What is better than barbeque? A BBQ grill and thrill competition between our high school CTE students. That is why we are inviting the community to come out and taste some of the best BBQ in town prepared by our ‘student grillers’ in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) culinary program and FFA. Students have their ServSafe certification and are ready to bring the heat.
The Grill and Thrill BBQ competition and will be held on Friday, November 1 at the Field of Dreams from 4-7p.m. in the gated parking area at the baseball complex. Students will start firing up their smokers at 10am to get their BBQ going. Spectators are invited to observe students during that time.
Event goers will be given three tickets per person to taste and sample some of the stations of their choice and cheer on their favorite high school. There will be judges there to rank students on their main dish, sides, dessert and cooking stations.
One the menu, students will be grilling two meats, St. Louis-style spare ribs and chicken. Two sides; grilled cheese and chili, topping it off with a dessert. There will be five tasting options per tent. There will be a competition for the best BBQ and a competition for the best sides.
High schools will be competing against each other to find out who will earn the title of BBQ grill-master champion based off the five menu items. Community members can also rank the best high school based on their favorite BBQ of the day.
The winners for the Grill and Thrill BBQ contest will be announced during halftime on the same day during the football game between Las Cruces vs Centennial at the Field of Dreams football stadium.
The FFA group will be in charge of smoking St. Louis-style spare ribs and chicken, all while teaming with the FCCLA culinary group from their high school in charge of cooking sides and a dessert.
Funding for this event comes from the “High School Innovation Zone Grant,” special thanks to our sponsors at First New Mexico Bank. Thank you to the community members who are donating their time and smokers to oversee students grilling during the competition.
For parking, community members attending the Grill and Thrill BBQ contest are asked to park within the gated area at the Field of Dreams baseball complex parking lot off 2300 Tashiro Dr. Please see map for parking details.
***