The Eagles are Smokin’

by Susan Mikula Campbell
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, May 1, 2008
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, May 3, 2008

Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 1411 on Ward Road will sponsor a barbecue cook-off Aug. 15 and 16 at The Summit mall. The event was the idea of Eagles member Roy Gregory, who draws a crowd every time he fires up his own hand-made grill. Gathering around his grill where his nine-hour ribs were cooking on a sunny spring weekend are the cook-off chairmen Eagles Trustee Dan Kwiatkowski (turning the ribs), Gregory and Kurt Huer. At far left is Wheatfield resident Tom Stevenson. At front left is Chris Chadwick, Eagles Auxiliary, and at right is Gregory’s granddaughter Jamie-Lynn Avino. (photo by Chuck and Donna Cederman)

Fire up that grill and whip up your signature sauces and rubs. Big time barbecue is on its way to Wheatfield.

Local barbecue-meisters who think they’re hot can try to smoke some of the best from other areas in a cook-off that will lead to a ticket to national competition.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 1411 will hold the Smokin’ Eagles BBQ Championship, the area’s first nationally sanctioned barbecue competition, on Aug 15 and 16 at The Summit mall.

The top prize will include a ticket to participate in the National Best of the Best Invitational to be held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Douglas, Ga.

Roy Gregory, who with fellow Eagles Dan Kwiatkowski and Kurt Huer is organizing the event, expects that the Best of the Best ticket will draw teams of barbecue experts from up and down the East Coast who haven’t qualified elsewhere.

The Best of the Best is among the three big barbecue finales held each fall, the other two being the American Royal in Kansas City, Mo., and the Jack Daniels Invitational in Lynchburg, Tenn.

The Best of the Best competition now draws about 40,000 people to watch 45 barbecue teams compete, Kwiatkowski said. In one year, between 2004 and 2005, the Georgia Department of Revenue reports an increase of $4.7 million in taxable sales in the Douglas area on barbecue days.

“This could be a pretty big deal,” predicted Gregory. “In a couple years, we’d like to make this bigger than the Taste of Buffalo.”

The potential for a large crowd of both competitors and spectators is what prompted the Eagles to set the competition at The Summit instead of at their aerie home on Ward Road.

Nearby residents who complained about acrid tire smoke from the burnout pits at last year’s Cruise Nights at the mall will instead experience the mouthwatering smell of barbecue. (According to town officials, there have been negotiations to move the Cruise Nights to the former Bell Aerospace parking lot off Niagara Falls Boulevard.)

For its competition this year, Smokin’ Eagles is starting off with the basics. Competitors (a chef often has four to 10 team members) will barbecue in four categories — chicken, brisket, pork and ribs. The public will be invited to watch the chefs at work, sample the entries and vote on a Peoples’ Choice award, listen to live bands, stop at the beer tent and visit concession booths.

If the competition takes off as expected, the Eagles might be looking at things like amusement rides, a kids barbecue competition and a whole hog category in future years, Gregory said. He’s also thinking about holding barbecue cooking classes in the fall and winter.

The barbecue competition came about because the local Eagles aerie was looking for new ways to support its annual charitable efforts, such as funding for local food banks, Santa’s Workshop for Children, the Sgt. Daniel J. Shaw Memorial Fund and the picnic (June 14 this year) for veterans and their families. The Smokin’ Eagles event will be the group’s major fundraiser for 2008.

“Honcho (Gregory) always wanted to have a barbecue cook-off,” Kwiatkowski said.

Gregory read an article in a national barbecue publication that indicated a northeastern state was being sought to hold a barbecue competition that would lead into the national competition. The Eagles responded that their group would be a perfect fit.

“They were actually looking to put it in Pennsylvania, and we were able to bring it to New York!” Gregory said.

Although all three of the Smokin’ Eagles chairmen are into barbecuing, they won’t be competing themselves. They’ll be too busy running the event, and it might be considered a conflict of interest, they said a bit wistfully.

“Don’t think we’re not going to taste!” said Kwiatkowski.

To learn more about being a contestant, signing up as a judge, setting up as a vendor at the competition, bringing a band or being a sponsor, call 695-3755 or e-mail dkwiatkowski3@roadrunner.com.

Barbecue Basics

The difference between barbecuing and simply grilling meat, according to the Smokin’ Eagles experts, lies in temperature. Barbecuing is long and slow, like maybe around 180 degrees, while grilling is more in the 500 degree range, seasoned barbecuer Roy Gregory said.

The biggest mistake people make when barbecuing is cooking too fast. “Keep it slow, and keep the meat away from the flame,” advises Dan Kwiatkowski. He likes to start with a nice dry rub before putting any barbecue sauce on.

Gregory likes to put a rub on the meat the night before barbecuing. When the meat is put in the refrigerator, condensation from the meat makes the rub like a paste. “It comes out really crunchy on the outside.”

A big advantage to barbecuing over grilling is that a cheaper cut of meat can be used and still come out tender and savory, Gregory said. Don’t forget to sear the meat first so the juice stays inside.