Grand champion crowned the best in pork at barbecue world championship in Memphis

The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest crowned a grand prize winner Saturday after hundreds of dedicated pitmasters sweated through smoke to be named the best in pork. The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint team members Hobson Cherry, left, and James Newell season a whole hog as they compete at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. More than $150,000 in prize money was awarded in numerous categories for the 129 cooking teams from 22 states and four foreign countries that competed in one of three main categories of ribs, shoulder and whole hog. Boys and Girls Club members Meech Snow, second from left, and Joseph Woody, second from right, cook with Sam Temple, far left, and Justin Bilbao, far right, of Traeger Grills at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. Orrison, Lewis and their team on Friday prepared two Duroc hogs, each one carefully injected with marinades and laid over a bed of butter and bacon. Shaun Stecklein, left, Jeff Fritz, Nick Ray and Buddy Aucoin, right, of The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint team load a whole hog into a cooker as they compete at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. Arturo Gutierrez, of the Sociedad Mexicana de Parrilleros team, cooks at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. “It’s like fierce friends and more fierce on the competitive side.