"Get a hobby..."

Those famous last words uttered by Ruth Lynch over 10 years ago still echo through the air. Little did Ruth realize how far this hobby would take her husband, Gary. Only days after that, Gary Lynch returned from a trip with a semi-trailer of Oklahoma Joe smokers--and a new venture started.

The smokers Gary Lynch brought back, side barrel smokers, were a novelty in the area at the time. Lynch Livestock primarily deals with pork, so it was natural for these smokers to cook pork. Pork loin, baby back ribs, mild and spicy pork sausage, BBQ baked beans with pork sausage, all became a part of the "basic" Lynch BBQ menu.

After time, people started wanting Lynch BBQ for their open houses, graduations, company picnics and church socials. The demand kept increasing and Gary decided it was time to expand. A large Featherlite enclosed trailer with a large Oklahoma Joe smoker was built, able to cook up to 200 pounds of meat at a time.

Adding a little flavor...

After experimenting with several flavors, Gary decided it was time to create our own seasoning blends. Looking for flavors that enhanced the meat, as well as making it easier to marinate the meat, a basic beef and pork seasoning was created. Through test trials, the line was expanded to include 4 seasonings. Lynch's Steak Seasoning, Lynch's Butt Rub, Lynch's Sweet Rib Rub, and Lynch's Steak & Chop.

The diversity of flavors helped expand the variety of meats that were cooked. Menus now included beef brisket, buttered smoked mushrooms, pork shoulder, and associated butter vegetables.

Custom blended barbecue sauces came next with Lynch's Mild and Lynch's Extra Spicy.

Early in 2001, it was decided to expand the product lne to include Lemon pepper. Fish and chicken were becoming popular requests, and the lemon pepper accented these dishes wonderfully.

After receiving so many compliments on our products, we entered the National BBQ Association's Taste of Excellence in 2001. When the results were announced, Lynch's Steak Seasoning had finished first, Lynch's Butt Rub finished second, Lynch's Steak & Chop finished seventh, and Lynch's Sweet Rib Rub finished 14th out of 808 entries in the division and both of Lynch's sauces finished in the Top 20.

In 2002, we entered again. The 2002 contest had over 1,000 entries in the dry rub/seasoning category. All of our seasonings placed in the Top 20 again, this time with Lynch's Lemon Pepper placing 7th in the Dry/Rub category. In the sauce division there were over 360 in the BBQ Sauce Tomato-based Spicy, and over 310 in the BBQ Sauce Tomato-based Mild. Lynch's sauces stole the show. Lynch's Extra Spicy finished 2nd and Mild finished 5th in their categories. These awards are a great tribute to the quality of our products.

With these awards, has also come nationwide recognition with these products. Grocery stores, catalog and internet orders are continually coming in from as far away as California and Florida.

Then came the JedMasters...

As the catering demand kept increasing, so did the number of people that wanted Lynch BBQ at large functions. Lynch BBQ needed a more efficient, larger smoker to produce great quality smoked meat.

Gary was introduced to the JedMaster smoker and did not take long for this efficient rotisserie style smoker to become the mainstay in Lynch BBQ. It's ability to add smoky flavor to the meats while being self-basting helped create a consistent product that allowed the flavor of the meat to be tasted.

Two more smaller trailers were soon added to the fleet and our original trailer was then equipped with a smoker that could hold over 500 pounds of meat.

Keep On Cooking...

2001 found Lynch BBQ Team all over the nation. For the first time, the Lynch BBQ Team competed in Memphis in May, a cooking contest with more than 212 teams. We placed 11th in the Rib category. The World Pork Expo's BarbeQlossal found five Lynch teams there, with each team placing in at least one category.

The BBQ Team competed in several KCBS contest around the Midwest as well. Contests including Bentonville, Arkansas, State Center, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, kept the team traveling through the summer. The highlight of the competition team's year was winning Reserve Champion at the Illinois State Championship against 59 of the top teams in the nation.

Lynch BBQ Team also traveled quite a bit to cater. In July, Lynch BBQ Team and Our Children's Homestead took part in a 5-day Rib Festival, with part of the proceeds going to the charity. The fall brought the Iowa State Football season, with the Team cooking at every game.

In September, we were given the opportunity to cook for the Kansas City Chiefs team at Arrowhead Stadium. December gave the team the opportunity to give some of our cooked meats to the Chicago Bulls Basketball team with the coach Tim Floyd, and to travel to Shreveport, LA to tailgate for the Iowa State Independence Bowl game.

In 2001, it is estimated that the BBQ Team served over 170,000 people throughout its catering events. With more events and more contest coming up, the Lynch BBQ Team and Lynch's BBQ products will only get better.