Ohio Pork Rib-Off Draws Massive Crowd While Promoting Pork

Savory smoke filled the air as ten teams from across Ohio, gathered in Columbus for the 16th annual Ohio Pork Rib-Off. This event invites teams to prepare both ribs and pulled pork that are evaluated by a judging panel for taste, tenderness and appearance.

This year, those challenged with selecting Ohio’s top teams were Tristan Navera, Another Food Critic (blog); Matt Reese, Editor, Ohio’s Country Journal; Bethia Woolf, Columbus Food Adventures (blog); Virgil Strickler, General Manager, Ohio Expo Center and State Fair; and Paul Boyer, Columbus Foodie (blog).

Bob Nunnally of NBC 4 served as the competition emcee and announced the following award winners:

Grand Champion Ribs: Wally’s Great American BBQ, Tiffin, OH
Reserve Champion Ribs: Hickory River Smokehouse, Tipp City, OH
Grand Champion Pulled Pork: Wally’s Great American BBQ, Tiffin, OH
Reserve Pulled Pork: Velvet Smoke BBQ, Hilliard, OH
People’s Choice Award Winner: Tony’s Restaurant, Findlay, OH
Best BBQ Sauce containing Soy: Wally’s Great American BBQ, Tiffin, OH

In addition to $3,000 in prizes, top teams received commemorative banners and silver serving trays.

“OPPC would like to thank all of this year’s participants, judges, the emcee and the audience for making the 2012 Rib-Off a great event” said Quinton Keeran, OPPC Manager of Communications and Rib-Off coordinator. “The Rib-Off is an excellent opportunity to gather together and showcase pork. The crowd this year was very large, proving there is an interest in cooking with and enjoying good pork. We (OPPC) are proud to have had the opportunity to promote pork with the competing teams and showcase some of Ohio’s finest grill-masters.”