A few weeks ago I got up before the crack of dawn, drove North across
Kentucky, and attended the Porkopolis Eggfest in Cincinnati.
What's
an Eggfest? It is a regional get together of Big Green Egg
aficionados. There are demo cooks who cook on dealer supplied Big Green
Eggs to provide food samples to the crowd. These aren't (necessarily)
professional cooks - most of these cooks are just people who love their
Egg and the Egg community. They create some amazing bites. The
"tasters" are the general public that buy a low cost ticket that gives
them access to all of the entertainment and food that the festival
offers.
In
addition to the food, there are often instructional cooking
demonstrations, entertainment, vendors selling kamado related gear, and
pre- and post-parties. Best of all is that all of the Big Green Eggs
that are used in the event are available for sale at cut rate prices
after only being used that once. It's a great place to get your first
Egg or to pick up another one.
These
fests can ranged from small local Eggfests with a handful of folks to
the huge official Eggtoberfest thrown each year by the Mothership
(Egger's term for "corporate"), so I didn't know what to expect for the
Cincinnati Eggfest. When I arrived at Germania Park, I was immediately
impressed by the large amount of people.
In
addition to the main gazebo, they had apparently stolen some circus'
big top tent to accommodate the crowds. Organizer, Eddie Meiners, told
me that they had 86 demo cook teams and expected 600-700 paid
admissions! That is the biggest Eggfest I have been to besides the corporate sponsored
Eggtoberfest which draws thousands.
Chef JJ brought
his team and bad ass cooking trailer to do in depth cooking demos.
It's the first time I have gotten to see him work - he knows his stuff.
My
friend, BBQ brethren, and fellow Char-Broil All Star - Curt McAdams was
on hand to do demos for a browned butter fingerling potatoes, grilled
peach bourbon iced tea, and a blackberry thyme crisp dessert. You can
find the recipes he used at his blog -
Live Fire. Next year, he and I are going to do a demonstration together, that will be fun!
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| Grilling fruit is a great way to bring out their flavor and natural sweetness. |
There
were lots of well equipped vendors present. This is often my favorite
part because I get to check out new products hands on.
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| Super nice stainless steel grate with hinged access to the fire box. |
Wardway Grill and Pool shop
was the Egg dealer on hand, supplying all of the demo eggs and selling
all of their accessories. I bought a new large table cover from them to
replace the 6 year old one that I have. If you're in that area, check
them out for your grill and pool needs.
My favorite vendor was
Innovations by Chance.
I had communicated online with Mike Chance but it was good to meet
him in person. He has some exciting ideas for pimping out your kamado
grill.
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| I
think this is called the Fishbone, it is a stainless charcoal grate
designed to prevent clogged air holes that happen with the stock cast
iron coal grates for many kamado grills. |
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| Mike showing his cast iron plate setter for the Large Big Green Egg. |
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| The Raiser serves as a grid raiser and a spider rig. Talk about multi-functional! |
The live entertainment was very cool. How many Eggfest have YOU seen that have alphorn players?
But
unquestionably, the absolute best part of any Eggfest is the great food
and wonderful people. Yeah, I know that is two things but they are both
the best so cut me some slack.
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| There were a lot of family teams, great to see the kids involved. |
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| Eggs. Eggs for sale EVERYWHERE! |
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| Tasters go from booth to booth sampling the foods as they are ready. It's a lot of work just to keep up! |
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| Even the cooks are having fun. |
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| The Cluck and Squeal guys were there. I've heard great things about their rubs. |
To
give you an idea of how big the event was, one of my Egg friends, Mike
Tipton was there and he made the Kentucky Derby Pie that I never got to
try. I was there to sign my book. Neither of us knew the other was
there until two days later!
The cook teams usually do 2-3 menu items and they
come out at different times so you have to know when and where to be
throughout the day to make sure you don't miss out...like I did on the
Kentucky Derby Pie :)
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| It was great getting to meet some long term Egg forum members, like Egret... |
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| ...and Kim Youngblood... |
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| ... and Rick
is one of the primary inspirations for me trying to learn to be a better
photographer. His stuff set the bar for me. |
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| Sorry kid, I don't care if "you left your ID at home", I'm not serving you beer! |
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| Eeenie Meenie and Florida Grillin Girl serving up spaghetti squash. |
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| A very busy, Eddie Meiners, the event organizer. |
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| You can see, it's not just ribs and BBQ type food. |
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| Ahhhh! An alligator is biting my head! |
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| Pork wings! |
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| Tons of people everywhere. |
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| Pizzas were a common theme but they were all unique. |
The
pictures don't tell half of the story. To REALLY experience an
Eggfest, you just need to go. Even if you don't have any plans to buy
an Egg, you will still have a great time! There are still Eggfests
going on -
check for one near you on the Egghead Forum.
Pensacola Eggfest
I will be attending the
Pensacola Eggfest on
November 15, 2014 at the Blue Wahoo's baseball stadium. I am excited that my sister will be joining us for her first Eggfest. If you are anywhere near the Pensacola/Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area, you definitely should come check it out.
They had over 1,000 attendees last year and 75 demo cooks. Even if you don't own a Big Green Egg, these are a lot of fun to attend. For only $25 you will get to sample food from some talented Eggheads, see cooking demos, outdoor lifestyle expos, and get entered into a crazy good raffle. All profits go to support Chain Reaction, a teen volunteer organization. This is also a great time to buy a Big Green Egg at a discount if you're in the market. You can
pre-order one to make sure you aren't left empty handed.
Just like Porkopolis, this Eggfest is sure to be a great time. Come out out.
