"BBQ Pitmasters" executive producer John Markus pleads the case for TLC's new show about competitive grilling.

"Why would perfectly sane people ice up 50 lbs. of raw meat, then drive 24 hours straight, stay up all night in the cold and wind and inhale many lungfuls of smoke, all for the hope of a payday big enough to cover just the expenses of getting them back home? Because it ain't about the money. It's about having a weekend that ends with you earning bragging rights as The Best BBQ in America.

"These are my people. I've been competing since '02. I mean, 10 years ago, if someone told me I'd be able to identify the "money muscle" on a pork shoulder, or, with the clock ticking, be using tweezers to arrange beef slices perfectly on parsley in a takeout box, I'd be wondering if I'd slipped an axle and gone off the deep end. But this pastime of competition BBQ'ing has brought me more joy than I would've imagined, and given me friends for life. It also became 'BBQ Pitmasters' on TLC."

Keep reading for some season highlights and to watch a clip.

"'BBQ Pitmasters' traveled to Murphysboro, Ill., to cook a challenging double contest, which features one of my favorite categories: whole hog. Myron Mixon -- considered by those who know to be the greatest whole-hog cooker in the world -- is a great showman, and observing as he preps the 215-lb. hog before it's loaded up into the cooker is a sight to behold.

"Imagine the jug that sits atop a large water cooler, then multiply the amount of liquid it holds by three, and you have an idea of what Myron injects into this hog. All apple juice, sugar, vinegar and spices. With the hog split open on its back, the injecting starts, using a huge needle and hand pump that resembles a bicycle pump.

"And as they pump and pump this hog, it expands, until, when Myron gets in the last drop it looks more like a balloon in the Macy's Day Parade.

"The cookoff in Murphysboro contains perhaps my favorite moment. During a contest cooks' meeting, where all the multiple meat categories and turn-in times are announced, Johnny Trigg (Smokin' Triggers) protested that the brisket deadline was way too rushed. Others disagreed, and the room soon turned into a raucous town meeting. But Johnny, a proud Texan, stood his ground and got his way.

"Except that later, one of the cooks decided to personally confront Johnny on his rule change. This lubricated contestant arrives and decides, like some BBQ Vigilante, he's gonna teach the great Johnny Trigg a lesson. He bets him a hundred bucks that, even with the new turn-in time, he'll still beat Smokin' Triggers in brisket. But he makes a big mistake, one that apparently you don't make with any Texan or New Yorker: He pokes Johnny in the chest.

"Thank goodness that Jamie Geer, Johnny's best buddy and the builder of his pits, stepped in and kept the peace. We finished the potluck, and Johnny ended up taking the guy's hundred bucks. In competition BBQ, passion is a powerful thing. Whether it's about your honor, or smoking the best brisket."

"BBQ Pitmaster" airs Thursday nights at 10/9 CST on TLC.