BBQ champ heading to The Jack

GARRETT, Ind. (WANE)  This weekend in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the 24th annual Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbeque takes place and a Garrett man will be amongst the competition.

In order to receive an invitation to the event, a team must have won at least a state championship to be entered in the draw.

Don Hollman, along with his girlfriend Tonya Hetrick, make up the team Steel Smokin'.  They earned a draw to The Jack after capturing the Ohio state title in Nelsonville a year ago in their last event of the year.  Hollman's brisket took Grand Champion honors.  After that state championship, Hollman's name was placed in a draw for The Jack and this time it was drawn.  Hollman said he's been in the draw four other times without success. 

In 2009, Hollman attended The Jack with another team serving as the blocker to make sure the prepared plate make it successfully to the judges without incident.

While Hollman does most of the cooking, Hetrick serves the important role of the taster to help decide which samples to send to the judges.  Hollman has been in enough competitions that tasting his own food isn't even something he particularly enjoys anymore.  Hetrick also helps out in preparing the sauces, the presentation plates and turning the entries in.

The Jack is the most prestigious barbeque competition in the world and rightfully so.  67 international teams compete along with 60 teams from the United States.

"It's truly a world invitational barbeque so if you pull this one off, you are the king and a world champion.  This is our Daytona.  This is what we look forward to making it to.  To actually get the call is a big deal.  I know a lot of people that have gone ten years and still haven't made it to The Jack," Hollman says.

Technically, Steel Smokin' will be representing Ohio since that's where its state championship originates, but the team will be the only one from the state of Indiana in the competition.  A KCBS sanctioned event, competitors will take on all forms of meat including chicken, ribs, pulled pork and brisket.  Hollman says it takes consistency across all four meats to do well in big competitions like The Jack.

Lynchburg's normal population of around 500 explodes to over 25,000 when all the competitors converge on the small town.

Originally from South Carolina, Hollman grew up around barbeque.  Hollman moved to Butler in the mid-1970's.  He's grilled up barbeque as a hobby until most recently in 2008 when he started getting into competitions.

"I went on tour and found out it's a tough world out here.  My first competition I got my butt handed to me and rightly so. But I kept after it and kept after it and kept perfecting it and kept doing it."

Having competed all over the country, from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Mobile, Alabama and everywhere in between, Hollman, also known as The Steel Man on the BBQ circuit, now has about 75 events under his belt.  His list of awards includes eight Grand Championships, one Reserve Grand Championship, the Hoosier Cup Team of the Year and the Michigan Cup Team of the Year.  Still Smokin' also won the inaugural Sam's Club Invitational in 2010.

Hollman says he has the most success with his pork.  Last year alone he ranked 18th out of the 5,000 teams that competed.  Using only 100% hickory wood, Hollman cooks his meat at about 250 degrees in a custom-built smoker that he built with his brother.

"An overcooked rib will kill you.  When the bone falls off, that's not a good deal."

A businessman by day, Hollman runs a steel fabrication business with his brother in Butler.  But come nighttime, Hollman is often found around the smoker perfecting his craft.

"I don't give up my day job.  This is not a money making deal.  You can make money at one contest and then not make any for two, three, four or five so this is definitely not something you're going to make money at."

When it comes to the sauce, Hollman's go-to sauce is ketchup-based. 

"The thing we look for is layers of flavor.  The first thing I want you to taste is the sweet and the last thing I want you to taste at the end of the bite is a little bit of the heat.  You've got to hit that wow factor with them (the judges) with one bite and one bite only."

For more on The Jack, click here .