Forest Park, Il. Ribfest 9/12/09

[smokerican]

Small one day ribfest in Forest Park, Il. It's their 4th annual. I've been there the last 2 out of 3 and every year it has grown. All participants are weekend warriors/hobbyists. You can get more info at www.forestpark.net/ribfest In no way am I affliated. I was contemplating on entering myself but my first baby is due on 9/5/09 so I will have to wait until next year. I might stop and visit this event, (time permitting), and if you're going to be there drop me a line. Good Luck.

 

[willkat98]

You mentioned doing this contest previously.

What is the "2 rib contestant sampler" about?

Do you need to cook a certain # ribs available for public consumption?

It implies that, but I see Robinson's is the caterer. And I was laughing at the pictures from 2007, the one with the guy with no gloves and hands coated in sauce.

I want his 2 rib sample!!

Just curious, as this might be something I can visit at too.

 

[chisoxjim]

sounds tempting to attend (not compete), it will be tought to convince myself to head east 2 days in a row, I have a picnic the next day to attend in that area.

 

[smokerican]

Sorry Willkat98 but I have not entered any competitions yet. I have just gone to sample, drink and listewn to some good live music.

The 2 rib contestant sampler is that you as a contestant can sell your 2 rib samples for $3, and you keep the proceeds. You can prepare as many racks or as little as you'd like, but you do however, have to provide the judges with a full rack of ribs (rack of at least 12 ribs).

Robinson's usually there to offer their food products but they can not compete.

All in all is a good time. They don't have any '08 pics because that's the weekend we got drenched with 6.64 inches of rainfall courtesy of hurricane Gustav and Ike. It was still fun.

 

[smokerican]

That's ok. No white sox fans are allowed anyways.... LOL! JK.

 

[chisoxjim]

hilarious,

instead of a deluge rain from a hurricane putting a damper on things, it may be a flood of tears for your n.side team this year.

 

[headsredbbq]

i cooked this two years in a row..
in 07 we grossed 1k in rib sales besides winning second place ribs.
The crowd there was huge..it was wall to wall people
in 08 it poured like crazy and it was a sea of mud but surprisingly people did show up..we ended up selling by the slab just to get rid of what we cooked..by evening the rains subsided and people really started coming in at that point
bottom line if its a nice day expect 3000 plus people ..you will make a ton of money vending especially if you do spares which are cheaper..and stand to make a few hundred in the contest..750 is top prize..
mostly backyard guys but a few bbq comp guys there besides me
not many contests where they encourage you to sell and pocket all the money

hey Bill fancy seeing you here..how does the word mook go over here? :)

 

[chisoxjim]

alot more serious bbq talk over here.

jim(jimswside)

 

[headsredbbq]

Jim - im on many BBQ forums..I never considered LTH a stop for good BBQ talk..its more a Chicago food site
I just happened to do a search on forest park ribfest and saw the current discussion as well as some names i recognized from the BBQ Brethren site

BTW I understand you have a hero over there on LTH:)

 

[chisoxjim]

This is porbably the best site I belong to(I dont post on any other bbq sites), I have learned more here in the last 6 months here than anywhere else. I like how folks are willing to share, and have an open mind about different styles of bbq, etc.

 

[headsredbbq]

Ill be around..you really should try and get some folks together and cook this ribfest though. I told Burt about it as well. They let in any type cooker although you need a generator for anything electric. People are cookign on everything from gas grills to large offsets.
They had a few kinks on the first one but we sat down with them and gave them some advice on making the turn in and judging more sensible. Decent cash prizes for a ribfest and the money you make from vending is incredible.
Im cooking a fundraiser down in Alton that weekend otherwise Id do this.

 

[headsredbbq]

Bill you can sell as many or as little as you want..you just can only sell ribs so as not to compete business wise with the vendors too much.
They also have a poeples choice where you will see chi-town style ballot box stuffing at its finest
you also provide for the judges...one rib per judge..last time was around 8 ..first year was around the same I cant really rememebr but it was not a full slab...
I doubt I would go if I wasnt competing .. Truthfully I saw/sampled some pretty god awful ribs in between the few good ones..

 

[chisoxjim]

Im more of a backyard guy, but maybe next year, I dont have an extra $150 laying around this year.

Also we are participating in a town wide garage sale that day(hoping to sell my offset), and I have to head down to Peoria Packing to get a butt for the next days LTH picnic.

It looks like a good event, just a bad weekend for me.

 

[howufiga]

I'm probably going to attend this, but won't compete. Do they have beer there?

Who thinks Lou won't last the season? :p

Let's go SOX!

 

[roadrunr]

I'll be there and I just printed out a application ;)
bring yer bibs..

 

[roadrunr]

Anybody going Saturday?