The 2018 Great Ruleville Roast will be one of four Mississippi Delta barbecue competitions taking place within the Memphis Barbecue Network this year in the Delta.
According to a release, MBN recently added Greenwood’s ‘Que on the Yazoo event to its network to create the Delta BBQ Battle that will also include Cleveland’s Octoberfest/Mississippi Delta Barbecue Championship (Oct. 12-13) and Delta State’s Pig Pickin’ (Sept. 21-22).
The Great Ruleville Roast will take place Sept. 28-29 and ‘Que on the Yazoo will kickoff the first weekend in May.
Those wishing to compete in the Delta BBQ Battle must participate in three out of the four competitions.
“We felt like this multi-event contest would give our competitors more opportunities for some pretty great prize money,” said Elise Jenkins, BBQ chair for the Great Ruleville Roast and the Cleveland competitions. “There are many appealing parts to barbecue contests, from the social factor of spending time with a group, to the fun of experimenting with different cooking methods and flavors, and just the overall fun of the competitive spirit–not to mention the potential prize money and bragging rights.”
Championship teams will compete in whole hog, pulled pork, and pork ribs while Patio teams will compete in pulled pork, pork ribs, and pork loin. Instead of a trophy, a title belt was specially designed for the winners of these two divisions, the release said.
“The Mississippi Delta has a history of highly competitive barbecue teams, and we know that the Delta BBQ Battle will showcase the best of the best of these throughout the Mid-South, especially with having the popular ‘Que on the Yazoo on board this year,” Jenkins said.
All team application information for each contest can be found on the Memphis Barbecue Network website www.mbnbbq.com. For additional information, entrants may contact Elise Jenkins at 662-719-1675 or jenkins2@tecinfo.com.
