Recap of the 2nd Annual GrillinFools.com Backyard BBQ Bash - MASSIVE amount of pictures

Here are the pics from the BBQ comp I hosted/promoted on Saturday.

The 2nd Annual Backyard Bash is over and done. All that remains is the memories, a few dozen pictures and the smell of smoke wood. It was a glorious event. The weather was perfect, everyone was friendly, and the food was great. Here’s a little recap of the events in chronological order.
The first teams have arrived and it’s not even eight in the morning:

Soon more teams start filling the parking lot, back dropped by the changing leaves:

And while it’s not quite eight, some guys are perfectly willing to crack open a beer and have their picture taken with the Best in Smoke trophy. These two won the “First Beer in the Morning Trophy”:

The first smoke of the day. Evidently there’s something to that early bird statement, as this smoke came from Alan Bowman’s grill who won Best in Smoke:

A couple hours later the petting zoo arrived:

Not sure if a bunch of calves, piglets, and lambs were a good idea to bring to a BBQ contest, but the kids liked it. They also loved this guy, the balloon artist:

At eleven,Woody and Rizzuto from the Point showed up:

When they got there, the place really started rockin’ with a steady stream of people all day:

That was on the lower lot, there was also the field in front of the stage:


And with the crowd came some familiar faces: the Aguirre family. That’s a good looking group. Arthur is a frequent contributor to GrillinFools.com, goes by the King here, competed in the comp last year and started his own outstanding blog, MajorLeagueGrilling.com, and he’s sporting the T-shirt from the comp last year:

My childhood friend, Tim Devereaux, chatting with Dad who insists on sporting the ear piece no matter how much I give him grief about it:

As well as two former coworkers and friends of mine, Jason and Stephanie Diestelkamp and their two beautiful girls:

I mentioned the lower lot earlier, here’s what was going on at the upper lot:

What would you expect when holding the event at Big St. Charles Motor Sports? That was just some of the bikes outside. Check out inside:


I don’t want to forget our other sponsor: Hot Shots and those lovely Hot Shots girls:



Check out the trophies:

But let’s get back to the grilling:

Kevin Henderson is getting his grill started with a flame thrower:

Gotta love the banner:

Wire Nutz BBQ prepping their app:

Blow Your Pit:

Jeff Ripplemeyer from Ripple-Que talking with Arthur:

Todd Pittman of the Smokin’ FyrPit team:

Dan Devereaux and Rachel Komeshak from INfamous BBQ:

Aaron Moore passes on the art of garnishing the box to his son, the youngest member of the Big Ole Dang Ole BBQ team:

And let’s not forget the judges:




John Carney takes his judging very seriously:






Everyone began breaking down their equipment at this point while I tabulated the scores. These pictures make me a little sad:


And now on to the trophy presentation:


4th place for apps – INfamous BBQ:

3rd place for apps – Canadian Bakin’:

2nd place for apps – Hot Shot BBQ:

1st place for apps – Last Minute BBQ:

Fourth Place for chicken – Ripple-Que:

3rd place for Chicken – Bad to the Bone:

2nd place for chicken – Smokin’ Piggy:

1st place for chicken – Canadian Bakin’:

4th place for ribs – Canadian Bakin’, these guys look familiar right?

3rd place for ribs – Last Minute BBQ:

2nd place for ribs – Kevin Henderson again and Hole Shot BBQ:

1st place for ribs – Jeff Ripplemeyer and Ripple-Que:

But the best overall for the day, the Best in Smoke, goes to the team from north of the border. BBQ is a passion that knows no country. Canadian Bakin’ took home the big trophy and the prize purse:

All of us would like to thank all of you that helped out with this. It was greatly appreciated:

All of these pics and quite a few more can be found on our Facebook page.

It was an absolute blast. Scoring it in the sun is a big pain. Seeing the monitor so I may look at going with a different tent next year, not just an awning. Other than feverishly entering scores into a spreadsheet while a couple hundred people wait, it's a great time. We're already gearing up for next year's event...

colonel00 said:

Very cool event. I have never had the urge to do comps but something like this I would jump on in a second.

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That's why we do this. There are a whole lot of backyard pitmasters that make amazing stuff but never considered competing. People that don't want to look over at a $20K rig in the next slot on the grounds.