@Whit Well, there are 12 usable bones in a rack of ribs. Add your seasoning and the cost of wood, etc. So you are looking at $2.5 just for the meat per serving.If you smoke an 18 pound brisket for about 12 hours, you'll probably end up with about 12-13 pounds of meat. If you serve a 1.5 ounce serving, maybe 125 servings, so about $1.50 a serving just for the meat. Add your seasoning, wood, etc.Then figure in the health department license, your travel expenses (depending where you are...this is a regional competition), etc.This is top of the line meats. If you are just using "off the rack IBP/Excel/Cargill/Hormel" products at $4/lb for brisket and $1.79/lb. spare ribs....... In other words $200+ vs. $72 for brisket and $30 vs. $8 for ribs. As a consumer at one of these events, which do you want to eat? Which do you want to pay for?

@ChefKevin Would of been good to invest in meat years ago.

@TJDasen Ugh, sorry! I didn't even think about this. Hope you can get your $$ back if this event isn't to your liking.

Don't sweat it Chef. I should have looked further into this before I committed myself.I really want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the excellent information given. Maybe someone will put a food festival together after knowing about this....like Chicago Navy Pier.

The smoker that we use for KCBS competitions wouldn't be able to handle food for a festival for the general public. We have one time to hit for each of the four categories. For a festival, you have to have food coming out for 4 to 8 hours. Most bbq competition have to paired up with something else. The KCBS competition in Lincoln next weekend has a homebrew competition of some sorts and bags tournament. Pigs -n- Swigs. There are only three bbq vendors and three other food vendors.

www.mortonbbqthrowdo wn.net/home.html

@skutfarcus That's about right I will be in Bloomington that weekend.