Welcome to Episode One of Season Six, my U.S. Road Trip Part II. In this season I kick things off with two weeks in New Orleans where I head to a couple of competitions and spend some time hanging out with the who's who of Southern BBQ. From there it's up to Kansas City for four days of BBQ Nirvana at the NBBQA's Annual Conference and Excellence Awards. The final two weeks of the journey see us head into Arkansas for some R&R, including bass fishing; monster trucks, a Steak Cookoff Association competition, an AK-47 and a brush with a tornado! And of course, you're all coming with me! This episode sees me head out to Hammond, an hour outside of New Orleans. We'd arrived in New Orleans from Australia at 4pm on Friday, and by 8am Saturday I was meeting some absolute legends of the game. What impressed me about this competition was the complete community backing of the event. Hammond is a small town. There is one main street in and out, split right down the middle by a parallel train line. Both sides of the road are shut down and filled with BBQ teams. This year, there were 47 professional teams, 45 amateur teams, and 4 kids' teams. The town was packed as the whole community came out to support the event and raise money for the local community which was heartwarming to see. And in true Louisianan style, the trophies were pyrographed Crawfish Pot Paddles! Before we get into it, I'd like to let you know about our awesome merch shop. We've got our incredible Smoking Hot Confessions Tumbler as well as hats, t-shirts and stickers. There's also two amazing ebooks - 27 Lessons Learned from Competition BBQ and the delicious Bacon Manifesto. I'd also like to invite you to join us at the Smoking Hot Confessions Community on Facebook. If you're looking for a BBQ group full of open-minded people who just love to help each other out, the Smoking Hot Confessions Community is a great place to continue the conversation. Finally, however you're listening to this episode, please subscribe, rate and review the show. It really helps me spread that BBQ love. So without further ado, grab yourself a crawfish po-boy, and join me as I hit the pavement and chat with the champs at the Hammond BBQ Challenge! Please support the sponsors that support the show: Fired Up BBQ - For all your catering needs, AND a BBQ school! Clean Heat Charcoal - Burns Hot, and Burns long. Available nationally! JAGRD Woodfired - Smokers, Asado Grills, and custom builds!

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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