August 8, 2022

The new GBA grill kings are also defending champions!

From August 6th to 7th, 2022, it was finally time again - "Get to the coals - get on the grill!" The German BBQ scene is finally back in the competition square! After two years of Corona-related forced break, the 25th German Grill Championship was finally able to take place on the exhibition grounds in Fulda! Michael Hoffmann and his team GutGlut eV did it - with a lead of 8 points - so a total of 1107.250 points, he and his team defended the title from 2019! Michael Hoffmann can therefore continue to carry the title and the scepter as German Grill & BBQ King 2022 and the GutGlut eV team can call themselves German Grill Masters 2022!

Second place – the title of German Vice Grill Champion 2022 – went to the Real Smoke BBQ team from Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg (1099.250 points), ahead of the third-placed team, the reigning BBQ World Champions, BBQ Wiesel (1087.500 points)!

In the amateur category, the Green Heart BBQ team from Thuringia with team leader Maja Weigt secured the title of German Amateur Grill Champion 2022 with a lead of almost 6 points (735.625 points) over second-placed MEN ON FIRE (729.875 points). MEN ON FIRE can call themselves German Amateur Vice Grill Champion 2022. Third place in the amateur category went to the Brandstifter (722.250 points)

Further information about the winning team GutGlut eV and the grill king Michael Hoffmann:
The GutGlut team has been around since 2003 and has a total of 8 members. The three women and five men, aged between 16 and 54, are all passionate grillers - there is no chef, butcher or anyone who works in the catering industry - grill king Michael Hoffmann, for example, is an IT architect!

This year the team won with the following dishes:
- Course 1 – Hamm's grilled sausage – gently smoked and grilled (5th place)
- Course 2 – Leg of venison in fine writing (1st place)
- Course 3 – BBQ Breakfast Egg's Benedict (2nd place)
- Course 4 – Vegetarian Big Kahuna Burger (1st place)
- Course 5 – St. Louis Cut Ribs Low and slow (5th place)
- Course 6 – Dessert – The Cube 2.0 – Chocolate and Bacon (3rd place)

A nice overview of the team and its successes can also be found at www.gutglut.de

In addition to the competitions, the supporting program, peppered with live bands and DJs, was once again a highlight for barbecue enthusiasts! Over 60 exhibitors from the industry were also delighted to finally be able to present their products and news to a wide audience again. And speaking of a wide audience - in the best weather, 15,000 visitors took advantage of the opportunity this weekend to meet teams and bloggers, get to know new products and sample culinary delights from the BBQ special caterer! One or two visitors also had the opportunity to be a guest eater for one of the teams while they fought for the crown in the 1st league of German barbecue sport. The gates to the exhibition grounds, which had been lined up for a long time, opened at 10 a.m. and we, Mayor Wehner, welcomed everyone present on the second day of the competition together with GBA President Oliver Sievers and GBA Managing Director.

Finally the German Grill Championships are back! This year's winners were probably most pleased about that.

In order to give the teams a fair assessment, this year only experienced judges certified by the GBA were used to evaluate the performance of the grill teams. Not that this is not always the case, but normally the GBA always uses its DGM for training and initial trial assessments of new judges as trainees. This was not the case in 2022, as it was the first major assignment for many teams and judges after a long break from competition and here the GBA trusted the many years of experience of its trained judges that they could assess well and objectively. And they did - over 50 judges were able to evaluate and taste a number of delicious dishes from over 30 teams, and ultimately chose Team GutGlut as the winner.

The main focus on both days was on the grill teams from all over Germany, who dedicate themselves to grilling in its finest form with a lot of effort, enthusiasm and dedication. Visitors had the opportunity to stroll back and forth between the individual teams and, in addition to trying one or two dishes, were able to marvel at the most beautiful plates of the German BBQ scene - because in addition to the competition boxes, the teams always set up so-called display plates for their grilling sessions in order to present their results to interested spectators.

They were two great days with a fantastic atmosphere and a great performance from all the grill teams!