Field Report: 2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off In Brady Texas

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

This was our 16th year attending the best barbecue shootout in the great state of Texas: the World Championship Goat Cook-Off held each Labor Day weekend out in Brady.

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

Brady’s just down the road from Mercury, the geographical center of the Lone Star state and the pure epicenter of hospitality in a region famous for cracking open cold cans of Pearl beer for outsiders.

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

Strangers don’t stay strangers long out in Brady and we expect hospital maternity wards are filled to bursting nine months after the big competition.

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

Crowds near 10k strong roil through the town’s Richards Park each year as over 200 teams show and prove to establish a cabrito hierarchy in McCulloch County, the number one goat producing region in the US.

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

We’ll get the list of winners up soon but for now here’s a gallery of images from the 2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off:

2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

Chicken Fried Beef Heart From Waco Boys Cooking Team at 2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

Beef heart was the ‘mystery meat’ that each of the teams cooks for a separate portion of the competition. We ate chicken fried, grilled, sauteed and smoked versions of this dish as the event wore on. We love offal and it was a real treat to get to eat a few plates of heart.

Two Waco Boys At The 2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off In Brady Texas

A Few Waco Boys At The 2016 World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off
In Brady Texas

There’s always plenty goat on offer from the cook teams as you stroll around the park. Goat is a tricky beast to cook with fire as it’s extraordinarily lean and requires a delicate touch from the pit bosses. We ate a lot of bad goat but the great ribs, brisket and cold beer more than made up for the occasional tough plate of cabrito.