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3 Men With Nothing Better To Do

By JOE O'CONNELL, cbbqa past President
First posted September 10, 2001

SAN DIEGO, California -- San Diego, California is the home of Association team with the unique name "3 Men With Nothing Better To Do".  wpe13.jpg (32012 bytes)

3 Men is run by three chefs.  Chef is the French word for chief, as in "Chief Cook".  The Chief is the one in charge.  What's the expression about too many cooks in the kitchen?  Somehow, however, 3 Men proves again and again that their formula works:  three men who know how to share the "chief" duties, make real barbecue, and have fun doing it all.  

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Grant McKinstry

Meet the team members

Grant McKinstry is co-chef of 3 Men and a proud South African.

Scott Dawson and Kevin Lorch are the other two co-chefs.  Scott and Kevin have been buddies since school days.  But it was their mutual passion for barbecue that brought them together with Grant McKinstry. 

Every year in San Diego, Jerry Roach, a veteran national barbecue champion, hosts the 'School of Southern Barbecue'.  Not too many years ago, Scott and Kevin attended the school and met the one they now call the South African. 

Their motto:  

  • Drinking beer
  • Making sausage and jerky
  • Smoking meat and fish
  • Cooking large animals
  • Camping
  • Boating
  • "Other things which they won't tell you about"
  • And of course, they will barbecue anything, anytime!

 

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Scott Dawson

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Kevin Lorch


Competitions

Beginning with the 1999 Memphis in May barbecue contest in Memphis, Tennessee, 3 Men have competed in many contests.  They have won many individual categories and even won two Perfect 180 pins (for pork and seafood) at the 2001 Surf & Turf Classic in Imperial Beach.  So far (knock on wood), they have not won the Brass Ring -- a Grand Championship.

3 Men have finished 8th, 6th, 5th, 4th (twice), 3rd (at the 2001 Beachfront), and 2nd (Reserve Championship, at the 2000 Beachfront).  The 3 Men website has more information about their competitions.

3 Men are due . . . !

Fall pig outs

3 Men has gained a reputation throughout Southern California for its Saturday afternoon "pig outs".  They explain,

We usually have our pig parties in late September or early October.  We start on Friday morning by buying the pig and finish on Sunday, spending most of the day cleaning!  In between we have a hell of a good time, but it can be very exhausting.

Cooking a pig is like running a marathon.  Not that any of us three has ever run a marathon.  But we’re told that you need to pace yourself during the race.  You also need to pace yourself when you’re cooking a pig.  If you don’t have enough help and get some sleep along the way, you won’t be able to enjoy the party or the food!  

It’s best to have at least three people on the cooking crew.  The first time Scott and Kevin cooked a pig, they were so tired by the time they served the thing that they couldn’t eat even one pork sandwich!  Last year was much easier on us with the addition of Grant to the cooking team.

3 Men has a detailed explanation on its website about how to barbecue a pig.

Team website

3 Men maintains an award-winning website with lots of information about barbecue.

Related information

 

Contents

Association teams

3 Men With NBTD
Coyote Road Kill
Lakeside BBQ
Out of This World

Send us your comments and questions.