The cooking process is intensive. We cook 20-pound whole shoulders that are covered with a mustard slather and then coated with BlackJack dry rub. We inject the shoulders with a blend of fruit juices, salt, sugar, and vinegar, and then the meat is slow-smoked for roughly 20 hours at about 200 degrees. Our pit is fueled by a bed of lump charcoal and hickory, pecan, and peach wood are added to provide the smoke. The shoulders caramelize to brilliant mahogany finish. The taste: delicious.

Barbecue is cooked solely for the judges and the product is judged in two parts. Blind judging, where the meat is presented without any indication of origin, counts for about 70 percent of our score. And on-site judging, where three judges visit the cooking site and spend 15 minutes learning about the cooking process and sampling the finished product. This counts for the remaining 30 percent.

It's an anxious time following the judges' visits. You're trying to create a product that perfectly coincides with the taste buds of several judges. It must be universally appealing for fear of alienation.

But the reward is great. To hear your name ? BlackJack Barbecue -- and be called on stage for the awards ceremony, is to know you've reached hallowed ground, a space shared by only the best pitmasters of the world.

We're not in the business of making predictions, but we think we'll hear our name again this year.

So if you are going to compete or just to participate in all the great food make sure you stop by and say hello to the Blackjack Barbeque team.

Editor's Note: You can learn more about the BlackJack Barbecue cooking team and catering company by visiting their website foodforthesouthernsoul.com