Guitarbeque

[Daniel]

Wow.. My girl and I were looking for places to go this weekend.. We were very excited to come across this piece of news.. Looks pretty serious with 10 grand in cash on the line.. Has anyone been here?

http://www.guitarbeque05.com/

[jsfein]

Scroll down. There's a recent thread.

[Daniel]

Definately going tomorrow.. I am pretty excited for it.. I sure hope its not crowded.

[=Mark]

Went there last year and it suffered from the weather and a lack of promotion. Will be there this year as there are several teams I am familiar with competing...

[Daniel]

Went yesterday and had a great time.. I have never been to Asbury Park before but was happy to discover it was just a short ride from the city.. We arrived around 11 am to find the place pretty much empty. We paid the 10 dollar cover charge, since it was only 11 and didnt feel like eating bbq for breakfast, we quickly hit the bar..

After a few beers we decided to look at the bbq offerings.. We were really disappointed to see that the competitors werent serving bbq.. They only had a couple of stands offering food.. First place we went to was Smoke Dudes..

I dont know what the smoke dudes were smoking, but it certainly wasnt meats.. We ordered a pulled pork and a full rack of ribs..

The bbq pork was decent.. Had crispy pieces mixed in, but the pork was void of all smoke and the sauce was way too sweet..

The ribs might have been made in an oven.. These were just soggy ribs with an overly sweet sauce.. Blah

This was the next place.. Dont remember the name, but the food was ok.. We got another rack of ribs from here.

These ribs were really smokey.. However the glaze on top was ok... Tasted of Teryakki, almost jerkied.

After a few more beers, we decided on hitting the last rib place..

Ahh the champagne of beers:

Jack McDavid's.. This was the only place we felt got it right..

I got a pulled pork sandwich here and a sausage.. The pork was really good.. It had the crunchy smokey bits, and a spicy vinegar sauce on them.. Thought it was very good.. Liked the cubed potato salad..

Hand spun fries.. Lots of cheese and a little vinegar..

There was a guy selling hot sauce.. I didnt realize the meaning behind the label until we left the festival.. The hot sauce however was excellent.. Its a spicy jalepeno blend.. Always happy to find a hot sauce..

From Asbury Park it was a short drive to Belmar Beach.. There we had a couple more beers and some clams.. It was a real pretty day at the beach.. I just had to add this photo cause I thought its really cute..

On the way back I took a couple of my friends over to a Jersey Classic..

Overall it was a fun day.. I was upset to see so few bbq places.. The competitors werent really handing out any of there food.. I tried a piece of brisket from this one guy and it was horrible.. I enjoyed seeing Asbury Park, but more importantly I hung out with friends I hadnt seen in awhile.. It was a great day.

Edited July 31, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[scarlet knight]

Spot on coverage of the event, Daniel. We met Jack McDavid, one of our Food Network icons, and he was friendly and gracious. As Daniel mentioned, his food was very good, also. Overall, the festival was entertaining and worth attending.

We were mystified as to the location of the food made by the festival competitors. It did not seem available for sale. Wouldn't this be the point of the festival--to have the public sample the competitors' food? Perhaps someone could explain this.

As a child, my family frequented the Boardwalk and Convention Hall area of Asbury Park. It was shocking to see how deteriorated it is. It looks like a bad science fiction movie. We thought that the town is on the way up, but it has a long way to go.

[Daniel]

So none of my jersey peoples went here this weekend.. This was Jersey shore trying to get something going and it seemed a little pathetic. Whats preventing this from being an amazing event?>

[woodburner]

We were mystified as to the location of the food made by the festival competitors. It did not seem available for sale.  Wouldn't this be the point of the festival--to have the public sample the competitors' food?  Perhaps someone could explain this.

←

Competitors at most if not all bbq competitions are encouraged not to give out food. Number one they are normally not health certified to give or sell food to the general public. The vendors at these events have been or should be health department certified.

Best way to taste competition bbq, is to become a KCBS judge, which is really farily simple.

woodburner

[Daniel]

Woodburner,

I know exactly what you are saying and frankly it sucks.. It sucks if the guy bbqing has to worry about getting in trouble for handing out some of his left overs, from what he presented.. It goes against everything that bbqing is about really.. People hanging outside all chowing on massive amounts of meats that they have all been eagerly watching for hours..

I mean lets face it, BBQ isnt a spectator sport... You need to taste, smell, and watch it.. And if you cant try the BBQ its kind of lame..

[woodburner]

I suggest hooking up with a team next year, and participate. Most teams welcome any volunteer help they can get. I know a few of the guy's on the team that placed second at the contest "IQue" is the team name. You'll eat some fine viddles for a day's work.

woodburner

[Daniel]

The bottom line is, I would have a hard time sitting back on a team...watching some shmuck put chinese sweet and sour sauce on ribs he wrapped in tin foil and grill steamed for 4 hours.. Most likely I would want to throw some smokey Memphis dry rub in their mug and tell them to chill. Honestly speaking, I would like to put together a team of egulleters for next year.. Someone pm about the paperwork, me and my girl would love to do it..Do we compete or do we make more money and feel better about being the busiest vendor in the whole damn place?

Edited July 31, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[woodburner]

The bottom line is, I would have a hard time sitting back on a team...watching some shmuck put chinese sweet and sour sauce on ribs he wrapped in tin foil and grill steamed for 4 hours.. Most likely I would want to throw some smokey Memphis dry rub in their mug and tell them to chill. Honestly speaking, I would like to put together a team of egulleters for next year.. Someone pm about the paperwork, me and my girl would love to do it..Do we compete or do we make more money and feel better about being the busiest vendor in the whole damn place?

←

Timing did not permit this year for me to enter, but this has been on my mind for next year.

Hudson Valley Ribfest

I've got the cookers and most supplies, maybe we could get a team up.

woodburner

[jmcgrath]

What the teams can do is very much controlled by the local Board of health and the Festival Organizer. I've organized a number of State Championships, judged in them, and competed in them. In general, the teams cook way more than they need to turn in to the judges, and would love to give out samples. They mostly don't have ServeSave certification, and many towns require that in order to either vend or hand out samples. In addition, many contests do not want teams passing out free food that will compete with the food being sold.

The tack to take, is to chat up a team, discuss barbecue, and ask questions about what worked well. If a team asks you into their tent as a friend, rules don't apply.

I'll agree with the comments on Jack McDavid's food. I've eaten at his restaurant in Philly and sampled his vendings at several contests in New England. It is very good for a vendor. That said, a good team on a good day will blow away any vendor. You just need to hook up with them.

Jim