Barbecue pros, and BBQ fans, head to Washington Island for Death's Door Bar-B-Q contest

Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·5 min read

WASHINGTON ISLAND - The sweet, smoky tastes will return for 2,000 to 3,000 barbecue fans who head to Washington Island to watch 30 top grilling teams from across the country compete against each other this weekend – and taste their work – in the 10th annual Death's Door Bar-B-Q.

The competitive barbecue event is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, with more than $8,000 in prize money and other awards to be distributed among the winners. The contest will be judged only by KCBS-certified judges in chicken, beef brisket, pork and pork ribs with winners in each category as well as an overall Grand Champion, all following KCBS rules and regulations. Besides money and prizes, grillers also earn points toward the society's 2022 Team of the Year standings.

Chef David Ellis of the Machete Boys barbecue team from Fridley, Minnesota, right, shows off the barbecue chicken his crew made for last year's Death's Door Bar-B-Q competition on Washington Island. The Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned contest returns for a 10th straight year Aug, 27, along with a Steak Cookoff Association contest the next day.

Plus, the public is welcome to visit Saturday to watch the chefs at work and talk with them, and most, if not all, of the competing barbecue teams and other vendors will sell their grilled meats – for example, Crackhouse BBQ of Green Bay is returning after a three-year absence with its pulled pork parfaits made with mashed potatoes and other ingredients. Rubs, sauces and other grilling items also will be available for visitors.

A new contest this year is the One Meat Rib Contest, a KCBS-sanctioned cookoff where wannabe teams or individuals can grill ribs against the pro teams without having to compete in the other three meat categories like they do. The society says it's a way for individuals or newcomers to barbecue contests to dip their toes into the sauce and learn about the world of competitive barbecuing. The same KCBS rules and judging apply, and the winner will receive $500 and a trophy.

Returning for the fourth time is a Steak Cookoff Association-sanctioned steak grilling contest, but this year it's a double-cookoff with each team entering two steaks and separate judging for each. Also, it's held in conjunction with a dessert contest and a cocktail contest using Death's Door Gin. These events take place Sunday and participants aren't necessarily expected to sell related goods or provide samples of their work like the Saturday barbecuers do, organizer Dick Jepsen said, but he added that visitors will be welcome to watch the competitors at work.

Jepsen said he expects 25 to 30 steak grillers to take part, including the current SCA World Champion, Scott Nardi of Shiocton. The winner of each of the two steak competitions earns $1,000 and a Golden Ticket to the SCA World Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, which offers a $10,000 top prize. Winners in the gin cocktail and dessert contests also earn cash prizes and an invite to the world championship event.

There have been a couple format changes for this year's event. In past years, Death's Door Bar-B-Q has been a Friday-Saturday event with a Grand Champion and category champions named for each day. This year, the KCBS barbecuers are at work Saturday only, and Sunday is a new day for the event.

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As of Monday, barbecue teams from six states are entered in the main competition, from Wisconsin to Missouri. Among the top teams are Peter Golob and his Red Rock Cafe team of Amasa, Michigan, which was last year's Death's Door Day 2 Grand Champion; Iowa’s Smokey D’s BBQ from Des Moines, which was the Day 2 Grand Champion in 2019; The BBQ Bus out of Elmhurst, Illinois, which placed third in brisket, fifth in ribs and seventh overall in the 2021 KCBS season points standings; and SmokinGhost BBQ from Chillicothe, Illinois, currently 10th in chicken and 12th in pork in KCBS points.

Tom and Becky McIntosh of the T-Mac Smokin barbecue team from Sturgeon Bay show off the pork ribs they grilled at the 2021 Death's Door Bar-B-Q contest on Washington Island. T-Mac is a three-time Grand Champion of the Death's Door competition and will return to pit their skills against about 30 teams from across the Midwest in the Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event.

Helping defend the local barbecue honor is Tom McIntosh and his T-Mac Smokin team from Sturgeon Bay, a three-time Grand Champion at Death's Door. Joining them are a number of Wisconsin-based teams including Can Country Outlaw from Windsor, which currently is in the top 15 in KCBS's brisket standings.

Visitors can take part in a raffle Saturday to win a Traeger Pro Series 22 pellet grill valued at $800, a 2,000-watt Yamaha generator, a 40-quart Grizzly cooler and other prizes. A 50/50 raffle also will be held. The winning tickets will be drawn immediately before the awards ceremony.

Children's games will start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and live music is provided Saturday by Door County favorites Lynn Gudmundsen and Tom Beckman in the morning and Milwaukee-based bluesman Alex Wilson, a past Death's Door favorite, throughout the afternoon.

The public is invited to Death's Door Bar-B-Q from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Washington Island Airport, 1535 Airport Road. The island is accessible by the Washington Island Ferry, and for those who don't want to drive to the airport, a free BBQ Train will run from the ferry dock to the airport and back during the event. Admission to the barbecue and parking are free.

For more information, visit deathsdoorbbq.com or the "Death's Door Barbeque" Facebook page. For ferry information, call 800-223-2094 or visit wisferry.com.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Barbecue pros, fans head to Washington Island for Death's Door Bar-B-Q