Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Earlier this month, Jonathan and Justin Fox of Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q headed to Saint Simons Island to compete in the annual BBQ Pro-Am. The event was part of the Saint Simon Food & Spirit festival. The Fox brothers were paired with PGA Tour Pro Zach Johnson and competed for the winning title in the competition. They competed against Southern Soul Barbecue and three other southern pitmasters who were also paired with PGA Tour pros.
Why do you think Fox Bros Bar-B-Q won the competition?
Last year we had a complicated dish so this year we really tried to make our lives easier and just enjoyed the event and the environment we got to cook in. We focused on a simple dish and made the flavors pop. The old K.I.S.S. theory.
Tell us about your winning recipes.
We did two dishes: the first, a 6-inch bone-in beef short rib. This is a much smaller version than we do at the store because we then cut the plate in half before smoking to present a much smaller bite with a huge "wow factor." People loved that. The second was a smoked duroc pork belly tostada with a hatch chile crema, pickled red onions and cojita cheese. One was not said to outdo the other, but people really took to the tostada, coming back for seconds and thirds. We did over 700 portions of that dish (tostada) alone to just shy of 300 people.
Who was your toughest competition?
What made this event so fun was that we all know each other well and have ALOT of fun cooking together. With folks like Southern Soul, the hometown (St Simons Island) team who we assumed were a shoe-in for the win, you have to bring you’re a-game. The other competitors served some outstanding food, including Martin of Martins BBQ who served up a killer whole hog.
Who was the best PGA pitmaster?
The biggest surprise of the event was Davis Love III. Davis was cooking brisket like a pitmaster, and he was the real challenge. We didn’t know his skill, but he was there at sunrise to cook and Davis delivered some really killer brisket!
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
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