On August 1, I judged at the 2nd Annual Oaktown Throwdown, a fairly new part of the Art + Soul Festival held in Downtown Oakland for the past 14 years. I table captained last year at the inaugural edition of this contest, and it was just as nice this year as last. Great contest organization as far as I could determine, goodie bags as a thank you to judges including sauce and rub samples, lots of great music on multiple stages, art, and a lot more.
There were 27 professional teams and 11 backyard teams competing for cash, medals and trophies. Just like last year, Oaktown had two of the nicest GC and RC trophies I've seen that are works of art reflecting the City of Oakland.
I was assigned to judge the backyard entries, which was interesting because I'd never done that before. There are big differences between professional and backyard entries, mainly having to do with complexity of flavors and the amount of seasoning used, but you could definitely see and taste the passion that some of these folks brought to their barbecue and it was fun to try their chicken, ribs and tri-tip.
Congrats to Son of Smoke for taking Grand Champion and Too Ashamed To Name for taking Reserve Champion. A lot of TVWB friends did well this past weekend, but I want to give a shout-out to RBQ for taking 10th overall, 2nd in Chicken, 3rd in Ribs. Well done, sirs!
Here are some photos from the event, I hope you enjoy them. Thanks to Harry Soo of SlapYoDaddyBBQ.com for providing a few of the photos below. By the way, there were lots of folks stopping by to congratulate Harry and Donna on their Chopped: Grill Masters appearance. Many thought Harry was robbed!
Competitors line the streets of Downtown Oakland
The scent of smoke permeates the air at the Oaktown Throwndown.
Judges gather around 10:30am to kick-off their part in the festivities.
GC trophy reflects the maritime shipping cranes that line the Port of Oakland...
...but with a grilling twist!
RC trophy is based on the City of Oakland's stylized oak tree logo...
...but with a built-in grill!
Trophies and medals for Top 5 winners in each meat category.
Congratulations to GC Son of Smoke (right) and RC Too Ashamed To Name (left). SOS is a big Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker team, and Too Ashamed includes a WSM as part of their arsenal of pits.
Special congrats to Slap Yo Daddy BBQ for a Perfect 180 in the Dessert Category! Donna Fong's daughter, Miranda (shown here), defected to Harry's team for the day and turned in a tiramisu dessert that wowed the judges! This is Miranda's second Perfect 180 dessert entry in a barbecue contest.
There were 27 professional teams and 11 backyard teams competing for cash, medals and trophies. Just like last year, Oaktown had two of the nicest GC and RC trophies I've seen that are works of art reflecting the City of Oakland.
I was assigned to judge the backyard entries, which was interesting because I'd never done that before. There are big differences between professional and backyard entries, mainly having to do with complexity of flavors and the amount of seasoning used, but you could definitely see and taste the passion that some of these folks brought to their barbecue and it was fun to try their chicken, ribs and tri-tip.
Congrats to Son of Smoke for taking Grand Champion and Too Ashamed To Name for taking Reserve Champion. A lot of TVWB friends did well this past weekend, but I want to give a shout-out to RBQ for taking 10th overall, 2nd in Chicken, 3rd in Ribs. Well done, sirs!
Here are some photos from the event, I hope you enjoy them. Thanks to Harry Soo of SlapYoDaddyBBQ.com for providing a few of the photos below. By the way, there were lots of folks stopping by to congratulate Harry and Donna on their Chopped: Grill Masters appearance. Many thought Harry was robbed!
Competitors line the streets of Downtown Oakland
The scent of smoke permeates the air at the Oaktown Throwndown.
Judges gather around 10:30am to kick-off their part in the festivities.
GC trophy reflects the maritime shipping cranes that line the Port of Oakland...
...but with a grilling twist!
RC trophy is based on the City of Oakland's stylized oak tree logo...
...but with a built-in grill!
Trophies and medals for Top 5 winners in each meat category.
Congratulations to GC Son of Smoke (right) and RC Too Ashamed To Name (left). SOS is a big Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker team, and Too Ashamed includes a WSM as part of their arsenal of pits.
Special congrats to Slap Yo Daddy BBQ for a Perfect 180 in the Dessert Category! Donna Fong's daughter, Miranda (shown here), defected to Harry's team for the day and turned in a tiramisu dessert that wowed the judges! This is Miranda's second Perfect 180 dessert entry in a barbecue contest.
