This time of year, thoughts of the upcoming BBQ competition season are on our mind. We spend this time practicing and getting our skills fine tuned. We practice with different sauces, rubs and techniques. Along with this comes opportunities to take classes and learn from some of the best pitmasters in the world. That opportunity was available for my wife and I to attend Jack Daniels World Champion Kelly Wertz  BBQ 101 class in Parker Colorado.

What appealed to us was that unlike many classes offered; Kelly encouraged all students attending to bring their own cookers to the class due to each student being given meat from each category to prepare during this class. Topics covered during this day’s class was smoking techniques, the difference in smoking and grilling, meat cuts, meat quality, brines and marinades, sauces, rubs and seasonings, knife skills and a introduction to competition BBQ to include certified judges who would judge each of the classes turned in categories of meats. This would give the participants the rare opportunity to observe the judges in action and hear their comments on each of the categories turned into them to judge.

For us this was a unique and intriguing opportunity to learn from a world champion and experience a school being taught like no other. We really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and knowing that the class had  something for everyone. From the beginning backyard grillers, to seasoned Barbeque Pitmasters.

What made this class interesting was being able to see Kelly walk you through, step-by-step how to select your competition meats, how to trim them and also what rubs and seasonings to consider for each meat.

The Rub and Seasoning portion of the class was unique. Kelly went over the spices and ingredients and how to build a rub for whatever meat you’re preparing. We then built our own rub from a large array of spices and ingredients based on the information Kelly shared with us, and then used this rub on our choice of meat we prepped for that’s days cook

Other unique topics covered during this class were: Knife handling and selection, thermometers selection and useses, building a competition turn in box, different types of cookers and smokers and the advantages of each.

As you can see from the picture above, my wonderful wife had a lot of hands on experience in this class. Just a week prior, I had an accident while trimming brisket and put a boning knife into my forearm. My wife stepped up to the plate with an awesome attitude and felt this would give her the perfect opportunity to learn how to do all the things I usually do during a competition.

We teamed up with our friends Don and Laura Jay from Lizzy Q and cooked on their Kingfisher rotisserie smoker. Our results were pretty impressive, and I have to say Don and Laura have one impressive Smoker! I haven’t quite yet decided to switch from my pellet smoker over to the “dark side” but this gave us the opportunity to see that we could still turn out a very good product on a stick burner as well.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to attend a cooking class and learn from an award winning pitmaster, I would highly recommend attending one of Kelly Wertz schools! Kelly has taken a lot of time and put in a lot of effort in ensuring that his class is educational and gives you the opportunity to get some hands on experience with the ability to ask questions as you go. Please check out Kelly’s website at : http://www.4legsupbbq.com Cost of the class is $275 and an additional $75 for a spouse or friend. Let him know the Bossman sent you! Smoke ON!!