For Sherman Glass, an agriculture education instructor at Southern Arkansas University, this year’s Magnolia Blossom Festival marked just his third time cooking steaks competitively—and his best yet. Glass and his team, Muleriders Smoke Show, took home first place at the 2025 World Championship Steak Cook-Off.
Glass first got involved in the cook- off while teaching at Magnolia High School, where he and his students built a grill. His team placed 32nd in 2023 and 16th in 2024. “I had a feeling I could make it into the top 10 this year, but I was really surprised when we won first place,” he said.
He pitched the idea of competing to Dr. Copie Moore, chair of SAU’s Agriculture department and associate professor of agriculture, in fall 2024. “Sherman started having this crazy idea,” laughed Moore. “He said, ‘Copie, we should cook in the festival this year.’” Joining them were Emma Cook, a May 2025 SAU agriculture education graduate; Hannay Boyte, former SAU grad and Columbia County Extension Agent; and Sadie Moore, Copie’s daughter and a high school student earning concurrent credit at SAU.
It was Moore’s first time cooking competitively. “I had no idea what it was going to entail. I cook steaks for my family, but that’s not a big deal,” she said. She even rescheduled a family vacation to take part.
In the week leading up to the event, Glass brought steaks to campus daily to experiment with different seasonings and cook styles. “He’s got a recipe that he has perfected,” said Moore. “I mixed my own seasoning,” added Glass. “It’s something I’ve been working on over the last three years. I just changed it up a little bit.” But seasoning isn’t everything. “You’ve got to get the grill marks right; it’s got to look right. And you’ve got to get the doneness right. Those things take some practice.”
Glass and Moore agreed it was a great day for the SAU Ag Department. “It was a good, fun, hot day,” saidGlass. When their number was called at the award ceremony, the team was ecstatic. “We jumped up,” said Moore. “We were both a little bit surprised.”
