Original subtitles

Are you ready for some barbecue?

That is delicious.

Every weekend, I'm traveling the country...

Really nice smoke.

...to top barbecue competitions...

-Here to kick some butt, man. -Whoa!

I'm coming to get my grand championship.

-Don't screw up. [laughs] -I won't, I won't!

[Michael Symon] ...where the best pit masters come to prove their skills...

[man] Ooh, they look good.

[Michael] ...and earn their place on the barbecue stage.

Competition's gonna be tough.

I'm here to see some of the tips and tricks...

[man] Sweet, heat, and salt.

[Michael] ...and find the tastiest food around.

[Michael] ...and find the tastiest food around.

-Oh, man. -This is barbecue. Nice.

This is America.

This is BBQ USA.

Buckle up and bring your appetites,

because we're here at the Kansas Speedway

for the American Royal World Series of Barbecue.

[Phil Johnson] This is the wow factor.

[Michael] The granddaddy of them all.

This is the largest barbecue competition

in the world.

This weekend, the Speedway will be jam-packed

This weekend, the Speedway will be jam-packed

with over 530 teams,

including 23 international teams,

competing to see who is the best

pit master in the world.

-Damn. -Right?

[Michael] Most barbecue competitions I've been to

have been between 40-maybe teams.

But with over 500 teams competing,

the American Royal is a lot bigger.

[Megan Day] Winning the American Royal means...

-Glory in the barbecue world. -Fame!

[Jason Day] This is the world championship.

You will be the world champion.

And you get to brag a lot.

[Michael] And it's not just bragging rights

the teams are competing for at the American Royal.

There's also bucketloads of cold, hard cash on the line.

The Royal dishes out over

$85,000 in prize money.

The overall grand champion team

walks away with $15,000,

and there's over $7,500 up for grabs

for each meat category.

It's serious. Nobody's taking this lightly at all.

[Michael] The American Royal is a grueling two-day competition.

[Michael] The American Royal is a grueling two-day competition.

On Day 1, teams will warm up

by competing in dessert and sides,

including potatoes, veggies, and beans.

On Day 2, teams will be competing in the big four,

ribs, brisket, chicken, and pork.

Here at the Royal, they've also added two more meats,

turkey and sausage.

I'm excited for tomorrow's meat extravaganza.

-What's up, guys? - But now I'm gonna check out these sides and desserts.

-What's up, guys? - But now I'm gonna check out these sides and desserts.

I'd say, like, I'll be back,

-but there's, like, 550 places to go. [laughs] -Yeah, yeah.

There's so many teams here. I've gotten my steps in.

-Yes, you are. -[laughs]

[Michael] One of the first teams I meet

is a family of fierce competitors

from right here in Kansas City.

We are Burnt Finger Barbecue!

[Michael] And this isn't their first barbecue.

[Jason] This is our 14th year at the American Royal.

The first year we cooked the American Royal

-was our second barbecue contest ever. -Ever.

-[Jason] We got fifth in brisket. -[Megan] Y es.

-[Megan] 38th overall. -Talk about the hook being set deep.

-[Megan] 38th overall. -Talk about the hook being set deep.

-Jason's in here with our vegetarian cousin, Matt. -[Michael laughs]

[Megan] We trust him with the sides.

-[Michael] Hi, guys, what's going on? -[Jason] Oh, hi.

[Michael] You're the... who's the vegetarian?

-Right here. -[Michael] Oh, he looks so much healthier.

[all laughing]

[Jason] We got a veggie gumbo going on here.

These are gonna be our meaty pit beans.

-[Michael] Yep, with some brisket in it? -[Jason] Yep.

[Michael] Baked beans are a Kansas City staple.

And many teams are hoping to score an award in this hearty side dish.

It's sweetened with brown sugar,

and little bit of chipotle mixed into it,

-to give it some, uh... yeah. -A little, like, smoky heat?

-to give it some, uh... yeah. -A little, like, smoky heat?

[Michael] Besides Mom, Dad, and cousin,

Burnt Finger has two more veteran team members.

The first barbecue contest I ever went to,

I was three weeks old.

[producer] What about you, Meredith?

I don't know if I was even born.

[Michael] Both Hank and Meredith will be competing

later this weekend in the Kids Que,

an event where the next generation

gets to show off their pit master skills.

What are you making?

I am making a hamburger

with candied bacon and cheese.

[Michael] Ooh, candied bacon.

[Michael] Ooh, candied bacon.

Who's gonna win out of you two?

-Me. -[Hank] I am.

[laughs]

Hey, I hope they both tie for first place.

-Yeah, we gotta coin flip, and... -[both laugh]

-First-ever tie for Kids Que champion. -That would be awesome.

[Michael] What's up, buddy?

Perhaps their toughest competition in the burger contest

will come from nine-year-old Reid Breedon of LC BBQ.

-How'd you do last year? -I won first place last year.

First place returning champ.

If I had to describe our barbecue in three words... It's easy.

It's Phil, Carmen, and Reid.

It's Phil, Carmen, and Reid.

It's a family affair when it comes to us.

[Michael] Reid's not the only champion on the LC BBQ team.

We've got about 30 grand championships

and about another 30 reserve grand championships.

He's not gonna admit it. This is definitely

the smartest person at this whole event.

[both laugh]

And when it comes to winning, I can say it just doesn't get old.

I think when it does, we'll let Reid take over and, uh,

-[laughs] -we'll pass the torch.

[Michael] I know someone else here at the American Royal

who doesn't get tired of winning,

restaurateur and pit master Phil Johnson.

restaurateur and pit master Phil Johnson.

[Phil J laughs] What's up, man?

My name is Phil the Grill.

And I inherited the name as the Jay-Z of barbecue.

And the reason why is because I'm doing pretty doggone good

in the barbecue circle.

[Michael] Phil's got several ribbons from previous American Royals,

including a prized one in beans.

I'm hoping my beans still is placing somewhere in there.

Look it, look it.

I wanna win beans, so let's see what I'm coming in with today.

-Bringing New York style? -Oh, you know I'm bringing that New York flavor, baby.

[laughs]

[laughs]

Phil the Grill is not from the South.

The only part of the South I'm from is the South Bronx.

It's not known for barbecue.

So, I had to make a footprint for New York,

and I came up with my own flavor profiles.

Do you just use drums for competition?

Yeah, because it's the quickest way to, like, travel.

-Give me a trashcan. -Yeah.

-I'm gonna get the same results. -[both laugh]

I'm not always the most liked person

in this barbecue community,

because, see, I'll rent a trailer,

I'll pull out some barrels out the, uh, storage,

I'll pull out some barrels out the, uh, storage,

and I'll win an award.

And then these guys got these big rigs and all of these setups.

And Phil the Grill gets the call. [laughs]

Let's go see my boys at YSB.

Phil the Grill likes to fly into contests,

doesn't come fully prepared.

[Phil J] Hey. Hey, yo.

-[Kyle Matuszewski] No. No. -[Justin Coffini] Never.

[Kyle] So he's constantly in and out of our trailer saying,

"Hey, can I borrow some saran wrap?

Can I borrow some paper towels? I need some knives."

-I just need some pans. -[Kyle] No!

You want us to cook your chicken, too?

You want us to cook your chicken, too?

-[laughs] -[Kyle] What else do you need?

[Michael] Phil's helpful neighbors are Arizona-based

up-and-comers YSB.

And they're going full throttle this weekend.

[Kyle] We are competing in chicken, ribs, pork, brisket,

sausage, veggie, potato, dessert, turkey...

-What else we doing? Beans. -Beans.

[Justin] Yeah, we're competing in a lot.

What's up, guys?

I cleverly timed my visit right before dessert turn-in

so I could taste their s'mores rocky road cheesecake.

-[Michael] This is delicious. -[Kyle] Thank you.

-It's salty, it's sweet, it's got great texture. -Thank you.

-It's salty, it's sweet, it's got great texture. -Thank you.

[Kyle] The thing out here, you gotta be different.

Everybody's doing the same stuff. We gotta try to be different.

Him and I, we like to add more spice.

These judges take one bite, so you have to hit 'em with a flavor punch.

Ever since we've started adding the championship punch, they've been loving it.

-We bring Arizona to Kansas City. -Yes.

-That's what we do. -We bring the West Coast.

[woman] Careful. Like carrying a newborn baby.

[Michael] As everyone turns in their desserts,

Day 1 comes to a close.

And the teams get ready for an early start.

[Phil Breeden] The only thing that truly scares me would be missing a turn-in.

[Phil Breeden] The only thing that truly scares me would be missing a turn-in.

[Carmen Breeden] We've never missed a turn-in.

I should never say that!

[both laugh]

-No. -Oh, we still got tomorrow to go.

[Michael] The day of the biggest contest in barbecue is finally here.

And it all starts before the sun comes up.

[Phil B] So in the morning, we'll wake up about 3:00.

Once I light the smoker, you know, it's all business.

[Michael] Before they've had their first cup of coffee,

our teams are putting their big meats on the smokers.

[Jason] Brisket and pork are gonna go on right now.

[Jason] Brisket and pork are gonna go on right now.

Pork on the small... or the big pit.

-Pork on the... hell. It's early. -[laughs] It's early.

[Jason] Pork on the big pit, brisket on the small pit.

[Michael] Competition barbecue always involves

juggling a lot of different meats

and staying on the clock.

But here at the American Royal,

with the addition of two extra meats,

you've really gotta stay on top of your cooking times.

[Jason] All right, we're gonna go check on our turkey.

[Michael] The turkey smoke contest at the American Royal

is a great chance for pit masters to show off their creativity.

is a great chance for pit masters to show off their creativity.

The rules are that they must smoke their turkey,

but then they can serve it any way they'd like.

We have a turkey pastrami that we've already smoked off.

[Jason] We kinda have a blackened crust

of coriander, black pepper, garlic.

We're gonna slice it up and then grill off Reuben sandwiches

for the turkey category.

[Michael] Burnt Finger brine their turkey in salt water

for two and a half days before it even went on the smoker,

which hydrated and seasoned the turkey.

[Megan] Ooh, that's juicy.

[Michael] Other teams use injections to add moisture,

which doesn't require as much lead time,

which doesn't require as much lead time,

but risks leaving dry spots if not injected carefully.

-How you feeling today? -I'm feeling great, man.

The only thing that's throwing me off a little bit is turkey, right?

That's not one of the normal categories,

and that's coming in first.

-Are you doing just breast? -Yeah.

Brined it overnight, smoke it up,

and then, yeah, I'm gonna make 'em into turkey sandwiches.

-[laughs] -All right, so you got 99 problems,

-but the turkey ain't one. -Turkey ain't one! [laughs]

[Michael] A few trailers away, Phil's neighbors, YSB,

are further along with their bird.

are further along with their bird.

Turkey went on at 10:00 last night for about 6 hours,

so it's real tender right now.

[Michael] What are you guys doing with the turkey?

[Jerry "Pops" Matuszewski] We're gonna make a turkey chimichanga

with green chili bacon rub in there.

They're getting fancy!

I kinda love this turkey category though,

because everyone's is gonna be so different.

-[Kyle] Dude, it's wide open, baby. -[Michael] Wide open.

[Michael] But LC BBQ believes that sometimes, simple is better.

What are you doing with turkey today?

I'll slice it kinda similar to brisket, so we'll just fan it out.

-Right. -Wet it with sauce. Nothing really crazy, here.

-Not in a sandwich or anything? -Not anything, no,

-no eggrolls, no sandwiches. -[laughs]

-no eggrolls, no sandwiches. -[laughs]

-An eggroll sounds delightful. [laughs] -No, I mean, um...

Sometimes I think you can kinda go overboard and complicated.

You got a giant turkey breast here

that we kinda trimmed to box size.

I injected it, then got a nice rub on there.

It's the turkey smoke, and they're all about turkey.

And, man, you put a good piece of turkey in front of them,

- they get excited about that. -[Michael] Yeah.

So there's a lot of interesting fun stuff going on with turkey today.

Some teams are really flexing their creativity,

while others are sticking with tradition.

We're just gonna have to see which method gets the judges fired up.

We're just gonna have to see which method gets the judges fired up.

[Michael] I'm at Kansas Speedway

for the massive American Royal Barbecue Festival,

where over 500 teams are competing

to be the world champion of barbecue.

The American Royal is the biggest contest in the world.

Anybody who's anybody in barbecue

is at this contest.

You can go beat people back home,

but you really wanna come out here

and see how your stuff compares to everybody else out here.

Clear eyes, full hearts, baby. Let's go.

[Michael] It may still be early,

but some of these meat turn-ins come at you fast and furious.

but some of these meat turn-ins come at you fast and furious.

It all starts with turkey at 11:30.

Then there's another meat due every half hour,

ending with sausage at 2:00 p.m.

That's six turn-ins in two-and-a-half hours,

so every minute counts.

Morning, guys.

-[Megan] Oh, hey. -What you got going with the ribs?

[Jason] These are spare ribs

-that we packed in brown sugar last night. -With sugar.

[Jason] So we are gonna do a little something different with our ribs.

We're sugar curing the ribs, baby.

[Jason] So she's gonna start rinsing off the sugar.

We want them to look like a slab of bacon.

We want them to look like a slab of bacon.

[Michael] I love this.

Sugar curing is an old-school technique

that adds a nice bark texture

and also intensifies the color.

That is a really dark red

-in comparison to what it looked like before. -[Michael] Oh, 100%.

[Jason] We've placed in every category the Royal has to offer.

-Except one. Except ribs. -Except ribs. Yeah.

We're hoping that this sugar cure on the ribs

is gonna take us to the awards stage.

I'm really excited to try these.

Another method teams use to make their ribs stand out from the pack

is adding different types of rubs.

So my rib rub, you know, it's like a bottle of New York.

So my rib rub, you know, it's like a bottle of New York.

It's got cumin, allspice. It's everything I kinda grew up with.

So this is salt, pepper, onion, garlic.

The salty, savoriness that's at the very bottom of the rib.

-Megan's coming back with all purpose competition dry rub. -Competition all purpose.

[Jason] It's got onion, celery, paprika in it.

That's just gonna give the base of our color.

Then we've got a sweeter rub

that we're gonna come back on top of all of this.

It just keeps building the next layer of flavor.

It just keeps building the next layer of flavor.

[Jason] Somewhat, like, salty base with sweet on top.

-Uh, like a chocolate covered pretzel. -[laughs]

[Michael] Good morning. How are you guys?

I pay a quick visit to last year's American Royal winners,

Triple H BBQ,

who share a great rub technique they use to enhance their ribs.

Just gonna go on real light. I'm going to poke holes in all the fat.

-To kind of-- -[Andrea] So this is one of our little...

[Bill] Little secrets, I guess.

-[Michael] No, that's a good secret. -[Bill] Um...

Pretty good poke, go again.

This is a great little tip for you at home.

He's got almost like a little cocktail fork.

He's got almost like a little cocktail fork.

He's not poking through the meat.

He's looking kind of where the fat pockets are on those ribs,

giving it a little poke.

It allows the rub and the seasonings to permeate it a little bit.

It's breaking up the fat a little bit.

I like it.

With the ribs finally on the smoker,

the teams need to pivot back to turkey

because their first turn-in deadline is fast approaching.

-[Kyle] What's up, amigo? -What's going on?

[Kyle] Slicing some turkey.

-There you go, sir. -Beautiful. Thank you.

We cooked it low and slow,

-about four-and-a-half hours outside. -Mmm-hmm.

-about four-and-a-half hours outside. -Mmm-hmm.

Ooh.

-What you think? -That's good.

You guys did the turkey on the bone.

Correct, on the bone.

[Michael] You know, like, a lot of times you see people smoke turkey breast,

they smoke it off the bone.

But, like, all that moisture and flavor comes from the bone.

-It really, it protects you, you know? -Exactly, yes.

-That's why we like to use it on the bone. -Yep.

So, we also made a turkey gravy.

My dad's heating it up.

It seems like he's the secret weapon a little bit.

-You know, he's the one that got me into all this. -Okay.

[Kyle] My dad loves to cook.

He was the guy that cooked for our family.

So I was like, "You know what?"

So I was like, "You know what?"

I went and bought him a real cheap, cheap, cheap smoker,

now that I look at it, from one of the hardware stores.

I brought it home, and we cooked on that every weekend.

Found a barbecue contest, him and I went out there.

It was 127 teams there.

It's massive. We don't know what we're doing.

We got a seventh place chicken call.

So to see my pops walk up on that stage smiling,

-and I was like, "Yo..." -That's a good story.

You know what I'm saying?

Ever since then, it just snowballed.

Now we do two, three a month.

[Michael] What's in the gravy?

[Pops] We've got onions in there, the stock from the turkey.

[Pops] We've got onions in there, the stock from the turkey.

-We've got some Hatch green chiles. -Beautiful.

[Pops] The gravy sucks up into the meat

-and it really makes for a really juicy chimichanga. -[Michael] Yeah.

[chuckles] I might do this for Thanksgiving.

[all laughing]

With the turkey in a good place,

the teams refocus on wrapping the ribs

to pack in even more flavor.

This is not gonna be your normal barbecue restaurant barbecue.

They only taking one bite,

and you have to smack them in the mouth

with just one bite.

[Phil B] So as far as what the judges are looking for,

[Phil B] So as far as what the judges are looking for,

you know, I think it would be balance.

I never wanna go too far in any direction.

I wanna provide balance to the judge where they get a little bit of everything,

but not too much of anything.

Looks like some rib wrapping over there.

-You got butter, brown sugar. -And look.

I made some bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches this morning...

-Oh, all right. -...and I had leftover bacon fat.

-Guess what's going in my wrap. See? -All right. [laughs]

Yo, this is why they call me the JAY-Z of barbecue.

The freestyle, 'cause this wasn't part of my recipe till this morning.

I'm hoping that the bacon fat,

I'm hoping that the bacon fat,

it will also add that fried bacon flavor in it, you know?

That's what I'm looking for.

Put back what came out of it.

-Well, yeah, exactly. All right. -[both laughing]

What I like about cooking

is you have a recipe and a blueprint you follow,

but then you can tweak it.

I call it P. Diddy-ing a recipe.

It's the remix of the recipe,

and that's what I'm about.

-Why are we at 200 on this? -[Megan gasps softly]

We're out of pellets.

[Michael] The normal barbecue competition lineup of four meats

[Michael] The normal barbecue competition lineup of four meats

is already relentless.

But adding two extra meats

means these teams need to keep the pedal to the metal all day long.

Right now, we got, we got four meats on,

and chicken's gonna go on pretty soon.

So we're about to have five meats on the pit at once.

So it's, uh, something that'll keep you on your toes, for sure.

I was a little worried about not having enough smokers,

'cause you got actually five meats you gotta do, right?

So you got turkey, you got ribs,

you got brisket, you got pork,

and you got sausage.

and you got sausage.

[Michael] Um, actually, Phil, you have six meats today.

Uh, looks like you might have forgotten one.

[man] Probably get, uh...

[woman] Which, which is the chicken in?

Uh, the orange one.

[Michael] When our crew asks to shoot the chicken,

Phil realizes it slipped his mind.

Wait, did I put it in?

-I didn't... -No, we didn't put it in yet.

-That's the drama. -Where's the chicken?

[laughs] I didn't put the chicken...

I thought I put the chicken on.

The chicken ain't in.

Uh, that turkey, you know what I mean? It throws things off.

See, turkey messing me up.

See, turkey messing me up.

Turkey's a turkey.

[Michael] Here at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue,

they are giving out $7,500 in prize money

for six different meat categories.

But keeping track of six meats can be a real challenge.

[laughing] I thought I put the chicken on.

The chicken ain't in.

Turkey has just got me a little uptight

because, you know, it's not part of the program.

We're a hour away from turkey turn-in right now.

So I'm getting nervous, getting my thoughts ready.

I gotta get chicken done and these sandwiches together.

[Michael] As it gets closer to turkey turn-in,

the pitmasters begin to prepare their creative entries.

the pitmasters begin to prepare their creative entries.

Turkey, take me home, baby.

-Mmm. -That's delicious.

[Phil J] I'm doing this turkey sandwich,

but it's a Japanese style.

I'm gonna add a panko crust to that turkey

to give it that extra Phil the Grill loving.

Whoo-hoo!

You know, I like to play around.

That's why they call me Phil the Grill,

the freestyle barbecuer.

See? This is the wow factor.

So right now, I'm toasting the milk bread from Japan.

So right now, I'm toasting the milk bread from Japan.

It's like a Texas toast mixed with a croissant.

Now I'm just hoping that it's something to knock the judges' socks off.

Either I'm gonna win big or lose big.

[laughing]

All right. Here, try this.

Let's see what we got.

All right, so there you guys go. Look.

This is a great bread.

It crisps up nice, but it's very soft in the center.

And then he panko-crusted the turkey,

so that's gonna give it a lot of crunch.

-What's in the sauce? -I got sake, Worcestershire,

-ketchup, mustard, honey. -It's nice.

-Yep, yep. -It's nice, sweet, got some nice depth.

-Yep, yep. -It's nice, sweet, got some nice depth.

-Huh? -[Michael] Pretty good, Phil.

[laughs]

Turkey's super juicy, great textures.

Really, really nice flavors.

It's simple and straightforward, but really good.

-[Phil J] Thank you. -Don't sleep on Phil.

-[Phil J laughing] -They don't call him Phil the Grill for nothing, baby.

Over at YSB,

Pops is putting that smoked turkey meat

Pops is putting that smoked turkey meat

that's been sauteing in the Hatch chile gravy

in a tortilla and frying it up.

-I smell some chimichanga magic happening. -[Pops] You bet ya.

-[Michael] That's a delicious bite. -Look at the chile.

See the chile in there, filled with that smoked turkey?

Good smoked flavor, little bit of bite in that sauce.

And then that avocado crema on top

just kinda smooths everything out.

Great texture with the fry.

All day, I could eat these.

Great job, Dad.

Great job, Dad.

-Got the secret weapon loaded back here. -[chuckles]

Can see the turkey.

Turkey is awesome.

So now, we just gotta quickly build all the rest of it,

try to make it look pretty.

[Michael] Burnt Finger's turkey pastrami Reubens

are getting loaded with tangy flavors

like Gruyere cheese, sauerkraut,

and Thousand Island dressing.

[Megan] We should have been building about seven or eight minutes ago, at least.

-Yeah. -11:07 right now.

-Yeah. -11:07 right now.

[Megan] We have to turn it in at 11:30,

so we are hustling to get this toasted.

So we just gotta give it a little bit of time on there.

We don't have a lot, 'cause I still have to walk

with a pretty box.

That's not getting as hot as I thought it was going to,

and I think my fire went out.

-There's always hiccups along the road. -All right.

[Michael] With one smoker out of commission

and no time to spare,

Burnt Finger scrambles for another solution.

Audible, audible, audible. Okay, we got 10 minutes.

So we're either gonna have lunch or a turn-in.

So we're either gonna have lunch or a turn-in.

[Michael] It's interesting to see how a lot of people do the turkey.

Some are just doing straight-up smoked, sliced, classic presentation.

[Phil B] The part about my food that makes me the proudest

is typically my presentation.

I just like making pretty barbecue.

I like when that judge opens that box, they go,

"Wow, this is something special."

[Michael] Others are giving the judges something they might not expect.

[Pops] Hoping that the taste of these things will overcome the appearance.

[Pops] Hoping that the taste of these things will overcome the appearance.

I wasn't too impressed with how the box turned out

from appearance perspective.

I should've had the chimichangas, like, propped up after I cut it

so you can actually see the chile and stuff inside of it.

But hopefully, the judges will like the flavor,

and the appearance won't be that big of a deal.

Okay. We're good.

One of our traditions...

...kiss the box.

-Thank you so much. -All right.

Let's go, Phil!

Don't miss that turn-in.

Don't miss that turn-in.

[Phil J] Yo, let me borrow your box!

You can't borrow a turn-in!

[laughs]

[turkey gobbling]

[Phil J] That's the gobble of the turkey.

So I felt a little bit disappointed with the turkey.

Like, after I put it in the box,

I didn't really like my presentation anymore.

But it was tasty dish. So let's see what I do.

Okay, guys, the line is fast and furious.

Everybody is dropping their boxes right now

so they can get back and start working on the next thing.

'Cause remember, they've got five more turn-ins to go

'Cause remember, they've got five more turn-ins to go

with another deadline every 30 minutes.

[Megan] It's got good grill marks,

but it probably needs a little zhushing.

[Jason] Hopefully the marble rye doesn't look burnt.

-[Megan] I... -[Jason] Hopefully now it tastes better.

We're gonna see if that works against us.

Since we decided to do some grill marks on it,

-hopefully they don't think that pumpernickel's burnt. -Yeah.

All right. I'm out.

See you. Watch the scooter.

-We might have sacrificed appearance... -Appearance...

-...just a little bit. -...for flavor.

-For flavor. -And texture.

[Jason] Yeah, the marble rye definitely tasted better on the sandwich.

[Jason] Yeah, the marble rye definitely tasted better on the sandwich.

So we'll see.

-Hopefully we're the only Reuben out there. [laughs] -Yeah.

[Michael] Cash and pride are on the line.

We're gonna see what our appearance scores do.

[Michael] And with turkey turned in,

the competition is starting to heat up.

[announcer] ...world series barbecue.

We have barbecue sauce wrestling.

We want to see people wrestle! Let's do it!

[Michael] Things are heating up at the American Royal.

Turkey and chicken are in the rear view.

Now teams are laser focused on ribs.

Down to the last couple of details,

we've picked the ones that we think have

the best appearance, flavor, texture.

[Kyle] There's probably eight or nine different sauces inside this sauce.

When a judge eats it, all these flavors are going around in their head,

and they're like, "What was that?"

And they can't do nothing but give you a high score for it.

And they can't do nothing but give you a high score for it.

[Phil J exclaims]

Look at them ribs flow, baby!

[Carmen] All right, we're going in.

All righty.

-Let's go, baby. -You got four minutes.

[Michael] A few of our teams took some pretty big swings in ribs.

So it'll be interesting to see

if their shakeups impress the judges.

Ribs, I thought it was amazing.

I gave, like, 10 ribs in a box.

They were all nice and glistened.

I think my bacon fat definitely helped.

[Michael] I can't wait to see how Burnt Finger's

sugar curing technique pays off.

Luckily, they saved me a few.

Luckily, they saved me a few.

-Okay. -You can see the color that that...

-Oh, look at that. -...sugar cure put on them.

[Michael] So that's kinda awesome.

It creates this little cure in there

by, like, the deep rosy pink.

You get a nice sweetness.

But look at how rosy the meat is,

and that's 'cause of the cure.

I think that is a great trick.

We hope that the judges are ready for that. [laughs]

If they're not, shame on them.

Because that's a special rib.

Let's go, baby! Let's go!

[Michael] As the teams juggle the big meats,

pork and brisket...

pork and brisket...

[Phil B] Getting close, not quite there.

[Michael] ...they're also prepping some real show stoppers

for the final turn-in category, sausage.

-It smells fantastic. -Smells really good.

[Michael] Sausage is a special category

here at the American Royal,

and one you don't see at a lot of competitions.

Similar to the turkey category,

the competitors are given the freedom to flex

their creative muscles

and whip up some truly mouth-watering

sausage turn-ins.

So okay, what do we got going?

We got our pork bombs.

It's pork sausage wrapped in maple bacon

It's pork sausage wrapped in maple bacon

with two types of cheese, cheddar and Monterey jack,

and poblano and onion,

-so that gives it a good flavor, yeah. -A little heat.

-Not too much, but... -[Michael] Huh? No,

-a delicate heat. -A delicate heat.

So those are gonna be tasty,

that sage-flavored sausage, cheese, poblano,

wrapped in bacon. I mean, come on.

But LC isn't the only team looking to get

some extra mileage by adding bacon.

It's how you win the sausage category,

you put a lot of bacon in it.

So the sausage category, we're doing the bacon explosion,

So the sausage category, we're doing the bacon explosion,

which is a bacon-wrapped, bacon-stuffed barbecue sausage.

I call this meats and crafts.

The bacon explosion was something I created years ago.

-Over a decade. -Yeah, I had a barbecue blog,

and it was the second article...

-[Megan] That we wrote! - [Jason laughing] ...that we wrote for the blog,

and it went viral across the internet.

-It was... -The most downloaded recipe in the history of the internet

-at the time. -At that time.

[Megan] I have two pounds of just good old chub sausage,

then I'm gonna add some canned jalapenos.

then I'm gonna add some canned jalapenos.

-We're bringing it back. -Yeah,

but we're gonna kick it up a notch for this year,

we're doing a cheesy jalapeno version

of the bacon explosion this year at the American Royal.

So I fried up more bacon.

[Michael] So it's sausage wrapped in bacon,

and stuffed with bacon,

then rolled up and smoked?

Oh, man. I think I'm in love.

I got these sausages.

Homemade, baby,

from the same brisket that I'm turning in today.

So with sausage, I'm going in my back of tricks again,

doing a pineapple jerk sausage.

doing a pineapple jerk sausage.

Who else is making jerk pineapple cheddar sausages today, huh?

You either gonna love it or you gonna hate it.

There's no in between for me. Never is.

I am in charge of the sausage.

It is a chicken jalapeno cheddar sausage.

We're gonna smoke for about an hour

to about 160-ish,

and then we're gonna pan-fry just a little bit.

We want to crisp it up, just so when the judges bite that,

they can get through that casing.

[Michael] At LC BBQ, I'm pulled into

an important garnish discussion.

What's up, guys?

[Phil B] So we're trying to decide... She's trying to decide

do I go with the candied jalapeno?

I don't know, baby, that's up to you.

-[Carmen] Yeah. -I told her she ain't gonna pin it on me...

[laughs]

[Phil B] It might be up to Michael.

[all laughing]

In the words of you, don't pin it on me.

[all laughing]

[Michael] Will it be jalapen-no or jalapen-yes?

Yeah, I like it with the pepper.

-It gives it some texture... -[Carmen] It does.

...and it breaks up the sweetness just a touch.

But it's nice, you get a nice maple flavor,

then you taste the pork, you get a little bit of saltiness from the bacon.

Aesthetically it's a nice garnish.

I mean, are the judges weird with the spice like that?

-No, I think it's okay... -No.

...and especially in a category like this.

-Is it good or not? -[Michael] You know, I think it's good.

You know, what we looked for when we were analyzing this

-is what do we not like about it, right? -Right.

So we're trying to pull the knots out.

-[Carmen] Right. -Where, like, if you say,

"Eh, it's a little sweet." So it's leaning towards that.

If they're gonna ding you, why are they gonna ding you?

-Right. -And it might be because,

-Right. -And it might be because,

eh, it was on the sweet side for sausage, I wasn't expecting that.

We're gonna send it and see what happens.

[all laughing]

Whoo, look at them babies!

Yeah, they're looking good, I like the color.

They're looking juicy, ready to eat!

We're going in, we're going in.

All right, here's the bacon explosion,

cheesy jalapeno style.

We've got three minutes before we're on the clock.

[Megan] There should be cheese and the bacon in the center.

It's looking good.

Final turn-ins are happening right now.

This is the sixth meat turn-in of the day,

and the teams are hoping sausage is what puts them over the top.

That's delicious.

[Pops] We made a jalapeno mustard relish to put on top.

It really came out great.

Yes, sir. I'm on the way, sir.

[Carmen] I love the sausage entry.

I'm super stoked to see how it did.

Last turn-in. Yay.

Thank you, guys.

It was a nice bite. We got a dog in the hunt.

[Jason] It's viral.

-Oh, that's viral all right. -[Jason] Viral spiral.

-[Megan] That's viral spiral. -[Jason laughs]

If I was a judge on that sausage,

it would be a perfect score.

-[Megan] Yeah. - [Jason] Nines across the board,

that's a perfect, perfect entry for me.

All right, last one.

All right.

-That's it, boom! -[Megan laughs]

Tired.

-All right. -[Megan] That was terrible.

[Michael] After 11 hard hours of smoking, prepping,

and sampling six meats, turn-ins are now closed.

Very excited for awards, but also very excited for a shower.

Very excited for awards, but also very excited for a shower.

[Michael] But the day isn't over yet.

Coming up, we'll take a look

at the next generation of barbecue.

Welcome everybody to the world's largest

Kids Que at the American Royal.

[exclaiming]

[Michael] There's one more contest left,

featuring some of the world's best

up-and-coming pit masters.

It's the American Royal Kids Que.

Oh, good knife skills.

-How old are you? -Eight.

Hey, America. Eight.

Perfect sliced tomato. Give me a bump.

There are 75 kids competing

for over $1,500 in prize money.

Perfect.

The big kids each get one beautiful ribeye steak.

The big kids each get one beautiful ribeye steak.

The little kids get two pounds of burger meat.

From there, they can go wild.

This is our future, baby. This is the future of food,

the future of Que, the future of America.

There you go, Meredith, boom...

The hardest part of burger making

-is opening the package. -Opening the package, yeah. [laughs]

-[Jason] Our kids grew up on the barbecue circuit. -[Megan] Yeah.

[Jason] Hank was probably two weeks old...

-[Megan] Two, three weeks. -...when we went to

-his first barbecue contest. -Yeah.

And when Meredith came along, she just was along for the ride.

And when Meredith came along, she just was along for the ride.

[Megan] Remember, we don't want to overwork the meat.

Listen to mom.

-[Megan] That's right. -[Michael] That's very important.

Got your burger press there? Got you on the scale?

I mean, it's a tight ship over here.

Using a burger press instead of your hands

keeps the meat chilled until you're ready to cook

and ensures that all your paddies

are the same size.

Consistency's the key,

whether you're young, old, it doesn't matter.

So weighing things out, making sure it's consistent's

gonna make sure all the burgers cook the same.

Hoping to capture the crown again this year,

LC Barbecue's Reid

LC Barbecue's Reid

is taking a page from his mom's book

and adding a twist of his own.

Gotta add a little pork to it.

This year I'm making pork bombs,

and I hope I win.

Ah, come on.

You put the onions and poblanos in there, and then cheese.

Wrap them in bacon.

One down, seven more to go.

And then you cook them.

What time are you gonna try to get the burgers on?

-3:10? -3:13 maybe.

-3:13? -[laughs]

Okay.

Okay.

You were not being specific enough, mom.

-[Carmen] Yeah. -3:13's the number.

[announcer] All right, hamburger cook offs, let's go!

[Michael] The parents here may be top-of-the-line pit masters,

but at this contest, they are strictly assistants.

You're on it, bubba, they're looking great.

Just a million different flavors going on.

They're not limited to,

"I wonder what the judges are liking."

They're just making what they want to eat.

That's what food is all about.

That's perfectly melted cheese.

Hank and Meredith are competitive in different ways.

Hank and Meredith are competitive in different ways.

And they're both gonna do kind of a similar version...

-Yeah. -...of a bacon cheeseburger,

but they each have a little twist.

[Meredith] On my bun, I put my special ingredient,

agave.

I'm gonna have lettuce, candied bacon, and tomatoes.

[Meredith] I decided last minute to add mayo.

-Did you just make your burger smile? -Yeah!

Meredith is so sassy, and Hank is so serious,

and it is just their personalities

and it is just their personalities

in a box for a judge.

[Hank] I garnished my box with chocolate chip cookies,

because I want to win.

[Meredith] I garnished my burger with rainbow Goldfish.

That is beautiful!

I think I did pretty good.

I think overall, I think I did better than her.

[Michael] Looks like they might need me to settle

this sibling burger rivalry.

Oh, that looks good!

-That looks juicy! -Lot of tomatoes, looks juicy.

[Megan] Oh, look at the juice drip!

Wow, that's delicious.

I think you should feel pretty good about this.

[all laughing]

[Michael] Let's see what you got.

Oh, look at that. A good layer of the mayonnaise.

Got the candied bacon hanging off the side.

That is delicious.

Your mom and dad did a good job with you guys.

I declare it a tie.

I declare it a tie.

Can't pick a winner between these two, but,

I can tell you that those were two delicious hamburgers.

And Goldfish and chocolate chip cookies,

what else do you need in life?

-[announcer] Turn in begins now. -[man] Ah.

Burger tournaments are under way.

The kids, they have a ten minute window to get their food turned in.

-The kids did exactly what they laid out to do. -So awesome.

[Jason] We'll see what the judges thought,

but they... they're winners.

[Michael] Good job, guys.

As the minutes tick by, it looks like Reid is cutting it close.

As the minutes tick by, it looks like Reid is cutting it close.

[Phil B] You got three minutes, go!

[Carmen] Okay, that's good.

-Bud, you gotta speed it up, okay? -[Reid] Okay.

[Carmen] Come on! Hurry.

[announcer] Two minutes! Under two.

All right, under two minutes left.

-Ooh, Mom. We don't have time for a picture. -Okay.

[Michael] Look at the hustle! Boy.

They're even strict with the turn ins with the kids.

They don't mess around here.

[onlookers cheering]

[Carmen] There he goes!

[Reid] Sorry we took so long.

[Reid] Sorry we took so long.

Reid with the million dollar smile coming in!

Last one, last one. All right!

Just in time!

-Thank you! -Whoo!

[Michael] It was a photo finish, but all the burgers

have crossed the finish line.

Now it's up to the judges to decide who's the big winner today.

I know I tasted some amazing barbecue today,

deserving of a chunk of that $85,000 in prize money,

but it's always a crapshoot when you have this many teams.

So, let's see where the fat falls.

So, let's see where the fat falls.

[Michael] After a grueling day of smoked meats,

it's time to find out how the American Royal judges

will dish out over $85,000 in prize money.

[on mic] The suspense is killing, so let's get into it.

Our goal is to get on that stage any way, shape, or form.

-As many times as possible. -I would love for it to be a rip call, though.

[Phil B] Eh, it's lottery odds out here.

You have over 500 teams,

so, man, if we hear our name, we'll be super excited.

[Justin] We want to hear our name last.

If you hear your name last, you're the big winner.

Or in the middle. I'll take the middle any way.

I want to hear our names called either way.

[announcer] Let's go to the Open Meats contest awards.

[announcer] Let's go to the Open Meats contest awards.

[Michael] Each meat category has hundreds of teams competing,

but only the top 25 get to hear their names called.

[announcer] My friends, it's time for the Turkey Smoke.

[Jason] Let's see if they like turkey Reubens.

They thought they were burnt.

-At 19, team Brew 'N' Que. -Whoo!

I want to place, yes. Who doesn't want to place?

But we'll see.

It's not gonna be something that I'm gonna beat myself up over,

because this is what you get when you play with the big boys.

[laughing] Yeah.

[laughing] Yeah.

At four...

...LC BBQ!

[screaming happily]

[Carmen] They probably heard us a mile away.

LC at four with turkey, which is great.

He just did this great smoked turkey.

Put it down on the box. That says a lot.

That says how good the turkey actually was.

[Phil B] You know, you come to the American Royal,

all you hope is throughout the weekend you get to hear your name called.

So, you know, when they called 4th Turkey,

it kind of felt like, "Hey, mission accomplished."

[announcer] And at bronze...

[announcer] And at bronze...

If the chimichangas aren't in the top three, I'm gonna be shocked.

I'm just saying.

...Breggy Bomb BBQ!

[Pops] The turkey chimichangas were very good,

but every time we say, "Hey, this is outstanding, this is great,"

the judges don't like it.

I'm just kind of zipping my lip

and hoping for the best.

[announcer] At silver...

...Bull Creek BBQ!

[Michael] They only got one left.

I'm not gonna lie, it was the best thing I tasted all weekend.

I'm not gonna lie, it was the best thing I tasted all weekend.

[announcer] And at gold...

...Camp Creek Cooker!

It just goes to show you, I know nothing!

[chuckling]

If everybody else loves it, judges hate it.

[announcer] Next, jump into the ribs, baby.

21, Gettin' Basted!

[Michael] It's down to the last few calls of the round,

and our teams are dying to know

if they're top five or bottom 400.

In at number five,

-Phil the Grill! -Ooh!

-Phil the Grill! -Ooh!

Phil the Grill coming in at five, baby!

-[announcer] And at number four... -Get up there, baby!

I placed fifth for ribs.

Phil. Phil brought the bacon fat in with the ribs.

The bacon fat, baby.

-That bacon fat! -Yeah!

-That bacon fat came in! -I just said to the camera!

The bacon fat came in!

Don't drop the tong.

[Michael] As the top 25 teams are read out in brisket, pork, chicken, and sausage...

The Shed BBQ!

[Michael] None of our teams hear their name called,

despite turning in some amazing entries.

despite turning in some amazing entries.

But with over 500 teams competing,

that doesn't mean they can't land a call

when they announce the overall winners in the meat contest.

All right.

Jumping into the overall open contest.

At 24...

...LC BBQ!

[Carmen screaming happily]

All right! LC, 24th.

-[announcer] Outlaw Hawgs BBQ! -[Michael] He's had a good weekend.

We were 24th overall, with over 500 teams,

which is, to us, kind of like hitting the lottery.

Aw, yeah, baby!

Aw, yeah, baby!

[Michael] Even though none of the teams we follow

get any other overall awards,

some fantastic teams get honored today for their barbecue,

including some teams we followed at past competitions!

And there's still a few more chances to take home some prize money tonight,

as the winners are announced in yesterday's side categories.

Let's get to the side dish awards.

[Michael] Sure enough, we started to hear some familiar names called out

in the top 20 for beans.

Coming in at 14...

-...YSB BBQ! -Yes!

-...YSB BBQ! -Yes!

Let's go, Pops!

YSB, 14 in beans. Gotta like it.

[Pops] We got 14th place in beans, I'm pretty proud of that.

-Which he hated, by the way. -Yeah, he totally hated it.

But they were good beans.

-There we go. -[Justin] There we go, Pops.

It's all yours, baby.

[Pops] I thought I could've done better,

but you know what, I'm not complaining about 14th in this group.

[announcer] At number four...

...Phil the Grill!

[cheering]

-Phil the Grill coming in at four! -[announcer] Congratulations.

-Phil the Grill coming in at four! -[announcer] Congratulations.

[Phil J] Come on back. I need the Beyonce of beans!

[all giggling]

We beat YSB,

that's gonna be good for a little bit of trash talk there.

YSB, look, I think I borrowed their recipe for the beans.

That was their recipe!

[laughing] I borrowed it!

I just be messing with them. That's my little brother.

Coming in at silver...

[Jason] Cross your fingers!

-[announcer] Burnt Finger BBQ! -[cheering]

Let's go!

That was base win!

That was base win!

[Michael] Burnt Finger coming in silver, that's big.

We've had three of the top 15 in beans,

so that's... that's a good day.

Good day.

-We placed second in beans! -Second!

And it's featuring our brisket,

so that makes us pretty happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, the future is about to join me on stage.

[Michael] As the night falls, the American Royal wraps up on a perfect note,

as all the Kid's Que contestants are recognized.

This is very exciting.

In first place, Riley Lays!

In first place, Riley Lays!

[Michael] Although they don't get the crown,

Hank comes in 7th, Reid comes in 8th,

and Meredith places 9th.

And it's so great, they all did so good.

Man, you gotta be so proud of all these kids.

What an amazing weekend at the American Royal.

Incredible barbecue everywhere.

Our teams did great, too.

LC with the 24th overall.

[Phil B] Man, you know, there's 500 teams here,

-and we're ecstatic. -[Carmen] We are just...

-and we're ecstatic. -[Carmen] We are just...

We're really, really, really excited.

[Michael] Phil the Grill, top five in ribs.

[Phil J] I'mma just let you know

if you coming down to the restaurant,

if you want the American Royal,

award-winning beans and ribs?

Yeah, yesterday's price is not today's price.

-We're feeling great! Look at this! -We got to go on stage!

[Jason] Just to hear your name called at the Royal,

a second place ribbon amongst the best of the best in the world of barbecue.

It's an honor, and we're extremely proud

of our accomplishments this weekend.

[Pops] Today was a little bit of a letdown,

but you know what?

but you know what?

We go on, and we do the next contest.

-[Kyle] 500 plus teams. We did all right. -[Pops] We beat a lot.

We will be back next year.

This is one of the best barbecue comps in the world.

18 hour drive. We're coming back.

[Michael] The beauty about barbecue

is whether you're in your backyard

or the biggest barbecue competition in the world,

barbecue brings people together.