Like a hungry farmer raised on real Southern smoke-roasted pit barbecue, for the last two years this franchise has a been serving me boiled ribs, and when presented with the real deal, I am gobbling it down.

Sadly there is little room for creativity in competition barbecue nowadays. If barbecue is part of the culinary arts, then the judges and cooks should take a look at other forms.

Competition barbecue has moved so far from traditional Southern barbecue that it must be considered a style of cooking unto itself, as different from the original as is Korean Barbecue.

That sets up a highly competitive final on July 8 with the pitmasters answering the burning question, who goes home with the $50,000?