It was a warm Saturday afternoon in Jackson on October 16, but that didn’t stop two Clarke County 4-H’ers from participating in the Mississippi 4-H Cookout Contest.
“This is one of the most popular contests of the year for many of our 4-H youth. This was the first year the state cookout has been hosted in conjunction with the Mississippi State Fair,” said Christy King, Clarke County Extension Agent.
After two days of showing goats, Anna Davis and Jackson King walked across the fairgrounds, set up their barbeque grills, and began cooking over an open flame.
“Both of our 4-H’ers participated in the junior division of prestigious steak,” King said. “There are four divisions in the beef cookout: hamburger division; specialty division, which consists of kabobs and roasts; less expensive steaks, which is made up of flank steaks, skirt steaks, flat iron steaks, and lesser known less expensive steaks; and the prestigious steak division, which is made up of what most people think of as steak, such as ribeye, sirloin, T-bone, and New York Strips.”
This division also happened to be largest category of the day with over a dozen 4-H’ers from around the state. Once a winner has been picked in each division, the four division winners are judged for the overall beef cookout champion.
“Clarke County 4-H has always been very successful in the cookout contest. Each time we have had a 4-H’er entered in the beef contest, we have come home with the overall state championship. If a Clarke County 4-H’er has been in the beef contest, we’ve never lost. We had a title to defend,” declared King, and defend it they did.
Once the smoke had settled, all the steaks had been turned in and the judges had made their final decisions, Anna Davis won not only the junior prestigious steak division, but she also won the Overall Beef Cookout Championship.
“I knew she had a very good shot after our county cookout contest a couple of weeks ago. If she could just repeat that cook, I knew she was the one to beat at state,” King stated. Eddie Parker, manager of CashSaver Grocery who hosted the county cookout contest and supplied all the county cookout contest meat, served as a judge for the county cookout contest. “I’ve had $70 steaks at fine restaurants that weren’t that good,” Parker said of Anna’s steak after the county cookout contest.
Assistant Manager, Ryan Bufkin, who also served as a judge agreed. As a former Clarke County 4-H’er and State 4-H Cookout champion himself, this was an important contest for him. “We were glad to be able to support the local cookout contest. Anna grilled a great steak. We are so glad she could defend our Clarke County title,” Bufkin said.
“Anna is one of our more active junior 4-H members. Livestock is her main project, but cooking is something she and her daddy do together. She’s a beast on that grill,” King said. Dustin Davis, Anna’s dad says that she has been helping her parents cook steak at her grandparent’s restaurant since she was about three.
“We are so excited for Anna. We’ve always known that we have some good cooks in Clarke County, and we couldn’t be more excited that she defended the title that we know belongs in Clarke County,” proclaimed King.
