10/20/2026
🔥🏆 WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 — WHAT A RIDE!! 🏆🔥
4TH IN THE WORLD!! AND WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED!!
World Food Championships 2026 is officially in the books, and WOW, what an incredible experience this past weekend was for Totally Bodacious BBQ!!
First and foremost, we cannot thank everyone enough who came out to support us, cheered us on from home, and worked behind the scenes to make this weekend possible. You know who you are, and we couldn't have done it without you!
🔥 DAY ONE — WE CAME TO COMPETE!!
We came into WFC with one mission: to prove that we belonged on the biggest stage in food competition!
Day one, we came out swinging!! We put everything we had into our entries, and when the scores came out, WE WERE THE #1 OVERALL SCORING TEAM!!
What a way to start our first World Food Championships!
🔥 DAY TWO — TIME TO FACE THE JUDGES!!
Day two brought something completely new for us: LIVE JUDGING!!
This was our first time standing in front of a panel of world-class judges, presenting our dish, explaining our techniques, and letting our food do the talking!
We presented a Roasted Poblano Pepper Stuffed with Beef Cheek Barbacoa and a Three-Cheese Blend.
We took tender, flavorful beef cheeks, transformed them into an incredible barbacoa, and combined them with a blend of three cheeses before stuffing our roasted poblano.
The result? An absolutely amazing dish!!
And apparently, the judges thought so too!!
💯 OUR SECOND PERFECT SCORE OF THE WEEKEND!!
After two days of competition, we were STILL sitting in the #1 OVERALL POSITION!!
Two days. Two perfect scores. First place overall heading into the finals!!
We weren't just competing anymore. WE WERE MAKING A STATEMENT!!
🔥 DAY THREE — THE RING OF FIRE!! 🔥
Sunday morning brought a whole new challenge. All scores were wiped clean, and the top ten teams were starting from ZERO!
Let me tell you something about those ten teams. Every single one of them deserved to be there! Incredible talent, amazing cooks, and teams with years of experience competing at WFC.
We knew we had our work cut out for us!
So what did we decide to do?
WE WENT BACK TO WHAT GOT US THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!
🥩 BEEF SHORT RIBS!!
We sourced some beautiful, locally raised Angus Choice beef ribs.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. CHOICE beef at a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?? Some folks might be scratching their heads! LOL!
But we weren't scared one bit! We knew exactly what we had, and these ribs were absolutely incredible!
We marinated them overnight, and Sunday morning, it was GAME TIME!!
We seasoned those ribs with an incredible blend of Dos Pendejos Spice Co. LLC and Bolner's Fiesta Products Inc., then smoked them low and slow before finishing them in a rich, flavorful Chile Rojo-inspired braising purée.
With Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que of America sauces being a required component, we chose their Sweet & Zesty sauce to complement the bold, deep flavors of our Chile Rojo beef ribs.
And let me tell you, those flavors came together beautifully!!
🔥 NOW LET'S TALK SIDES!!
First up, our signature BBQ Baked Beans!!
These weren't just any baked beans! This was the same recipe that helped us earn an 11th-place finish at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue!!
We made a few adjustments for WFC, incorporating Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy sauce and adding some incredible smoked beef cheeks we had left from Saturday's cook.
Those beans were LOADED with flavor!!
Next up was a side dish that absolutely blew us away!
🌽 ROASTED CORN & LIMA BEAN SUCCOTASH!!
We built this dish with roasted sweet corn, tender lima beans, hickory-smoked pepper bacon, sautéed red bell peppers, jalapeños, and pickled red onions.
Then we brought in a little extra attitude with Famous Dave's Devil's Spit sauce!!
Sweet, smoky, savory, tangy, with just the right amount of HEAT!!
This dish was absolutely AMAZING!!
🔥 TIME TO FACE THE RING OF FIRE!!
With about an hour remaining, we moved into the kitchen arena to put the finishing touches on our food and build our presentation platters.
Every detail mattered. Every flavor mattered. Every second mattered.
We were assigned seat number nine, which meant we had plenty of time to watch and listen as some of the best BBQ teams in the world presented their incredible creations.
And let me tell you, the talent in that room was UNREAL!!
When our turn came, we stepped up, presented our platter, explained our dishes, and left everything we had on that judging table!
We knew we had cooked some incredible food.
Now it was out of our hands.
🏆 AWARDS TIME — THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!!
All ten teams were called to the stage.
Standing there among some of the best in the world was an incredible feeling in itself.
But I'm competitive, and anyone who knows me knows I didn't come all this way just to stand on a stage!!
I CAME TO WIN!!
They started announcing the results.
10th place...
9th place...
8th place...
One by one, some incredible teams were coming off the board.
Then they announced 5th place.
WE WERE STILL STANDING!!
And I'm thinking to myself...
DAMN!! WE'VE GOT A SHOT AT THIS THING!!
Then came 4th place...
TOTALLY BODACIOUS BBQ!!
🔥🏆 4TH PLACE IN THE RING OF FIRE AT OUR VERY FIRST WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIPS!! 🏆🔥
Was our goal to become World Food Champions? ABSOLUTELY!!
Did we want that number one spot? YOU BET WE DID!!
But finishing 4TH IN THE RING OF FIRE, after leading the overall scoring through the first two days and earning TWO PERFECT SCORES, is something we are extremely proud of!!
We didn't come to WFC just hoping we could hang with the best.
WE CAME TO PROVE WE BELONGED WITH THE BEST!!
And I believe we did exactly that!!
This weekend pushed us to another level. It challenged us, motivated us, and reminded us exactly why we love doing what we do.
We learned a lot, made some incredible memories, and competed against some of the most talented cooks in the world.
To everyone who supported us, believed in us, and helped make this journey possible, THANK YOU!!
And to the teams we competed against, much respect!! It was an honor sharing that stage with every one of you!
WORLD FOOD CHAMPIONSHIPS, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF TOTALLY BODACIOUS BBQ!!
We're leaving with our heads held high, a fire burning even hotter, and unfinished business!!
WE KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THERE NOW!!
And trust me...
THE BEST OF TOTALLY BODACIOUS BBQ IS STILL TO COME!! 🔥🏆
FAITH. FAMILY. BBQ.
Huge thank you to the following people who made this trip possible
Texas Food Championship
Dos Pendejos Spice Co LLC
Bolners Fiesta Products Inc.
LC BBQ
Heath Riles BBQ
World Food Championships
The Barbque Store
2 Gringos Chupacabra
Snake River Farms
Prairie Fresh
BBQ Champs Academy
Daniel's Garage
