Some worked in campers, some worked in kitchens in trailers, some worked outside, but all the cooks at the second annual Big Island Barbeque had plenty of spices and rubs to give their barbecue the right flavor.

More than 57 teams competed overall, including five of the top 10 ranked cooks in the Kansas City Barbeque Society. The BIB is sanctioned by the KCBS, the largest grilling organization with more than 10,000 members and 300 contests each year.

Rod Gray told event organizer Perry Vining that the second BIB felt like a long-running event.

“It feels like a well-oiled machine this year,” he told Vining.

Gray and his wife, Sheri, make up the team Pellet Envy, and he competes at about 35 events each year She goes on about half of the trips and wasn’t able to travel to Albert Lea.

As of Saturday, Gray was the top-ranked cook in the KCBS, but he joked that admitting that fact would jinx him and another cook would pass him.

Cooks compete in four categories: beef brisket, chicken, ribs and pork butt/pork shoulder. Gray was also the top-ranked beef brisket cook, which is a complicated and unique meat to barbecue because it cooks for more than 10 hours.

“You need a tender brisket that has moisture and flavor,” Gray said. “A lot of guys can get one of those easy enough, maybe two of them. But getting all three of them separates the guys who are getting the ribbons that day.”

Kade Klahsen cooked on the Sixth Street Barbecue team, which is the name of a restaurant he owns with his wife, Maria, in Waverly, Iowa.

“Brisket gets to that point where it’s really hard or it’s perfectly tender or there’s no middle. If you’ve ever had a dry steak you know what I’m talking about. It’s trying to keep it moist and get it done at the same time,” Klahsen said.

Klahsen makes all the spices and rubs, but he said barbecue is different when hudgin is involved. The results of the judging are printed out, and he said cooks compare scores for bragging rights.

Gray said a cook need fresh spices, organization cleanliness to be successful in a cook-off.

“The one thing that people probably don’t realize is everything I use is over the counter. It’s all available somewhere. I don’t make my own rubs or sauces,” Gray said.

A big part of that is the product, and Gray said it’s important to pick out quality meat, though he said some cooks buy more expensive meat than is necessary. Gray buys all his meat over the counter at a grocery store. Gray said he bought about 180 pounds of brisket to find about 30 pounds to bring to the competition.

Taste isn’t the only factor, as presentation is also very important, said Paul Lengeling, who competed on the team Raccoon Flats with his brother John.

John said his favorite food to cook is the brisket. He and his brother cooked two briskets for the competition: One cooked about 12 hours and the other cooked for about 15.

Before cooking the meat, they cut away as much as two-inches of fat to expose the meat, then they put a spice rub on the brisket and then they inject flavoring into the center of the meat. They occasionally rotate the meat during the cooking to make sure it’s evenly done because of hot spots in the smokers.

When it’s close to done, they wrap it in foil with juice and more flavorings.

John said a 12-pound brisket shrinks by about 40 percent when it cooks. When it’s done, they find the most tender portion of the meat – less than one pound – to turn in to the judges.

“There’s tons of leftovers — tons of contest rejects,” John said. These meats are given away to friends and family or they sell it, because John said many cooks become sick of barbecue.

Brisket is one of the toughest meats to learn to cook, because it takes so long and people can cook it too quickly or take it off too soon.

“It’s done when it’s done. No two briskets are alike,” John said.

Don Bickford, who cooked on the team Full Frontal Barbecue, said consistency, and he said event weather plays into that.

“It’s just trying to get yourself consistent, do the same things and get your times down, make sure it gets done at the right time,” Bickford said.

Gray competes full time, largely because of a national sponsor, and he also teaches classes. He said he’d seen about ten teams that had taken his barbecue class, and he said those cooks probably know the cooking schedule Gray uses.

“I’m very anal about barbecue. I have a set program that I use week-in-week-out,” Gray said.

Gray said he came back to Albert Lea because of the enthusiasm of the crowd.

“I’m from Kansas City, where there’s a barbecue contest every weekend and it’s pretty much taken for granted,” Gray said. “We learned when we started to travel how much better the cooks are treated and how the folks like to talk to us and interact with us, that’s the best part.”

Judges don’t know whose food they judge and contestants don’t know judges, and Gray said that makes the competition fair. He said he’s been to other contests where the cooks and judges intermingle, but that often leads to favoritism.

“I think that’s perfect. That means anybody can come out here with a couple of little grills or whatever. It’s not a pomp and circumstance or the ability to wow judges. It’s just the ability to produce a great quality product, regardless of what it’s cooked on,” Gray said.