GSB Riboff 2023 VOTING Thread - CLOSED votes being counted

Ok folks.

Don't forget to vote!

Exercise your right as a GSB contributor and have a say in this prestigious E Championship.

Any and all can vote. We won't check ID.

I’m out all day tomorrow so I’ll go ahead and vote. Also, I don’t like the idea of voting for yourself….seems like bad form.

1. ITDawg. I mean, cmon. He went for a brisket that he had to start at 3am and made grandma’s Mac and cheese. A discerning eye can see plenty of juice and knows that a brisket needs to be cooked through…and 203 is a good target. Also, that thing was fatty as hell and required a lot of prep.

To a fellow smoker he’s not about the glitz but all about the work. Dealing with the stall, wrapping in butcher paper, having a separate therm….these are tells. Well done!

2. Retooc. Sure it was chicken…but spatchcock chicken smoked on the grill and complex sides cooked to perfection. Plus his own sardine mix? As JD said, it looked like something you’d order at a restaurant. Looked fantastic and well rounded. Good work sir.

3. LSUhobnailboot (write in). Missed the submission post but put his work in the preview thread. Used an egg with real smoke and cited the 3-2-1 method which means he’s a student of the art. No sides or further commentary (I’d love to know the set up for a long cook on the egg) but those damn things looked good. Also…a lot of enthusiasm. Nice work LSU.

I’m sure some of the late entries were great but as I tell my boys…half of life is just showing up.

Congrats to my fellow smokers who chose to dedicate their 4th to slapping meat on the grill and providing for friends and family. To you all I raise this late night glass in honor. Good luck!

I’m not trying to be an a-hole but he put his work in the other thread and I’m not going to discount it because he didn’t copy and paste his shite over. The only reason I did it was because I felt an obligation to the contest. IMO this is more valid that having you post pics via proxy.

Either count it as my third or count it as I only posted the top 2 if you don’t think it’s valid.

It always ends up this way. Let’s face it…it’s a lot of work to do this shite and much easier to critique from the sidelines.

1) Squatch - Great preparation and homemade rub. Picked out some amazing looking ribs. Used the best charcoal and smoked it on a day you could fry an egg on your head. Well done.

2) LSU - While I give people more points for making their own rub and the overall process, those Ribs were probably the best finished product of all the ribs submitted.

Third was tough…going with

3)retooc - I think it was the easiest thing to grill, least amount of work and not a real Independence Day meat at all - but the chicken looked good. Went simple but strong on the flavoring. The homemade caesar dressing was awesome and is what put him over the others

My ballot*

1- Squatch
2- Rig
3- retooc

Best rack- retooc's wife

Best Side dishes- Rig

Best Soundtrack- leaving blank. Not impressed by any of the choices

Best narrative- rig. Appreciated the shirts and fireworks pictures.

Best Dog- squatch

Best kitchen island (does everyone have a kitchen island now?) - peter buck

Best mind altering substance- retooc

Which BBQ would I go to - retooc

Most committed- IT


*-I am not recognizing LSU hobnails post.

Man this is extremely tough to judge. I'll go:

1) Rig
2) IT
3) Squatch

Every submission was worthy so once I went thorugh it all I had to go back to the beginning to see if I could weed out anyone for some reason, and sadly retooc was left off due to lack of soundtrack. Yes, that's a silly reason, but when everyone is on an even plane you have to find some way to start trimming the fat.

The other 3 all had soundtracks. The other 3 all had plenty of pics which was huge. The other 3 all walked us through their prep, cook and final presentation. I mean this is seriously a dead heat at this point for real. Ultimatley I gave rig the nod because the ribs were in 3 differnet distinct styles/flavors. If I was present I would love to be able sample each so that was a big scale tipper to me. Also very minor, but I liked seeing hte culdesac setup as it really set the scene and helped put me there at the party.

The choice between IT and Squatch was impossible. Both did everythign you could ask for in a Riboff submission. It was essentially a coin flip. ulatimtely I went with IT simply because the mac and cheese looked liek the more enticing side item between the 2 submissions.

Thanks squatch as for my BGE setup would like to say it was some art form it really isn’t pretty straight forward
Indirect heat

I use led chunks of cherry wood (pre soaked),
Blues Hog wood charcoal (little cheaper than BGE and works great)
Temp 220 consistent.

As mentioned in my post after the low and slow three hour smoke. 2 hours Wrap in tin foil add lemon, lime juice and some basalmic vinegar (trust me on this saw on BBQ Pittmasters it’s great)
Last hour spray with apple juice and lather in your favorite BBQ sauce about every 15 minutes.
Take them off, wrap again, rest about 15 minutes
I put them on a cast iron grate

Follow the if your looking you ain’t cookin method, allow the dark magic of the BGE do its thing

Note- Not a last second submission or plea for a vote simply showing how I put them on the BGE to answer Sqautch's question.

I vote for
1. Deeprig
2. SquatchDawg
3 myself, not sure if I missed it but didn't really see any other ribs?

If I had known about this comp I would have taken the pics a little more serious and not fallen asleep, sorry.

1) Rig
2) Rattletrap
3) Peter Buck