Big Racks Barbecue

Big Racks Barbecue We are a competition BBQ team competing primarily in the KCBS Masters division.

Sponsored by: Heath Riles BBQ, Smokey Woods BBQ, The Good Charcoal Company, Springer Mountain Farms, ThermoWorks and Remote Tax Services.

That's the wrap on the Minnesota Barbeque Society Team of the Year for the Masters/Pro division! We started 2026 a bit...
09/10/2026

That's the wrap on the Minnesota Barbeque Society Team of the Year for the Masters/Pro division!

We started 2026 a bit differently than in prior years. We planned to slow down (a little) and didn't enter the year with as many goals as in the past. Last year, during our first year in the Masters division, we worked hard cooking in many contests to establish our processes and finalize our systems. Since we exceeded our own expectations in 2025, our 2026 goals were to get a brisket category win and to and continue improving. After a long weekend in South Dakota the MN BBQ Society Team of the year rankings are now finalized. Our results:

Overall - 4th place.
Congrats to Spitfire Bar and Grill on winning overall team of the year. Last year we finished 9th overall which met our goal for the year of finishing in the top 10. We finished in the top 10 in 50% of our contests in 2026 and added 2 Reserve Grand Championships, improving our position for 2026.

Chicken - 2nd place
Congrats to Shiggin' & Grinnin' Championship BBQ Team on the win. Chicken has always been a strong category for us; however, it started a bit slow in 2026. James took the lead this year and did a lot of practice cooks at home to set us on the right course as we changed our ingredients and processes. Highlights of the year were a 180 in IA (Scored 4th..) and taking 1st place at the CBA event last weekend.

Ribs - 10th place
Ribs were our strongest and most consistent category in the past. In the non-sanctioned circuit we have done very well with a couple of wins this year. However we chased taste all year with "certified judges," and unfortunately this category cost us a win in IA. Many teams struggled in this category for 2026. Congrats to Hot Daddy's BBQ on the rib category win.

Pork - 2nd place
Pork has been a strong category for us since joining the Masters division. We have a few category wins and notched our first perfect score this year. It started a bit slow but we made a mid-season change that got it rolling. We found ourselves leading pork team of the year heading into last weekend but everyone knows there is no stopping Hot Daddy's BBQ - congrats to Kyle and Amy on the pork category win.

Brisket - 1st place
As mentioned before, only goal was to get a brisket category win this year. This was the only category we hadn't won; however, we feel it has been our strongest category since joining Masters. So far we failed to meet the goal of a category win notching 3 more 2nd place finishes this year. Ending the year as the MN brisket champion is a goal we couldn't have envisioned but we still want a category win so we just signed up to cook King of the Corn in IA to give it one more shot.

Thanks to all of you who follow us and congratulate us as we work toward our personal goals. Your likes, comments, and words of encouragement motivate us and we really appreciate it.

Lucky to have some of the best sponsors in BBQ!
Heath Riles BBQ
Smokey Woods BBQ
Springer Mountain Farms
Remote Tax Services
Whiskey Creek BBQ
The Good Charcoal Company
ThermoWorks

Other great companies
Northern Fire Grilling & BBQ Supply
Compart Family Farms
Prairie Fresh
Outlaw BBQ Smokers
Gateway Drum Smokers

We had a few people ask where our Heath Riles BBQ entry was this week. With 3 masters competitions in 8 days and getti...
09/08/2026

We had a few people ask where our Heath Riles BBQ entry was this week. With 3 masters competitions in 8 days and getting home at 10pm on Sunday night meant something had to give.

However we are excited to share that we talked to Yoder Smokers and they hooked us up with a killer upgrade on the winning smoker for week 2!

First meat on it was our Jalapeno popper pinwheel using the best Fellers Ranch Midwest Natural Wagyu skirt steak and some tailgate type appetizers. Looking forward to many more cooks on this made in the USA smoker!

What a weekend at the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway! Trent Vanderheiden and his team make this a must attend even...
09/07/2026

What a weekend at the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway! Trent Vanderheiden and his team make this a must attend event every year. In addition to a very well run contest we were able to experience the greatest show on dirt with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series 2 days.

Day 1 was a The Kansas City Barbeque Society masters series event and day 2 was a Champions Barbecue Alliance sanctioned event. Main difference is that day 1 are certified bbq judges and day 2 the public judges the food. There are also different ways they eat the food so there are some strategy differences.

Day 1 - outside of the brisket cook being a bit off we liked our entries. We heard our name called for 8th place ribs and were surprised to find out our chicken scored 29th earning us the un-coveted Rum N' Smoke BBQ chicken trophy. Fortunately the bird wasnt on site as the bird seems to grow attached to its caregivers. We liked our chicken so didnt change a thing as we cooked for the CBA judges the next day with quite different results:

1st place chicken 🐔 - Springer Mountain Farms
6th place ribs
17th place pork
5th place brisket 🐄 - Snake River Farms

Good enough for 2nd overall - Reserve Grand Champions with a 775.94. Congrats to Parrothead smokers on GC and RUB MY RACK BBQ on the brisket win and 3rd overall.

Looking at the scores from the different sanctioning bodies is a head scratcher - certified judges take a class and are instantly "certified". The public just likes good food - there seems to be a disconnect as the top 3 teams for CBA didn't have a great day for KCBS.

We are skipping the American Royal World Series of Barbecue but may be talked into cooking King of the Corn. Busy work schedule so will see how it goes.

Couldn't do it without our great sponsors:

Heath Riles BBQ
Smokey Woods BBQ
Whiskey Creek BBQ
Remote Tax Services
ThermoWorks
The Good Charcoal Company
Springer Mountain Farms

Cookers that helped this weekend:
Outlaw BBQ Smokers patio XL
Gateway Drum Smokers 55g drum

09/07/2026

Reserve Grand Champions!

Had a fun time at the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway. Day 1 led us talking to RUB MY RACK BBQ about needing redempt...
09/06/2026

Had a fun time at the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway. Day 1 led us talking to RUB MY RACK BBQ about needing redemption and it happened for both teams today. Weekend recap tomorrow.

Great start to the weekend!On the way down to the otherwise known as the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway we stoppe...
09/04/2026

Great start to the weekend!

On the way down to the otherwise known as the SD BBQ Shootout at Huset's Speedway we stopped at Conger Meat Market - Conger and met Nadia from Fellers Ranch Midwest Natural Wagyu. She gave us the VIP treatment showing us the facility and letting us see the behind the scenes of what it takes to bring permium Wagyu meat to market. We grabbed some Wagyu steaks and continued on downcthe road while a special shipment was delivered from Yoder Smokers. Can't wait to open it up.

We are setup and before we watch the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race tonight.

When you are busy at work and moving from a The Kansas City Barbeque Society contest on Saturday to your first CBA event...
09/04/2026

When you are busy at work and moving from a The Kansas City Barbeque Society contest on Saturday to your first CBA event on Sunday.

We had a great time at MN Masters BBQ & Walkin' Wings this weekend. This event is special to us as it was our first mast...
08/30/2026

We had a great time at MN Masters BBQ & Walkin' Wings this weekend. This event is special to us as it was our first masters contest 2 years ago and helped us make the decision to leave the backyard division after 2 years. Plus - when chasing our only team goal of the year (a brisket category win) it is good to be cooking at a place that has liked our brisket. At this contest in 2024 we finished 2nd in brisket and 2025 we tied for 2nd scoring 3rd. Before this contest we added 2 more 2nd place brisket finishes this year but still chasing the W.

We liked what we turned in and were happy with the results:

11th chicken 🐔 - Springer Mountain Farms
16th ribs 🍖
7th pork 🐖 Compart Family Farms
2nd brisket 🐄 Snake River Farms

6th overall

Congrats to RUB MY RACK BBQ on GC, Spitfire Bar and Grill on RGC and our friends who heard their names called.

Short turnaround as we head to to South Dakota next weekend to cook a double at Huset's Speedway where the Minnesota Barbeque Society Team of the Year Points chase for the Masters division will conclude.

Thanks to Aaron Bourdage at Northern Fire Grilling & BBQ Supply for helping with the restock before our next event.

Couldn't do it without our great sponsors:

Heath Riles BBQ
Smokey Woods BBQ
Whiskey Creek BBQ
Spinger Mountain Farms
Remote Tax Services
ThermoWorks
The Good Charcoal Company
ABC Sign Shop

Cookers we used:
Outlaw BBQ Smokers
Gateway Drum Smokers

08/29/2026

4am = 🔨 🔨 hammer time @ MN Masters.

Heath Riles BBQ rubs and Snake River Farms 🐸

Smokey Woods
The Good Charcoal Company

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Minneapolis, MN

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