The 30th annual American Royal BBQ contest was held in Kansas City, MO during the first weekend in October when almost 500 teams competed in the categories of chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder and beef brisket for over $40,000 in prize money. Fat Angel BBQ ended up beating everyone in the field of pork ribs and captured the Crown of Best Ribs in the country. They earned their invitation to the contest by winning the NJ State BBQ Championship in Wildwood, NJ back in July.
All of the top teams in the country, representing almost every state compete in the American Royal contest. Steve and Loren Raab, along with Eric Keating, left Red Bank, NJ the Tuesday before the contest and after 2 days of driving 1235 miles, they pulled into the American Royal complex to set up to start cooking. “To win first place in Ribs at the largest BBQ competition in the world is an honor” says Pitmaster Steve Raab. “Yes, we cooked some great ribs that day, but a little luck always helps” says Loren, who still can’t believe they won. Her family has been on the BBQ circuit since 2000 and in 2007, Loren and Steve started their own team named Fat Angel BBQ. In their first year, they were unofficially named the rookie team year in the country. This year Fat Angel BBQ is currently ranked in the top 150 against over 4000 teams throughout the country. Fat Angel BBQ also owns and operates a BBQ catering company called Local Smoke BBQ and caters all types of events throughout NJ, NY and PA.
