Thousands show up Saturday for city's annual Beak Week Festival
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 13, 2015 1:50 AM
The rain did not stop thousands of people from converging on downtown Goldsboro Saturday for the Beak Week Festival on Center Street -- and officially marking the beginning of the city's second annual poultry-themed event.
Local vendors hawked their wares as local bands performed for a dancing crowd on two stages situated where Center Street meets Ash Street.
And from 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., 32 professional cooking teams from all over the United States handed over their chicken, beef and pork dishes to professional judges from the Kansas City Barbecue Society to see who would come out on top.
Several of the cooking teams -- including Law Dawgs Cooking Company, Haulin' Hog and Smokin' Skullies -- were from Goldsboro, going up against some of the biggest names in the nation.
Law Dawgs Cooking Company, made up of Owen Jackson, Jerry Lattus, Bryan King, Geoff Hulse and Charles Alford, made their own sauces and rubs for their meats.
Saturday marked the team's first foray into a KCBS-sanctioned competition.
The dry rub they used consisted of salt, black and cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin and oregano, while their sauces were varying blends of vinegar, ketchup, molasses and brown and white sugar.
Stationed just beside the Law Dawgs was Smokin' Skullies, who has their own line of barbecue sauces that is sold in stores, called "Just leave the bones."
The team consists of Brian Corbett and his wife, Ashley.
"I went to Rocky Mount one year to watch my brother-in-law compete in a cooking competition and decided to try it out," Corbett said. "I went and competed in Edenton in 2011 and got hooked."
Corbett used a $5,200 grill for his meats, which was given to him to use by his sponsor, Deep South Smokers.
Corbett described his sauce as "sweet and savory," varying depending on what meat the sauce is being put on.
The Smokehouse Bandits from Durham, consisting of Ron Bullock Jr. and Samir Hanef, have a special strategy to bestow good luck on their team.
Hanef wears a bright purple Viking helmet while they cook.
"This hat is known all throughout KCBS barbecue competitions," Hanef said. "The one time I forgot my hat, everything went wrong for us. It was the worst trip ever. We opened our pork butt and it was rotten."
Bullock and Hanef have known each other since they were both in high school, and got their start by grilling out on the weekends at Bullock's house.
The first time they decided to compete in a backyard amateur division at a South Carolina competition, they won Grand Champion and became a professional cooking team on the spot.
Goldsboro Parks and Recreation director Scott Barnard said the crowd at this year's Beak Week was at least twice the size of last year's event.
"I knew we were going to be (OK) when it started raining and I looked around and saw that everyone had popped open their umbrellas and stayed around for the event," Barnard said. "If you weren't here, you missed out."