Minnesota BBQ Society hosts 25th anniversary competition in St. Peter

A savory aroma filled the air as Tim Spellacy of Mankato fired up his grill at the Nicollet County Fairgrounds over the weekend.

Searing up a rack of ribs doused in a thick honey and brown sugar glaze, Spellacy was out to cook up a delicious plate of meat that just might win him a chunk of the $14,000 in prize money offered at the Minnesota Barbeque Society’s Minnesota in May Barbeque contest.

Spellacy was one of over 100 competitors who came out to St. Peter over the weekend Friday and Saturday to fight for a top spot in the state’s largest barbeque competition. Like many of the event’s grillmasters, Spellacy has a passion for the craft of barbeque. For around 12 years now, he’s been honing his talents to cook up the most mouthwatering recipes he can.

The grill master said his love of barbeque started later in life. In fact, Spellacy spent most of his childhood believing he hated ribs because of the way his mother cooked them in a crock pot. But when his brother offered him up a plate of ribs cooked on a kettle grill, Spellacy realized there was so much more to the meat than he thought possible.

The taste of those ribs sent Spellacy and his brother their own shared barbeque journey. They began taking classes from professional BBQ competition teams to learn different cooking techniques and experiment with countless flavor combinations. It wasn’t long before the brothers began competing themselves in Minnesota BBQ Society contests.

Over the years, Spellacy has learned that the key to a good competition barbeque is packing in as much flavor as one can into every bite.

“A competition barbeque is different than regular-eating barbeque,” said Spellacy. “You use a lot of butter and brown sugar and honey and the judges are going to take one bite so you try to pack as much flavor into one bite as you can.”

Barbeque enthusiasts like Spellacy came from far and wide for what was a landmark year for the Minnesota BBQ Society. This year’s competition marked the 25th anniversary of the barbeque organization and for this special occasion, organizers opened up the private event to the wider public.

Typically, events are restricted to Minnesota BBQ Society members, but for the first time in 10 years the general public had the opportunity to compete in three of the Minnesota BBQ Society’s grilling competitions. There was the turkey smoke contest, the one meat rib challenge and the Compart Kid’s Que Challenge where youth ages 16 and younger could show off their skills on the grill.

The Kid’s Que Challenge was the perfect opportunity for David Ellis of Bloomington to share his favorite hobby with his daughter Hazel. Each year, Ellis takes his grill to 20 different barbeque competitions across the nation to showcase his cooking talents. Now, his daughter is picking up the tongs as well. Cooking on a child’s-sized pink grill, Hazel prepared a delicious plate of chicken for the judges.

Ellis said he started competing six years ago after being inspired by the reality television show BBQ Pitmasters, which follows barbeque cooks competing for cash prizes in cooking competitions.

“I used to watch that show all the time and I started thinking I could beat those guys and fast forward six years later, here we are,” said Ellis.

Since picking up the spatula, Ellis has had the chance to compete directly against several of the cooks showcased on the television show and even take some wins over them. That included BBQ Pitmasters features Jeff Vanderlinde of Shiggin’ & Grinnin’ and Darren Warth of Smokey D’s, both of whom were competing at the Minnesota BBQ Society competition this weekend.

“The community in this sport is my favorite part,” said Ellis. “We have a friend in Kansas City we had bets with and they lost and they ended up coming up here. And sometimes I lose bets and end up going to Kansas City. The community that’s in the sport of BBQ is unlike any other.”

While only Kansas City Barbeque Society certified judges could taste the prize-winning meats, community members satiated their cravings for barbeque at the Sugar Shack BBQ truck. Alongside the competitions, the event featured a scavenger hunt, a poker walk and live music.

Turnout well surpassed organizers’ expectations. Craig Grefe of the Minnesota BBQ Society said they would have been excited if 50 people showed up, but the competition managed to draw nearly 100 spectators. The revenues from the event’s high attendance will work their way back to the St. Peter community through the St. Peter Ambassadors, who will be donating all of the funds raised.

“These weekends hanging out with the BBQ community are always fun. It’s just as much hanging out with your buddies as it is cooking and competing,” said Grefe. “It’s been really fun this year having the public be able to come in and see it and meet some of the teams.”