Four days of barbecue competition is underway at Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte. It's the annual Roc City Rib Fest sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. More than 100 barbecue teams from the United States and Canada are cooking up butts, briskets and ribs as they vie for $15,000 in prize money.

Most of the competitors are professionals, but it’s open to amateurs, too.

Konrad Haskins was teaching barbecuers of all levels the tricks of the trade Friday afternoon as he brought his BBQ Institute to town.

"Anybody can barbecue and I can get anybody to cook barbecue better than what they are cooking it now," Haskins said.

Since 2004, the native of South Africa has taught thousands how to barbeque. Haskins' BBQ classes cover everything from rubs, mustards, and sauces to the different types and cuts of meat. He says the key to good barbecue is to have a plan and stick to it.

"Just sort of doing it, cut the bag open, throw some spices on it and throw it on the grill and go along is not the recipe for success,” Haskins explained. “The recipe for success is having a plan on what your plan is on, how to cook it, and following the plan and then having a target, a target temperature, a target tenderness of the meat and cooking to that."

People travel from all over the country to attend Haskins’ classes. About 25 from the Rochester area, and some as far away as California, attended his seminar in Charlotte.

Most of them say they started small and are looking to expand their skills.

“I'm learning how to maybe cook my meats a little faster, how to smoke without getting too much smoke, some secrets with the rubs and the mustard," said Bill Corcimiglia of Dansville.

Aaron Selzer came from Los Angeles. He wants to incorporate barbecuing with his other hobby, brewing.

"They're actually quite similar,” Selzer said. “It's all getting those little tricks of the trade, those little secrets that make everything better."

Haskins suggests each barbecuer experiment with rubs and different types of wood to find the flavor that suite them best.

Roc City Rib Fest
BBQ Institute