Richards team wins BBQ national championship

While Illinois does not rank among the states known for great barbecue, it’s now home

to the National High School Barbecue Association national champion.

A team of culinary students from Richards High School meticulously researched the

subject and culinary teacher Rob Staudacher, a chef himself, provided some expertise.

Team members included Kayla McSweeney, Malaina Fields, Ryenn Willers, Katlyn Sroka,
Nick Pierce, and Hamza Issa. Sroka wrote the required essay detailing her team’s research and winning recipe.

“In determining what to make our group was able to learn about four distinct regions of BBQ in America Texas, Memphis, the Carolinas, and Kansas City,” she explained.

The team’s competition menu included pork spareribs, chicken thighs, New York strip steak, hamburgers and a dessert of grilled pound cake with grilled caramelized pineapples and candied pecans.

The team developed a complex rub recipe.

“The rub used for both the spareribs and chicken was a synthesis of paprika, kosher salt, sugar, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, cayenne, granulated garlic, and mustard powder. Additionally for all smoked items oak wood mixed with charcoal was used while only charcoal was used for our grill,” she added.

Those who know barbecue understand the depth of knowledge and experience required to
create food that stands apart. The Richards team discovered the immense work and attention to detail necessary to create great barbecue.

In addition to developing the rub recipe, the team needed to learn methodology,temperature, smoking process, and more.

“Small things like not using brushes with metal wires to clean the grill rack as if one of the metal bristles got into someone’s food and was swallowed would require surgery to remove. Instead our group used a device that had notches that were able to fit around the individual metal bars of the rack to get anything stuck on off but a ball of foil moved with tongs would also work,” Sroka
explained.

Judges, the team knew, would recognize if the team didn’t properly monitor the temperature of the meat.

“For example the chicken needed to hit a temperature of 165 F in order to be safely eaten. Smoking was something new to most of the group so when we found out that we were using a horizontal barrel smoker was going to be used it raised many questions.

“Some information we uncovered about the method was that it is intended to maintain a lower temperature for an extended period making smoke that is held around the meat in order for absorption to occur which goes hand in hand with the different types of wood chips used. For example, oak wood often lends medium to strong flavor and is typically used for beef and briskets. Hickory can be described as bacon-y flavor mixing sweet, savory, and hearty, while pecan is often used for roasts or briskets adding a very sweet, nutty, rich flavor,” she added.