Janice Smella and her daughter Katie, 17, prepare dinner outside their Calgary home. Their team recently won the prestigious Jack World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn.LEAH HENNEL/The Globe and Mail
In Canada, we tend to associate barbecue with the backyard grill, but one Calgary family is making waves in the highly competitive culinary sport of low and slow barbecue, which has strong cultural ties to the southern U.S. states.
Last month, barbecue enthusiast and self-taught pitmaster Janice Smella, who lives in Calgary, led her family to win the top honour at the 37th annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of southern barbecue.
Her team, SmellaQue, which consists of herself; her husband, Russell; their 17-year-old daughter, Katie; and 15-year-old son, Colin, became the second international team and second woman-led team to win, while also earning the highest score ever tallied in the event’s history.
SmellaQue were one of three Canadian teams among the 99 that competed in this year’s competition.Janice Smella/Supplied
“The Jack is prestigious – it’s definitely the most coveted contest to participate in,” said Smella, who fell in love with barbecue and spontaneously bought a pit following a weekend in Texas with her husband back in 2013.
“We flew to Houston, drove to Austin and got in line at Franklin Barbecue at eight in the morning so we could eat at noon,” she said. “We ate ourselves silly that weekend.”
When it was time to return home, they worried about the lack of real southern barbecue back in Canada, where, with so much cold weather, the culture is more focused on grilling – a fast, high-temperature cooking method that doesn’t require the cook to spend hours outdoors.
“In Alberta there are lots of cows, but we don’t have any hardwood,” said Smella, who sources fruit woods from B.C. “I’m not going to smoke pine. Sourcing wood is a problem – it’s why we use propane grills.”
Janice and her husband Russell fell in love with barbecue more than a decade ago.Janice Smella/Supplied
Janice and Russell spontaneously bought a Pitmaker Vault – a vertical insulated smoker they thought would be well-suited to the cold Canadian climate. “It arrived on a snowy day in January,” said Smella. “We thought we’d put it on our deck, but it turns out the pit was 900 pounds – we ended up rolling it into the garage.”
With few local resources, the couple taught themselves by watching the television show BBQ Pitmasters – and by competing.
“Calgary is home to Canada’s oldest barbecue competition, Barbecue on the Bow. Russell said to me: ‘If we compete, we’ll learn how to use the pit,’” recalled Smella. Edmonton also held its inaugural BBQ competition, Porkapalooza, in 2014.
That became their first contest. “We borrowed a truck, lifted the smoker into the back, cooked brisket and pork shoulder for the first time, and we somehow finished fourth overall.” Back in Calgary, they placed third overall.
“We thought wow, we totally know what we’re doing! We travelled to Chilliwack and came in second from last,” said Smella. “So that was great – it humbles you, and forced us to learn, practice and figure out exactly what we’re doing.”
The pair stayed on the barbecue circuit, bringing their kids along to competitions, and in 2019 were the first Canadian team invited to cook at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – a big deal, as the wait list to participate is more than a decade long. “I’ve since cooked at the Houston Rodeo four or five times, and for the first time in 2024 had the opportunity to walk the stage when I finalled the ribs,” said Smella. “There are 300 teams, and they only invite the top 10 to walk the stage.”
Canadians take the fight to U.S. soil in the battle for barbecue glory
In order to get into The Jack, teams are required to win a qualifying contest, and in the U.S. each state draws one team (or in the case of Texas, three) from the qualifiers to go to Tennessee. This year, three Canadian teams were among the 99 teams from 20 different countries that competed.
Smella’s foursome also managed to compete last year, finishing sixth overall. “I was over the moon, it was the best we’ve ever done at a major contest,” Smella said. “So when we were invited again this year, I thought we can’t top that. We invited a bunch of friends, and thought we’re just going to have a good time and experience this with people we love. That’s what barbecue is all about. We went with that mindset.”
Janice’s daughter Katie smoked the chicken that earned the team the highest of all their meat scores at the competition.LEAH HENNEL/The Globe and Mail
It came as a surprise when they were announced as the winners, but they came out on top thanks to their consistency. “Because all of our meats were in the top 20 or top 15, we managed to have the highest score overall,” said Smella of this year’s result, noting that Katie, who is in Grade 12, smoked the chicken that earned the highest of all their meat scores.
The crowd went wild. “We’re friends with all the teams,” said Smella when I asked about the response to a Canadian team bringing home the top honour in a U.S.- and male-dominated culinary sport. “It was so beautiful – when we got called, it took 20 minutes to get to the stage because everyone was coming up to hug us,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many of our friends were crying because they were happy with us. It was not about boundaries, not about borders. Barbecue is about community.”
Smella’s advice for home barbecue enthusiasts: Cook as often as you can, and trust yourself. “You don’t need all the WiFi gadgets, you just need to cook until things are tender,” she said. “I use the thermometer as a probe – if it goes in like butter, it’s done. If there’s resistance, you’re not done.”
When it comes to adding flavour, Smella seasons heavily. “I tell people to use whatever they like, and remember for big meats, it’s really hard to over-season.”