Ingleside High School's first barbecue team experiments with 'sweet heat'
INGLESIDE — Logan McGrath is the first to wake up on the days when the Ingleside High School barbecue team competes and practices.
"I've tried to get them up by 2 or 3 a.m.," McGrath said.
"We get there by 4 a.m.," teammate Noah Rodriguez said.
The team started outside of school when McGrath's mother suggested he compete in Battlin' BBQ, a charity competition. McGrath called his cousin Gavin Rodriguez and asked him to do it with him. They made brisket, ribs, chicken and beans.
Later, when they decided to do another barbecue competition, Gavin's brother Noah Rodriguez and the cousins' friend Ramon Tristan joined. Tristan and the Rodriguez siblings are juniors at Ingleside High School. McGrath is a sophomore.
"It's a really good vibe between us guys," Gavin Rodriguez said.
The team is headed to a state competition after ranking in the top 10 teams at a high school competition on Saturday in Van Vleck, northeast of Victoria. In that competition, they served ribs, brisket, chicken, beans and baked banana pudding.
For the community competitions, the boys stay up all night cooking.
"It's a fun experience just being around your friends and you're just focused on the same thing and you're all making it happen," Noah Rodriguez said.
Even though it takes hours to smoke the meats, there isn't much downtime. McGrath is the head cook, working with the rub. Tristan and Gavin Rodriguez maintain the fire. Noah Rodriguez cuts the meat and helps McGrath.
"It's a really good experience, trying to pay attention to the head cook to see what he uses for everything and to learn from him," Tristan said.
They've experimented with different flavors as they've learned about the preferences of different regions, but generally go for a "sweet heat," Noah Rodriguez said. When it comes to temperature, they've tried low and slow, and hot and fast.
At their second competition, Ingleside High School Principal Steve Edlin happened to stop by to try their food.
"That's when I told them barbecue is a thing in Texas schools now," Edlin said.
McGrath, who also saw videos about high school competitions online, asked Edlin what it would take to start a school team. Edlin said that in past years students had expressed an interest in a team, but it had never panned out.
"They were the first ones that came through with it, which was exciting to me because I think it's pretty awesome," Edlin said. "You hear about your football team and your basketball team, but you don't hear much about barbecue teams. It's pretty cool."
In community competitions outside of school, the boys beat some of the adult teams. Earlier this month, they had their first high school competition in Tilden, competing under the name Notorious P.I.G. At competitions, each dish is scored, with teams earning an overall ranking. At the high school competitions, the students cook by themselves. Adults aren't even allowed to step in the tent.
Another team at Saturday's competition was using the name Notorious P.I.G., McGrath said, so the Ingleside team switched to Mustang Smokeshow.
They learned how to barbecue by watching the adults in their lives, enjoying the food at family gatherings. But they also consult YouTube, McGrath said. Their families love that they are barbecuing, Noah Rodriguez said.
"They love the food that comes out of it," he said. "I've had the most brisket in this amount of time than I've ever had."
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Ingleside High School barbecue team experiments with 'sweet heat'
