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Writing samples from Ryan Sanders. For more information about Ryan's freelance work, visit www.ichthuscreativeguild.com.Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Barbecue Feature
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
July 4, 1999 Section: TEXAS Edition: BULLDOG AM Page: 1
Burn, baby, burn
BBQ bosses fire up cookers for Texas taste
Ryan Sanders Star-Telegram Writer
Jeff Shivers isn't comfortable without a pair of tongs in one hand and a drink in the other. With smoke rising from his pipe and stainless steel cooker, Shivers stakes his claim at barbecue cook-offs 20 times a year. He's one of many cooks who make a lifestyle, if not a living, from the sauce and smoke of Texas barbecue.
Among the sizzle and Shiner, there is a sort of brotherhood among the pack of traveling chefs at dozens of cook-offs every summer.
Pilots, salesmen, mechanics and cooks, they come from all walks of life and all corners of the territory to woo a table of people with one of Texas' hardest jobs - barbecue judge.
"It's like a big family, actually," said world champion bison cook David Higginbothum who makes his barbecue sauce and his home in Arlington. "At different places, you'll see different people, but there are 25 or 30 of us who go to all the meets if they're around close to here."
Actually, there are hundreds of barbecue bon vivants in Texas.
Arlington resident Lynn Shivers manages an association of 500 cooks called the International Barbecue Cookers Association, or IBCA.
There are four other such organizations in Texas and several around the world.
The IBCA, the largest of its kind in Texas, sanctions more events than any other in the nation.
"We go out and administrate the judging to make sure the cooks get a fair judging," Shivers said. "Year before last, we did 72 events."
Some of those events, like the annual October cook-off at Traders Village in Grand Prairie, draw more than 100 cooks competing for the best chicken, brisket and pork spare rib recipes, which are guarded more tightly than a royal flush.
"I learned how to cook brisket from one of the best," Arlington gourmand Cary Shady said. "My Papaw had seven cafes in his heyday and a barbecue pit at each one. He made his rub in a five-gallon pickle bucket and it called for a box of salt. It's a 50-year-old rub and I still use it."
Shady said he started cooking competitively after his daughter Corinne's second birthday party.
"I had three gas grills going out there and it seemed like I missed my daughter's birthday party because I was too busy cooking," he remembered. "I thought, `There's got to be a better way. ' So I bought one of those commercial smokers. Now I can cook and visit and enjoy a drink and even run down the street for an hour and everything's all right."
But once he and his father, Cal, entered their first cook-off together, Shady was hooked on more than the meat. He loved the barbecue circuit.
"They give trophies for best-dressed campsite," he said. "So we would be out there with our fifth-wheel, our carpet, tiki torches, lawn chairs, the whole shebang. What a great way to have a camaraderie, to visit with people while you're cooking some good groceries. That's what it's all about."
For some cooks, though, it's also about money.
"There are cash prizes at some of the events," Shivers explained.
"The largest payback is at a cook-off in Palestine that paid $15,000, but not all to one cook."
Most cooks can't win enough to make up for their expenses.
Higginbothum estimates a cost of $250 every time his cooker leaves his driveway.
"It can get pretty expensive if you don't win," he said.
But most cooks on the barbecue circuit aren't in it for money.
Shivers' husband, Jeff, has been competing for 15 years and won first place cook-offs from the Harris County Fair in Houston to the Waylon Jennings Invitational in Littlefield. He said he loses money every year on the hobby, most years somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000.
Jeff Shivers was one of nine founders of the IBCA. Last year, he and Lynn traveled 11,000 miles to attend 20 events - the farthest of which was the Jack Daniels Invitational in Lynchburg, Tenn.
"My husband keeps telling everyone the cooking is getting in the way of his socializing," Lynn Shivers said. "Barbecue cookers are like extended family. You make a lot of friends, people you run into on a regular basis."
Besides their recipes, barbecue bosses pride themselves most on their cookers. Most are mounted on trailers. Bigger is always better.
Many are custom-built and some are even custom-painted.
"It weighs about 3,500 pounds, custom-painted blue, purple, black and red," Higginbothum said of his pride and joy. "You have to see it."
But away from their weekend barbecue battles, these cooks talk - and eat - less shop than you might think.
Said Lynn Shivers, "Barbecue is one thing we don't go out and eat. '
July 4, 1999 Section: TEXAS Edition: BULLDOG AM Page: 1
Burn, baby, burn
BBQ bosses fire up cookers for Texas taste
Ryan Sanders Star-Telegram Writer
Jeff Shivers isn't comfortable without a pair of tongs in one hand and a drink in the other. With smoke rising from his pipe and stainless steel cooker, Shivers stakes his claim at barbecue cook-offs 20 times a year. He's one of many cooks who make a lifestyle, if not a living, from the sauce and smoke of Texas barbecue.
Among the sizzle and Shiner, there is a sort of brotherhood among the pack of traveling chefs at dozens of cook-offs every summer.
Pilots, salesmen, mechanics and cooks, they come from all walks of life and all corners of the territory to woo a table of people with one of Texas' hardest jobs - barbecue judge.
"It's like a big family, actually," said world champion bison cook David Higginbothum who makes his barbecue sauce and his home in Arlington. "At different places, you'll see different people, but there are 25 or 30 of us who go to all the meets if they're around close to here."
Actually, there are hundreds of barbecue bon vivants in Texas.
Arlington resident Lynn Shivers manages an association of 500 cooks called the International Barbecue Cookers Association, or IBCA.
There are four other such organizations in Texas and several around the world.
The IBCA, the largest of its kind in Texas, sanctions more events than any other in the nation.
"We go out and administrate the judging to make sure the cooks get a fair judging," Shivers said. "Year before last, we did 72 events."
Some of those events, like the annual October cook-off at Traders Village in Grand Prairie, draw more than 100 cooks competing for the best chicken, brisket and pork spare rib recipes, which are guarded more tightly than a royal flush.
"I learned how to cook brisket from one of the best," Arlington gourmand Cary Shady said. "My Papaw had seven cafes in his heyday and a barbecue pit at each one. He made his rub in a five-gallon pickle bucket and it called for a box of salt. It's a 50-year-old rub and I still use it."
Shady said he started cooking competitively after his daughter Corinne's second birthday party.
"I had three gas grills going out there and it seemed like I missed my daughter's birthday party because I was too busy cooking," he remembered. "I thought, `There's got to be a better way. ' So I bought one of those commercial smokers. Now I can cook and visit and enjoy a drink and even run down the street for an hour and everything's all right."
But once he and his father, Cal, entered their first cook-off together, Shady was hooked on more than the meat. He loved the barbecue circuit.
"They give trophies for best-dressed campsite," he said. "So we would be out there with our fifth-wheel, our carpet, tiki torches, lawn chairs, the whole shebang. What a great way to have a camaraderie, to visit with people while you're cooking some good groceries. That's what it's all about."
For some cooks, though, it's also about money.
"There are cash prizes at some of the events," Shivers explained.
"The largest payback is at a cook-off in Palestine that paid $15,000, but not all to one cook."
Most cooks can't win enough to make up for their expenses.
Higginbothum estimates a cost of $250 every time his cooker leaves his driveway.
"It can get pretty expensive if you don't win," he said.
But most cooks on the barbecue circuit aren't in it for money.
Shivers' husband, Jeff, has been competing for 15 years and won first place cook-offs from the Harris County Fair in Houston to the Waylon Jennings Invitational in Littlefield. He said he loses money every year on the hobby, most years somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000.
Jeff Shivers was one of nine founders of the IBCA. Last year, he and Lynn traveled 11,000 miles to attend 20 events - the farthest of which was the Jack Daniels Invitational in Lynchburg, Tenn.
"My husband keeps telling everyone the cooking is getting in the way of his socializing," Lynn Shivers said. "Barbecue cookers are like extended family. You make a lot of friends, people you run into on a regular basis."
Besides their recipes, barbecue bosses pride themselves most on their cookers. Most are mounted on trailers. Bigger is always better.
Many are custom-built and some are even custom-painted.
"It weighs about 3,500 pounds, custom-painted blue, purple, black and red," Higginbothum said of his pride and joy. "You have to see it."
But away from their weekend barbecue battles, these cooks talk - and eat - less shop than you might think.
Said Lynn Shivers, "Barbecue is one thing we don't go out and eat. '
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