Missouri cook-offs

Missouri is the home of competitive barbecue — the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) was founded here in 1985, and the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in Kansas City each fall draws the largest field of any BBQ contest in the world. KCBS-sanctioned events run from Kansas City east to St. Louis and south to Springfield, with the heaviest concentration around the KC metro. Outdoor season runs April through October; smaller backyard-series contests carry the calendar into early winter.