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BBQ is a Kansas City tradition. Kansas City style bbq is prepared differently than any other region of the country. But one local bbq competition is taking the way KC prepares bbq to a different level.

There are plenty of bbq restaurants all over Kansas City, but if you are Kosher, the Jewish dietary standards prohibit you from eating at those restaurants, however people at this bbq competition can enjoy more than just the smell– they can eat too.

“Kosher is the rules of eating according to the Torah, according to the Bible,” said Mendel Segal with Vaad HaKashruth of Kansas City.

All of the meat is slaughtered according to Jewish tradition and you won’t find any pork ribs on any of the smokers either. However, there was plenty of spicy trash talk between the guys from Chicago and Kansas Citians.

“They may know pizza, but they don’t know barbecue,” said Lawrence Langley of KCK.

David Weissman and Michael Dhaliwal say they’ve spent the past four months learning how to smoke meat and they believe their apricot glaze and other tidbits will set them above the rest.

“We were warned that if we come to this contest we have to know what we’re doing,” David Weissman of Chicago said.

Kansas Citian Lawrence Langley says using real wood instead of charcoal vies his bbq an added flavor you can’t beat. Langley says he’s ready to smoke the competitors because they’re no threat. The only challenge he faced is using two small smokers that were given to everyone in the competition.

“The little barbecue pits that they gave us are not what you would typically see in a barbecue contest,”  Langley said. “I’m thinking how do you get beef ribs on there? It was a challenge.”

The grill posed a problem for the Chicago team, too.

“The brisket was a challenge,” Weissman said. “We didn’t think it was going to fit. We were worried that we would have to cut it in half.”

Aside from the saucy talk, the competitors say this Kosher bbq was a lot of fun and great opportunity to eat bbq instead of just smelling it all over the city.

Despite the guys from Chicago perfecting their bbq skills, a local team from Olathe called Smoke to Perfection won the competition.

Organizers’ are hoping this  barbecue will become a new Kansas City tradition.

http://fox4kc.com/2012/08/19/kansas-city-gets-a-taste-of-kosher-bbq/