Minnesota in May 2025

This week is a review of the annual Minnesota in May BBQ competition that was this past weekend!

Not only was this my first time at Minnesota in May, but I decided to also make it my first time competing in the Kansas City Barbecue Society’s (KCBS) Masters Division as well. KCBS has 2 main divisions, Masters and Backyard. The Backyard division is Ribs and Chicken, and the Masters is Ribs and Chicken as well, but also adds Pork and Brisket. I have cooked many briskets and pork shoulders in the last few years, but never for competition, so I had to do a lot of research on how to make it work like it should.

I decided I was going to bring my Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1050 to cook the ribs and chicken on, and then my Old Country BBQ Pits G2 insulated offset smoker for the pork and brisket. I took the day off work on Thursday to get the trailer all ready to go, and tried to get as much ready to go as I could so that Friday was a travel and an ancillary cook day. For the meat, I decided to try the company Mister Brisket Inc. in Ohio to source my competition meat. I ordered an Imperial Wagyu Brisket flat, 2 pork collars, or “money muscles”, and 3 racks of Prairie Fresh Prime Spare Ribs. I sourced chicken legs locally, and already had some pork butts in the freezer to do pulled pork.

This was my first time cooking Wagyu beef of any sort because it is expensive, but despite that, I know how to cook a brisket, so I basically just did what I normally would do, with the exception of using the offset for it, which was a first as well. I wouldn’t normally do a Wagyu brisket, but that’s what the champions cook, and as the old saying goes, “When in Rome…” The point of using pork collars is to get really tender pork slices to put in the box and offer the judges some pulled pork, and sliced as well. The really nice part about ordering the meat from Mister Brisket is that the brisket was already trimmed and basically just needed injecting, rubbing, and smoking.

We drove to Saint Peter, Minnesota, in about 6 hours, with stops and such, and got our site at the Nicollet County Fairgrounds. Conveniently, we ended up getting parked right next to our good friends at BBQ Pit Bros and Chester’s Twisted Que, so this made for a very fun time. We only signed up to do one of the Friday night ancillary cooks, and that cook was the Kids Que. Ellie wanted to do the cooking, and the meat they wanted cooked was a Compart Duroc 1/3 pork loin. I’ll get to her results later.

After Kids Que was done and we had dinner, I got back to the cook site and started injecting and prepping the various meats, starting with brisket and pork since they were going on first. I used Butcher BBQ’s original brisket injection and gave a base layer of the Lovely Jubbly BBQ’s The Everything all-purpose rub, and then a primary layer of Hot Bum, which is a rub from our sponsor at Weekend Bum BBQ. I let the brisket rest in the cooler while I started prepping pork. Unfortunately, the pork butts froze again partially and I didn’t have time to let them defrost, so I ended up cooking the money muscles only. I injected them with Butcher BBQ’s Pork Injection and rubbed them with both Lovely Jubbly BBQ rubs, The Everything, And Then Some. I fired up the offset with The Good Charcoal, which was another first-time product for this weekend as well.

I got the offset up to 250 degrees and put the brisket flat on around 1:15am. The pork collars went on at about 6:30, and then it was time for prepping the ribs and eventually chicken. The ribs were the same recipe as usual, so you can see that here at (Ribs! Ribs! Ribs!). With the chicken legs, I removed the tendons inside the legs (thank you Jordan Williams) and injected them with Butcher BBQ Bird Booster, and then seasoned them with the Lovely Jubbly BBQ And Then Some. The brisket ended up being done after about 7 hours, with no stall, which was unexpected. To wrap the brisket, I put it in an aluminum tray and poured in the leftover injection liquid and some beef broth to really solidify the beef flavor, which is the ultimate goal. I was told before cooking that a Wagyu brisket will finish at a higher temp than I might be used to, and that was proven when it was finally done at 210 degrees internal.

A typical KCBS Competition timeline is:

• 12:00- Chicken
• 12:30- Ribs
• 1:00- Pork
• 1:30- Brisket

With these times, we start prepping the turn-in boxes with Kale a couple hours before they are needed so that it is done, and boxes start being made about 15 minutes before turn-in so we can ensure that the box looks as good as it can to control the appearance score. I will share my turn-in box photos below!

So, now the wrap-up. I was not overly happy with my chicken and ribs this time around, but it was too late to do anything about them. The chicken was soft and mushy, and the skin was rubbery. The ribs were not even texture-wise, with some being not as tender as I would’ve liked, but as I’ve said before, I am my worst critic. Flavor for both of them was plenty fine, but bad tenderness can ruin the whole box. Now for the new entries. The pork slices were tender, juicy, and tasted fantastic. I was very pleased with how they turned out. The brisket is the same, tender, not overcooked, juicy, and had great flavor. Let me tell you, if you have a little money and want to try something new, get a Wagyu brisket; you won’t be disappointed. I quickly found out why Wagyu wins these competitions.

And now, results;

• Chicken- 53rd of 58 Teams
• Ribs- 55th of 58 Teams
• Pork- 39th of 58 Teams
• Brisket- 27th of 58 teams.
• Overall, 47 of 58 teams.

As I mentioned, I was not happy with how my ribs and chicken turned out, and the judge’s scores reflect that. Just more to practice before the next one. I was pleasantly surprised at how my pork and chicken turned out as they were my first time, but I’ll take it! I was not last in any category, so I have nothing to complain about! Now, there was one more thing to talk about… what was it? Oh! That’s right! The Kids Que!

This was Ellie’s first time ever doing a Kids Que, as I mentioned, and the pork that she cooked looked seriously good. AND SHE WON! She took Grand Champion in her very first attempt, and I couldn’t be a prouder father! She used both of my Lovely Jubbly BBQ rubs, along with Blues Hog Champions Blend BBQ sauce, and absolutely nailed it!

The next competition is June 13- 15th for the fantastic Bringin’ Home the Bacon competition in West Salem, WI!

Don’t forget to check out http://www.lovelyjubblybbq.com for our signature rubs and even more great BBQ products and accessories! Our rubs are also exclusively in store at Ava’s a posh boutique in Watertown, WI, if you just can’t wait for shipping!

If you are looking for a Pit Boss pellet grill or other Pit Boss accessories for yourself or someone you love, follow the link below to the Pit Boss website, where they have some fantastic deals on some even more fantastic products! As an avid Pit Boss user, I couldn’t be more proud to be an affiliate of Pit Boss Grills, and I look forward to growing this partnership over time. We have also become affiliated with Weber Grills as well, which is my favorite grill of choice for cooking everyday meals. We have the Weber Grills link below as well for your convenience! 

Pit Boss Grills- https://pitbossgrills.77jaha.net/zxx49x 

Weber Grills- https://weberinc.sjv.io/e1kGrZ

As always, keep cookin’ and Lovely Jubbly!