Building The Sport Of Steak Cookoffs Around the World

Vernee Green Myers

Southern Girls BBQ Roadshow

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Brett Gallaway and Ken Phillips started the “United Steaks of America” cook team in 2009. After being featured in a Walmart USDA Premium Choice Steak commercial, they boosted the sport of steak cook-off. After participating in almost every steak cook-off in the country, they became the most successful competition steak cook-off team around. Unfortunately, there were only a dozen or so events back across the United States in 2011 and 2012 and all had different promoters, rules, and problems. After a major event, they began discussing that every event had very different rules! Ken suggested they contact “that KCBS group” because there were no standards in their last comp. Brett knew KCBS could do nothing to help, but said, “Hey, why don’t we set the standards?” The Steak Cookoff Association (SCA) was founded in late 2013.

Fast forward to San Marcos, Texas in 2014 and the SCA kicked off the NBBQA conference with a cook-off between SCA cooks and true barbecue cooks, which was won by none other than Kell Phelps, the publisher of this fine magazine. The low-and-slow cooks were intrigued by the fast-and-furious counterpart of competitive cooking. In 2014, SCA sanctioned 19 events. The number of events since that time skyrocketed. In 2015, there were 47 sanctioned events and added contests in Europe and Canada. In 2016, they nearly doubled

Showing off the coveted SCA World
Championship ring that is given out to their champions.

with 87 events. In 2017, SCA sanctioned 116 events and added contests in Japan, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. So far in 2018, SCA has sanctioned 231 events with contests in 15 countries and 31 states. That’s a growth of 1115.79% in only four years. To say SCA is the hottest cook-off around is an understatement!

I asked a few of my BBQ buddies why they like or dislike about SCA. For some, the draw is something to do on a Friday night at a BBQ comp. Cary Chasteen, Chief Cook of “Hold Your Horses” BBQ comp team, cooked his first SCA event last April at the Fire Ant Festival while cooking BBQ. Cary said, “Now that I have a Rec Tec, I went to Johnson City just to cook steak. Finished 2nd. Almost got the bounty. Steak Cook-offs are laid back and don’t take a lot to cook. A grill, a chair, a cooler, a knife, and a few rubs and you’re ready to cook!”

The above photo is given to every SCA judge and competitor so they can see the doneness judging criteria.

Sandy Autry, Pitmaster of “Hootie Q” comp team, told me, “I was a little hesitant at first when they were trying to get me to enter the steak competition last November at the Flamingo RV Park in Jacksonville at a FBA event. I went over and watched a couple of folks and then thought …That’s pretty cool. I took the judging class and entered my first steak comp at the Fire Ant Festival in Ashburn and took third place out of 34 teams and was hooked. They’re fun contests, one-day events, I can’t get used to how little I need to bring with me compared to a BBQ comp. The steak comps that are the most fun are the ones that are paired with a BBQ comp. I’m cooking the SCA contest in Jacksonville on August 4th and then the 2 in November with the GBA contest. Really looking forward to them both! I’m going to try to get some set up in GA.”

I asked Mick Chessor, Pitmaster of “Rub-Won-Out” BBQ comp team, what were the pros and cons of SCA. He said, “I would say the pros are no prep time at home before a contest and you don’t have to spend $300-400 on meat. You only need to carry a couple of seasonings, a small prep area, and a grill. You show up, cook a steak, and go home! You don’t have to take days off work. The cons… There are not enough of them here in Tennessee.”

What is the draw to SCA? Most contests pay down to ten places with a first place prize of $1000 – and they provide the ribeye steak. That’s the beauty of Steak Cook-offs, they provide the steaks with selection done by lottery so all cook teams are cooking the same cut and same grade of steak. Of course, the cook can trim or season however they want AND can cook on any heat source. As Brett Galloway, co-founder likes to say, “If you can win on a George Foreman, more power to you!” Cary Chasteen said, “I’ve seen guys cook on a charcoal chimney with a single grill grate on top. Jack Fallon cooked on a flower pot at one.” Mick said he has seen guys sous vide steaks and turn them in.

So what’s not to love? As Mick said, “It’s cheaper than a bbq contest, almost anyone that owns a grill loves to grill steak so it gives the backyard guy an opportunity to go out and compete.”

How do you win? SCA judges are trained on how to judge and rate a steak according to appearance, doneness, texture, taste, and overall appearance. Does it look good with an even sear on both sides? Is it cooked to medium temp? Did it taste good? And what was your overall impression? So – even though it’s a minimum investment – you can trust that judges are properly trained! Chuck Dolan, SCA representative, and Pitmaster of Divine Bovine BBQ Team gave me lots of pointers when I initially scored a steak higher than I should because it had an even sear on both sides. After he gave the class, I realized that it really did change the appearance and scoring of the steak!

I will be judging my first SCA contest in Jacksonville, FL in August. I hope to see you there. If you are interested in cooking SCA, you can find all their upcoming events listed starting on page 48 in this issue.