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Credentials
=> We humbly present to you the credentials of our Company and Staff:
Our COMPETITION BBQ Team:
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has won over 50 Top Ten awards competing professionally in KCBS sanctioned State BBQ competitions
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was the 2013 Pennsylvania State Championship runner-up in Chicken
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won the 2011 Virginia State Championship in Beef Brisket
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was the 2010 Pennsylvania State Champion runner-up in Ribs
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won the 2008 Pennsylvania State Championship in Beef Brisket
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was the 2007 Pennsylvania State Champion runner-up in Pork Shoulder
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was seen on The Learning Channel's "BBQ Pitmasters" series (airdate 01/21/10)
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has competed against the country's top-ranked barbecue teams (Jack's Old South, Cool Smoke, 3EYZ, Smokin Triggers, Pellet Envy, Pigs on the Run, BBQ Guru ...)
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in 2011, was ranked in the top 7% of all teams in the country for Beef Brisket (of over 6,500) per the National BBQ Rankings
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in 2009, was ranked in the top 6% of all teams in the country Overall (of over 4,600) per the National BBQ Rankings
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in 2008, was ranked as one of the top 75 teams in the country for Pork Shoulder (of over 3,000) per the National BBQ Rankings
Our PIT MASTER:
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owns and operates the Guts Smokehouse Competition BBQ Cooking Team and popular Catering Services business
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co-pitmastered a team that made it to the 2011 National Barbecue finals in Bentonville, Arkansas
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was taught by two of the top pit masters in the world - Johnny Trigg and Rod Grey
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was a pit crew member on the team that won the 2007 New Jersey State GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP - 1st in Chicken, Pork, and Beef Brisket
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is a certified KCBS sanctioned BBQ judge
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is mentored by legendary Virginia pit master John Atkins
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teaches BBQ Cooking Classes to the public
Our CATERING Services:
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are family-operated and provide the highest quality-to-cost ratio of any BBQ caterer around
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accommodate events from your backyard gathering, to your wedding, to your corporate event
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offer professional, respectful and courteous service all the time
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offer a focused menu in which every slow smoked item is prepared with painstaking care and authenticity
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have many returning customers (feel free to ask us for references)
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offer on-site or drop-off catering options
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offer online purchase and delivery of our Signature meats
With sincere respect for the passionate art of BBQ,
John "Guts" Guttman ( PROUD Owner and Pit Master of Guts Smokehouse BBQ, LLC )
Meet Us
It all started in 1996 with a bag of Kingsford charcoal, a rib recipe in a Cook's Illustrated magazine, and a recently purchased New Braunfels smoker. At the time, I catered for about a year and developed an insatiable passion for food. But it wasn't until I was introduced to barbecue that my passion jumped to unimaginable levels. I am not talking about the backyard kind of barbecue we are used to seeing north of the Mason Dixon line, but of real, authentic, slow smoked, juice drippin', smoke in your eyes, barbecue. Over the years I purchased more and more barbecue cookbooks, rented more and more barbecue videos, visited more and more barbecue joints, and finally realized that this cooking style had a special place in my culinary makeup. Then I began experimenting with different hardwoods, rubs, marinades, mops, slathers, sauces as well as the design of my own custom smoker. I started jotting down recipes and ideas, with plans of someday opening an historic barbecue joint.
The passion for this runs thick in my blood. Deep down inside, I truly believe that not much can sooth ones soul more ... than a plate of my barbecue.
Our Quality Standards
Painstaking Passion
With years of experience in the industry, Guts Smokehouse BBQ has been developing its customer relationships in the greater Chester County area.
Business Milestones
Sep 16th, 2023
Our YouTube channel 'Guts Smokehouse BBQ' hit 1,000 Subscribers !!!
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Nov 7th, 2020
Guts Smokehouse BBQ competes in their very first SCA sanctioned Steak Cooking Competition finishing with a score of 247.6 out of 250.
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Aug 2nd, 2016
Guts Smokehouse BBQ purchases two brand new PR60 Hog Cookers, along with a 14' trailer, to triple cooking capacity for the expanding business.
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Oct 13th, 2015
Guts Smokehouse BBQ and Mountain Laurel Springs distillery (makers of the award winning Dad's Hat rye whiskey - www.dadshatrye.com) team up for a whiskey and barbecue tasting.
Aug 18th, 2014
Guts Smokehouse BBQ catered the 1st annual Teal-Zebra fund raiser for cancer at the Broad Run Golf Course for two incredibly dear friends Jeni Stanley and. Alicia Dellario. Two courageous women that have changed the lives of so many!
Sep 1st, 2013
Guts Smokehouse BBQ catered their largest event to date at the Concord Country Club's Labor Day family party. 675 folks lined up to eat our award winning barbecue.
Aug 24th, 2013
Our new Smoked Chicken recipe, which consists of a reduction of our house BBQ sauce combined with smoked maple syrup, scores an astonishing 177.7 landing us a State Championship runner-up finish! The 177.7 was just 2.3 points away from a perfect score of 180 (the equivalent of bowling a perfect game).
Oct 15th, 2011
After qualifying in Chesapeake, VA on 8/16 and then in Laurel, MD on 9/20, pit boss Guts and son Nathan get to cook for a National BBQ Championship in Bentonville, Arkansas on mentor John Atkin's team 'Pigs On The Run'. Although the team did not finish in the Top 10, it was an incredible experience and opportunity. Much respect goes out to teams that make it to this level as the road trip and competition is absolutely exhausting. The drive was 2,427 miles over the course of 4 days (2 out and 2 back home) sandwiching in the BBQ competition in which an all-nighter was pulled. This type of schedule is par for the course when you make it to this level. Congrats to the TippyCanoe BBQ team for taking home the Grand Championship and $35,000 in prize money.
May 21st, 2011
The Guts Smokehouse BBQ team takes home the Virginia State Championship in BRISKET, the team's 2nd Brisket State Championship in three years.
Jan 21st, 2010
Members of the Guts Smokehouse BBQ team make a brief, unexpected, national appearance on the 'BBQ Pit Masters' series for TLC. Although it was just a very quick shot of the team members prepping the ribs under the EZ Up, it was quite awesome to see it none the less.
Oct 16th, 2009
The Learning Channel captures video of the Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team pit area during the huge Dover, DE competition. It was recorded as part of the 'BBQ PiT Masters' series for TLC. We are still waiting to see if the footage of our rib prep will be aired in early 2010. At this same competition the team also hit the 30+ mark for Top Ten finishes.
May 16th, 2009
After just a little over 2 years of professional BBQ competitions, the Guts Smokehouse BBQ team racks up their 20th and 21st top ten finish in State competitions. A 4th in brisket, 7th in Chicken, 10th in Ribs and 5th OVERALL ignites a great start to the 2009 season.
September 21st, 2008
The most pivotal event in the history of The House ... the purchase of a 2008 Stumps GFS223P Smoker. Old #99 is retired from competition, but remains ready to go for anything else.
July 19th, 2008
The momentum continues at the Berks BBQ Bash in Leesport, PA. With all perfect scores in presentation along with all perfect (9's) to near perfect (8's) scores in taste and tenderness, the team takes 1st place honors in Brisket, beating the country's 2007 Team of the Year 'Cool Smoke'! This, along with a 5th place finish in Chicken and a 6th place finish in Pork, gave the team a 3rd place overall finish behind 'Cool Smoke' and 'Midnite Smokers', two nationally acclaimed teams. Not bad considering the 110 degree temperatures under the canopy of the team's pit area. Big thanks to Patrick, Michael, Andrew, Peter and Nate for their precise running of the smoker until 'Mr. Sun came up', allowing the rest of the senior team to focus on the food.
May 17th, 2008
A strong start in 2008. The Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team traveled to Chesapeake, VA for the Chesapeake Jubilee. With 6 seconds to spare at turn-in, we took home a 6th place ribbon in Chicken (our first walk in this category) and another 3rd place trophy in Pork (we are due to hit #1 sooner or later here). Many thanks goes to one of the most intense and hard working pit crews ever consisting of the Virginia Beach connection: Matt, Jeff, Stephen, Patrick, Jeff and of course Nate and Jenn. You guys can be on my pit crew anytime you want! Those late night hours perfecting the chicken rub sure paid off! Also thanks to Chris, Greg, Ned, Linda, Kristin and Kimberly for there assistance ... and to Lyn for getting everything turned in safely and on time.
October 20th, 2007
The Guts Smokehouse BBQ Team rallies in Dover DE, after getting hammered by a major storm, to receive two top 5 finishes ... a 3rd place finish in Pork Shoulder, a 5th place in Brisket ... and a 9th place finish overall .. out of 83 teams. As it turned out, 5 of the top 30 teams in the country were present, including the team that finished 1st in the country in brisket, the iQue barbecue team. To date, this is the teams biggest accomplishment, and they are watering at the mouth for the start of the 2008 season!
September 15, 2007
Guts, and son Nathan, participate as pit crew members on another BBQ team (Pigs on The Run) in a New Jersey State Championship. The team finishes a mind boggling 1st is Chicken, 1st in Pork Shoulder, 1st in Brisket, and 5th in Ribs to win the overall Grand Championship. Nathan went up and received all the trophies for the team. What an experience it was to be part of this team! Thanks John, Thomas, Dave, Granville and Eric for being so good to my family and for this awesome opportunity and memory, especially the carrying up of Max on stage!
August 25, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team captures their first trophy in a State Championship ... a 2nd place finish in Pork Shoulder at New Holland in Pennsylvania. This was a huge win for the squad as they competed in a field of 72 teams representing 11 states up and down the East Coast. Many thanks to the 'Ambassador of BBQ' for his tutelage and mentoring.
May 19, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team captures their first ribbon in a State Championship ... a 10th place finish in Ribs at the Chesapeake Jubilee in Virginia. Along with the ribbon the team made many new friends like John and Mark from 'Pigs on the Run' (who ended up as Grand Champion) and George from '3 Ps'. We already look forward to competing against them next year.
April 11, 2007
The Guts' Smokehouse website 'www.gutssmokehouse.com' makes its debut on the internet. Thanks to web master Michael Bianco for his incredible intuition, his tireless efforts, and his tremendous patience for putting up with the ga-zillion-and-one ideas thrown his way. May his nights be filled with sleep.
March 23, 2007
Guts takes the KCBS judges class at Meadow Creek in Pennsylvania and becomes a certified competition judge. This was done to assist the team at better understanding what judges are looking for during competition.
August 25-26, 2006
Guts' Smokehouse BBQ team enters first major state competition in New Holland, Pennsylvania at the New Holland Summerfest. 72 teams competed from twelve different states. The team's best finish was in the chicken category at 22nd place. Kids Q (ages 10 and under) proved better as son and daughter team of Nathan and Sarah took second place in the beef category.
August 18, 2006
The custom smoker gets fired up for the first time. After much anticipation the design of the smoker proves almost flawless as the heat and smoke distribution is near perfect.
August 17, 2006
The custom built smoker is ready for pick-up. After many years of design, along with expert advice from pit crew member Scott Millward, the custom built smoker is ready for pick-up from Damyan's Welding in Phoenixville, PA. The smoker gets officially bolted to the trailer under a street light in a Kmart parking lot at 11:00 PM.