Ardie Davis, also known as Remus Powers, is a well-known judge on the barbecue circuit and the founder of Greasehouse University. Davis is also the founder of the American Royal International BBQ Sauce, Rub, & Baste Contest. He has been awarded several honors for his involvement judging barbecue competitions, Including being inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2016.
He is the author of eleven books on grilling and smoking and lives with his wife, Gretchen, in the Kansas City area.
Davis founded the Diddy-Wa-Diddy National Barbecue Sauce Contest in his backyard in 1984. [1] Three years later the contest became the American Royal International Barbecue Sauce, Rub & Baste Contest, held annually in Kansas City. The American Royal Barbecue Sauce Contest is in its 29th year and the largest sauce contest in the world.
He is also the author of the official judges' oath that is taken at all competitions sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. [2]
Davis has earned many awards for his expertise on the barbecue judging circuit. He is a charter member of the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS) and former three-term member of the KCBS Board of Directors, Ardie is now a board member emeritus, a certified master judge, and an inductee in the KCBS Hall of Flame (1992). He is also a certified Memphis in may barbecue judge, and in 2008, he was a featured judge at the 20th Annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Accolades include the Smoky Angel Award from the Kansas City Barbecue Forum, the Judges’ Choice Award in the 2002 Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue, and the Spirit of Barbecue Award from the National Barbecue News in 2002. In 2003, he was named a Kansas City Barbecue Legend by the Kansas City Star . [3] In 2016, Ardie Davis was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame as the Celebrity/Humanitarian candidate. The Hall of Fame only includes 15 members as of 2016. Ardie's involvement in the BBQ community has earned him 9 separate nominations for this year's Barbecue Hall of Fame, more than twice as many as any other candidate.
Ardie Davis, born Ardith Davis, was born in Oklahoma on November 25, 1941. Ardie had 2 siblings - Barbara and Cathy. Ardie Davis graduated from Westmar College in 1964 with majors in Sociology and Philosophy.
Ardie Davis is also known as Remus Powers. Throughout his life, Ardie Davis loved and still loves Uncle Remus's stories, which are a collection of animal stories, songs, and oral folklore, collected from southern African-Americans. The stories main characters are Brother Rabbit, Brother Fox and Brother Bear. From these stories, Davis adopted Remus as his BBQ forename.
The second part of his name comes from a lesser known source. When Davis was young, his father was a mechanic and worked with a man with the last name Powers. As Davis grew up, he learned many things from Mr. Powers and to this day remembers him and has honored him by making Powers his BBQ surname.
Davis writes a monthly column in the National Barbecue News and the Kansas City Bullsheet, which is the official newspaper of the Kansas City Barbeque Society. His writing on barbecue has also been featured on the 'Cue Confessions blog.
Davis is also the author of a number of barbecue books:
St. Louis–style barbecue refers to spare ribs associated with the St. Louis area. These are usually grilled rather than slow-cooked over indirect heat with smoke which is typically associated with the term "barbecue" in the United States. Although St. Louis–style barbecue takes inspiration from other styles of barbecue it still retains its own distinct style.
Arthur Bryant's is a restaurant located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is sometimes called the most famous barbecue restaurant in the United States.
KC Masterpiece is a barbecue sauce that is marketed by the HV Food Products Company, a subsidiary of the Clorox Company.
Kansas City–style barbecue is a slowly smoked meat barbecue originating in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 20th century. It has a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as its originator, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.
Barbecue sauce is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork, beef, and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern United States and is used on many other foods as well.
Maull's barbecue sauce is a popular barbecue sauce in St. Louis, Missouri and is a common ingredient in preparing St. Louis–style barbecue. It is a rich and pungent, spicy semi-sweet, tomato based sauce, somewhat unusual for containing anchovies and pepper pulp. Maull's makes eight varieties of sauce now: Genuine, Sweet-N-Mild, Sweet-N-Smokey, Onion Bits, Beer Flavor, Smokey, Jalapeño, and a Kansas City–style barbecue sauce.
Barbecue is a tradition often considered a quintessential part of American culture, especially the Southern United States.
Shane's Rib Shack is an American fast casual BBQ franchise, serving slow-cooked baby back ribs, hand-chopped chicken and pork, and Southern style side dishes. As of January, 2024, they are located in eight states, with most of their restaurants located in the state of Georgia.
A Bacon Explosion is a pork dish that consists of bacon wrapped around a filling of spiced sausage and crumbled bacon. The American-football-sized dish is then smoked or baked. It became known after being posted on the BBQ Addicts blog, and spread to the mainstream press with numerous stories discussing the dish. In time, the articles began to discuss the Internet "buzz" itself.
Kansas City Barbeque Society is a competitive cooking organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, famous for Kansas City BBQ. It is the largest competitive barbecue organization in the world, with more than 15,000 members. It was founded in 1985 by Carolyn and Gary Wells and Rick Welch. Their desire was to put together a local group for competitive barbecue. It has since grown and provides oversight to hundreds of competitions.
Barbecue is an important part of the heritage and history of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It has resulted in a series of bills and laws that relate to the subject, and at times has been a politically charged subject. In part, this is due to the existence of two distinct types of barbecue that have developed over the last few hundred years: Lexington style and Eastern style. Both are pork-based barbecues but differ in the cuts of pork used and the sauces they are served with. In addition to the two native varieties, other styles of barbecue can be found throughout the state.
Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States, the other three being Carolina, Kansas City, and Texas. Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders, though many restaurants will still serve beef and chicken.
B.T.'s Smokehouse is a restaurant that specializes in dry-rubbed and slow-smoked barbecue and is located in the downtown section of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The restaurant smokes about 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) of meat per week, with brisket being 2,000 pounds (910 kg) to 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of that total. On a typical weekend, the smokehouse will serve 1,200 and 1,500 people in its 38-seat location.
Lloyd Maurice Bessinger Sr. was an American BBQ restaurateur and politician noted for his defense of racial segregation.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que, formerly known as Oklahoma Joe's, is a barbecue restaurant, with locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is owned and operated by Jeff and Joy Stehney.
Jones Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas, owned and operated by Deborah and Mary Jones.
Lem's Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in the Chatham community of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. The restaurant is known for its rib tips, which Eater has described as Chicago's "most famous rib tips."
Southside Market & Barbeque is a historic barbecue restaurant and meat market in Elgin, Texas. It has since expanded into a chain restaurant.
Barbara Ann's Bar-B-Que was a barbecue restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. It was attached to the Barbara Ann's Motel, and both businesses were founded by Delars and Bertie Bracy in 1967. They named the businesses after their daughter Barbara Ann, who later became owner.