With 76 Grand Championships under his belt, Jim Johnson knows what it takes to win. It's this master of BBQ and nine-time Memphis in May top-10 finisher and his Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) team, who will be coming to New Providence to teach the art and intricacies of judging BBQ at Gone Fish'N Beach Bar & Grill's Certified BBQ Judging Class.
Participants will be able to take KCBS table captain classes at $50; KCBS judge classes at $150 and KCBS cook and judging classes at $350. They will learn to cook the best BBQ in the world, receive their KCBS pitmaster badge, a certificate and one-year membership. It will be incumbent upon them after that to continue their membership. Participants will also be taught how to maintain a coal grill at 225 degrees at all times when grilling, something Moxey said he has learnt to do.
"Everybody that likes to light up a grill ... whether it's a propane grill, a homemade grill, a tire rack, a fridge rack ... whatever it is, if you like grilling and BBQ, this is something they should take advantage of," said Smokin' Hot BBQ 2014 Grand Champion Haymish Moxey, grillmaster at Gone Fish'N Beach Bar & Grill who will facilitate the course.
On the table for the November 20-21 classes at Gone Fish'N Beach Bar & Grill will be certifications for KCBS table captain offered at $50, KCBS judge at $150 and KCBS cook and judge at $350. It's a cost that Moxey said would be worth every penny as he did his best to keep the cost low.
"If you have to go to Kansas City to do this, you have to purchase a plane ticket, pay for a hotel and food and transport, and the fees on top of that, so what I've done is cut the cost down as best I could to offer it to the public. And any cook I would suggest should do the cooking and judging, because it gives you the best of both worlds, and you get everything with that -- your condiments, your plates, all the meats and the world's greatest in Jim Johnson with his team," said Moxey.
And he knows the importance of it, having traveled through the United States to several competitions since his Grand Championship win. Competing at those events he said opened his eyes to what was needed at home.
Since he won the Smokin' Hot BBQ Competition, Moxey has since traveled the United States to compete at competitions such as the Jack Daniels World Invitational, the Best Ribs in Texas, and competitions in the Florida region.
"After entering the BBQ competitions, I've advanced in BBQ and realized that we're going into competitions at a disadvantage. We go there, cook our version of BBQ against guys who are in a whole new world -- from technology to cooking in competitions doing 20 to 40 competitions a year. I've learned that low and slow is when the meat is done, and that pink ring is perfection. Most of the BBQ pitmasters in the US have gone through cooking and judging, because the advantage of it is they learnt the basics, and get what the KCBS judges are looking for. They learn exactly what the pros do and how to do meat cutting, presentation and plating."
And one thing that he's definitely taken away from exposure to the American BBQ scene is the popularity of smoking his meats. He smokes ribs, chicken and pork, and says he can't do a day without smoking meats, because he would have a riot on his hands. His customers were hesitant at first to his smoked meats, but now they can't get enough of it.
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