Milestones
Oct 15th, 2011
After qualifying in Chesapeake, VA on 9/16 and then in Laurel, MD on 9/20, pit boss Guts and son Nathan get to cook for a National BBQ Championship in Bentonville, Arkansas on mentor John Atkin's team 'Pigs On The Run'. Although the team did not finish in the Top 10, it was an incredible experience and opportunity. Much respect goes out to teams that make it to this level as the road trip and competition is absolutely exhausting. The drive was 2,427 miles over the course of 4 days (2 out and 2 back home) sandwiching in the BBQ competition in which an all-nighter was pulled. This type of schedule is par for the course when you make it to this level. Congrats to the TippyCanoe BBQ team for taking home the Grand Championship and $35,000 in prize money.
May 21st, 2011
The Guts Smokehouse BBQ team takes home the Virginia State Championship in BRISKET, the team's 2nd Brisket State Championship in three years.
Jan 21st, 2010
Members of the Guts Smokehouse BBQ team make a brief, unexpected, national appearance on the 'BBQ Pit Masters' series for TLC. Although it was just a very quick shot of the team members prepping the ribs under the EZ Up, it was quite awesome to see it none the less.
Oct 16th, 2009
The Learning Channel captures video of the Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team pit area during the huge Dover, DE competition. It was recorded as part of the 'BBQ PiT Masters' series for TLC. We are still waiting to see if the footage of our rib prep will be aired in early 2010. At this same competition the team also hit the 30+ mark for Top Ten finishes.
May 16th, 2009
After just a little over 2 years of professional BBQ competitions, the Guts Smokehouse BBQ team racks up their 20th and 21st top ten finish in State competitions. A 4th in brisket, 7th in Chicken, 10th in Ribs and 5th OVERALL ignites a great start to the 2009 season.
September 21st, 2008
The most pivotal event in the history of The House ... the purchase of a 2008 Stumps GFS223P Smoker. Old #99 is retired from competition, but remains ready to go for anything else.
July 19th, 2008
The momentum continues at the Berks BBQ Bash in Leesport, PA. With all perfect scores in presentation along with all perfect (9's) to near perfect (8's) scores in taste and tenderness, the team takes 1st place honors in Brisket, beating the country's 2007 Team of the Year 'Cool Smoke'! This, along with a 5th place finish in Chicken and a 6th place finish in Pork, gave the team a 3rd place overall finish behind 'Cool Smoke' and 'Midnite Smokers', two nationally acclaimed teams. Not bad considering the 110 degree temperatures under the canopy of the team's pit area. Big thanks to Patrick, Michael, Andrew, Peter and Nate for their precise running of the smoker until 'Mr. Sun came up', allowing the rest of the senior team to focus on the food.
May 17th, 2008
A strong start in 2008. The Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team traveled to Chesapeake, VA for the Chesapeake Jubilee. With 6 seconds to spare at turn-in, we took home a 6th place ribbon in Chicken (our first walk in this category) and another 3rd place trophy in Pork (we are due to hit #1 sooner or later here). Many thanks goes to one of the most intense and hard working pit crews ever consisting of the Virginia Beach connection: Matt, Jeff, Stephen, Patrick, Jeff and of course Nate and Jenn. You guys can be on my pit crew anytime you want! Those late night hours perfecting the chicken rub sure paid off! Also thanks to Chris, Greg, Ned, Linda, Kristin and Kimberly for there assistance ... and to Lyn for getting everything turned in safely and on time.
October 20th, 2007
The Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team rallies in Dover DE, after getting hammered by a major storm, to receive two top 5 finishes ... a 3rd place finish in Pork Shoulder, a 5th place in Brisket ... and a 9th place finish overall .. out of 83 teams. As it turned out, 5 of the top 30 teams in the country were present, including the team that finished 1st in the country in brisket, the iQue barbecue team. To date, this is the teams biggest accomplishment, and they are watering at the mouth for the start of the 2008 season!
September 15, 2007
Guts, and son Nathan, participate as pit crew members on another BBQ team (Pigs on The Run) in a New Jersey State Championship. The team finishes a mind boggling 1st is Chicken, 1st in Pork Shoulder, 1st in Brisket, and 5th in Ribs to win the overall Grand Championship. Nathan went up and received all the trophies for the team. What an experience it was to be part of this team! Thanks John, Thomas, Dave, Granville and Eric for being so good to my family and for this awesome opportunity and memory, especially the carrying up of Max on stage!
August 25, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team captures their first trophy in a State Championship ... a 2nd place finish in Pork Shoulder at New Holland in Pennsylvania. This was a huge win for the squad as they competed in a field of 72 teams representing 11 states up and down the East Coast. Many thanks to the 'Ambassador of BBQ' for his tutelage and mentoring.
May 19, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team captures their first ribbon in a State Championship ... a 10th place finish in Ribs at the Chesapeake Jubilee in Virginia. Along with the ribbon the team made many new friends like John and Mark from 'Pigs on the Run' (who ended up as Grand Champion) and George from '3 Ps'. We already look forward to competing against them next year.
April 11, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse website 'www.gutssmokehouse.com' makes its debut on the internet. Thanks to web master Michael Bianco for his incredible intuition, his tireless efforts, and his tremendous patience for putting up with the ga-zillion-and-one ideas thrown his way. May his nights be filled with sleep.
March 23, 2007
Guts takes the KCBS judges class at Meadow Creek in Pennsylvania and becomes a certified competition judge. This was done to assist the team at better understanding what judges are looking for during competition.
August 25-26, 2006
Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team enters first major state competition in New Holland, Pennsylvania at the New Holland Summerfest. 72 teams competed from twelve different states. The team's best finish was in the chicken category at 22nd place. Kids Q (ages 10 and under) proved better as son and daughter team of Nathan and Sarah took second place in the beef category.
August 18, 2006
The custom smoker gets fired up for the first time. After much anticipation the design of the smoker proves almost flawless as the heat and smoke distribution is near perfect.
August 17, 2006
The custom built smoker is ready for pick-up. After many years of design, along with expert advice from pit crew member Scott Millward, the custom built smoker is ready for pick-up from Damyan's Welding in Phoenixville, PA. The smoker gets officially bolted to the trailer under a street light in a Kmart parking lot at 11:00 PM.
