Think you’ve got what it takes to grill the perfect ribeye steak? Put your skills to the test at HUB’s Backyard Cookoff! Teams will compete for fantastic prizes while showcasing their culinary prowess. With blind judging based on taste, appearance, texture, and tenderness–it’s anyone’s game.
Event Details:
Date: April 20, 2024
Entry Fee: $50 per team
Setup: 8 a.m.
Cooks Meeting: 10 a.m.
Turn-in Time: 1-1:20 p.m.
Prizes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place (TBD)
Important Rules:
Teams must provide their own grills, fuel, and ribeye steaks.
No electricity or water will be provided on-site.
Steaks must be submitted in provided boxes with no markings or garnish.
Outside alcohol is not permitted.
By signing the entry form, teams agree to abide by the rules and waive liability.
Calling all grill masters and smoke enthusiasts! The HUB is firing up a 3-day event you won’t want to miss April 19-21!
Mark your calendars for:
Spring Cleaning Event Sale (April 19-21): Score smoking hot deals on grills, accessories, rubs, and more during our massive spring cleaning sale! We’re clearing out everything from floor models and boxed inventory to demo units and discontinued rubs.
Meet the Meat Masters (April 20): Witness the sizzling showdown at our epic steak cookoff! Watch grilling gurus put their flame-kissed skills to the test, and sample the mouthwatering results.
Vendor Meat & Greet (April 20): Mingle with special guests and industry experts showcasing their latest grilling and smoking innovations. Get expert advice, product demos, and delicious samples!
This is your chance to:
Snag incredible deals on top-notch grilling gear.
Witness grilling mastery at the steak cookoff.
Connect with industry experts and learn grilling secrets.
Savor delicious samples and discover new grilling favorites.
Don’t miss out on this epic event! Helping U Barbeque is ready to smoke out the deals, grill up the fun, and celebrate YOU–our amazing customers!
With so many different flavors represented on the backyard grill, it can be quite a task to pick one style of beer to compliment it all. Whether it’s cooking around a campfire deep in the woods or tailgating at a baseball game, you’ll want something accessible — and not overpowering — so please leave that triple IPA or 15% bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout for another occasion.
The first thing you want to consider is the meat. Darker, maltier beers like porters, brown ales, and even dark lagers go perfectly with ribs or burgers. For chicken, you’ll want a pilsner or a spicy saison. For pork and bacon, try witbier or hefeweizen.
You can also find red wines that work with the lighter barbecue categories, generally lighter-styled wines. The fruit-forward village wines from Beaujolais work well, and for a little more structure (and not much more money), you can step up the ladder to the Beaujolais crus. For a more aromatic, flowery Beaujolais, try Fleurie. If you want something with a little more heft, opt for Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent. All of the above wines have enough fruit to stand up to the spice and smoke of the barbecue, and none have the type of tannins that will do battle with your ‘cue.
Ribs are perhaps my favorite barbecue category, and the easiest to approximate on my humble gas grill. In Kansas City, they use pork spareribs, not baby backs, but it’s not so much the type of ribs you use as the type of dry rub or sauce you choose that will make the difference for the wine. I prefer my sauces and rubs in the mid-range: a little zing, a dash of pepper, and a finish that leaves you with some feeling on your lips and tongue. My wine choices here also fall in the middle: good fruit, nice balance, but nothing from the in-your-face monster category. I have two favorite wine categories for my ribs: Tuscan and Rioja. Chianti Classico works nicely and, moving south in Tuscany to the Montalcino region. I’d concentrate on the lighter Rossos rather than, the bigger Brunellos. Not only are they fruitier and less tannic, which generally makes them better foil for the barbecue, but you’ll also probably have a hard time convincing yourself to shell out 50 or 60 bucks for a Brunello and then pouring it with a backyard barbecue. As for Italy’s neighbors across the Mediterranean, the wines of Rioja are terrific with a wide range of grilled and smoked foods. There’s just something about that dusty, plummy flavor you get from Tempranillo that works really well.
The other most commonly barbecued meats—beef and sausage—are often complemented by the same types of wines: a bit fuller, a bit richer, a bit bigger in style and substance. And since barbecue is the ultimate expression of American cuisine, here’s where we finally get around to talking about some American wines—Zinfandel and fuller-bodied Merlots—as well as the specialty of another barbecuing nation, Australian Shiraz.
Zinfandel and Shiraz are perhaps the two best barbecue wines, period. They have a chameleon-like ability to adapt to the flavors on the plate, and a weight and taste-profile that aims to please.