Nine trucks threw down in the parking lot at Appliance Center’s Maumee location to crown the 419’s BBQ champion. It was all to benefit an even more important battle—the fight against breast cancer.
All of the participating trucks offered their food to the public to try. Folks turned out in droves to sample the smoky deliciousness and tasty sides. Trucks selling tasty sweets, icy snow cones, and refreshing lemonade were also on hand. It was a good thing, too! It was a pretty warm day despite a few clouds and sprinkles.
The appreciative crowd enjoyed live music all day long from artists Steve Kennedy, Caveman, and Abbigale Rose.
The Winter Sisters and their pal Spidey were on hand to entertain the kids plus there was magic, balloon art, and face painting. We also put on a massive tent sale with discounts up to 70% off.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation of NWO raffled off some amazing prizes, including an LG Laundry Pair and TV, Catnapper recliner, Bosch dishwasher, and Frigidaire refrigerator/freezer.
Serious Competition
But let’s get to the meaty part of this story… the BBQ competition. We take our BBQ seriously here at Appliance Center. Our grill master John Fulton helped put together rules modeled on top-tier BBQ competition and blind judging procedures that ensured our panel of judges had no idea who they were judging.
Our categories were:
- Pork Shoulder
- Brisket
- Half-Chicken
- Ribs
- Hot Side
- Cold Side
- Sauce
Competitors were on a strict deadline to deliver their food at the turn-in tent. They presented the food in identical boxes. Then the competitors drew a random number that we wrote on the box.
Those boxes were presented to our panel of celebrity judges by our staff. So the judges had no idea whose food they were tasting.
We also assigned random numbers to the judges, so they could score anonymously. Our panel consisted of:
- Meteorologist Ryan Wichman and Sports Director Jordan Strack from our media partner WTOL
- Former NFL Player and owner of Inside the Five Brewing Company, Brandon Fields
- Guy in the 419 and Battle co-host, Patrick McCarty
- Media personality and breast cancer awareness advocate, Chrys Peterson
- Former news anchor and winner of Rib Off’s media competition, Laura Emerson
- Weber Grills’ BBQ expert, Todd Kisting.
Our panel evaluated meat based on appearance, taste, smell, texture, tenderness, and creativity.
Tasting all that food wasn’t an easy job but somebody had to do it and our judges were happy to step up to the plate.
The public also submitted their votes for their favorite BBQ Truck. Our hardworking team carefully tabulated and double-checked all of the results from the scorecards.
And The Winners Are...
Once the winners were determined, Appliance Center’s John Oswald presented each of them with their awards.
Rick’s Shack Outback took top place in Pork Shoulder.
OTR Smokehouse won the award for best Chicken and best Ribs.
Outlaw Attitude came out on top for Brisket and Sauce.
Deet’s took home the plaque for Best Hot Side. Whiskey Jack’s made the Best Cold Side.
The Grand Champion Award was determined by totaling the participants’ meat scores. Outlaw Attitude took home the prize this year and won the People’s Choice Award.
But the real winner is the Susan G. Komen Foundation of NWO and their continuing battle against breast cancer.
Thanks to all of our pitmasters for participating and especially to everyone who turned out for this fun family event.
We’ve got another good time for the whole family coming up on Sunday, June 27 at our Car Show here at our Maumee location. We hope to see everyone there.
We’ve also got delicious food available at Food Truck Wednesdays at our Monroe Street Store. Check our Facebook page for the lineup.