Though some may know Kevin and Tammy Jacques as university staff members, their friends and fans in the barbecuing world know them as the EGGseQutive Council.

At first glance the Jacques’ do not give off the appearance of barbecuing experts, but do not be deceived — the EGGseQutive Council competes year-round across the country, rain or shine.

“Tammy and Kevin’s barbecue tastes like heaven,” said senior Kaylie Watts. “I think it’s interesting and neat that they do something so different, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won every single time.”

The Jacques’ first barbecued competitively on a team but eventually decided to go off on their own after buying their first grill as a married couple.

“When we first got married Kevin wanted to get a grill and we ended up stumbling on this Big Green Egg,” said Tammy. “We got a Big Green Egg smoker and then we really got serious about it. We ended up getting a trailer and started competing and started winning.”

Though it is a team effort, Tammy said Kevin is the mastermind behind all of the recipes and meat.

“It is usually about a week’s worth (of preparation) before a contest,” said Kevin. “Whether it’s trimming meats, making sauces or making glazes, every night is a couple of hours doing something. And that’s not including finding the meat and getting the meat as well.”

To fund their hobby the Jacques often seek or accept sponsorship from companies.

“Sometimes people will approach you and sometimes you have to approach people,” Kevin said. “For us, we only took on sponsorships and products that we used all the time and that we believed in, because we didn’t think it would be right and ethical to take a sponsor’s money or product and truly not use it in what we do. Everything we did we used consistently.”

The Jacques’ pay each competition entry fee, along with the meat, sauces, spices and the travel costs to get to said competition. All of these components can quickly add up, Tammy said.

“It can be a very expensive hobby but it’s very rewarding, too, because you get that camaraderie,” Tammy said.

Over the years the Jacques have won four grand championships and have competed in different world championships.

“We’ve competed at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship, as well as the American Royal World Championship,” Kevin said. “In order to compete at Jack Daniel’s you have to win a state championship and then all of the state champions’ names get thrown into a barrel and they draw one person out.”

Kevin’s most valuable advice for someone who desires to become a barbecue star is to concentrate on your audience.

“Understanding that you’re not cooking for yourself is one of the biggest lessons we learned,” Kevin said. “You’re cooking for judges. What I like nine times out of 10 is not going to do well at a barbeque competition. You’ve got to realize you’re cooking for an audience that is expecting a certain level.”

While they have won and placed in several contests, the Jacques said they enjoy the lasting friendships more than the titles they receive.

“The cooking is amazing and that’s fun, but (we) just (enjoy) the camaraderie that is around the barbeque competition world,” Tammy said. “You see a lot of the same teams at each competition no matter where you go, so it creates a social network of people that all love to hang out and have the same interest of cooking and barbequing.”