Dead Bird BBQ
Dead Bird BBQ
After returning home from a military deployment to Afghanistan and in search of something to help occupy his busy mind, Will Collier began researching the world of competitive BBQ. One of his longtime friends invited him to come hang out at a Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS) sanctioned competition and the fast-paced environment was exactly what he was searching for. The experience triggered Will’s passion for competitive cooking and drive to become the best. Will became dedicated to becoming a successful competition cook and started his journey by entering local contests. Although he was cooking on borrowed smokers, Will began finding success at the backyard competition level and decided to start competing professionally. At the beginning of 2016, Will bought his first smoker from a pawn shop and entered his first professional BBQ competition. At that competition, while showing his recently acquired smoker to another competitor, he opened up the pit and found a dead bird inside! The bird had flown down the smokestack and couldn’t get back out, from that point on, he began competing under the name Dead Bird BBQ.
DB180
After one of his children was diagnosed with both MSG and Gluten intolerances, Will began searching for Gluten free options of everything he was seasoning food with. When checking popular sauce and seasoning labels for Gluten and MSG, Will noticed that MSG was listed as a main ingredient of nearly every product people were using. After researching different ingredients and flavors, Will decided to develop an MSG and Gluten free seasoning blend to use on the food he was cooking at home. The mix ended up being so good that he decided to start using it at his competitions. After receiving a perfect score of 180 in 3 of his first 5 professional contests using his hand made blend of all-natural seasonings, Will designed a logo and made his MSG and Gluten free recipes available to the public under the brand name DB180 (Dead Bird – 180).
