Grillstock Bristol

Details of all cooking events,please add details of any events you are aware of that may have been missed

Grillstock Bristol

Postby Scantily » 08 Jun 2014, 17:45

Had a great time there yesterday, great atmosphere lots to see and do and the delicious all pervading smell of meat was mouthwatering. But I was a little disappointed in a couple of things.

My main irk was the competition judging area, it was a tiny little stage with only a very small area in front for people to watch which was usually about 6 people deep. Combined with the general background noise it made it very difficult to hear what was going on, I gave up pretty quickly. Being my first grillstock I expected it was going to have been much more focussed on the BBQ and competition aspect, rather than being a music festival with a bit of BBQ on the side. Perhaps being a massive fan of BBQ pitmasters and a real bbq enthusiast gave me too high expectations in this regard.

Also, most of the food vendors seemed to just sell food that had just been grilled/slow cooked rather than smoked, a minor point but some of the vendors advertising was a little misleading. Only a handful offered smoked food, and even then some 6 hour smoked ribs we bought from one vendor certainly didn't taste like they'd been smoked.

It was a great day and the weather was superb, but I think the lack of focus on the competition aspect would prevent me from going again.

Does anyone else think the same?
Scantily
Got Wood!
Got Wood!
 
Posts: 156
Joined: 22 Feb 2014, 19:31

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby JEC » 08 Jun 2014, 18:20

Yup, thought the same, went 3 years in a row and then gave up. If you want a different day out then it's good but it's not a great chance to try BBQ or learn (unless you swing by and talk to the teams, who are normally very willing), there are other events better suited, this is a BBQ food festival for the masses.
JEC
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 1275
Joined: 19 May 2010, 19:25
Location: Sunny (sometimes) North Devon

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby RobinC » 08 Jun 2014, 19:08

I've been to Grillstock Bristol 3 times now and once to Manchester. Though I and the family had a good day out yesterday both me and the mrs thought this was the most disappointing Grillstock to date (and we've been to some where the weather has been miserable)

The plus points were there were more teams than ever competing and most are happy to talk BBQ with you. (Thanks Bunch of Swines for hot wing taster, I didn't think it was hot at first but the heat certainly grew and lingered). I also bumped into a few people who ive either met on BBQ forums or at BBQ events. The judging area has always been a little cramped but more so this year. Outside of the BBQ competition though the amount of things related to BBQ has definitely reduced.

Whilst food vendors were reasonably well represented (though oddly brisket was difficult to get hold of) the number of BBQ stalls seems to have dwindled over the years. One of the reasons I go to Grillstock is that it is a chance to see kit and ingredients that I wouldn't normally see and talk to the people behind the stalls. It was at Grillstock i bought my first Thermapen directly from ETI. It was at a Grillstock demo that i picked up some good tips on removing the membrane from ribs that i still use today.

There was a smallish stall selling Weber stuff at garden centre level prices (no thank you), a nice American guy selling rubs and sauces and a few chilli themed stalls. I always take a rucksack for my BBQ purchases. This year i left with three pieces of cheese and a tub of Plowboys rub and I'm easy to sell to at these events. Demos were restricted to those given by Weber. Previous years have had two demo areas. This year it was one and the sound level of the main stage made it difficult to hear unless you were reasonably close to the front.

Whilst previous years have never been solely BBQ themed (and to be fair an event like that has to appeal to a wider audience than us BBQ die hards) this year more than previous ones seemed to be aimed more at the music festival side of things. We always take the kids and even the token area given over to entertaining children seemed smaller than previous years.

For me the balance was wrong. And whilst I'm toying with the idea of competing I don't think we will be going to Grillstock as visitors again.

And they ran out of beer
RobinC
Rubbed and Ready
Rubbed and Ready
 
Posts: 802
Joined: 21 Jan 2011, 10:11
Location: Cheshire/Shropshire border

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby Minty913 » 08 Jun 2014, 19:11

I agree , had a great time but was disappointed with the lack of real smoked food, I was looking for proper brisket but all I could find was pulled .

The picanha beef was amazing :) & I did get the chance to try Bunch Of Swines brisket which was even better.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
User avatar
Minty913
Got Wood!
Got Wood!
 
Posts: 74
Joined: 25 May 2014, 14:55

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby Scantily » 08 Jun 2014, 20:59

JEC wrote:Yup, thought the same, went 3 years in a row and then gave up. If you want a different day out then it's good but it's not a great chance to try BBQ or learn (unless you swing by and talk to the teams, who are normally very willing), there are other events better suited, this is a BBQ food festival for the masses.


What are these other more focused bbq events? Would love to attend a proper one.
Scantily
Got Wood!
Got Wood!
 
Posts: 156
Joined: 22 Feb 2014, 19:31

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby JEC » 09 Jun 2014, 05:42

Here's a good place to start

http://bbbqs.com/content/bbqevents/
JEC
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 1275
Joined: 19 May 2010, 19:25
Location: Sunny (sometimes) North Devon

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby keith157 » 09 Jun 2014, 14:55

I thought the atmosphere was better than the last couple of years, we've been to 3 now. However I must wholeheartedly agree with the lack of trade stands, I overheard several groups of people bemoaning the fact that there was virtually nothing to buy. In the past there were book stalls, sellers of BBQ specialities and of course Ian from Mac's BBQ.
As to the judging, as an IBQN judge I prefer the blind tasting system that Toby instigated so no-one knows which team we are judging nor do the competitors know what is being said about their entries in view of everyone.
Feedback is provided in writing and available to the teams along with the results.
User avatar
keith157
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 3816
Joined: 05 Aug 2011, 13:35
Location: Stevenage, Herts

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby The Social Smokers » 09 Jun 2014, 15:23

I would have also preferred written feedback or at least where we picked up points and lost points. It's the only way to improve for next time.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
The Social Smokers
Got Wood!
Got Wood!
 
Posts: 129
Joined: 02 Nov 2011, 12:41
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby drbbq » 09 Jun 2014, 23:42

24 teams cooked and gave away well over 1000 pounds of free BBQ and spent countless hours talking to the guests about real BBQ.
drbbq
Got Wood!
Got Wood!
 
Posts: 30
Joined: 29 Jan 2012, 18:23

Re: Grillstock Bristol

Postby JEC » 10 Jun 2014, 05:34

drbbq wrote:24 teams cooked and gave away well over 1000 pounds of free BBQ and spent countless hours talking to the guests about real BBQ.


Glad that's still the case Doc, would be a shame to loose that part too, for me it was the teams that made the event however the rest of the event lacked well behind, many people lack confidence to ask too much as they are all busy and don't want to annoy etc...
JEC
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 1275
Joined: 19 May 2010, 19:25
Location: Sunny (sometimes) North Devon

Next

Return to Competitions Cook-offs & Events

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron