Page 14 - MAY 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

flying judge
T. Michael Garrison
The Flying BBQ Judge mgarrison8@sbcglobal.net
We're still trying to reach out and include all aspects of BBQ competition. We have profiled cooks, a judge, and today we will be looking at
a sanctioning body leader.
Our featured person always
enjoyed cooking as far back
as he can remember. His
mother died when he was
eight years old, so he had to
learn to cook and help sup-
port his family. He had
three older brothers and
one younger sister — a
large family. His first job
was at a Burger King in Ab-
erdeen, SD. His career
began to develop in food
preparation and cooking.
What else could better pre-
pare him for his role in life?
College was not on his hori-
zon considering his obliga-
tions to his family and
other responsibilities. His
wife, Leslie, entered his life
about this time and they
spent some time in Arling-
ton, Texas. A son and
daughter became part of the
family, putting a lot on his
plate, so to speak. Today,
that son is a doctor in Cali-
fornia and his daughter is a
lawyer in Texas. It's a family
he is very proud to have
raised. He bought a steak
house in Nebraska and this
educated him in steak preparation and very important for his role in life. At the age of 27 he became the manager of the Sand Tree and served that position for 3 and a half years. He finally made it to college at the age of 40 at the
University of Texas at Arlington, in the school of business. He was attending college with other students the age of his
kids. This month, we are featuring Ken Phillips, one of the two founders of the Steak Cook-off Association. Ken migrated into restau- rant management recruit- ing and his boss was Brett Gallaway. This is where these two individuals first met and developed their re- lationship.
Steak competitions have been around for many years. The organization that has developed and pro- moted cooking meats over open fires is clearly the Kansas City Barbeque Soci- ety (KCBS). The KCBS main emphasis is on the four competition meats, their history covers essentially every type of BBQ imagina- ble. Their contests have in- cluded steaks, turkey, lamb, whole animals and many different meats. They also frequently have Auxiliary contests including BBQ and other forms of competition cooking. The Flying BBQ Judges judged the Septem- berfest BBQ and Rib-eye steak cook-off in Omaha for
many years and that contest is still an active event to this day, with the same Reps. Omaha Steaks provides the Rib- eye steaks for this competition. The KCBS included a steak cook-off in their World BBQ Championship last year in Lit-
BarbecueNews.com - 14
MAY 2020
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