The Union County Senior Outdoor Meat Cookery Team strutted their stuff at the Eastern Region 4-H Grill Master Challenge held on Tuesday, September 19, in Maryville, Tennessee. Sporting new team shirts and armed with aprons and tongs, they fired up their charcoal grills as the competition kicked off midday at the Blount County 4-H office. Teams from counties all across East Tennessee crowded the grounds with their tents and grills and entourages of coaches and sponsors, vying to earn bragging rights as the best grillers in four categories: beef, pork, chicken, and lamb.

Each youth was entirely responsible for every step from setting up their individual workspace to plating and presentation of the final product. Parents and coaches were not allowed to assist. Competitors were judged from start to finish, as scoring included marks for fire safety and proper food handling practices as well as placings given by judges who taste tested the final products. Union County’s success owed to the fact that all team members spent a considerable amount of time practicing on their own with grills borrowed from the 4-H office. They each had to master grilling their assigned meat to perfected doneness, plus coming up with a delicious recipe for a marinade or sauce or other secret flair to make their dishes stand out from the competition.

And according to the judges, their dishes, as they say, “popped”! Union County won first place in the Senior Division with the highest combined individual scores. They also took second place overall in the tabletop decoration part of the competition, with the theme “A Taste from the East” inspired by the recent visit of a 4-H Foreign Exchange student named Nonoko who traveled from Japan to spend three weeks living with a Union County family and attending 4-H events this summer. The tabletop was beautifully decorated with traditional Japanese art, paper fans, and chopsticks accompanying the delicious finished and ready-to-eat meats. It was Southern fare with an international flair.

Each member of the team brought home individual awards, too. Jeremiah Tindell won top honors for best lamb grilled, with an entry called “Mr. Chow’s Lamb Chops,” and his sister Gracie Tindell won first place in pork for her “Chop Chop Pork Chops.” Shelby Adkins won second place for her delicious “Chop Stick Chicken,” and Jonathan Tindell earned 8th place with his preparation of “King Fa Chop Beef” in the beef category. The team is now eligible to go on to compete at the state level, the contest for which will be held on October 7th on the University of Tennessee ag campus. Family members and guests are welcome to attend that day's events, which is a day filled with fun and held in conjunction with the State 4-H Fall Judging Day. While some of the best grillers in the state are filling the air with delicious smells, other 4-Her's will be competing for state-level awards in Consumer Decision Making, Dairy Products, Forestry, and Poultry judging events. The day concludes with an awards banquet and meal, which anyone is welcome to attend (pre-registration and a small fee are required).

Several members of this team competed in the senior division last year, so they weren’t exactly rookies. These youth worked hard all summer getting ready for the competition. Some of you readers saw them grilling samples to share at the Union County farmer’s market on July 29th, where they were also participating in the state-wide All-Star Beef Backer Challenge put on by the Tennessee Beef Council. Their delicious special season blend used was quite popular among market goers that day. In August, the team also assisted with preparing and serving the evening meal at the Knox-Union Cattlemen’s Association’s annual picnic. These young men and women take their grilling -and the 4-H mission of service- seriously. They can often be seen helping prepare food for their 4-H club meetings and year-end banquet, too!

The Tennessee 4-H program teaches Outdoor Meat Cookery skills to all 4-Her’s in grades 4-12. The Union County Extension Office has several small portable grills for youth to borrow and use for practice. However, fire safety and proper food handling skills are the first techniques that must be mastered, and parents are highly encouraged to commit to attending practices with their kids until they have learned these basic skills. Anyone interested in learning more about Outdoor Meat Cookery or participating in next year’s Grill Master Challenge should contact the Union County Extension office at (865) 992-8038.