This past Friday afternoon till about Saturday noon I led our BBQ team to smoke 100 5-6 pound pork butts for a fire department fundraiser. Earlier this week I made up pints of both my regular and spicy BBQ sauce as well as some pickled jalapeños. All to help raise funds for my fire department and to spread community cheer!

It began with getting the smokers lit and up to temperature around 3pm on Friday. While they were heating up we started seasoning the meat which included a light coating of yellow mustard and then using Dizzy Pig‘s Crossroads seasoning. I’ve you’ve never used Dizzy Pig seasoning’s do yourself a favor and check them out. Many years ago a friend of mine turned me on to them and I’ve never looked back.

From there it was time to get the meat on the smokers and simply to monitor the temp and to keep feeding wood. This was about 6pm. We were also grilling up some chicken and ribs and had all the sides to feed the BBQ team, visitors and helpers. The cornhole was even out for some friendly competition.

It was nice to see many of our department members out and helping, along with several members of our community. We even had a couple of our Sequatchie County Sheriff’s deputies swing by. All around, it was a great vibe.

Now if anyone has done some big smoking, you know the challenges that smokers can have. Dropping temps, airflow adjustments and checking the internal meat temperatures. I didn’t get much sleep. Maybe a couple little 15-20 min naps, but that was it.

We had great responses and aside from a couple extra crispy butts the event was a great success. We created a great service to our community, had a great time and generated around $3,400 for the fire department.

Next up, the 2023 Smoke on the Mountain BBQ competition with Walden’s Ridge Civic League. Here’s my post from last year’s event.

Some random pictures for your viewing pleasure!