Photo of the Bacon Rouge Hogs for the Cause team courtesy of Bacon Rouge.
New Orleans got a taste of Baton Rouge during last weekend’s Hogs for the Cause cook-off.
Bacon Rouge, a local team headed by co-captains Jay Ducote of Biteandbooze.com and Galen Iverstine of Iverstine Farms, took first place in the pork shoulder/butt category. Ducote says the team used a Boston butt cut from an Iverstine’s Brookshire pork pig, which was brined, rubbed and smoked with oak for around 12 hours.
By the time the category was announced, Ducote says the team was sure it hadn’t won.
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“We were starting to get down, [thinking] that we weren’t going to hear our names called at all,” he says. “We had all decided that we weren’t gonna place in anything. Then, the announcer says, ‘From 90 miles up the road … ‘ We were like, ‘That could be us.’ When we heard our name, we all flipped out. It was pandemonium.”
This was the seventh year for the barbecue festival. The event takes place at City Park in New Orleans and provides aid and relief to those families who have children being treated for pediatric brain cancer. Patrons buy plates of barbecue from each team, then the money is given to Hogs for the Cause, which is then provided to families in the form of grants. This year’s event is said to have drawn record crowds.
Ducote says Bacon Rouge raised $4,215. Out of the 85 teams, that amount was good for 37th place.
This is the third year Ducote and Iverstine have competed in the event. They went last year as Bacon Rouge for the first time. The team grew to 11 members for this year’s competition and includes Alex Hamman, Drew Breitling, Rob Wise, Brennan Kluka, Aimee Tortorich, John Carriere, Blair Loup, Andrew Rose and Jordan Ramirez.
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Bacon Rouge also placed 28th in sauce, 31st in whole hog, 43rd in porkpourri (an anything goes category) and 45th in ribs. In the grand champion category, the team placed 26th.
“We competed in everything possible, and we had a pretty good showing,” Ducote says.
For more information on Bacon Rouge, click here.