First of all - let me say that it will be LONG TIME before I eat another rib...
At the recent Rhythm City Casino Rockin' Ribfest held here in Davenport, there were 9 different rib vendors vying for top honors for best ribs, best barbecue and "People's Choice" awards. Six of the rib vendors travel the country each summer going to a number of similar events like the one in Davenport. Two of the rib vendors - Jim's Rib Haven and Lil' Lou's - were from the Quad City area. And one vendor - Elmer's Texas Barbecue - had only participated in the 2005 Fargo Rib Fest prior to this.
(As an aside - I was told that Elmer's didn't participate in the 2006 Fargo Rib Fest because Famous Dave's Barbecue is a primary sponsor of the Fargodome - the home of the Fargo Rib Fest - and didn't want any other barbecue joint from Minnesota or North Dakota in the competition. Actually, Elmer's probably gave Famous Dave's a run for their money in 2005 and that's why they weren't invited back.)
The six touring rib vendors - Desperado's BBQ out of Ohio; Porky 'n Beans out of Florida; Cowboys BBQ from Texas; Pigfoot BBQ from Ohio; Rib-bins BBQ from Pennsylvania; and Chicago BBQ Company from the Chicago suburbs - all were vying for the $1000 first prize of best ribs and best barbecue with the other three rib vendors. And the coveted "People's Choice Award" allows bragging rights for both the national and the local rib vendors.
The judges for the event are a group of local celebrities, members of the Scott County Pork Producers, and one guy who is a certified rib judge by the Kansas City Barbecue Society (no shit!). The judging is done at noon on Saturday and the rib vendors usually work a good portion of the night before to make the best ribs possible.
(That's another little secret about the Rib Fest - or rib fests in general. The best time to get ribs is usually at the same time the judging is going on or that afternoon. They don't cook just one slab - they cook MANY slabs and pick the best one out of a dozen or so. All of them have been cooked equally so they're all pretty damn good.)
First of all, I tried 'em all. I had ribs on Thursday and Friday - mainly the three rib samplers they would dish up. Actually, being the stage manager and getting to know some of these guys over the years they've been coming also helps to get a couple more bones in the container.
Winning both the best ribs and best barbecue categories was new-comer Rib-bins BBQ. Second place in best ribs went to Desperado's and third place went to Cowboy's. For best barbecue (a combination of best sauce and best tasting ribs), Porky n' Beans got second place and Desperado's got third place.
Desperado's (right) got the People's Choice award for the national vendors, while Jim's Rib Haven won the local People's Choice crown for the eighth straight year. Elmer's placed second in the People's Choice award about 50 votes behind Desperado's.
(Another aside - Famous Dave's was here the last couple of years and didn't participate this year. I'm sure it was because Jim's Rib Haven beat them in the People's Choice awards both years by large margins.)
Now, I like to think that I know a little about ribs and barbecue and I have to respectfully disagree with the judges. Rib-bins was good, but I thought the best ribs - hands down - were Elmer's Texas BBQ.
Owners Tim and Ursula Nanson bought Elmer's about 4 years ago from the original owner, Elmer Neumann, who was a native of Texas and who had an authentic 2 ton smoker pit brought up from Texas for the restaurant. Tim's secret for the Rib Fest - he would smoke the ribs at a low temperature for 6 to 7 hours, about 225 degrees (F). Then he'd take them out of the smoker and wrap the slabs up in aluminum foil and put them in a low heat warmer, about 110 degrees (F), for another 4 hours or so. The meat would just fall away from the bone, it was that tender.
The only thing I didn't care for was that when Tim would serve the ribs, he'd sprinkle on some of the rub that he used to cook the ribs with. I thought that is was too salty and detracted from the taste of the ribs. I got to talking to him Saturday night and told him just that and he cut off a rib bone from a slab and gave it to me to eat plain. It was very good.
And their sauce was sort of plain. I did buy some and brought it home to play with it. I took about a cup of it and added a half of tablespoon of garlic powder and a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. It zipped it up tremendously.
He told me to come back on Sunday as he was smoking a bunch of ribs on Saturday night and then put them in the warmer overnight. He said they should be unbelievably great the next day.
And he wasn't kidding. The meat was a perfect dark pink throughout and it fell off the bone when you touched it. They were, by far, the best ribs I had during the whole weekend.
Elmer's doesn't have a big booth like the others so they weren't as busy as the national touring vendors throughout the weekend. But Tim was pleased with the business he got and hoped he'd get to come back next year. I told him that I'd lobby for him.
And I told him that I get up to Fargo from time to time, and being that he's in the area (Battle Lake, MN is just off of I-94 east of Fergus Falls, about 60 miles from Fargo) I said that I'd stop in. He said, "Come up and spend the night. We'll show you a real good time."
I may just do that.
For the others at the fest - Porky n' Beans had, I believe, the best sauce. They had a hot sauce that wasn't too hot, but had enough zip behind it to make you notice. I was disappointed, however, to find that they weren't selling any of their sauces at the Rib Fest.
Right behind Porky n' Beans for best sauce was Pigfoot BBQ. They had four different sauces to choose from - a sweet, a mild, a hot and one they called "Killer". Actually, I mixed the sweet and the "Killer" sauce together (about 10 parts sweet and 1 part killer) and it was a very good combination. And I thought their ribs were very good, as well.
I was somewhat disappointed in the Chicago BBQ company. Tom Ferguson is sort of a legend in the Chicago area for his ribs and 20 years ago he began to travel to rib festivals and took a lot of top prizes along the way.
This year because the Super Bowl of Rib festivals - the Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook Off - was going to start a day earlier this year the following Wednesday out in Reno, NV, a number of the rib vendors who have been in Davenport in the past passed on coming this year. Chicago BBQ Company was going to Reno, too, but Tom Ferguson sent a secondary crew to Davenport for the Rockin' Ribfest. Their ribs were OK, but not to the level I was expecting. I was actually more disappointed in not being able to meet Tom Ferguson, who was back in Chicago preparing for Reno.
(By the way, in a somewhat stunning upset, Famous Dave's won the top prize of best ribs at the Best of the West fest in Reno this year. And validating my opinion of best sauce in Davenport, Porky n' Beans won for best sauce in Reno.)
And I was also somewhat disappointed in Cowboys BBQ. I've had their ribs before and I remember them to be much better. Also, they didn't allow you to put your own sauce on it. They had two sauces - mild and hot - and they ladled them on the ribs before they served them. And their hot sauce wasn't all that hot.
Other than the most obvious winner in my book - Elmer's - it was difficult to say who was the best. It's like trying to say what's better - chocolate, vanilla, chocolate chip or strawberry ice cream. They're all pretty damn good. But Elmer's, I thought, had the best ribs. Not the best sauce, but the best ribs. And I know a lot of people that I talked to thought the same thing.
But like I said, it will be a long LONG time before I eat another rib...
Comments