[Emery] Barbecue competitions
used to just be for adults.
Now high school kids
get to compete.
Yeah, dance, Zane.
Oh, dance! [laughing]
The high school barbecue
competitions are massive.
Hundreds of schools
all over Texas
compete in regionals
throughout the year.
If y'all wanna win
something like this,
y'all got to put the work in.
There are five categories
that you're judged on.
Dessert, beans, chicken, ribs,
and the money meat of Texas,
brisket.
[Coach Rob] At regionals,
three teams will get
trophies or a ribbon
and scholarship money.
The top 10 scoring teams
that have not been
previously qualified
will get invited to state.
-[man 1] Fire in the hole.
-[man 2] Whoo.
[Marc] My parents,
they love my food,
they love my barbecue.
But they just don't support me
going all in on culinary.
Why don't you do
culinary on the side
and get yourself a degree?
[Zane] After breaking my leg,
I'm just
building myself back up
to the way it was
before I got injured.
[Coach Rob] We're gonna
walk through this together,
right, me and you?
I trust you.
[Zane in sing-song voice]
♪The stars at night
Are deep and bright♪
6:19, 6:19, Phat. Let's go.
That's the one
you gotta go deep into.
[Marc] Hey,
come get your pork.
You get a good amount
of scrap this time.
I did you right.
These racks were
a little janky.
But, hey, you see
how I squared 'em off
how I want 'em?
[kid] That looks really good,
dude.
[Marc] Last year in state,
my ribs did not qualify.
I need to prove to myself
that I'm good at this.
[Coach Beasley]
Okay, do you have
no seasoning?
-No So y'all get that
on it, let's go.
-[Coach Rob] Let's go.
[Zane] We placed second
in state last year,
and we're just trying to
come back and prove that
we're still the team to beat.
Press down, remember?
You don't wanna,
like, press too hard,
but you wanna hear,
like, a pop.
There's a lot of pressure
on me as the captain.
And I'm confident
in our abilities.
We just gotta
keep ourselves engaged
and, you know, don't make
some silly mistakes.
[Coach Beasley] 6:32.
Top rack. Let's go.
[Zane] The rib
goes on at 7:00.
Do we put it on at 6:30?
[Coach Beasley] Your
brisket is your longest cook,
so I ain't worried about it.
[Zane] Competitive barbecue,
the first thing that
you gotta be ready for
is a 12-hour day.
Brisket can take eight hours,
rib four hours,
chicken, like,
three and a half hours.
[kid] Brisket's going in.
[Marc] On go.
One, two, three, go.
[man] And close fast.
We're going into
a regional event.
You can't slip up.
All right. You know
your brisket's late, right?
[Zane] Yes, we know.
[Coach Beasley] Last practice,
we failed to cook a brisket
to the right temperature.
Hurry up, hurry up.
Let's go. Get it on there.
Fast Barbecue.
Come in right quick.
Don't be intimidated
by the brisket.
You guys got this!
You are second place
in the state of Texas,
Zane, Diego.
Y'all second place.
Let's act like
we're second place.
Make sure they're going
in straight, guys.
-[Zane] That's the last one.
-[Coach Beasley] Okay.
[kid] We gotta spritz.
[Zane in quirky voice]
We gotta spritz.
That's a "you" problem,
actually.
[Zane in normal voice]
It's a "us" problem.
We just put on our two racks
of ribs and our chicken,
and then we just
spritzed our brisket.
It helps keep
that moisture in.
It's starting to pick up
a little bit,
where the excitement
starts to begin.
-[chanting] One team!
-[all] One dream!
-[Coach Beasley] One team!
-[all] One dream!
-[Coach Beasley] One team!
-[all] One dream!
[all] Whoo!
Liven the party up.
[Coach Rob] No category
is less than the other.
You need to do well
in all five categories.
They have a turn-in time
for each category.
Desserts is 10:00 o'clock.
Your beans is 11:00.
Your chicken is at noon.
Your ribs are 1:30,
your brisket's at 3:00.
[Coach Rob] So we'll start
screaming at 'em,
like, not screaming at 'em
-But we're screaming at 'em.
-[indistinct]
-Yeah, we're gonna scream.
-Yep, step it up.
-You know?
-Yeah.
[Coach Beasley] How we looking
on the dessert, guys?
I'm working on creating
the base of the cream cheese
cake.
[Zane] I wouldn't add
any more caramel.
Yeah, don't add any more
'cause we need it
-for the layers.
-'Cause that's super rich.
Whoo-hoo!
It's rich, we're rich!
[Coach A] Muscle, muscle.
There you go, señor.
[man] Breakin' it.
[Brysen] Jeez, Marc,
you're really giving it
a piece of your mind.
[Coach A] We're making
basically a smoked cookie
to kind of give it the vibes
of a s'more type thing.
[kid] It doesn't have to look
too perfect
'cause there's gonna be
a meringue over it.
You just want the shape of it.
Good job, dude.
-[man 1] We can turn in now.
-Come on, turn-in time.
[man 2] Hey, let's go, guys.
Let's go.
[Coach Beasley]
Once the bell rings
for a category,
you have a 10-minute window
to get it turned in.
If it's not turned in
within the 10-minute window,
you get zero points
for that category.
Okay.
That's all you're gonna take.
Okay, now make sure
you don't push it. Okay.
Give it to him.
Give it to him.
[man] Perfect. Perfect.
One more.
All right, y'all go.
Come on, go.
-Let's go.
-[kid] I'll meet you
out there.
-That looks very good.
Good luck to you.
-[Zane] Thank you.
-Uh-huh.
-The teams will come in
and turn in their product
at one table.
-It's so much better than
-Okay, we're gonna
get started.
[man] All the categories
are ranked one through 10.
You don't turn a product in,
you get zero points.
[Marnie] The judges
have comment cards
that they write
constructive criticism,
something that they think
will be useful
for the team moving forward.
Then the scores are added up.
Depending on how you fare
in each category,
it goes towards your
final score as a team,
The goal is,
place in that top three
to get scholarship money.
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
Don't forget these beans.
[Zane] All right,
can you help me?
[Coach Beasley]
Y'all got this. Do whatever
y'all have to do.
[Zane] After breaking my leg,
I'm just
building myself back up
to the way it was
before I got injured.
I was definitely down,
and I'm just trying to be
more positive, you know,
pushing myself,
and that's really
all I can I try to do.
[Coach Beasley] I wanna taste
beans and juice.
There's some
very particular rules.
The beans can't have anything
in the cup bigger than
the bean.
Look how close that is,
almost being bigger
than beans.
So, y'all really gonna
have to watch that.
We do that just to keep
big chunks of ham and stuff
from being thrown
in the bean cups,
trying to add flavor.
[Coach Beasley] Hey,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Stop, stop, Diego.
No, I know.
We're searching through
it all. We're taking it slow.
-We're going
through each bean.
-[Coach Beasley] But don't
-[Zane] Make sure
that nothing's bigger.
-[Coach Beasley] Okay.
Beans walking.
[overlapping chatter]
-[man 1] All right, let's go.
-[man 2] All right,
good job, guys.
[Zane] I try to do with beans,
is we kind of like to keep it
a little spicy.
I hope it's a good texture
and just hope
that judges like spicier
more than sweeter.
[Coach A] Damion,
chicken's due at 12:00.
[Damion] The temperature
just keeps dropping.
The thermometer is at 122.
[kid] It's a little
undercooked.
[indistinct] it should be,
like, a little bit above 165.
So, give it
another 20 minutes-ish.
[Coach A] With chicken,
we have to make sure that
it reaches that 165 mark.
We're not gonna
serve a raw chicken,
and we're not gonna serve
an overcooked chicken,
'cause otherwise
it's gonna be too dry.
And if it's raw,
then we're gonna
get disqualified.
[Brysen] I need to put
the brisket back in.
[Coach A] I need y'all
to stop opening and closing
-that door, man.
-Noted.
[Coach A] That's the reason
why our temperature's
ain't good.
Keep opening the smoker,
it releases a lot of
that heat,
and all that smoke,
so you're never gonna
get that smoke flavor.
And it's gonna make everything
else not cook evenly.
So our chicken is at 120-ish,
and we have about 30 minutes
before turn-in time.
I need you to bring that
fire up to kick that chicken.
-Add another couple of logs.
-I just added logs.
-You want me to add more?
-[Coach A] Add another one.
All right.
[Brysen] I'm not worried
even a little bit, you know?
I think my team
is really solid.
Marc's ribs
are looking really good.
My brisket's got a awesome
bark on it.
Damion's got a chicken
in there,
so I think we're
rock and rolling right now.
[Coach Beasley]
Normal cook time
for brisket is 13 hours,
but for a competition,
we have eight hours
to get that brisket
to perfection.
If you put butcher's paper
in there
and come with the foil
over the top of it,
you can cook a brisket
hot and fast.
It's imperative to reach
a internal temperature
above 200
to try and achieve tenderness.
First off, you got that
turned wrong.
Okay? You have never saw me
wrap long ways, right?
-So that means your brisket
should be turned sideways too.
-[Coach Rob] Like this.
Put it right in the center
of the paper, okay?
Nah, Diego, come on.
It's this side of table.
Come from the back,
the back of it.
-[kid 1] No.
-[kid 2] Diego.
[laughing]
The back end of the table.
-All right, now
[indistinct]
-No, not all the way, bro.
[Coach Beasley] We're gonna
have a class next week.
[Coach Rob] No, we don't have
that many briskets.
Y'all just gonna
[Coach Beasley] No, no, no.
We ain't gonna use brisket.
We're gonna use bricks.
And push down.
As a captain, like,
the most important role,
just trying to keep
the team calm,
and make sure that
we don't let Beasley
get into our heads
'cause he likes to yell a lot.
Hey, you need to be
able to tuck that.
Tuck it up under there, guys.
It needs to be wrapped tight.
[man] Oh, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.
[Coach Rob] You can call him
Sergeant Beasley, you can
call him Coach Beasley,
it don't matter
what you call him.
But when you make him mad,
it's the Bobby Knight
of barbecue.
-You know, the legendary
Indiana coach
-Indiana coach.
that threw the chair
on the court?
Y'all make the simplest thing
hard to me.
[kid] He is overreacting,
good Lord.
[Coach Beasley] Y'all should
know this here by now.
They're acting like
they're totally new to it.
Get it back on the top rack.
-[Zane] All right.
-[kid] Okay.
Plug that in for me?
That side.
[indistinct chatter]
That says 178.
-[Coach A] That said 178?
-[Marc] 178.
Great.
So, you're gonna turn in
an overcooked chicken then.
Yep.
[Brysen] It looks good.
Normally, Damion, your chicken
is super, super juicy anyway.
So I think
a couple of degrees up,
it won't really k*ll you.
[Coach A] Guys,
y'all go turn in.
[Brysen] Come on, guys.
Let's get this plated.
[Coach A] The chicken
was a little overcooked,
and I'm a little worried
about it.
Besides that,
the presentation is awesome.
Hopefully, our flavor will
get us to that next level.
[Zane] Yeah, I'm the only one
wearing shorts,
and I'm the only one
embracing barbecue.
[Kadyn] Whatever you say, man.
Who wears pants at a barbecue?
-[laughing]
-[Zane] But that's a real
thing, like, it's not made up.
I'm special.
[Marc] Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm wrappin' it,
and then I'm gonna
start stackin' it.
Hey!
Chef, you know what it is?
It is happenin'.
Ah!
My parents are here today.
I need to show them
that I have a skill.
Not many people
can say they have
a high-placing rib
in the region.
I want that to be me.
This is really
my first competition
using my red sauce.
I'm using a sauce
with a soda in it,
like, it's already
just like a funky thing.
I wanna get that
bright red color.
I wanna get
a slight sweetness,
like, a candy taste.
And I wanna make sure
my ribs are tender.
[man] Good luck.
Hey, Zane, how do you feel?
-[Zane] A little bit longer.
-[Wes] Yeah.
[Coach Beasley]
I think we're getting
in a positive direction
with Zane as the captain.
[Coach Rob] There's
expectation for him to lead.
He's doing real, real well.
He's got his struggles.
He's got some things
he's gotta grow into,
but he's a teenager so
[Zane] It's a long day.
Feeling exhausted,
tired, sore.
Mmm-hmm.
But I push through the pain.
[Marc] The ribs
are bending pretty good,
but I don't think
they're done yet.
The bend test is really
a very efficient way to tell
if it's done.
Some teams,
they use thermometers,
but I'm trying to get
used to eyeballing it.
[Coach A] They're bending
already a lot.
You're not gonna
take them out to rest?
[Marc] Oh,
of course I am, yeah.
Then don't you wanna
maybe sauce them now?
I cook off the glaze
for about 20 minutes.
If they're bending a lot now,
they're becoming too tender.
It's not under the whole time.
[Coach A] Okay. Go with what
you're comfortable with.
Last practice, we had an issue
with Marc's ribs
coming out
a little bit too tough.
The ribs aren't
cooked all the way.
It needed to be more tender.
You have to learn how to,
like, feel for certain things,
and that's what
he's working on right now.
He's working on,
"What is the rib
supposed to feel like?"
He's not understanding
that 100%.
The perfect rib,
you want it to be
tender enough,
if somebody was to come
with a plastic fork,
not to the point where
it's gonna fall off the bone.
[indistinct chatter]
-Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
-[Diego] Hot, hot, hot.
They look great to me but
'Cause my ribs were number one
in the state last year,
my plan this season is to just
do the exact same thing
I did last year.
Gotta sauce 'em
and finish 'em off.
We made our own rub.
We use our special sauce.
You don't fix perfection.
Hopefully, we'll win.
Fingers crossed.
-Ready?
-[Marc] In three, two, one.
Okay.
Here we go.
[winces] Got bones.
Bones right there.
Chef, a little too much, chef.
Yeah, like, look,
way too overcooked.
[background chatter]
[Marc] I'm just trying to
focus right now, honestly.
[exhales heavily]
[Zane] Hot, hot, hot.
[Coach Beasley]
Yeah, that look good.
[Zane] All right,
I'm gonna start slicing it.
[Coach Beasley]
Get in between.
[Zane] I know, I need a
I need to sharpen knife.
[Coach Beasley]
I would start from the center
and work my way out,
'cause that's where
you're probably gonna get
your best seven cuts
from the center.
From the center.
[Zane] If you got ribs,
you gotta execute
the techniques properly.
If your cuts are rough,
you won't place.
We have a flat slicer,
a regular one.
We probably should get
a serrated slicer
to make the cuts more,
just easier and clean.
[Marc] We don't have
much time. Yo, I need hustle.
Somebody, give me the towels.
-[clattering]
-[man] Oh, oh.
[Brysen] Pull those
two middle ones apart
so we can lay it down flat.
Just like that.
Just like that.
Perfect, man.
[Zane] I know. Try to use
some of these, guys, come on.
Toward.
[Coach Beasley]
Y'all, get your best seven
even cuts.
[Zane] Oh,
that's five and two.
-[Coach Beasley] Let's go.
-[Zane] All right.
-[overlapping chatter]
-Diego, we ain't got no time.
-[applause]
-[Gus] Good job. Good luck.
[Marc] Thank you.
[Gus] Let's go turn.
[Zane] The ribs,
they weren't super overcooked
or they were, like,
super fall-off-the-bone.
But they were moist
and cooked enough
to where you could just
pull it off the bone.
Winning isn't ever
guaranteed in barbecue.
The judges either
like it or they don't.
[Marc] I believe the flavor
is gonna be there.
The color is definitely there.
I'm just nervous if they
deem it to be too tender.
-Smiles, everyone.
-[all laugh]
[Gus] I'm very proud
of them boys.
Every time they have
a competition,
I'm either out of town
or unavailable or
But today is my second time,
and I'm glad to be here.
[Coach Beasley] Twenty minutes
to turn in brisket.
-[kid] Yeah.
-[man 1] All right!
[man 2] Ooh.
[Zane] The judges
get a bite of a fat
[clicks tongue]
Hey, throw out your knife
right in that seam
where that fat is.
Let it go straight back.
Don't cut down.
-Go straight back.
-[Zane] Don't cut down.
Whoa, whoa, cut up. Go
[Coach Beasley] Go up.
[Chuck] 03:00 o'clock
is the brisket.
That's the category that
gets them in trouble
most of the time.
It can't be no thinner than
a quarter of an inch
of the slice,
and no thicker than
three-eighths of an inch
on the slice.
[Coach Beasley]
Don't let the blade turn,
straight down.
You're letting
your blade turn.
Chef, thick, thin?
A little bit
thinner than that.
[Brysen] Yeah.
[Zane] That's uneven.
It was Chancey's first time
using an electric knife,
which was a bad idea.
He wasn't trained,
so he doesn't know
how it works.
So, your knife's sliding,
and we are pushing time.
[Coach Beasley]
What's wrong, guys?
Y'all stopping? Let's go.
-Y'all stopping.
-[Zane] Just keep going.
We don't have time.
-Y'all ain't got all day.
-[Zane] We don't have
a whole lot of time.
You gotta keep going.
You gotta keep going.
Get that one right here.
One more slice,
and then
we might use that one.
We gotta go, though.
[Coach Beasley]
Y'all making it too hard.
[Zane] No, we got it.
We have it, we have it,
seven, seven.
-Diego, Diego.
-[Coach Beasley] Go.
[Zane] Our brisket
hasn't been rested yet.
The juices
haven't started to set,
so it's not
a very great brisket.
Everyone's panicking.
I'm panicking on the inside.
Try not to show it,
'cause then everyone else
starts to really panic,
but I don't know
what to expect.
Everybody's like [panting]
During awards,
you're nervous, bro.
Now you're being told,
"Hey, we're gonna
rank your ribs."
If you're coming
at last place,
you're coming at last place.
They're calling you out.
[kid] Well, I say ribs,
I mean,
I say chicken with it, too,
I didn't taste the chicken.
[Zane] All year,
I'm trying to get first place
ribs is my goal
'cause I'm on ribs so
[laughs]
It's kind of the number one
goal for me.
[Chuck over microphone]
Okay, guys, I think
we're finally ready.
We're gonna
start with dessert.
-All right, Marcus,
are you ready?
-[Marcus] All right.
[Chuck] Fifth place dessert,
Decatur High School
Grill Masters.
Ticket number 288.
You wanna get in the top three
in a category if you can,
so your kids
can least get a ribbon.
[Chuck] Third place dessert
and a ribbon,
-Smokin' Ferrets.
-Oh, yeah.
[Chuck] Second place dessert
and ribbon,
-Phat's BBQ.
-Yay!
[Coach Rob] We're kind of
picking up where we left off
last year.
-You coached him up.
-sh**t.
Look at him,
he coached him up.
[Chuck] Second place
pinto beans,
Phat's BBQ.
[Coach Rob] Yes!
All right, we're good,
we're good, we're good.
Oh, we're gonna
try and win it all.
It all starts here.
[Chuck] All right.
Time for chicken.
-This is it.
-[kid] Oh, my God.
Dude, I'm scared.
Chicken's a hard meat
to smoke.
I'm very nervous.
I hope they
weren't overcooked, bro.
[Chuck] First place
in chicken
Smokin' Ferrets.
[all exclaiming]
We got first. We got first.
Oh, yeah!
[Coach A] I was worried
that our chicken was
gonna be really dry.
We had some few hiccups.
Damion, he's perfected
his craft,
when it comes to flavor,
when it comes to, like,
the juiciness.
[Chuck] Piggy, piggy ribs.
Here we go.
[Coach Beasley] Come on.
Just inside top five.
I'm hoping
for inside top three.
I want to rip it.
[Marc] I think I can do better
than most of these
other teams,
but I see Ben Barber,
and I'm like,
"That's my competition
right there.
That's the first place
in the state."
It's not that
I got beef with them.
I'm trying to beat them.
[Chuck] All right,
third place in ribs
and ribbon
Smokin' Ferrets.
-[whooping]
-Good job. Good job.
That's what I wanted.
Last year I said
I didn't make top 30.
The red soda sauce worked.
-Congratulations, buddy.
-[Marc] Thank you.
-You know the process.
-Great job.
Come on.
[Chuck] Second place
in ribs
[David] Good job, Marc.
Prosper Eagle Barbecue.
[audience cheering]
[Zane] First place ribs
last year doesn't entail that
we'll get first place again.
You might have a bad day
or some judges
that don't like it.
[Chuck] First place
in the piggy piggy ribs
Phat's BBQ.
Whoo! There we go!
There we go!
-[Chuck] Congratulations,
buddy.
-[Zane] Thank you, thank you.
[Chuck] All right,
so we're in brisket
[Marc] Brisket.
They're talking right now
saying brisket.
Y'all get first,
you're grand champion.
You're gonna get points
with each category which goes
towards your final score,
and we did good
in some categories and
we did not so good,
but we had enough that I think
if we honed in on brisket,
if we get inside the top five,
we've got a chance
of winning first place.
[Chuck] Eighth
place brisket
Phat's BBQ.
-Whoo!
-[man 1] There we go.
[Coach Beasley] That was ours
to win, and I think we dropped
the ball.
Today wasn't our day.
[Chuck] Seventh place
brisket
-Smokin' Ferrets.
-[Coach A] Oh.
Y'all go for it.
The scholarships,
let's talk about those
a little bit.
So you got first
through third place on overall
points for scholarships.
At each regional competition,
Escoffier School of
Culinary Arts
gives away scholarships
for the top three teams
at every cook-off.
$3,000 for first place,
2,000 for second place,
1,500 for third place
scholarship per student.
Okay, the top three teams
on overall points.
As we call your team,
come up and get your awards.
Third place
Phat's BBQ.
[Coach Beasley] Way to go,
Phat's.
Give you the knives.
Give you the trophy.
That's $1,500 a piece
in scholarships.
[Zane] It feels pretty good
to win some money,
hoping to, you know,
pay less money for college.
We qualified for state
we got second place beans,
second place dessert,
and first place ribs.
Third place overall.
For our first competition,
it's pretty nice.
[Chuck] Second place,
Eagle BBQ.
[speaking indistinctly]
All right, grand champions
Overtime BBQ.
Again. I want to thank
each and every one of you
for coming out
and cooking with us.
[indistinct]
[Marc] Overall,
the team got fourth place
so that that's like
right outside top three.
[man 2] Big smiles, guys.
[Coach A] I'm excited
at how well we did today.
Chicken, first place,
our dessert, third place.
Our ribs third place.
Made me real proud of him.
I said, "Don't you ever
question Damion's chicken!
Don't you ever question it."
I've been saying it
from the start. Come on.
[Coach A] We did qualify
for state, but when it comes
to state,
there is no errors 'cause
any little thing will affect
our outcome.
We are gonna go back
and look at
what the judges had to say
when we get our comment cards.
You're looking at
what everyone likes,
what they don't like
of your product.
"Cooked perfectly."
That had me This had me
That had me smiling.
"Cooked perfectly".
[whispers] I was scared.
Overall, ribs needed more
smoke flavor,
and it needed more
of a pepper taste to it,
which I agree
because we kept on opening
the smoker.
-[Zane] First place.
-Number one ribs, baby.
-Number one ribs.
-[Zane] I gotta carry it on.
I gotta carry it on.
To see Zane do how good he did
with his ribs,
is telling me
that there's more to come.
I just have to keep him humble
but keep him hungry
at the same time.
We gotta go meet up
with the coaches 'cause
remember they
[Coach Beasley] You can win
any regional,
but that doesn't mean
that you get to stay.
You've got to cook better
than 50, 80, 90, 100.
It's hard.
Moving forward,
we got to hit
on all cylinders.
[Coach Langdon]
Hey, come here.
Let's talk about today.
We're gonna break everybody
into pairs, all right?
So it's gonna be
two people per chicken.
But I just want you
to get your mind right
since you're gonna be leading
most of this.
I'm gonna be up there
with you, but you're
Why? Why?
Why do you do that face?
'Cause I'm gonna get
socially awkward,
and I'm just gonna be
standing there and
I'm gonna be like
-[boy 1] You do this
and then that.
-[Coach Langdon] Yeah.
But we'll all make fun of you
until you laugh,
and it'll be fine.
While other schools
are hitting the ground running
and attending their
first regional competitions,
we're just laying
the foundation
for a lot of our kids.
Our first comp for this year
is going to be in Graham.
Last year, we didn't have
as much success
as I would have liked.
But we've had some
good placings in regionals
enough to qualify for state
and that really did motivate
and light a fire in my kids
that we're returning
for the next year.
Here. I'll take this.
You take that.
[Coach Langdon] Most teams
do practice all day Saturdays,
but we just don't have
the ability to do that.
I've got my own kids,
and a lot of my students work
almost full-time jobs
outside of school.
Most of the time
we're practicing after school,
and I have to talk to them
as a group
versus being able to give them
a lot of one-on-one time.
I'm trying to teach them all,
"Okay, this is how
we're doing chicken.
This is how we're doing beans.
This is how we're doing ribs.
This is how
we're doing brisket."
Today we're gonna give you all
the basics of how we would
do a smoked chicken.
We're gonna talk about
some of our chicken parts,
all right?
And we're gonna give you guys
a rundown of how we do it.
First and foremost,
a competition chicken,
it has to be pretty.
It's got to have a nice shine
to it.
Definitely some seasoning,
but it doesn't need to be
overly seasoned,
and it needs to be juicy.
Ultimately, our goal
for chicken this year
is a top ten finish at state.
Emery, please tell them
when we do chicken
for competition,
how do we have to turn in
for our league.
[Emery] We have to turn in
half chickens,
so we basically always
have to spatchcock them.
-Basically, you're cutting
the spine out.
-[Coach Langdon] Good.
Why would we spatchcock?
[Coach Langdon] Thank you,
Zach. Excellent.
To make it cook faster
and to make it cook
more evenly.
[Emery] If you look
at the tail,
feel right above it,
you'll feel the spine.
And I just
cut through the bone.
-So hold it up like Yeah.
-To where they can see it?
[Coach Langdon] If you need
help or have questions,
raise your hand,
Emery will be there.
[boy 2] Suspiciously
looks like
[Emery] So you see
all this fat right here
on the skin?
Take it off,
so your skin gets thinner,
so, it gets crispier.
'Cause you don't want it
Your skin's gonna be chewy.
-[boy 3] It got on my shirt.
-Okay, don't touch it.
I am one of the captains
for the barbecue team
this year,
and it makes me feel
honored, to be honest.
My grandma Sandra,
she's the one who really
inspired me to cook
before she passed away.
And she always told me
to just follow my dreams
and do what I love.
I love barbecue just because,
like, I'm doing something
that other people cannot do.
We just got done going
and getting our nails done.
This is not gonna
affect my chicken.
It's still gonna be the
best chicken out there, so
[Coach Langdon] All right,
Emery, come show them
how to pin it.
The whole purpose
that we're doing this
is so that it will hold
the skin in place.
Because as we cook,
that skin is gonna want
to shrink up.
[Emery] What I do normally
is I just pick up the skin
one last time,
and then I just pull it over
as far as I can.
And then I put one at the top.
Last year at state,
I got 30th and I was very
disappointed in myself.
My goal this year in barbecue
would be to get crispy skin
on my chicken
because that's one thing
that I've always
struggled with.
I take the fat out
from underneath the skin
that's gonna help make my skin
a little thinner,
which will help it
get more crispy.
And there you go,
you have a pinned chicken.
So go for it.
-[softly] Whoo!
-[all applauding]
[Coach Langdon] I think
that we've accomplished
the goal of practice today.
They understand
what those basics are.
[boy 3] It's just delicious.
[Coach Langdon] Emery is
doing great.
She needs to have
more confidence
because she's amazing.
[girl 1] The chicken queen.
All hail.
She knows her stuff.
It's just getting out
of her own head.
-[Emery] Teamwork.
-Yeah.
[Emery] I'm not really
a girly girl.
I'm more of a
sweatpants girl. [chuckles]
I wear sweatpants
all the time.
This is my mum that I wore
to homecoming.
Put some soccer on there,
barbecue on it.
For my senior year,
I'm feeling a little nervous.
The thing that scares me
about growing up
is leaving home.
I am the baby of the family.
I love my parents so much.
This is just so, like, I know,
like, what I have going on
for that day.
So, like a cross-country
game day for soccer.
I'm involved in
high school soccer,
club soccer, cross-country,
barbecue, all my schoolwork
and track.
I can sleep. [chuckles]
I get to sleep by myself.
-[Jeremy] Head the ball.
-I had to wash my hair twice.
[Jeremy] Yeah.
[Emery] Growing up,
we lived in a trailer house
for 13 years.
It's crazy to me
just to think about
all the different scenarios
that I've seen my parents
go through.
Like my mom working from home
and doing a different job.
And my dad doing
multiple jobs a day and
getting home super late.
It's taken a lot of blood,
sweat and tears to get
to where we are today.
I am taking a career quiz.
Building kitchen cabinets
No.
A beauty salon?
If I think about it,
my future depends
on my choices now.
My choices now will affect me
ten years down the road, so
[Emery] Three. Bethel, UHV
and McMurry University.
Bethel, I had a tour guide
and he was like,
"I'm the leader
of the board games club,"
and I was like,
"Oh, well, if you can have
a board games club,
then I can make
a barbecue club." Like
Okay, I'm submitting it.
A skin care specialist?
What is this?
A funeral director?
Oh, my God.
[chuckles]
College is very important
to me just because
I would be like
the first one to graduate
from college.
And I feel like that
would be such a big deal.
It's like a huge milestone.
Like, "Oh, my gosh,
one of the Kirby's
actually graduated.
Like, that's crazy."
Goodness. And it's cold
out there.
[Angie] What have you
been up to, kiddo?
[Emery] I took a career quiz
and it told me I should be
a skin care specialist.
I said, "No."
[Jeremy] Well,
they're probably going towards
the right direction
with them holey jeans
you got on.
-You got no skin showing.
-[chuckles]
[Emery] My parents
met in high school.
They own
an electrical business.
I definitely envision
a different path for myself
than they had,
and college opens up
multiple doors for me.
[sighs] I gotta
check the mail.
[Angie] It's right over there
on the workbench.
Chevy, Yeti
[surprised] Bethel?
There's one from Bethel.
OSU sent me something.
What is this one? Bethel?
[Emery] I'm excited,
but I'm also nervous.
The nerves are hitting me.
[Jeremy] Nervous about
[Angie] A rejection letter?
-[exclaims] I've been
accepted.
-[Jeremy] Oh, my God.
"Emery is
Bethel college bound."
[Angie] Well, congratulations.
-I'm proud of you.
-Thanks.
That's a big step
for you to get accepted.
[Emery] Now I got to
take a picture.
This is all for the Gram.
I want Emery to be happy.
[Jeremy] As far as
college goes for Emery,
you know, we wouldn't be able
to pay for all of it.
It's up to her
because this is her life
and this her future.
Life's choices.
It's all in front of you.
Get the world
at the palm of your hands.
[Angie] Are we gonna
have a
-Kenzie did say that--
-big deal like they had
for LeBron?
Oh, yeah, they're gonna sit
You're gonna get to sit
at the table,
and then you can do, like,
different hats.
-And then pick and tell
where you're going to.
-[Emery] No.
I definitely would say
that my excitement,
a little bit of it,
does turn into more worry
just because I know
going into college
that, it's gonna be expensive,
like there's no way to go
around it not being expensive.
It's just I'm going to pay
for most of my college
by myself,
and I'm well aware of that.
If I don't get
any scholarships,
how am I gonna pay
for my college?
-What are y'all cooking today?
-[Coach Langdon] At school?
[Kolt] You should make
like, um, gingerbread turkeys.
-[Harper] Ew.
-Why?
Because it'd be fun.
It'd be challenging.
It would be challenging?
Maybe you should be
a gingerbread turkey.
I'm a mom, I'm a wife.
But my main calling
in life is,
I want to help kids be the
best version of themselves,
that they can be.
I love coaching barbecue.
-[Harper] I love you.
-[Coach Langdon] Love you.
Being the one-ish woman show
for our barbecue team,
there are a lot of pros
and cons.
There's a lot of freedom
in being able to do
it yourself
because you're the person
that makes all the decisions.
But at the same time,
it puts a lot of pressure
on me
to be the one
that handles everything.
So I'm the one that decides
what contest we go to
and when.
What practices we have,
how much money we need.
Where do we spend our money?
As far as the mental load
of it all, it's a lot.
[indistinct chatter]
We're practicing today.
So I was gonna see
what we could look at
as far as some ribs,
some chicken and some brisket,
if you had anything.
-What we got?
-[Debra] I do. Well
-let's start with ribs first.
-[Coach Langdon] Yup.
[Debra] Here's our ribs.
[Coach Langdon] My family
are all farmers,
cattle ranchers, oil fields.
And so I learned
from a really young age
what work ethic was.
And it's really important
to me
that my barbecue team
understands work ethic
and they understand
where their food comes from
[Debra] That's that one.
I've got a bigger one.
[Coach Langdon] Mmm, no,
that's about right.
and how to respect
the process it takes for that
protein to get to your pit,
and why you need
to cook it correctly.
If I was gonna go through,
I would pick this rack first
because it's
the most consistent.
-The ribs are all
really straight
-[Debra] Right.
and they're an even rack
almost all the way down.
To be able to do
a really good job,
regional is at stake,
they need to have what
they're gonna be cooking with,
and they're not gonna be able
to be successful
if they can't actually
practice on the products
that they're using.
That'd be like practicing
a football game on a track.
This weekend at regionals,
I don't wanna just qualify
for state.
I would much rather
go out there
and put a stamp
on Granbury barbecue for this
season and say, "Bring it."
Like, "We're the ones
you need to put your eyes on,"
because we're gonna bring
our A-game every single time.
And I think in order
to make that happen,
we've got to have
a really strong showing
this weekend
to really legitimize
who we are and
who we want to be.
Bam!
Okay, let's go.
We have three days left
for some of us going to our
first regional of the year.
-Team goal for this weekend.
-[Emery's phone vibrating]
Have y'all talked about it?
Probably not.
So, um
[Emery] Hello. I'm good.
How are you?
Yes, ma'am.
I was wondering if you knew
about any other scholarships
that could help me
financially with Bethel.
[Coach Langdon] So much
of this is mental.
That's why we're doing
the mental part right now
in class,
because if you don't know
the mental part,
you're not gonna be able
to adjust to things
as they happen.
Competition barbecue
is physically exhausting.
It's mentally exhausting.
We've got to be able to roll
with the punches on
competition day
because it's not "if something
goes wrong,"
it's "what is gonna go wrong."
Emery, for soccer,
if you're in a clutch
PK moment
-[Emery] Oh, God. Yeah.
-right?
-That's a lot of pressure,
isn't it?
-[Emery] Yeah.
Okay. But if you
don't practice putting
yourself in that situation,
how are you gonna be able
to succeed when you're in
that situation?
-[Emery] You're not.
-You're not.
-So
-[Emery] That was a good
example. I'm proud of you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
It's time for us to actually,
like, come home
with some trophies.
I want some metal
up on the walls
-[Emery] Whoo!
-and the only way that
Yeah.
The only way
that we can do that
is if we are
as mentally prepared
as we can be.
[Emery] Barbecue is kind of
like a sport.
It teaches you how to
adjust with pressure,
and that pressure
is a good thing to have.
Sometimes barbecue
opens up opportunities
just like soccer does as well.
-[Coach Langdon] I don't even
know where any, like
-[Emery] Cleaning things are?
brushes are, at this point.
Me, either.
[Coach Langdon] How did
Bethel go?
Bethan went really well.
They told me that
whatever scholarship I get,
they'll match up and
Like, wait, like whatever
scholarship from them?
-Say that again.
-[Emery] Like, whatever
scholarship I get.
So, like, if you were to get
a culinary scholarship,
they would match that.
I'm pretty sure. Yeah
-[Coach Langdon] Girl, yeah!
That's awesome! Whoo!
-I know.
-[Coach Langdon]
Are you excited?
-Yeah.
[Coach Langdon] We need
to get you some, uh,
culinary scholarships.
-Chicken scholarships, right?
-Yes.
Well, I guess you better get
your booty in there
and keep practicing.
All right, let's go.
[Emery] At our
regional competition,
if we place the top three
as a team,
your whole team
will get a scholarship.
I'm lucky enough
to get this opportunity,
I can't just mess around.
I actually have to focus.
I'm trying to think
of my future and not
just right now in the moment.
And I want to, like,
help build myself up
for achievement
and a chance for me
to go to my dream college.
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01x02 - Turning Up the Heat
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Across Texas, teens compete in regional BBQ competitions for a shot at the state championship and scholarships.
Across Texas, teens compete in regional BBQ competitions for a shot at the state championship and scholarships.