Super Bowl XLIV Wing Eating Contest @ PJ Quigleys

So the big day finally came. Super Bowl Sunday. XLIV. And I was going back to PJ Quigley's for their Super Bowl Party, and of course, the half time wing eating competition. But this year, I was invited to judge the contest.




I have to admit, I'm not a football fan. Until Sunday, I didn't even know who was playing, but I decided I better find out (Colts vs Saints by the way). But the energy people have for the game, even up here in Canada, can be infectious. And if there is one food associated with Super Bowl, it's chicken wings.

The place was packed with friendly cheering fans, oohing and ahhhing at tackles and touchdowns. I missed our waitress name, but she was friendly and accommodating. Manager Andrew Ross was also great - running the wing eating contest and checking up on us.

We decided to grab some grub - LJ went with the steak sandwich. A "grilled strip loin steak on a garlic ciabatta bun with sauteed garlic mushrooms, onions and a side of peppercorn gravy with fries." The steak was tasty and tender. The gravy went well with the crispy fries.

I went with the wings, of course. Big, meaty, crispy, saucy. What can I say, excellent wings. The suicide sauce still had a nice bite, and cool Ranch dressing on the side with veggies (no sour cream here thankfully!).

I asked Andrew if I could get a sneak peak in the kitchen and how they make their wings. That was awesome watching the pros do what they do well. In the kitchen, Liam walked me through their process, from dusting the wings in flour, deep frying, saucing then plating. He also showed me the wings he was preparing for himself; Liam's close to copying KFC's secret recipe.

Also in the kitchen was Josh. After hearing Liam was making a special batch of wings, he to went to work creating a unique wing dish - a lemon/citrus marinade. But when pressed as to what he was going to put in it, he said "I haven't got a clue."

The wing theme was definitely big in the kitchen that night. One of the waitresses came in and was excited about wing creations, as was the bartender, looking for Cajun chicken fingers with wing sauce. I also watched as Liam and Josh made 'boneless wings' with chicken fingers in hot sauce (homemade), which also looked good.

Before long it was Half Time, and the crowd gathered for the Wing Eating Contest. There were 5 contestants, Andrew 'The Kid' was the winner from last year. Beside him was the champ from 2 years ago. There were a lot of support for the candidates, and it got exciting very quick.

The rules were the same as last year:

1. 2lbs of wings, flavour hot, were to be consumed as fast as possible
2. After eating the wings you had to consume a bottle of Dad's Cream Soda.
3. No napkins, saucy fingers only to open the twist top.
4. The bottle and its contents could not be consumed before the wings.
5. Wings would be judged on how much meat was removed
6. The winner would receive a free pound of wings a week for a year!
   

The contestants went to town on those wings and the crowd cheered them on. It was interesting watching how everyone went about eating the wings. This year's champ Andrew spun the wing meat off in his mouth quick, treating both wingette's and drummette's the same. The previous champ started off with a one handed technique of just skinning the wing of meat and bones. The other contestants ate their wings it, appeared, just like they would normally at dinner, just trying to do it faster.

Clearly technique does work. The bottle cap was the really tough part as saucy fingers do not uncap the bottle easily. Andrew got desperate and tried to use his mouth . . . that made me wince at the thought of blood and broken teeth . . . but it was more a reaction than a real attempt. And this year he won by a big margin. Congrats and enjoy your wings!

It was a lot of fun and a good time had by all. The wings were great. Thanks to Linda Price, Andrew Ross and the rest of the staff at PJ Quigleys for having us and for inviting me to be judge. And thanks for the food too!

PS: I was hoping the New Orleans Saints would win, but it looked bad to begin with. Looks like they came through in the end. Go squadron!

Remember,

WKTV
SAME WING TIME
SAME WING CHANNEL

Back to PJ Quigley's to judge Wing Eating Competition

It's that time of year again - PJ Quigley's here in Ottawa is having their Wing Eating Competition again as part of their Superbowl Sunday party. While I had a blast competing last year, this year they've asked me to judge the competition. Awesome.

Hope to see you there or wait a few days and read my report.

Defcon Wing-Eating Deathmatch @ Weekend of Fire

On August 1 & 2nd in Fairfield Ohio, a wonderous event happened: The Jungle Jim's Weekend of Fire festival. And at that event was the "Death Match Hot Wing Competition." Contestants are served DEFCON sauced wings and the winner, well I guess is the last man standing, more or less:

2009 Defcon National Championship Wing-Eating Deathmatch from John Dilley on Vimeo.

Here's some points of mine from the video.

• I love watching this. The challenge. The pain.
• I love when the video concentrates on the guys who can't take the pain. There is a look of disbelief on their face: the eyes are wide, the mouth ajar. In their minds they are thinking "What the hell have I done?"
• You can tell who knows what they are doing: the guys with big pitchers or drinks can't handle the heat, while the 'pros' don't drink anything. Also the kid at the end eating ice cream for his mouth
• The guy who is so hot he has snot running out of his nose, then he licks the snot . . . not needed.
• I really wish I could have been part of this. Although I think the gloves are a cop out.
• I really want to try DEFCON sauces, I've heard good things.

Thanks to Chris @ nibblemethis.com for sending me the link to hotsaucedaily who in tern were posting this video.

PS: this is my 400th post, believe it or not

Superbowl Wing Eating Contest Results

So, everyone's wondering how it all went down.





Arrived at PJ Quigley's @ 6pm for the start of the Superbowl. The place was packed, and the fans were excited for the game. I still don't even know who played, let alone who won. Go squadron!

LJ and I surveyed the crowd, trying to size up who I was going to be up against. It was mostly and older crowd, but I saw a few pockets of younger people. All were eating, so it was hard to tell who was going to compete. I had a few nibbles, but nothing to break my hunger. Ok I had a glass of cherry coke, but I had 2 hours until half time, when the contest started.


The time went on forever. I felt good. I wasn't starving, I wasn't nervous, but I was ready. The names were announced to who would be competing - there were going to be six of us. Six was a good number . . . the less people to compete against, the better.





Halftime came, and we sat around a table in the corner. To my left there was (my nick names for them) Friendly Jock, and Previous Competitor (as seen in old photos of 2007 competition). Across from him was, well, I didn't even see him. Then in the white (see video) was 2008's Champ (an older gentleman), and across from me, The Kid (you'll here his name chanted,Andrew, on the video).


We sat around for a few minutes and I tried sizing up the competition. The Kid looked young and inexperienced. The Friendly Jock was nervous. The Champ looked serious - clearly my biggest threat.


The friendly manager (Andy is his name I think) announced not only the competitors (giving a shout out to me and the blog, thanks!), but also the rules.

1. 1lb of wings, flavour hot, were to be consumed as fast as possible
2. After eating the wings you had to consume a bottle of Dad's Root Beer. No napkins, saucy fingers to open the twist top.
3. The bottle and its contents could not be consumed before the wings.
4. Wings would be judged on how much meat was removed
5. The winner would receive free wings for a year (2lb once ever month?)

Ok, pretty much what I expected. But after hearing rule 4, I decided to change my eating strategy slightly. If they were judging for cleaning the meat off the bones, I was going to have to take the mili-seconds to eat ALL the meat, not just race through eating. All I could think was, eat the meat, don't waste time.

There was a countdown, Three . . . Two . . . then a false call, Two and a half, but I didn't flinch - and then, BAM! Off I was. Drummy wings got the Spin Move. Meat was falling off the bone. Wingette's got the small bone twist, they were coming right out of the wing - so easy to eat! I looked up and I looked at The Kid, with lots of cheers for him. I kept on. 3 wings left, 2 wings left . . . it was intense. Food was flowing down my throat, no choking, no breathing problems, I was feeling good. 2 wings left. I get to one and I hear what sounds like The Champ moving on to the root beer. Not only him, but the Kid! I rush the last wing and grab the root beer, trying to open it while I swallow. I can't get the bottle open . . . I'm getting stressed . . . why won't this damn thing open? OPEN DAMMIT!!! Ok I get it open, I down the root beer nice a smooth. I see The Kid and The Champ having problems, I can do it, I'm almost there . . .

SNAP. And the Kid wins. The Champ is not happy, not happy at all. I feel a wave of defeat come over me. 3rd place, but really, only #1 counts. I get some napkins and begin to wipe off the defeat. It turns out, I cut both my finger and my thumb trying to open the bottle, but that's not the sting I'm feeling.

Kudos to the kid, he's young, lots of family and friends cheering (his dad was a winner in a year before 2008). But then I start looking. The Champ isn't happy and I see why - something doesn't seem right. I don't want to be a sore loser, but I look at The Champ's bones, then The Kid's, then my own. Something isn't right:

That's right, The Kid barely ate anything off his wings. In fact, some wings only have like 1 bite out of them. I feel a little stilted because if I had stuck to my trained method, I would have done much better, but I heard clearly that meat-left-on-bone judging was going to happen. The thing is, The Champ still beat me, so I feel like he had the title taken from him.

But the key thing is, it was a lot of fun. For my first wing eating competition, I had a blast. And I would do it again. The crowd was entertaining and my 'celebrity' status was a hoot. Thanks PJ Quigleys for the free order of wings, the promotion, and for letting me be apart of the real sport of the night.

So if you know of any other wing eating competitions, let me know, because I had a taste of it, and I liked it.

Remember,

WKTV

SAME WING TIME
SAME WING CHANNEL

Wing Eating Contest training continues . . .

My training continues.

I had 10 wings in under 2 minutes (I forgot to check the time to be exact). I'm pretty sure it was closer to 1 minute.

I tore through the wings quick, but I have one major problem holding me back:

I find it VERY hard not to stop and savour every little bit, or to clean every morsel off the wings. Speed eating isn't about tasting or enjoying, its just about consuming. I need to get past this to win.

I tested a few techniques out and I think its going well.

But I keep hiccuping after the wings. I'm not used to eating so quick - I'm glad I've been practicing instead of just jumping in cold turkey.

But I can do this.

Chicken wings are go!

A Wing Eating Contest . . .

I got wind of a wing eating contest for the upcoming Superbowl, and its my intentions to join in. I've never done one before, but boy does it excite me. What's at stake is free wings for a year, but I'll be honest, I'm more interested in the title, rather than the free wings. Well, free wings are cool too, but I would join in just to join in.

The competition as I understand it is who can eat a pound and a half (I think) the fastest, plus a drink. Now, I would prefer a heat-off, or even a most consumed, but I think I can do it.

To start training, I'm turning to my two personal heroes in the world of competitive eating: Joey Chestnut and Sonya 'The Black Widow' Thomas.




Joseph Christian "JAWS" Chestnut



An American competitive eater currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He is a Vallejo, CA native who currently resides in San Jose, CA.

WING RECORDS:

• Chicken Wings: 7.05 pounds of wings in 12 minutes during the TripRewards Ultimate Hot Wing Eating Championship in New York City on May 21, 2007.
  
• Chicken Wings: 241 wings at Wing Bowl XVI in Philadelphia, on February 1, 2008.

TRAINING METHOD:

Chestnut trains by fasting and by stretching his stomach with milk, water, and protein supplements. Three days before winning a chicken-eating contest in Boston, in November 2005, Chestnut drank gallons of water in under one minute and ate buffalo wings to get his stomach accustomed to them.

(Wikipedia)


Sonya "THE BLACK WIDOW" Thomas



Atop-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating eating greats such as Cookie Jarvis and Eric Booker.


The 98-pound Thomas is the number four competitive eater in the United States, and ranked fifth in the world , with 29 world titles. Her nickname "The Black Widow" refers to her ability to regularly defeat men four to five times her size. While the size of her stomach is only slightly larger than normal, her skinny build is perhaps her biggest advantage, allowing her stomach to expand more readily since it is not surrounded by the ring of fat common in other heavy eaters. She holds records in over 25 eating competitions, and in December 2008, she defeated top-ranked eater Takeru Kobayashi in a fruit-cake eating contest.


WING RECORDS:

• 173 chicken wings in 12 minutes
  
• 1st place in "National Buffalo Wing Eating Contest" and "Buffet Bowl" at Buffalo, NY's WingFest 2007

TRAINING METHOD:

Thomas exercises up to two hours a day on an incline treadmill, and has maintained her weight since she started competing in 2003, down from 135 pounds when she worked as a typist in Korea. Her lowest weight has been 99 lb. at Wing Bowl XII in 2004, while training with Puerto Rican Martial Arts Master Jonathan Kuhns. She only eats one very large meal a day, which takes several hours for her to complete. A typical post-work meal for her would be three large orders of fries, a chicken Whopper, 20 chicken tenders, and two 32-ounce diet soft drinks.
She does not practice eating at maximum speed for more than a two-minute period

(Wikipedia)

I'm not going to these extremes in my 'training', but I will be doing what I can to dominate over the others. This is going to be sweet.