COEUR d'ALENE - Gentlemen (and ladies) start your fires.

The long-awaited Smoke on the Water BBQ State Championship will get underway today at McEuen Park.

At least 25 professional barbecue teams will begin setting up their cooking camps in the amphitheater area around 8 a.m.

Teams will start preparing to cook four meat categories Saturday afternoon, and most will start cooking their pork shoulders and briskets around 10 p.m.

By morning, the teams will be prepared to scramble through the turn-in times starting with boxes of pulled pork at 11 a.m., then brisket at noon, chicken at 1 p.m. and pork ribs at 2 p.m.

Each entry will be judged on appearance, taste and texture.

Greg Prado and Chris Patterson, of Brown Chicken Brown Cow barbecue team, and Larry Hoots, of Stokin' and Smokin' barbecue team loaded in early on Friday to cook enough meat to certify 16 new judges, who will ultimately decide the fate of the competitors.

"We aren't using any of our competition flavor profiles to train the judges," Prado said, adding he doesn't want to be accused of training the judges' palates.

Prado, Patterson and Hoots cooked a range of foods the right way and the wrong way. Patterson said they want to trip up the judges a little.

Judges sat through five hours of training from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and the new judges will join about a dozen seasoned judges from all over the Pacific Northwest.

While sampling will only occur on Sunday during the turn-in times, the Panhandle Parks Foundation has a slate of activities to coincide with the competition all weekend.

There will be food and craft vendors at the event, a beer garden in the grand pavilion and live music throughout the weekend.

There will also be activities, such as jumping castles for children. The Panhandle Parks Foundation wants to make the competition an annual family event.

For more information, visit the Smoke on The Water at McEuen Park Facebook page, or go to the parks foundation's website at www.panhandleparksfoundation.org. You can also call the Chamber of Commerce at 664-3194.