ADVISORY: The FWB BBQ Festival will still take place Saturday, despite the rain. The schedule has been amended: from 11 to 2 p.m. the People's Choice Competition and BBQ Vendor's will be available.
FORT WALTON BEACH — The smell of smoking meat wafted in the air at Fort Walton Landing early Friday evening as barbecue teams made last-minute preparations or started cooking their entries for this year’s FWB BBQ Festival.
PHOTOS: View a photo gallery from the event >>
James Vanatta of Beach Butt BBQ relaxed with a friend as his brisket started to smoke. He planned to submit the required brisket, pork, ribs and chicken samples to be eligible for the Grand Champion trophy and $1,000 prize.
“They’re going to be calling my name for everything,” Vanatta boasted.
About a dozen teams trucked in their smokers, wood and other supplies, ready to impress the judges and crowd.
Although the four members of Deep Smoke BBQ now live in Panama City, they believed their Texas roots gave them an advantage over the other competitors.
Seasonings, temperature and wood — not sauce — are the keys to cooking great barbecue, team member Randy Hilton said.
“It’s not stick it on your back porch and cook,” Hilton said of barbecuing. “It’s low and slow.”
Walton County Deputy Tax Collector Cory Godwin had spreadsheets to keep the timing of the Pleasant Ridge BBQ team right.
“I’m a little OCD or ODD — odd,” Godwin said.
Technology made their team different from the competition, he added. They had a charcoal gravity-fed smoker, a wood pellet smoker and a circuit board to keep the temperatures steady.
Godwin has been barbequing competitively since 2009.
“This is a hobby that’s gone crazy,” he said with a laugh.
As the competitors prepared to duke it out in the competition, festival-goers enjoyed plenty of food like kettle corn, funnel cakes and snow cones. Craft beers flowed and food trucks made it possible for them to enjoy some barbecue before today’s samples are ready.
Many sat on the lawn and enjoyed live music and the breeze from Santa Rosa Sound.
Skyler Pusch just moved to the area from Navarre and was happy to find the event at the Landing.
“I love it,” Pusch said as she looked over the festival. “It’s great to have a community area to have gatherings like this.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Delgado at 850-315-4445 or ldelgado@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDnwfdn.