Wapatui Smokers

08/31/2026

Oh Yea!

Eight teams sauntered their way into the 180 Club this weekend.

Earning a 180 means putting an entry on a table of trained KCBS Certified Barbeque Judges and delivering across all three attributes. That’s a box worth remembering.

Congratulations to 1 Bite BBQ, At Ease, Go Pig or Go Home, Kick Ash BBQ, Owens BBQ, Smokin E’s BBQ, Tankerbelle BBQ and Wapatui Smokers.

08/30/2026

Smokin Ribs For the Kids in Cherry Valley, IL was quite the event for our team. Friday rib burn and a Saturday double was a lot of fun. Ribs were all awesome, Chicken was a bit of a trainwreck, but that's BBQ. We thought our chicken was better than our 2nd place last week, the judges certainly did not, LOL.

Friday rib burn
1st place with a 180!!!

Saturday - Contest 1
3rd Place - Ribs - 177.71
21st Place - Chicken - 157.05 Ouch!
12th - Overall

Saturday - Contest 2
4th Place - Ribs - 176.56
17th Place - Chicken - 168.5 - not horrid, lol.
11th - Overall

Jeremy and his team put on a great event, we look forward to next year. Keep Smokin!!

08/29/2026

Unreal! First place in the one meat rib burn at Smokin Ribs for the Kids with a PERFECT 180!

08/25/2026

Woop Woop!!!
2nd one for us this year!

Four Backyard teams joined the coveted 350 Club this weekend.

Pinky Out BBQ led the way with a 352.0000, followed by Wapatui Smokers, MRC Barbecue, and Slab Daddy.

Strong scores. Strong cooking. Trained KCBS Certified Barbeque Judges putting in the work.

Welcome to the 350 Club.

08/23/2026

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!

Made the trip to Smoke on the Midway at the 150th annual Fairbury Fair. Always nice to see our bbq friends on the trail. What a great day it was for our team.

2nd Chicken 🐔
3rd Ribs 🐖

Overall GRAND CHAMPION with a 350+. OUR FIRST GC!!!

We have had a great time getting to this point and could not thank everyone enough for all their help along the way. Congrats to Slab Daddy on their RGC. Looking forward to seeing everyone in future events.

And for the record.....those aren't banners. They are industrial rubber mats. Definitely different and cool!



bbqsc.com

07/20/2026

Another Elkhorn Ribfest is in the books and what a day it was for team Wapatui, Always love this event as it was our first competition a few short years ago. Coming home with the Backyard Champion trophy is unreal. As always, thanks to all of our bbq friends and family for all the support and advice over the years. Next up we head to Fairbury, IL, Aug 22nd. See you all there.

05/10/2026

Smoke In The Woods BBQ is always one or our favorite events of the year. Steve and his group put on an excellent event raising money for their local club. We finished:

1st - chicken wings
4th - Ribs

Chicken wings? US? Amazing considering we never run wings and have never been great at it. So, we did what we know, take our thigh recipe and run it through wings! Getting a few weeks R&R now then heading to Bring'n Home the Bacon. Looking forward to seeing you all there for a busy three-day cook.

04/26/2026

Spent the day at Smoke and Fire in Stanley, WI. Deano always putting on a great event!! Out of 24 great teams we finished:

7th - Ribs
19th - Chicken - Yikes!
15th - overall

We were happy to catch up with our good friend Dave, the short one at 7'1" tall, lol. Now we get a break from KCBS for a while. See you all again at Bring'n Home the Bacon in June.

04/05/2026

Not a bad day at the Iowa State BBQ Championship. Turn ins weren't our best but still squeaked in to get calls in everything we did with scores all over 170. We finished - out of 36 great teams:

10th Ribs
10th Chicken
9th Overall

5th in the Burger ancillary out of 21

Definitely an improvement from the last couple years out there.

Next up we go to Smoke and Fire in Stanley, WI, April 25th. See you all there!!

04/04/2026

Congratulations Carol! 5th place in the burger ancillary tonight out of 21 teams. Pouring rain, lightning and all. Getting us off to a good start in Altoona, IA.