BBQ Season Starts NOW

Salem barbecue professionals gear up for 2006 season

Salem area restaurant owners, Mike and Katrina Adams, visit with National Barbecue News publisher Kell Phelps of Douglas, Ga., (L), and NBBQA president Mike Mills of Murphysboro, Ill. (R) Photo courtesy: National Barbecue Association

(KNOXVILLE, TN) - America`s top barbecue professionals, including Salem`s Mike and Katrina Adams of Adams Ribs Smokehouse, recently spent four days at the 2006 National Barbecue Association Conference and EXPO in Knoxville, Tenn., honing their skills for the barbecue season that is already upon us.

`Most people think begins on Memorial Day. But, what we learned is that over 89% of people barbecue year round," said Katrina Adams. The New England Barbecue Society, headquartered in Massachusetts, has discovered quite a few year-round barbecue enthusiasts, and they start each year with a Snow Shoe Challenge in February.

2006 show attendees loaded buses for a tour which included two of the hottest barbecue restaurants in the Knoxville area; Buddy`s BBQ and Calhoun`s Tennessee Microbrewery. This gave plenty of time for attendees to visit with barbecue restaurant owners and caterers from all over America.

With four seminars held in each time period on Thursday and Friday, attendees were found making difficult scheduling choices, with some couples, like Mike and Katrina Adams, going in different directions to learn more about everything `barbecue."

All types of barbecue have shown phenomenal growth in recent years, demonstrated by the Food Network and almost every morning show on TV featuring barbecue cooks sizzling up everything from ribs to brisket.

While a large percentage of American`s still refer to a barbecue as the grilling of hotdogs and hamburgers, more are becoming increasingly familiar with the low and slow cooking method of meat, known as Southern Barbecue, with larger cuts of meats, and flavors to tantalize the most particular of palettes.

Katrina added, `Educating the public in recognizing the difference in grilling and barbecuing is just part of the challenge," and she looks forward to the opportunity to share their new-found information with their customers on State Street, in Salem.

For more information about the barbecue industry and National Barbecue Association, visit the NBBQA website at www.nbbqa.org or its official publication`s website at www.BarbecueNews.com.