2023 American Royal Pt.1: Award Winning Sauce

When our new Finance manager John Atwell joined FireBoard in April, we knew him as a seasoned finance manager, competition BBQ smoker, and an avid FireBoard user.

Cooking for 200 Guests

When planning our Annual FireBoard Party at the American Royal, having John Atwell prepare our feast was a natural fit.  With restaurant and competition experience, feeding 205 people in one night, at one time is business as usual for Atwell. 

There was a Harvest Moon over the 2023 American Royal BBQ, where John Atwell smoked ribs, brisket, and pulled pork for FireBoard’s annual party.

Thursday, the night before the FireBoard party John trimmed and seasoned two full briskets and eight pork shoulders.

To get all of this done, our friends at Burnt Finger BBQ loaned us their Cookshack FEC500SS Fast Eddy Rotisserie pellet smoker. For perspective, the pellet hopper on this beast can hold 80 pounds of pellets!   John used his FireBoad 2 and Spark in SyncMode to monitor his cook. Click here to see his cook session, including hold time and Spark temperature checks.

To smoke nearly 200 pounds of meat for the FireBoard Party, Burnt Finger BBQ loaned us their Cookshack FEC 500 rotisserie pellet smoker. John monitored his overnight cook using his FireBoard 2.

John trimmed and prepared the brisket and pork shoulders for a long smoke on Thursday night.

By the end of the night, John would have single-handedly prepped smoked, and sliced over 200 pounds of pork and beef.  That’s 20 long slabs of pork ribs, 8 pork shoulders, and 2 beef briskets.  Not to mention a batch of his cheesy corn.

John’s cheesy corn was a hit! I overheard him say the recipe would follow him to his grave.

Ribs from prep to finished product. John smoked 20 full spare rib slabs for the FireBoard Party on Friday night.

A moment of calm Friday afternoon, John Atwell, Ted Conrad, and Jason Day chatting before the arrival of over 200 party guests.

Dessert Entry

After our Friday night party, John’s work wasn’t done.  Being good friends with Megan and Jason Day, John worked with them to produce Burnt Finger’s entry for the dessert category.  His creation was an apple bundt cake with salted caramel buttercream topped with chopped walnuts and salted caramel sauce. The cake was John’s re-imaging of a family recipe that was lost in a house fire.

Cake Walk! FireBoard marketing crew Ian St. George Freeman and Ted Conrad, accompanied John Atwell as he walked his caramel apple cake to the judge’s tent at the 2023 American Royal World Series of BBQ.

Blue Ribbon Sauce

To top off John’s efforts, his Jousting Pigs BBQ Original Sauce took first place in the prestigious American Royal Sauce Competition.  

Jousting Pigs BBQ Sauces and Rubs was developed by our friend and FireBoard co-worker John Atwell. The “Original” took first in the 2023 American Royal Tomato Mild sauce contest.

This competition is divided into 5 categories Tomato Mild, Tomato Hot, Vinegar, Mustard, and Specialty, evaluated by a panel of KCBS judges.  

When asked about his win, John excitedly stated “It is pretty awesome to win in my second year entering.” he continued “To win against some of these great sauces from around the world is an incredible feeling.  Congratulations to all the other category winners and everyone who placed!” John’s sauce won the largest of these groups Tomato Mild, with over 140 entries from around the world!  Congratulations John!!  

FireBoard’s John Atwell received the blue ribbon in tomato mild sauce for his Jousting Pigs Original BBQ sauce at the 2023 American Royal. He was joined on stage with his wife Brandi and newborn son Charlie. Ted Conrad was also on hand to support John in this amazing win.

For more information about Jousting Pigs Craft BBQ click here. To buy some of this tasty sauce now, click here.