Sunday, November 19, 2006

BBQ in the Snow?

Are these the right conditions for a BBQ competition?



That's the question I am asking myself tonight.

An innocent comment from Steve Farrin of I Smell Smoke! on the New England BBQ Society message boards about wanting a winter competition quickly escalated, and now there is a full event scheduled for Martin Luther King Day weekend in January in the mountains of New Hampshire.

No, that's not a typo, it says New Hampshire.

The event is to be held at the Inn Season resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire. The hotel looks nice, and the event would take place in a plowed parking lot at the hotel. If the temperatures are not too cold and there is no snow, the event could be fine. However, too many things could go wrong.

For example, what happens if there is a blizzard the day of the event, or the day before, or if for some reason the weather makes the contest impossible. I would be out hundreds of dollars in costs for entry fees, hotel rooms meat, etc. Also, if it is below zero, will I be able to maintain temperatures warm enough to cook? Will I freeze to death? The AVERAGE low is 5 degrees for January in Lincoln, NH. The average high is 25 degrees.

I'm still on the fence on this one. It seems that most of the big New England teams are planning to cook at the event, and I do want to be involved. However, I'm not sure what to do. Hopefully a few people will read this blog and post their thoughts.