Barbecue Ribs Put to the Test
(Page 4 of 4)
July/August 2009
Carol Crupper
As chicken, pork, ribs and brisket arrive at the table, each is scored on appearance, taste and tenderness. To win, says Doug Naslund, correctional facility director and head chef for Skin-n-Bones of Pueblo, Colorado, “You have to cook well and you have to get lucky on the tables.”
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Some judges have competed before; others, like Grinstead, plan to try it someday. “I can cook all four meats,” he says. “I just can’t get them done when they need to get done.”
And that’s the trick. At the appointed hour, meat must hit perfection. With time ticking, runners rush insulated containers to the judging arena.
Mike Dietzen, running for Habitual Smokers from northwest Arkansas, pauses to assess the scene. He knows that judges shuffle entries once they pass check-in, yet he wants to place his ribs as far from the stiffest competitors as possible. “I’m superstitious,” he says.
He picks his line and lets luck take it from there.
Event draws crowd
From her ringside seat, Carolyn Wells sees interest in barbecue growing.
She attributes this to the growth in the types of barbecue restaurants, to development of “fabulous sides,” and to the attention barbecue receives on the Food Channel. “Barbecue people see themselves as a couple steps off center,” she says. “They’re colorful, opinionated. People see that on television, and they think that looks like fun.”
Plus, she says, “Barbecue is the ultimate comfort food.” She notes a surge of contest participation since 9/11. For many, she says, “barbecue is their way of bonding, cocooning.”
Last year, 60,000 visitors attended the American Royal Barbecue, a festival featuring colorful characters, flying gargoyles, draft horses, cooking demonstrations, music, fireworks and, of course, great barbecue.
Many who rubbed shoulders with some of the cooking legends may have been inspired to join the ranks of the barbecue brigade to create their own twist on this ancient art, and, perhaps, to become habitual smokers themselves.
Freelance writer Carol Crupper, of Lawrence, Kansas, is partial to a Kansas City barbecue favorite: burnt ends.
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