Or is it a health department/licensing issue?
@bgbird68 :
DING! DING! DING! YOU sir are the winner!!
A good sum of these contestants are professional contestants; they *might* have a food service sanitation license in their home town, state, etc. However, I'm sure the Tazewell or Peoria County Health Department would require a two day permit to cook and serve the public and would have to inspect your refrigeration, cooking equipment, handwashing and warewashing capabilities AND could show up at any time to re-inspect. (Hold on, I need more wine so I can continue typing.......... Ok, I'm back) I'm sure some of the larger competitors at larger competitions are willing to cough up the bucks to do this. But what gets my goat is that you can sell muffins, cake, etc. you cook in your home kitchen at Farmers Markets and that is OK (of course following IDPH guidelines), but hell, smoked goods are cooked on site due to KCBS regulations, so I reaaalllly don't understand why this is a pain in the ***.
Hoooowwwweeeevvvvveeeerrrrr....... Let's say Chef Kevin enters. I'm a little guy; I have a small smoker that I do personal and some small catering stuff with, but I'll compete against anyone; hell bring on Myron Mixon. But there is no way in hell I could sample 10,000 people although I might be able to kick every other contestants *** and win the whole thing. (TBT, I know a guy who would loan me one of the biggest Southern Pride smokers made, but not everyone has that luxury.) Another thing is "do I cook one grade of meats for the judges and one for the public? Top end meats for the judging is like $200+ for an 18 pound brisket and $30 for a rack of spare ribs. Imagine the cost to feed samples to 10,000 people. So how much are you willing to spend for a sample, Mr. Consumer? And if I'm from Colorado, there is no way in hell you are ever going to say "DuuuhAMMMMMM these ribs are soo good I'm driving to Colorado". But if I win the judging using top end meats and serve the public "off the shelf" box meats, the public would say "what the hell were the judges eating; this shiit SUCKS!! And if you are a little guy like me that doesn't have a restaurant or store front, what incentive do I have to sample my product? I'm just in it for the prestige to kick Myron Mixon's ***
Damn, I'm out of wine....hold on.....
As for the public, backyard competition, I probably couldn't enter that due to my "professional chef" status; I'm sure the other contestants would complain. However, just because one is a "professional chef", doesn't mean you automatically can smoke meats; you wouldn't see me entering an ice carving or doughnut making competition.
This thing drew huge in Morton almost rivaling the Pumpkin Festival in attendance and that says a lot. A lot of speculation why it didn't stay there and moved to Peoria.
There are some good "Q" joints in the area, but I don't know if they will be food vendors for the event.