Brandon, Brock, and Brady Bergey have a fun hobby that allows them to combine family time, attending local celebrations, and savoring some awfully good food along the way. The three brothers operate as a team known as Bergey Boys Blazing BBQ, and they recently sat down to talk about their hobby.
Having grown up on the family farm near Canton, Brady stated, “Our parents raised hogs for about 30 years starting in the mid-1970s.” He and his brothers reminisced about an exceptionally large boar they raised during their teen years, appropriately named “Big Boy.” According to the brothers, Big Boy weighed 1,385 pounds, and was the largest boar in Minnesota at the time. Back in those days, the boys all showed pigs at the county fair, through the Canton 4-H club.
The Bergeys began competitive grilling in 2014, entering Canton’s Boomer Backyard BBQ contest, “just for fun.” Brady stated that after a number of years, they were ready to start entering some larger contests. Brady has stayed on with the Canton contest as an organizer, though. The Bergeys approach barbecue contests as a family affair, with spouses and kids involved as well. Brandon added, “Our dad helps, too.” Most contests require a non-electric heat source, such as charcoal, wood, or pellet grills. The Bergey team favors charcoal as a heat source, adding various wood for special flavors along the way.
This year, as usual, the Bergey team competed in around 10 contests throughout the grilling season. Although some teams regularly travel long distances for contests, Brady said, “We don’t go too far away from home. We usually try to do the ones that we can all do together.” But he shared that he and his wife and kids went to compete in a barbecue contest in Oklahoma earlier this year, adding, “That was fun, we might try to do that again next year.” In 2018, the team added a new trailer, which not only allows them to haul all of their barbecue equipment, but the boys said it’s also nice to have some place to hunker down when the weather turns unpleasant.
Brady explained that no two barbecue contests are the same. Some involve cooking just one meat, while others cook as many as four meats, and the preparation and workload varies greatly, as well. Brady stated, “For a regular contest, I’ll spend the whole week before prepping and getting ready for it,” while for other contests, the brothers can wait until the day of the event to begin. He also said the judging is very subjective from contest to contest, and the Bergey’s just aim for consistency in their final product, knowing that a winner this week may not necessarily mean a good placing the following week. The team has previously qualified to go on to the national BBQ championship contest, but harvest season on the farm did not allow them to go.
According to Brady, “Most of what we cook is pork. When people in Minnesota and the Midwest think of barbecue, they think of pork. That’s definitely the biggest thing.” And although there are many other types of pork that are great for grilling (brats, brat patties, chops, tenderloin, etc.), Brady said at the contests the Bergey team enters, pork ribs and pork butt are usually what is cooked. Many contests also include chicken and brisket, but Brady stated, “Pork is usually what we do the best in.”
Brady pointed out one common misconception about pork. He said that because of familiar slogan “The Other White Meat,” some people assume all pork is dry. But he explained, “People are raising Duroc pork, rich in marbling and rich in color. If people aren’t thinking of pork as a staple, they should try it. It’s got a lot of flavor.”
Leave a Reply