High school BBQ team heads to state
The Hot Ducks are on fire.
Taylor High School’s competition barbecue team smoked their rivals for the third consecutive year and in May head to the Texas High School BBQ Association State Championship in Burnet.
The four team members — seniors Angelissa Aviles, Nelly Castro, Isaac Martinez and Mikal Banda — are all culinary students under Mike Erickson, known as “Chef Mike” to his pupils.
Aviles is the only member on the team since its introduction three years ago.
She saw participating in Hot Ducks as a way to get more cooking experience. It has also led to job offers.
“Hot Ducks is a really good organization. I wish more people were involved in it. They’re going to have to restart next year because all of us are seniors,” Aviles said.
Aviles and Castro both want to continue their culinary education after graduation.
Castro, who has been enrolled in the high school’s culinary classes since her freshman year, could not join Hot Ducks until this year due to other extracurricular activities.
“This year, I decided not to do some of the other activities and mainly focus on (Hot Ducks),” she said.
While culinary school isn’t on Banda’s radar, he has still earned his foodhandler’s license and food-manager certification through the classes.
“I’m doing this because I love the people I work with and I love what I can take and learn from this experience. It’s a skill I can have forever,” Banda said.
Banda underestimated the time and dedication involved in the barbecue process.
“I thought it would be an easy thing to cook, like making eggs, but it actually takes a lot of work,” said the senior, who added barbecue is not his favorite food.
Erickson said the students’ commitment is one of the reasons they like the program so much. “They don’t like to fail,” he said. And if they don’t perform to their own expectations, “They want to know how they can learn more and it gets them engaged,” the educator added.
Erickson also brings in professionals, like Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue and Tim Mikeska of Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q, to speak to the Hot Ducks.
“Sean and Cassie Leschber of Twisted L BBQ (food truck) have also become sponsors and mentors to them,” Erickson said.
Erickson said community support is part of the recipe for the team’s success, including a smoker donated by Taylor Independent School District board President Marco Ortiz, Yeti coolers bequeathed by Mayor Dwayne Ariola and a $25,000 grant from the Taylor Educational Enrichment Foundation in 2023 that paid for the team’s trailer.
The Hot Ducks have two more competitions before Christmas, which Erickson called “warm-ups” before they head to the state championship in May.
In the cook-off last week, the Hot Ducks beat Temple High School’s squad, which had been named the reserve national champs two years ago.
“We’re going to make state and nationals,” Banda said.
Whether or not the team gets its just desserts at the state contest, Erickson said he is proud of what his students have accomplished so far.
“They’re all focusing on their own things and nailing it,” he said.
The Hot Ducks are part of the Texas High School BBQ Association, a division of the National High School BBQ Association. The national organization fosters competitive barbecue as a sport for high school and middle school students in Texas.
