2013 World Barbecue Champion
Victor Howard (Pitmaker- BBQ Addiction)

2013 World Barbecue Champion: Victor Howard, Pitmaker – BBQ Addiction

The 2013 World Barbecue Champion, Victor Howard of Pitmaker – BBQ Addiction, along with teammates George Shore and Julio Howard, eat, sleep and breath barbecue. It's not surprising that Victor, as president and co-owner of Pitmaker, a company that manufactures custom BBQ pits and trailers, is superbly trained in the production of high quality barbecued meats.

“At Pitmaker, we are BBQ Engineers,” said Howard. “We decipher how best to create and cook meats with our designs by [learning to push] smoke, heat and infra-red energy about the meat in the most optimal way. I think this gives us special insight into being able to cook world championship barbecue.”

In 2012, Pitmaker – BBQ Addiction participated in the inaugural World Food Championships where the team finished middle-of-the-pack of the barbecue category. In 2013, the team was determined to avoid a repeat in results and came back to Las Vegas ready to prove that “there is a new BBQ Sheriff in town.”

The Top 10 round of the barbecue category was an “Anything But” theme, the round is unique at the World Food Championships because it requires BBQ cooks to "think outside the [competition] box."  Because the World Food Championships is about finding the best overall "Food Champion," the competition required the best pitmasters to submit any protein outside of the three traditional BBQ turn-ins (brisket, pork and ribs) but still conforming to the spirit and smoke of traditional BBQ. Pitmaker – BBQ Addiction went with their traditional Texas-style chicken halves to rave reviews.

“We knew from banter with the other top ten finalists that some teams were cooking pretty exotic or gourmet proteins. From there, we knew had no room for error on our chicken,” said Howard. “Our BBQ Vault smoker is known for cooking great chicken and we’ve proven that over and over again by winning the chicken category in competitions all over the nation. We were confident going in to this category.”

This year’s Final Table competition came in two rounds: a visual "Crowd Pleaser" for the viewing public and a formal "tasting" entry to be judged by the seven Final Table panelists. Pitmaker submitted “Rackin’ N Rollin’” ribs for their Crowd Pleaser turn-in, which resulted in an overwhelming positive response from the Final Table Judges and the voting public. In fact, Pitmaker's Crowd Pleaser won the fan vote and eventually vaulted them to the final four finalists at the Final Table. The team’s judging dish was their Slow Smoked Texas Brisket, and although they had their doubts about the brisket’s performance, their second place overall finish proved otherwise.

The 2013 World Barbecue Championship was sponsored in part by Sam’s Club®. As barbecue equipment manufacturers, Pitmaker regularly relies on Sam’s Club products for use in their demonstrations, as well as being a staple supplier for much of their competition needs.

Victor Howard and the Pitmaker – BBQ Addiction team attribute their strong finish to three things: faith in God, the perfect execution of smoked chicken halves during the Anything But round and lastly, their collective collaboration as a team.

Howard has been competing in barbecue contests for over 15 years now, and his team averages 15 to 20 competitions per year, making for an astounding 225 competitions that Howard himself has participated in.

Pitmaker - BBQ Addiction earned their qualification to the World Food Championships at the Hold ‘Em and Hit ‘Em Club Bar-B-Que Cook-off a Texas Gulf Coast BBQ Association sanctioned event in Houston, Texas.