Roger Anglum swears by his mop and special sauce.

Not barbecue sauce from the store, mind you. That’s for backyard amateurs.

Anglum considers the light sauce he makes himself and mops on to flavor his ribs while they’re cooking the key component to quality barbecue.

Approaching 73, the Oak Harbor grandfather of eight will bring his barbecue secrets into the revamped Oak Harbor Pigfest Sunday and see how he stacks up against some smokin’ competition.

Anglum is among a handful of Oak Harbor barbecuers in a field of 20 that will compete in the Oak Harbor event’s first Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association-sanctioned BBQ Competition.

Barbecue professionals from the Seattle area and other parts of Washington and Canada will converge on Pioneer Way to go after thousands of dollars of cash prizes, including $1,000 for first place.

The big-time barbecue competition is one of the major changes to a community festival that has also changed its name and location.

Formerly known as the Fidalgo Avenue Pig Roast, the event is now called the Oak Harbor Pigfest and will take place noon–5 p.m. Aug. 10 in a more visible location on Pioneer Way within sight of traffic from State Highway 20.

Access from the highway to Pioneer Way will be closed to make way for activities that will stretch from Wells Fargo Bank to City Beach Street.

“It’s a lot different planning the event. It’s more complicated when you move,” said Scott Fraser, owner of Frasers Gourmet Hideaway, who started the Pigfest in 2008 as a way to say thank you to the community. “We have more of everything. More kids’ stuff. More food.”

The event’s biggest draw is the large free meal cooked for the public. This year, 3,000 pounds of pork will be served up ­­— 1,000 pounds more than last year.

Donations will be accepted on site.

“We’re expecting another 2,000 people,” Fraser said, pointing to better visibility from the highway. “We’re hoping to feed 5,000 to 6,000 people this year. We’ll have to see how the food line can handle it.”

The barbecue competition isn’t new; however, this is the first time is it sanctioned, with the majority of participants coming from outside Whidbey Island, including four from Canada. Judges will be grading the results and about $7,000 will be awarded.

“It’s going to be a whole different ballgame,” Anglum said.

Anglum, a longtime Oak Harbor resident, has won previous Pig Roast barbecue competitions among locals. He is retired after 28 years of running a catering business known as Smoke Tree BBQ but couldn’t resist firing up the grill again for this competition.

Anglum mixes his own seasonings and spices to rub on the meat and creates his own sauce to mop on while it’s grilling over charcoal and apple wood. He’ll spray the meat with apple juice to crystalize the rub on it.

“It keeps the ribs and chicken nice and moist,” Anglum said. “That’s the secret. Don’t cook too hot and don’t let it dry out on you.”

The secrets vary by participant.

Brian Adams, who manages the lounge at the Fleet Reserve Association Branch 97 in Oak Harbor, took top honors at last year’s Pig Roast competition, which landed him his second giant pig trophy.

He’s a fast learner, barbecuing for less than three years while following the guidance of friend Billy Boshears, who learned the craft while living in Texas.

“He’s my Mr. Miyagi,” Adams said.

Adams does his cooking on a barbecue grill he calls the “rusty bucket,” which he rescued from a field behind the building. He believes it was made in the 1980s.

“If you want to be on our cooking team, you’ve got to have your tetanus shots up to date,” Adams joked.

Adams mixes up his own rubs and barbecues with fruit wood and sometimes a little mesquite.

Vitto Ferrara, a barbecue caterer from Marysville who’s been competing in professional barbecue competitions in the Northwest and beyond for three years, learned how to barbecue while growing up in Florida and uses wood from citrus trees to add a different flavor.

Competitors are trying all sorts of things to gain an edge, including flying in longtime mentors for assistance.

That’s what Jackie Stoneham did.

As owner and chef of a mobile business based in Oak Harbor, Orlando’s Fish and Grill, Stoneham and her family have become known for their barbecue across Whidbey Island and took second place at the Pig Roast competition last year.

With the stakes higher this year, she bought a plane ticket for her father, Alphesia Thomas, to fly in from Arizona and join their team Sunday. Thomas, from Mobile, Ala., taught his daughter a lot about barbecuing while she grew up.

She laughed about flying in her dad, but knows this competition is serious business.

“The biggest thing is we want people to know who we are,” Stoneham said.

Participants in the competition will begin firing up their charcoal grills just before midnight Saturday and will get little to no sleep as they prepare for Sunday morning’s judging, which starts at 11 a.m.

“It’s mostly an all-night project,” Anglum said.

Every hour, beginning at 11 a.m., the contestants will be graded on how they prepare and present their chicken, beef brisket, ribs and pork butt.

On each hour, they will have only 10 minutes to prepare their dishes and present them to the judges..

“If somebody comes by to talk to me and I don’t talk to them, I’m not trying to be rude,” Anglum said.

“Presentation is a big part of the points, besides flavor and texture of it.”

Adams said he thinks Oak Harbor barbecuers stack up well against the competition.

“Some guys want to show what Oak Harbor’s got,” he said. “I want to show what Oak Harbor’s got. I want to win this thing. You’re in it to win it. We might as well keep it in our own backyard.”