Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
In contest BBQ, competitors are judged on taste, tenderness and appearance of brisket, pork, ribs and chicken.
“In contest, you’re trying to impress someone with one bite and it’s like eating meat fudge,” McIntire said. “It’s very overwhelming in flavor.”
Until the pandemic, McIntire traveled on the east side of the Mississippi from Wisconsin to Florida competing in 75 to 80 different contests. He said there was a contest in Kettering that was part of the Kansas City BBQ Society, but it is no longer around.
Contests stopped during the pandemic and around the same time, McIntire lost his job. He started a trucking company called Axis Trucking, but was unsure of his path.
“I wasn’t born or built to drive a truck all my life,” McIntire said. “I didn’t want to go back to welding. The only other thing I knew how to do was cook.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Ray’s BBQ has been a year in the making. The restaurant officially opened its doors March 30 in the former home of Wedig’s Restaurant & Tavern. McIntire has completely remodeled the space and plans to operate on limited hours until he finds employees. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6 with plans to open on Saturdays and eventually expand to Thursdays and Fridays.
The menu includes staples like pulled pork, brisket, ribs and wings as well as sides like smoked kettle chips, coleslaw and mac-n-cheese. Beverages include Coke products with the hope of offering local craft beer as soon as a liquor license is obtained.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
“Everything is made in house. Nothing is purchased,” McIntire said. “It’s craft BBQ.”
McIntire uses an offset stick burner with hickory wood when cooking the meat on his Texas-style pit. He said he makes Texas-style brisket as well as chopped brisket. In particular his party ribs are cut before they’re cooked and his contest pork is Carolina-style. Meats like brisket and pork cook 12 to 14 hours.
He also makes his own sauces: Sweet, Hickory Smoke and Caroline Red.
“(My) ultimate goal is just to be the little place in the back of the center where people go to eat some good BBQ,” McIntire said.
Ray’s BBQ will soon offer catering. For more information and updates, join the BBQ joint’s Facebook group.
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