GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – Gridley High School hosted the annual County Line Cook-Off, where Gridley FFA and Live Oak FFA groups pit their BBQ projects against each other for the chance to win prizes, and of course, bragging rights.

Each year the contest wraps up National FFA Week and rotates which campus it is held at between the two schools. The competition, which got its start in 2018, tests the skills of welders in both schools Ag Mechanics and Welding Departments.

Students begin working on their projects as early as their return from Winter Break and use both donated and purchased supplies. Gridley FFA Advisor Nick Dreesmann tells the Herald that Sunsweet donated all the barrels for the grills, but it was not a requirement to use them. Of the builds themselves, Dreesmann says that student incurred costs can range from $10 to hundreds, depending on the design. Live Oak FFA Advisor, Jim Rogers says he tries to “facilitate (the projects) with donations from the community and scrap metal. But a lot of these kids have done it without having to put much in… and they’ve done a great job.”

At the heart of things, the competition remains the same each year. Students design their concept from the ground up and are judged on their grills/smokers, including the use of materials, quality of the build and creativity. Not to mention what they cook on them. Cooking categories include: “beef”, “pork, poultry or fish” and “wild game”. Sub-categories within each meat division include “size and shape”, “appearance”, “sauce/seasoning”, “flavor” and “texture” for an overall score out of 25 points.

Dreesmann tell us that judging of the grills at the County Line Cook-Off is done by those in the industry, this year by COE Manufacturing in Live Oak, with the food being judged by lucky locals. Prizes for each category were donated by MJB Welding Supply out of Chico and Gerlinger Steel of Redding.

After the 2022 County Line Cook-Off, Gridley FFA remains undefeated. Winners in the other categories include Alan Vargas (Gridley), with “Best Build - All Other BBQ/Smoker”, Calista Fox (Gridley) took “Best Beef BBQ”, Joseph Contreras (Live Oak) won for “Best Build - Single Barrel”, and team competitors Michael Sanchez and Greyson Sannar (Gridley) secured the win for “Best Meat BBQ” with their pork ribs and finally, Samuel Santillan and Vance Lewellen (Gridley), took 1^st place for “Best Wild Game” with their goose poppers.

At the end of the competition, it is a personal choice of the students whether they will keep their BBQ projects or put them up for selling, which many do.