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I'm thinking a savory pie with BBQ brisket on the bottom with mac and cheese on top.

Josh good luck with your competition BBQ. We've been doing it for a year now and it's been one of the funnest things I have ever done. My advice is to just jump in and do one and ask top teams to try your food and often times you will be able to taste what wins. That way instead of trying to come up with what you think will possibly do well you can tweak your recipe as you are receiving feedback from other competitors and judges.

To the master judge that found that KCBS BBQ tasted the same across the country and was "disgusted" that the BBQ in the NE tasted like KC I'm glad you are no longer judging. There are very slight differences across the county but you aren't going to find the differences that you would in local regional restaurants. To compete, travel to different states, compete in the big ones like the Jack, the Royal, or even new events like the Sam's Club BBQ Series you have to produce the greatest tasting average American BBQ around in order to avoid getting nailed by judges and lose every dime of the $1000 you spent to compete that weekend. I'd rather produce the best BBQ that appeals to the vast majority of people and come home with some money and a couple of trophy's.

James, I look forward to the rest of your articles about the Jack. I just got back from competing in a KCBS competition and yes, competition bbq is a different animal than what your ideas of good bbq are. When I started competing, my ideas of good bbq is what I turned in and I didn't bomb but I didn't do great. I'm still new but my ideas of great bbq has changed dramatically. Yours will too if you continue to judge KCBS events. When you started drinking wine or really got into fine foods your senses begin to pick out the fine details. Right now you know what you know.

I am so glad you are doing this. Basic science says that if you remove the moisture and add salt that bacteria, most anyways, isn't going to grow. That's why the burger on the plate, Karen's, never decomposed and why Spurlock's did in the glass jar. The fries are thin, have little to no moisture, and have salt so of course they won't decompose.

Eh, no big deal. Eliminate moisture add a bunch of fat and salt and this will happen to anything. An ounce of integrity from people that don't like McDonalds or "commercial" food and try to prove a point by doing "art projects" would at least look into why it does what it does.

Lump charcoal is what I use in my BGE. Specifically Wicked Good Charcoal. Most lump charcoal is coming from farmed trees, tree thinning, or from general tree trimming. Are briquettes more environmentally friendly? Well, both are carbon neutral. Lump is wood only. Briquettes are wood and various binders (clay, etc.) I'd say lump. Less ingredients, less processing, and less transportation of ingredients.

I really need to head out to LA and check this place out. On a business side note, is there an award for expanding internationally before your business is even established in the States? I just saw Elevation burger is looking to expand in the middle east, Shake Shack is looking at Dubai and Umami is looking at Japan and Australia.

I don't know. That picture on the top looks great! The fries aren't my style but all in all it was a great review.