Lightning can strike twice at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Always Able But Confused Cookers, a 50-person team based in Humble, took home the 51st annual cook-off’s biggest prize, earning the Grand Champion Overall title, one of the top honors in competition barbecue, on a raucous evening March 1 at NRG Park.
But it wasn’t their first time in the winner’s circle. The team, founded in 1988 — and competing at Rodeo Houston every year since — won Champion Brisket in 2023 and placed in the Top 10 overall in 2024.
“Yes, we were happy,” Terry Keck, founder and team coordinator, said Sunday morning, still basking in the cook-off glow from the night before. “We all went crazy again.”
Also celebrating was the Metro Go Texan 5/Second 2 None 2 team that earned Reserve Champion Overall, the runner-up place. Both of the top teams nabbed multiple trophies: Always Able also took second place for Chicken while Metro Go Texan 5/Second 2 None 2 placed first in the Go Texan Category.
Approximately 250 teams from across Texas competed for championship titles in a variety of categories, including Brisket, Ribs, Chicken, Dutch Oven Dessert, the Open Contest, Junior, and Go Texan. A new category this year, coined BBQ Olympics, also judged teams on speed, agility, coordination, and teamwork.
When the smoke cleared, it was a team from Humble that came out on top. Always Able was ready and able. Keck credits the cook team, headed by pitmaster Robert Davis, for the standout performance of meats cooked in an offset smoker using pecan pellets.
The Grand Champion win allows Always Able an automatic team entry in two other major barbecue competitions – American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri; and Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational BBQ in Lynchburg, Tennessee – as well as San Antonio and Austin Rodeo cook-offs.
Now that the world championship barbecue cook-off winners have been named, Houstonians can gear up for the full Rodeo season, which begins March 4 and runs through March 23.
Here are the 2025 World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest winners:
Champion
Grand Champion Overall: Always Able But Confused Cookers
Reserve Champion Overall: Metro Go Texan 5/Second 2 None 2
Brisket
Champion: Dusty Bones Cookers
Second Place: Holy Cow Cookers
Third Place: Texas Social Club
Ribs
Champion: Tejas Cookers
Second Place: Brisket Cases
Third Place: Pit Boss
Chicken
Champion: Maddog BBQ
Second Place: Always Able But Confused Cookers
Third Place: Calhoun County Go Texan
Go Texan
Grand Champion: Metro Go Texan 5/Second 2 None 2
Reserve Champion: Washington County Go Texan
Dutch Oven Dessert
Champion: Trail Riders
Second Place: Willis Group
Third Place: Roadkill BBQ Company
Open Contest
Champion: Karnes County Go Texan
Second Place: Blues Hog
Third Place: First Responders – Houston Professional Firefighters Association Local
Junior Cook-Off
Champion: Bentlee Payne
Second Place: Tyler Lovend
Third Place: Vincent Martinez
Specialty Awards
Best Façade: Cherokee County Go Texan
Best Overall Theme: BOHICA BBQ Cooking Team
Best Skit: BOHICA BBQ Cooking Team
BBQ Olympics
Winner: San Augustine
Second Place: Steve’s Cooking Team
