Well the 2010 season for Backdraft BBQ has come to a end. We did finish out the year on a high note.

We pulled out Grand Champion in Florence, CO October 16th. What a great victory for us to excited about the 2011 BBQ Season. Ryan  10/20/10

Here is a clipping from a local paper....

Thornton man smokes the competition
Grob takes home grand championship at Florence’s ‘Kick in the Butt’ event

Brad Cochi
The Daily Record

FLORENCE — Ryan Grob has been entering barbecue competitions for 19 years, and he’s never won a grand championship. That all changed on Saturday at the Florence Eureka Days “Kick in the Butt” barbecue competition.

 At the competition, which included 38 teams from seven different states, Grob took home the grand championship for his team, Backdraft BBQ.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Grob, who lives in Thornton where he owns a restaurant called Backdraft BBQ. Grob, 38, said when he began cooking competitively, he believed pork was his strength. Since then, he has spent all his time perfecting his chicken, pork rib and brisket recipes.

On Saturday in Florence, pork was the only event in which Grob did not place in the top 10 in the blindly-judged competition. He took second place in chicken, seventh place in pork ribs, eighth place in brisket and 12th place in pork.

Grob learned the tricks of the trade from one of the best. When he was 18 years old, Grob worked for four-time barbecue world champion “The Legend” Mike Mills at a restaurant in his hometown of Murphysboro, Ill.

“I started traveling with them and learning everything I could from them, although all my styles are different from what they do,” Grob said.

Last year at the “Kick in the Butt” competition, all Grob got was 10th in brisket. Determined to improve, Saturday’s “Kick in the Butt” was Grob’s 18th competition already this year.

Grob was using the oldest smoker at the competition on Saturday, which he built himself 20 years ago, along with his father and brother. Both temperature gauges on his smoker went out Friday so he was running the smoker blind on Saturday. His wife and son usually go to competitions with him, but on Saturday the only one there to help him was his dog Kuma, a pure white Akita.

He’ll be back next year, Grob says. Hopefully then he’ll have enough help to sell his food for people attending the festival. With the season winding down because of the weather, Grob said he’s got a full booking of at least 15 competitions he plans to compete in next year.

What’s next for Grob now that he’s won his first grand championship?

“Well I was gonna get a new smoker,” Grob chuckled. “It’s kind of funny.”

Just as Grob is an emerging cook on the barbecue scene, “Kick in the Butt” is an emerging competition. It has grown from 27 teams in 2009, its inaugural year, to 38 teams this year.

Along with co-event organizers Ron Hinkle and Michael Cox, Eureka Days director Cindy Cox has worked to expand the “Kick in the Butt” competition while maintaining its friendly environment. Looking around at the competition, she is amazed at how it’s grown in just one year.

“Oh my God, look at it,” Cox said. “It got a lot bigger this year. Here at the park, we hit our peak. We probably won’t be able to put too many more teams in next year... And I want to keep it pleasant.”

During the Eureka Days competition, Pioneer Park was completely filled with trailers, smokers and vendors all cooking, selling and eating barbecue.

Merl Whitebook, who is on the board of directors for the Kansas City barbecue Society, oversaw the event for the national governing body of competitive barbecue.

“It’s just an incredible venue and the cooks are thrilled to be here,” Whitebook said. “The park and the support from the entire city, and Cindy has done an great job in putting this on.”

Overall

1. Backdraft BBQ, 673.14

2. Parrothead Smokers, 671.43

3. Carcass Cookers, 669.71

4. 4 Legs Up BBQ, 667. 99

5. Sweet Peppers, 667.43

6. Bossman Bar-B-Que, 664.00

7. OOPS, 663.99

8. TheSmokeRing.com, 662.86

9. Burnin’ Bob’s, 653.1424

10. Smoke N the Rockies, 653.1422

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