place. CaJenn Smokin’ Que walked for the 4th place award with Buffalo Chip BBQ in 5th place. Real South BBQ grabbed 6th place and Smokin’ J’s of Dallas, GA grabbe 7th place. The 8th place call went out to Bethel Smokers. 92 BBQ/Assassin Smokers finished in 9th place in Ribs with Smokin’ 42 BBQ taking 10th place.
The GBA wants to thank the staff at Towns Bluff Park for hosting the contest at one of the best venue’s on our circuit. Thanks also to the Hazlehurst-Jeff Davis Co. Board of Tourism for organizing the contest. The GBA heads north to Acworth for Smoke on the Lake on May 8-9 then to Lake Walter F George in Fort Gaines for the White Oak Pastures BBQ Challenge on May 22-23. For more information about the Georgia Barbecue Association, visit our website at www.bbqga.org.
Full Results (note: scores for 1st, 2nd & 3rd places are final round scores. Scores from 4th place & down are preliminary round scores)
| LOIN | PULLED PORK | RIBS | ||||||||
| 1 | 596.3 | BETHEL SMOKERS | 1 | 596.9 | SMOKIN 42 BBQ | 1 | 595 | BUBBA GRILLS | ||
| 2 | 593 | CAJENN SMOKIN QUE | 2 | 593.8 | 92 BBQ | 2 | 593.6 | DOBEY Q | ||
| 3 | 592.7 | JUST BLOWING SMOKE | 3 | 591.3 | DOBEY Q | 3 | 593.4 | JUST BLOWING SMOKE | ||
| 4 | 591.8 | LAWDAWG BBQ | 4 | 589.3 | JUST SMOKE N AROUND | 4 | 591.1 | CAJENN SMOKIN QUE | ||
| 5 | 591.3 | JUST SMOKE N AROUND | 5 | 588.5 | REAL SOUTH BBQ | 5 | 587.5 | BUFFALO CHIP BBQ | ||
| 6 | 591.2 | SMOKIN 42 BBQ | 6 | 586.9 | LAWDAWG BBQ | 6 | 587.3 | REAL SOUTH BBQ | ||
| 7 | 587.2 | LIZZY LOU | 7 | 586.6 | BUBBA GRILLS | 7 | 587 | SMOKIN J’S | ||
| 8 | 587 | REAL SOUTH BBQ | 8 | 586.3 | BUFFALO CHIP BBQ | 8 | 583.6 | BETHEL SMOKERS | ||
| 9 | 586.6 | 92 BBQ | 9 | 586.2 | MOJO SMOKEHOUSE | 9 | 581.7 | 92 BBQ | ||
| 10 | 586.2 | H&J COOKING TEAM | 10 | 584.2 | CAJENN SMOKIN QUE | 10 | 580.6 | SMOKIN 42 BBQ | ||
| 11 | 585.9 | SMOKIN J’S | 11 | 583.9 | H&J COOKING TEAM | 11 | 579.4 | H&J COOKING TEAM | ||
| 12 | 580 | BUFFALO CHIP BBQ | 12 | 579.7 | SMOKIN J’S | 12 | 579 | LAWDAWG BBQ | ||
| 13 | 579 | RAGING SMOKE BBQ | 13 | 575.7 | RAGING SMOKE BBQ | 13 | 578.7 | OLD HENRY BBQ | ||
| 14 | 576.6 | DOBEY Q | 14 | 574.4 | LIZZY LOU | 14 | 576.1 | MOJO SMOKEHOUSE | ||
| 15 | 571.7 | BUBBA GRILLS | 15 | 571.7 | BETHEL SMOKERS | 15 | 575.1 | RAGING SMOKE BBQ | ||
| 16 | 571.4 | OLD HENRY BBQ | 16 | 570.5 | JUST BLOWING SMOKE | 16 | 574 | LIZZY LOU | ||
| 17 | 556.7 | MOJO SMOKEHOUSE | 17 | 558.9 | OLD HENRY BBQ | 17 | 560.5 | JUST SMOKE N AROUND |
| Reserve Champion Scores | Loin | Pulled | Ribs | Total | ||
| 1 | CAJENN SMOKIN QUE | 596.1 | 584.2 | 591.1 | 1771.4 | |
| 2 | SMOKIN 42 BBQ | 591.2 | 594.2 | 580.6 | 1766 | |
| 3 | DOBEY Q | 576.6 | 591.1 | 598.2 | 1765.9 | |
| 4 | REAL SOUTH BBQ | 587 | 588.5 | 587.3 | 1762.8 | |
| 5 | 92 BBQ | 586.6 | 590.8 | 581.7 | 1759.1 | |
| 6 | LAWDAWG BBQ | 591.8 | 586.9 | 579 | 1757.7 | |
| 7 | JUST BLOWING SMOKE | 593.6 | 570.5 | 592.1 | 1756.2 | |
| 8 | BUBBA GRILLS | 571.7 | 586.6 | 596.4 | 1754.7 | |
| 9 | BUFFALO CHIP BBQ | 580 | 586.3 | 587.5 | 1753.8 | |
| 10 | SMOKIN J’S | 585.9 | 579.7 | 587 | 1752.6 | |
| 11 | BETHEL SMOKERS | 594.5 | 571.7 | 583.6 | 1749.8 | |
| 12 | H&J COOKING TEAM | 586.2 | 583.9 | 579.4 | 1749.5 | |
| 13 | JUST SMOKE N AROUND | 591.3 | 589.3 | 560.5 | 1741.1 | |
| 14 | LIZZY LOU | 587.2 | 574.4 | 574 | 1735.6 | |
| 15 | RAGING SMOKE BBQ | 579 | 575.7 | 575.1 | 1729.8 | |
| 16 | MOJO SMOKEHOUSE | 556.7 | 586.2 | 576.1 | 1719 | |
| 17 | OLD HENRY BBQ | 571.4 | 558.9 | 578.7 | 1709 |