Barbecue aromas to fill Dickson Street this weekend – The Arkansas Traveler
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Barbecue aromas to fill Dickson Street this weekend

By • September 25th, 2009 • 12:50 am.

Some like it spicy hot, some like it mild, and others prefer sweet, tangy or dry-rubbed. The subject of so much taste debate is the timeless American tradition of barbecue. With many distinct styles of preparation, barbecue has become more than just a weekend pastime. Rather, an entire sect of artists has distinguished itself from the group of sauce-smearing slobs, refining the image into one of culinary perfection.
One of those secret-ingredient-keeping artisans set to descend on Fayetteville this coming weekend for what Gov. Mike Beebe has now decreed as the Bikes, Blues & BBQ Arkansas State BBQ Championship is Mike Dietzen, co-founder of The Habitual Smokers, an award-winning team entered in this weekend’s BBB competition on Dickson Street. The Habitual Smokers have a long list of prestigious championships to their name, the most prestigious being the 1996 Las Vegas National Finals Rodeo BBQ cook-off, where they took first place with their perfect-score brisket.
Dietzen and college friend Robert Waddell got started in the competitive barbecue business after they visited music and food festival “Memphis in May.” They saw the huge crowds and the mega grills, draped with slabs of ribs and glazed chicken breasts, and thought, “Wow, this is a lot of fun, we could do that.” So, in 1996, Dietzen and Waddell build their first smoker and The Habitual Smokers was born. They now participate in 12 to 14 national competitions a year but claim the BBB competition as one of their favorites because it is close to their home base in Rogers and Springdale.
“It’s a really good contest … there’s a lot going on: the music, the bikes … and a lot of our friends are here so they come out and support us,” Dietzen said.
The Habitual Smokers usually cook Kansas City-style barbecue and align themselves with the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), the organization that sanctions the BBB cook-off. Dietzen explained the differences between Kansas City style and the other styles: “The sauces that we use are a little more sweet and have molasses and brown sugar in them. Memphis barbecue-ers tend not to use as much sauce, but when they do it’s more of a mustard or vinegar-based sauce. Then, of course, there’s the Texas group… There’s three or four big organizations across the country that do these (competitions), and they all have different styles.”
No matter what their differences in style and cooking technique, throughout their competitive years together, the team has developed a cross-country group of friends, and it makes each competition feel like a reunion. “It’s kind of like being in a fraternity,” Dietzen said.
What might seem like a calm culinary pursuit is, in fact, an exhilarating experience. Dietzenn detailed the labor-intensive process of setting up camp at a competition site, shopping for and preparing the many cuts of meat, cooking the meat from 10 p.m. into the wee hours of the morning, and finally turning in the tender creations the next day for judging.
“It is a very, very serious competition,” said Ron Autry, coordinator of the BBB Barbecue Championship. “The teams have to score very highly to win.
“This week we were fortunate to be selected by the KCBS as one of the top events of the year, and they’re sending down demo cookers to be a part of the events. Southern Living magazine has also chosen us as one of the top 10 BBQ events in the country,” Autry said.
Autry laid out the event in two stages: Friday evening’s “People’s Choice Night” and the “more serious,” KCBS-sanctioned competition Saturday.
Because of donations of Simmon’s Foods of Siloam Springs and Tankersley Food of Van Bueren, all of the teams participating in “People’s Choice Night” will cook up their signature barbecue and offer it to the public in hopes of being voted a favorite. Unlike the strict, formal competition on Saturday, Friday night’s event is without rules or guidelines; rather, the public tastes, gives their honest opinion and the winners take home $500. The contest will be located in the parking lot across from Baum Stadium on Razorback Road, and serving for the “People’s Choice” Contest will begin at 6 p.m. The official KCBS cook-off competition and judging begins at noon and continues until 3 p.m. the following Saturday.
“We are giving away a total of $1,500 in prize money and the first-prize winner will be awarded $800,” Autry said. Currently, 50 teams are pre-registered and certified judges will be present Saturday to score the teams.
With such prestige in its barbecue contest, it is only natural that the rest of the event would be likewise recognized. BBB is the third-largest motorcycle rally in the U.S., and it is the only such event whose purpose is the funding of non-profit organizations.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of hard work,” Autry said, “but my favorite part is that we do have monies left over that we can donate to local charities, and that’s a major value to the community of Northwest Arkansas.
“The hardest part is just trying to get around town with 75,000 to 125,000 motorcycles from every state in the union and 3,000 to 4,000 people. The event has anywhere around $45 million of an economic impact, which is another positive impact for the commercial community,” Autry said.
However, BBB is not the only attention this popular food category get in Northwest Arkansas. Popular barbecue joints have sprouted up all around the area, including local favorite Penguin Ed’s BBQ, which has been around Fayetteville for more than 16 years with two locations off College Avenue and the original on Mission Road.
“Barbecue is very well-accepted in the South. It’s got a tradition in small towns throughout the South … kind of lends itself to ‘mom-and-pop’ operations,” Penguin Ed’s founder Ed Knight said.
While competitors in barbecue competitions like The Habitual Smokers specialize in only one type of barbecue, Penguin Ed’s has a couple, along with several sides known to be popular with barbecue consumers.
“Penguin Ed’s specializes in a combination of Texas and Kansas City style. There is not much doubt in my mind that the best barbecue is from Texas, but we’re a mix of it all,” Knight said.
While Knight is adamant about Texas barbecue, the debate over which barbecue style is the best will rage on for decades to come. But Fayetteville residents have the chance to have their say in the battle over barbecue supremacy at BBB this weekend.
Anyone within a five-mile radius of Dickson Street can experience firsthand the size of the crowd and the enormity of this event. Engines rip and roar, music blasts and fragrant barbecue smoke wafts across campus – the sweet smell of success for the economy, the charities and the barbecue lover.

Traveler2By: Erin Robertson

Some like it spicy hot, some like it mild, and others prefer sweet, tangy or dry-rubbed. The subject of so much taste debate is the timeless American tradition of barbecue. With many distinct styles of preparation, barbecue has become more than just a weekend pastime. Rather, an entire sect of artists has distinguished itself from the group of sauce-smearing slobs, refining the image into one of culinary perfection.

One of those secret-ingredient-keeping artisans set to descend on Fayetteville this coming weekend for what Gov. Mike Beebe has now decreed as the Bikes, Blues & BBQ Arkansas State BBQ Championship is Mike Dietzen, co-founder of The Habitual Smokers, an award-winning team entered in this weekend’s BBB competition on Dickson Street. The Habitual Smokers have a long list of prestigious championships to their name, the most prestigious being the 1996 Las Vegas National Finals Rodeo BBQ cook-off, where they took first place with their perfect-score brisket.

Dietzen and college friend Robert Waddell got started in the competitive barbecue business after they visited music and food festival “Memphis in May.” They saw the huge crowds and the mega grills, draped with slabs of ribs and glazed chicken breasts, and thought, “Wow, this is a lot of fun, we could do that.” So, in 1996, Dietzen and Waddell build their first smoker and The Habitual Smokers was born. They now participate in 12 to 14 national competitions a year but claim the BBB competition as one of their favorites because it is close to their home base in Rogers and Springdale.

“It’s a really good contest … there’s a lot going on: the music, the bikes … and a lot of our friends are here so they come out and support us,” Dietzen said.

The Habitual Smokers usually cook Kansas City-style barbecue and align themselves with the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), the organization that sanctions the BBB cook-off. Dietzen explained the differences between Kansas City style and the other styles: “The sauces that we use are a little more sweet and have molasses and brown sugar in them. Memphis barbecue-ers tend not to use as much sauce, but when they do it’s more of a mustard or vinegar-based sauce. Then, of course, there’s the Texas group… There’s three or four big organizations across the country that do these (competitions), and they all have different styles.”

No matter what their differences in style and cooking technique, throughout their competitive years together, the team has developed a cross-country group of friends, and it makes each competition feel like a reunion. “It’s kind of like being in a fraternity,” Dietzen said.

What might seem like a calm culinary pursuit is, in fact, an exhilarating experience. Dietzenn detailed the labor-intensive process of setting up camp at a competition site, shopping for and preparing the many cuts of meat, cooking the meat from 10 p.m. into the wee hours of the morning, and finally turning in the tender creations the next day for judging.

“It is a very, very serious competition,” said Ron Autry, coordinator of the BBB Barbecue Championship. “The teams have to score very highly to win.

“This week we were fortunate to be selected by the KCBS as one of the top events of the year, and they’re sending down demo cookers to be a part of the events. Southern Living magazine has also chosen us as one of the top 10 BBQ events in the country,” Autry said.

Autry laid out the event in two stages: Friday evening’s “People’s Choice Night” and the “more serious,” KCBS-sanctioned competition Saturday.

Because of donations of Simmon’s Foods of Siloam Springs and Tankersley Food of Van Bueren, all of the teams participating in “People’s Choice Night” will cook up their signature barbecue and offer it to the public in hopes of being voted a favorite. Unlike the strict, formal competition on Saturday, Friday night’s event is without rules or guidelines; rather, the public tastes, gives their honest opinion and the winners take home $500. The contest will be located in the parking lot across from Baum Stadium on Razorback Road, and serving for the “People’s Choice” Contest will begin at 6 p.m. The official KCBS cook-off competition and judging begins at noon and continues until 3 p.m. the following Saturday.

“We are giving away a total of $1,500 in prize money and the first-prize winner will be awarded $800,” Autry said. Currently, 50 teams are pre-registered and certified judges will be present Saturday to score the teams.

With such prestige in its barbecue contest, it is only natural that the rest of the event would be likewise recognized. BBB is the third-largest motorcycle rally in the U.S., and it is the only such event whose purpose is the funding of non-profit organizations.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of hard work,” Autry said, “but my favorite part is that we do have monies left over that we can donate to local charities, and that’s a major value to the community of Northwest Arkansas.

“The hardest part is just trying to get around town with 75,000 to 125,000 motorcycles from every state in the union and 3,000 to 4,000 people. The event has anywhere around $45 million of an economic impact, which is another positive impact for the commercial community,” Autry said.

However, BBB is not the only attention this popular food category get in Northwest Arkansas. Popular barbecue joints have sprouted up all around the area, including local favorite Penguin Ed’s BBQ, which has been around Fayetteville for more than 16 years with two locations off College Avenue and the original on Mission Road.

“Barbecue is very well-accepted in the South. It’s got a tradition in small towns throughout the South … kind of lends itself to ‘mom-and-pop’ operations,” Penguin Ed’s founder Ed Knight said.

While competitors in barbecue competitions like The Habitual Smokers specialize in only one type of barbecue, Penguin Ed’s has a couple, along with several sides known to be popular with barbecue consumers.

“Penguin Ed’s specializes in a combination of Texas and Kansas City style. There is not much doubt in my mind that the best barbecue is from Texas, but we’re a mix of it all,” Knight said.

While Knight is adamant about Texas barbecue, the debate over which barbecue style is the best will rage on for decades to come. But Fayetteville residents have the chance to have their say in the battle over barbecue supremacy at BBB this weekend.

Anyone within a five-mile radius of Dickson Street can experience firsthand the size of the crowd and the enormity of this event. Engines rip and roar, music blasts and fragrant barbecue smoke wafts across campus – the sweet smell of success for the economy, the charities and the barbecue lover.