Attended the Inaugural RibFest in Elkhorn, Wisconsin


 
Jim Lampe

Jim Lampe

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
now, please do not assume that I'm endorsing this event... only because I attended and I'm posting about it....
because, well..... I am not endorsing it.

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here's a lousy panoramic photo of what I'm calling the food court.

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6 vendors selling their BBQ
here's a couple of photos of their signs...

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We stopped at a local joint selling their Que... bought ribs (4 bones for $8)
The ribs were.... ok. Meaty, in my opinion, but boring.
Liz said they were ok too. She'd be disappointed if these were served in a restaurant.

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...and brisket (sandwich for $10) the portions of brisket would equal about 3, maybe 4 slices)
the roll was placed on the side to make your own sandwich. Sauce was also available.

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The brisket on the other hand, was dry. Horrible. Even the sauce could not save it...
We did not finish the brisket and did not bring it home for the dog either.

Not sure if these joints selling their Que are participating in the cook-off or not...
only a few others comps setting up tents and getting their equipment set-up...

One weird twist I've never heard of before at county fairs or festivals...
when purchasing beer, you must buy tickets to buy the beer.
ok, THAT i knew... but: to buy the beer AFTER you buy the tickets, you are also required to buy a wrist band for $1.
Seems hokie.

Now, going to this event, i wasn't expecting much, and when we left (after only an hour or so) my expectations were met.
I did stop to use the men's room, and to my surprise, the County of Walworth did save money by not remodeling the restrooms.
I took this photo when i knew there was no "activity" present.

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What I did on my summer vacation
The first day on my vacation, I woke up
Then I went downtown to look for a job
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore

The second day on my summer vacation, I woke up
Then I went downtown to look for a job
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore
The third day on my summer vacation, I woke up

(Now that's fine, young man)
Then I went downtown to look for a job
(That's fine, young man)
Then I got a job
(Young man, young man, young man)
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore
The fourth day on my
 
Very similar to what they have here, but maybe about 15 teams, mostly locals. You buy tickets at a buck apiece and that gets you a sample of what the teams are making. Spent $10 on tickets and only one team had anything Barb and I thought was good and that was a pretty decent rib. The rest were bland and overdone, except for one teams brisket which I thought he cut up his trucks leather seat and served it as brisket.
Went to it about five years ago and never gone back.
 
Rich, we paid cash for food, only beer required tickets.
And those 6 BBQ vendors, if they participate in the BBQ competition, they will be with probably another 20 or more teams. But only 6 were selling their food when we were there.
I think the food cooking part of the comp starts tomorrow with judging on Sunday.
 
We had much the same experience with a few chili cook-offs we attended: bad chili & even worse music.
We don't go to those types of events anymore.
 
Jim Lampe said:
Rich, we paid cash for food, only beer required tickets.
And those 6 BBQ vendors, if they participate in the BBQ competition, they will be with probably another 20 or more teams. But only 6 were selling their food when we were there.
I think the food cooking part of the comp starts tomorrow with judging on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Here all the teams are required to provide samples during the competition. They use the tickets so the teams don't have to deal with money, at the end of the day they turn in their tickets and get a percentage of the dollar spent for each ticket.

The beer booths you pay cash and get a bracelet when you enter the alcohol area area that shows you're 21 or older.

Here they do the cooking starting Friday night and the area is open to the public Saturday and the awards are about 3-4pm Saturday.
 
Similar to my experiences and there have been "celebrity" teams there as well. Extremely underwhelming.

Those are the coolest urinals I have ever seen though, worth the price of admission alone! (Especially when you see the admission price on the banner)
 
For any members in Central Maryland, Bar-Bay-Que is a great event! A lot of live local music (not all the best but a lot of fun), they bring in teams from all over and a lot of great que being made up fresh to share. I didn't make it there this summer, but last summer I stood in some LONG lines, and still got fresh hot delicious ribs and pulled pork.
 
What I did on my summer vacation
The first day on my vacation, I woke up
Then I went downtown to look for a job
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore

The second day on my summer vacation, I woke up
Then I went downtown to look for a job
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore
The third day on my summer vacation, I woke up

(Now that's fine, young man)
Then I went downtown to look for a job
(That's fine, young man)
Then I got a job
(Young man, young man, young man)
Then I hung out in front of the drugstore
The fourth day on my
Click to expand...
Flashback!!!:cool:
 
Luke P said:
For any members in Central Maryland, Bar-Bay-Que is a great event! A lot of live local music (not all the best but a lot of fun), they bring in teams from all over and a lot of great que being made up fresh to share. I didn't make it there this summer, but last summer I stood in some LONG lines, and still got fresh hot delicious ribs and pulled pork.
Click to expand...
...anytime Luke.
 
If I remember from my youth, those are some sort of deodorizer. Kind of a strange smell. That bathroom is very old school. I remember ones like that in school back in the 50's and 60's. Also in the restrooms at the beaches in the Malibu area. Brings back memories.

ChuckO said:
What's up with those pink hockey pucks in the bathroom? :)
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Bob Ivey said:
If I remember from my youth, those are some sort of deodorizer. Kind of a strange smell. That bathroom is very old school. I remember ones like that in school back in the 50's and 60's. Also in the restrooms at the beaches in the Malibu area. Brings back memories.
Click to expand...

Haha... def Ol'Skool.
 
Jim, sorry the experience was not great. I've always had that little yearning to cook on a larger scale. But, probably easier that is sounds!
 
Sorry Jim that you did not like the event. It was a first year event and they have a few kinks to work out. The BBQ vendors were competing against each other for best ribs, chicken, pork and brisket and overall best in a people's choice but there was no sampling so it was a strange format. Sunday was the backyard competition for best ribs. We competed because we live in Elkhorn and couldn't pass up a chance for a rib practice cook and to support a home town event. The Sunday competition was a blast (after the freak storm and despite the insane winds). There were 25 teams cooking on every kind of cooking/smoking device you can imagine - one team was deep frying and another may have been boiling. It was a lot of fun, in part because we had a good amount of time to talk to people who had questions about smoking. It seems like competitions are usually so busy, we don't have a lot of time to just talk smoke with folks passing by. To our surprise, we actually took first place. We think it will be an even better event next year - I know they were not expecting the crowds they had this year. Hope you will come back again next year and have a better experience.
 
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