Expert grillers are sharpening their skewers and seasoning their firewood in anticipation of Murphy’s second Backyard BBQ Cook-off.

The non-sanctioned competition Saturday, April 25, in Central Park replaced the spring Tunes, Tails and Ales festival that was discontinued because of cost.

The free event will be open to the public from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and will include live music featuring Justin Ross and Deadwood Revival, vendors and other features to entertain the whole family.

Backyard BBQ features two categories: the Brisket Battle and a People’s Choice competition, where contestants can showcase their BBQ creations, including — but not limited to — brisket, pork, ribs and chicken. In addition to the Meat of Choice category, teams may submit the Cook’s Choice of ancillary products such as sides or dessert of the team’s choosing.

Cooking teams must be able to distribute a minimum of 200 samples of each dish for the People’s Choice competition.

Tickets to serve as a tasting judge went on sale Friday, March 27, for $20. Each judge will receive three voting tokens to be deposited in the box of their three favorite cooking teams.

Competitors will vie for the champion title and $2,500 in prizes.

First place in the Brisket Battle gets a $1,500 prize and a championship belt. The People’s Choice winner gets $1,000 and a trophy.  

The entry fee is $50 per team and registrations were completed by Tuesday, March 31, on murphytx.org.

Cooks must be 18 years of age and up to four team members must be declared at the time of registration. A head cook must be present for the entire competition.

Spaces will be assigned in order of registration, and all teams must have a temporary city of Murphy health permit as well as a food handlers certificate from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The preparation and completion of any and all meats and other dishes in competition must be done within the confines of the cook-off site and during the time limits designated by the Backyard BBQ Competition. All competition meat will be inspected by Bureau Veritas, starting at 3 p.m. Friday.

All ingredients including marinades and seasonings must be provided by the competitors.

Competition meat may not be removed from the store packaging prior to the event. All meat and ancillary products (with the exception of marinades and seasonings) must remain sealed until approval from the Cook-off Committee. No marinade, seasoning, brining, etc. can be done off-site.

Each team must supply all the equipment necessary for the preparation and cooking of their entry including a cooker/grill, wood or wood pellets, charcoal, and utensils. Teams will have eighteen hours to prepare and cook their dishes. Cooking

will commence on Friday at 5 p.m. and end on Saturday at 11 a.m. Late submissions will not be judged.

Barbecue pits can be any commercial or homemade, trailered or un-trailered, pit or smoker normally used for competitive barbecue. The pit should be of a permanent design and backyard cookers may be any portable unit designed for recreational cooking.

Pits may not be shared and only one entry is allowed per pit.

Additional rules and details are on the Murphy city website under Parks & Recreation – Community Events.

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