Local barbecue phenom goes regional
In his short career, the 17-year old, has racked up a couple of grand championships on the minor circuit and may have to begin competing at the pro level, something that no one thought likely or possible when he started cooking a little more than six years ago.
Booth struggled with health problems, including several brain tumors, when he was young. As a result he couldn’t play football and had difficulty in school.
One day his grandmother, Sandy Fulton was shorthanded at work and needed help. Fulton runs/is The Porkanizer. She organizes events all over the region for competitive barbecuers and is a board member of the Kansas City Barbecue Society, the international governing body for barbecue competitions. Fulton was giving a class on judging barbecue competitions and asked her daughter (Dillon’s mother), Staci to come help. Unable to find a babysitter on such short notice, she brought Dillon along with the intention of his sitting quietly with his Gameboy until the event was over.
Instead, Dillon found his way into the area where the test cooks were preparing the meats for the class. By the end of the day he was part mascot, part colleague. The barbecuers were attached to him and he was intrigued by the process and procedures.
Competitive barbecue is a subculture unto itself, with rules as well as mores, and Dillon began to devour all of it.
Eventually he began competing at the “amateur” or “backyard” level.
The distinction between amateur and pro has nothing to do with whether or not a person is a paid barbecuer. Instead, it has to so with a person’s barbecuing prowess, which is why the KCBS refers to the amateur level as “backyard.”
Backyard barbecuers compete with only two meats, chicken and ribs, which are the easiest of the four competitive meats to master (the other two are brisket and pulled pork). Backyard barbecuers have lower entrance fees and a less competitive atmosphere. People are genuinely trying to get better. Once they are comfortable with the process and happy with their recipes, they can elect to go pro. Once a barbecuer competes at the pro level, though, they can’t go back to being backyard competitors, so it isn’t a move people take lightly.
It’s likely that Booth will go pro in the next year.
Since that first day, kibitzing with the cooks, Booth has refined his art with the help and encouragement of some of the best barbecuers on the circuit. His uncle, Bob McCoy, who often pitches in with him at the events, said Booth once asked him for a new smoker. McCoy had built his own and his nephew admired it. When members of the circuit heard that he was looking to upgrade his equipment, they chipped in and sent it to him.
The gifts and support are as much about enthusiasm as about respect. Having someone begin competing before they can drive is pretty rare. Having them be good and constantly working to get better is a pleasure to be a part of. As with any endeavor that offers a lifetime of challenges to improve in a community of people constantly striving for perfection, barbecuers are pretty rabid, and the pros in the region have adopted Booth as one of their own.
“Barbecue has been a saving grace for him. The barbecue community all have taken him under their wing,” Fulton said, adding: “He’s got a better set of knives than I could ever afford.”
To his credit, the attention and the support only has made Booth try that much harder. Having been made an honorary member of the KCBS, he has developed his own secret spice rubs and places regularly in competitions from New York to Virginia. As Booth continues on his path to barbecue glory, it might be just as well he didn’t get to play football. Certainly, he wouldn’t have gone pro right after high school. In barbecue, though, not only can he go pro, he already has the respect of and for the veterans that comes from a shared passion for seeking barbecue perfection.
This story originally appeared in the July edition of the Salisbury Star.
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