Manitoba Open BBQ CHampionships, August 2009

Results: 1st place chicken, 1st place ribs (179 score), 2nd place pork, 4th place brisket
Overall: Reserve Grand Champion

This was the first year for a full, sanctioned BBQ competition. at the Morden Corn & Apple Festival. It's the first time we attended and we're sure glad we did - who knew Manitoba had such a diverse, thriving BBQ community? I even saw a Klose pit in person for the first time - Reece's Roadside BBQ was proud to show it off and rightly so. These guys were great neighbors, enthusiastic as heck. And it's the first time I've seen someone fully asleep, standing up, leaning against a trailer, beer in hand. Almost like it was routing. Nice.

We catered an event in Regina on the Friday of this Friday/Saturday event... master scheduler I am not. We were able to pull out of Regina at 5:15 PM, leaving the ribs to be cut up and served, and leaving the beef & potatoes still cooking. The cater went pretty well, although it's as close as we've ever come to running out of food. In fact I understand the beans didn't quite make it. Fortunately there was enough beef for everyone and there were a couple racks of ribs left over in the end. I was quite mortified and never want to repeat that. All I can say is, we'll be more prepared next time for a crowd that's 85% over 50. Those 'kids' cleaned us out. BUT everyone was full and happy.

So about 10 PM, I noticed that the gas needle was just barely above empty. IN. THE. MIDDLE. OF. NOWHERE. We kept driving, Gord got on the horn with CAA to deliver us from gas. "Where are you" they said. "Driving towards Portage" was all we could answer. Apparently they don't like chasing motorists through the countryside at night??? So we had to pull over and wait. After 5 minutes we said forget it. Gord was sure there was a PetroCan at the intersection of Highways 1 and 16. Sure enough, 8 minutes later we pull in sputtering and make it to the pump. I called CAA, Gord pumped gas, and we were on the road again. It wasn't until 12:15 that we pulled into the dark, smoky parking lot. There was a big gap right in the middle of the cluster of teams, and we called that gap home for the next 16 hours.

Gord's job: Fire up the chimney, fire up the big BBQ pit. My job was to get the meat inspected and begin rubbing etc. We pre-trimmed the big meats so we'd be able to get them on ASAP. Thank goodness for incredible PNWBA head judge Angie Quaale who waited up to do our meat inspection, this weekend wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

The next 10 minutes totally blew me away... the van was literally attacked by other friends and team members, and while I was injecting butts I turned around to see the whole van unloaded. AWESOME. Next thing, the canopy is set up over me. This sort of thing seems to only happen at BBQ competitions, the community spirit is incredible. Thank you all so much for helping us get set up after a late arrival.

With the butts and brisket on, we could finally relax and talk to some of the other teams. We made it through the night with a couple hours of sleep each, more than enough to get through the next day. Turn in's were relatively uneventful, except for a butt that hit the ground. That really sucked, no choice but to pitch it. Briskets were foiled to speed up the cooking time, and there was NO bark when I opened them up. They went back on the pit for 10 minutes before slicing, then rested for about 15 more. The bark firmed up nicely, but I think they dried out a bit by doing that. I was 100% satisfied with the ribs and chicken.
Gord's mom made the trek down from Winnipeg for the day, she was a pleasure to have around and really fun. We put her in charge of the time clock and she happily obliged. Gord's MIL and FIL also came down to check things out, it was nice to see them again too. Nice to have some support so far from home!

With turn ins done, we had a 4 hour wait before awards were to be announced. So we took our time closing shop, and went to the hotel to check in and get cleaned up. Back to the competition where they were gearing up the "BBQ Ball", 200 people to be served, including sponsors and the general public who bought tickets to this fundraiser event. The awards ceremony kicked off this ball. Perry Hopkins, the grand master of the MOBC, thanked a lot of people and did some introductions, then Angie took the mike to call out the winners. Special mention goes to our good friends who got calls, Smokin' Jim, Darrel B of Burnside BBQ, newer cook Bernie of Smokin' Hawg, and Dougzapig who won first place in the sauce category.
HUGE congratulations to Winnipeg team Bad Azz for G.C! They have won this event three years in a row. This win is an automatic Jack invitation for them, and an entry into the AR Invitational for 2010. I hope we see them in Sask. in 2010.

We couldn't have been happier with our results, with a 1st in ribs (179 score), 1st in chicken, 2nd in pork, and 4th in brisket. It was good enough for Reserve GC, 3 points behind the winner. After the awards we talked with the Bad Azz team, incredibly gracious winners. I feel like I learned more in 20 minutes talking to Jim Johnson of Memphis than I learned in months of trials at home.
By then we were ready to take off. We were joined for supper by Angie Quaale, who was also quite sick of BBQ by this time. A scan of Morden indicated that the town was still full of tourists and that we'd have a tough time finding a place to eat. So we were off to Winkler instead. After touring the whole town we settled on Del Rios, a "Mexican / mennonite / Canadian" restaurant. Who can resist that combination?? In the end, it wasn't bad but nothing to blog about. So that's all 'bout that.

The only other highlight was a well deserved sleep at the Super 8, followed by a nice breakfast before we hit the highway. Well this time we were pumped about the results and talking non stop about plans for the American Royal. We completely forgot about gas AGAIN and this time we had no choice but to pull over. Fortunately a young local farmer was driving by with his family and they brought back a big can of gas about 10 minutes later. Great people, we were lucky to have so much good help this weekend. We sent them home with a big foil pack of pulled pork, hopefully they enjoyed it.

That's it!

I will need to write about 'ast weekend's Regina's Ribfest, a first time event that drew crowds by the THOUSANDS. And I'll need to write about the blown tire that turned a busy weekend into an insane weekend.

This weekend is our biggest comp ever, BBQ on the Bow. Our expectations are high but this is a very strong field of competitors. The other thing running through my mind is that we do well with inexperienced judges, but the Bow is a very well established event with a long history. Who knows how this will play out. If we are lucky enough to win, it will mean a full year to plan our trip to the Jack in 2010.

Fred came in from Michigan, this is most of his crew: Great folks, wish I could have spent more time over there.



H&S BBQ Smokers from Kipling, SK. They make these pits, and other designs too. There's a rotisserie in there. Very efficient design for the cold Canadian winters. They did very well overall, 3rd or 4th.