Do any of you belong to a local smoking club?

[rbranstner]

I was talking to a buddy at work today and he was talking about how he had his monthly beer brewing meeting lastnight. He said that about 40 of them get together and sample beers that they have made and they will bring in beers to be judged by the other members going by some official judging criteria rules (such as KCBS rules for example) and that way they can see how their beers rank. They also have mini competitions some times. So anyway. I got to thinking has anyone heard of or belong to any kind of smoking group that meets in your area? If so what kinds of things do you do? I would be interested in trying to get a local group put together in my area just to get together and bounce ideas off eachother, taste samples, sauces, rubs and exchange rescipes, etc. Just currious if this sort of thing already exists.

 

[chisoxjim]

Not an organized one really. I belong to a Chicago food board with alot of BBQ folks, and once a year I have a cook out/bbq potluck at my house. This year is a pig roast. Should have 60+ people out for some pig, and other bbq.

On Facebook I started a club called Illinois Backyard BBQ Society, and am trying to ge that going. Mostly for sharing ideas/technique/recipes with other backyard bbq folks.

Sounds like a good idea of getting one together where you live. Good luck doing it.

 

[slim]

i would love to do something like this....Any of the Ky guys/gals wanna get one started?

 

[gene111]

Don't really have a club but my bbq partner & myself usually cook every Sunday at my house! Helps to fine tune competition recipies & we get to eat alot of good food!!!!

 

[rbranstner]

If anyone is around the Fargo, ND / Moorhead, MN area put a post on here if there is enough people maybe we could get something going locally.

 

[mr mac]

I didn't know such a thing existed. Perhaps we should start a national club with regional and local entities...

 

[jdt]

many states have a bbq society where you can meet other competitors and enthusiasts. I belong to the Iowa BBQ Society

 

[rbranstner]

Not a bad idea Mr Mac

 

[rdknb]

I would be interested in doing that in Maryland, anyone else

 

[rbranstner]

It would be pretty cool to have local chapters of the SMF.

 

[cuclimber]

Thats a pretty good idea. When I bought a Toyota FJ Cruiser a couple years ago, I got really into an FJ forum. It has all of the different categories, similar to this site, but it also has a regional section so people can set up get-togethers and 4x4 trail runs. I went on a few of the trail runs and had a lot of fun and met a lot of good folks. SMF should do something similar. People could get together for cook outs, try a new bbq joint, or just get together to talk smoking or watch a game. Many of the regional sections also have subsections for each state.

Here's a link to the forum if anyone wants to check out what it looks like. Scroll down to the Regional forum midway down the page.

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/

 

[blue]

For you great-lakers...the Great Lakes BBQ Association has planned cooks for people in the area. PLus it's a great place to find info comps in the area.

http://www.glbbqa.com/

Pretty good bunch of people too. You might recognize a lot of them.

 

[scubadoo97]

I belong to a local smoking club but it's cigars. Does that count?

 

[banditbbq]

The Official Illinois BBQ Society is online at http://www.ILBBQS.com .

 

[dnovotny]

this sounds like a good idea about having a smoking-bbq club if anyone interested post here and let see what happens...

 

[placebo]

I'm interested. I'm starting to see more people from my area become members so this has merit.

 

[donnylove]

Hmmm . . . I like it. Maybe I'll try startin gone up via Facebook here in Billings, MT. With 110,000 people in the metro area, I should be able to find at least a few other fanatics. :)

 

[rbranstner]

Yea it would be nice to get a bunch of guys in your local area so you don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get together. Facebook might be a good area to start.

 

[billm75]

All I've been able to find nearby me is a bbq judging club. ??? How can you judge it if you can't cook it? LOL Anyhow, I've been wanting to find a few folks who enjoy doing this bbq thing and kind of hanging out, maybe forming a mini-comp from time to time and other fun things that a true CLUB would do.

 

[miamirick]

would love somthing like that, but unfortunately in miami the only clubs are held by gangstas in overtown!!!