Fourth of July Rib Cook-off

This past 4th of July weekend rocked...in short, I saw old friends, met new friends, took in a great bbq and fireworks and really let myself be free to romp around downtown Wilmington. It was a great weekend. Exhausting, but great!

Of course we planned a bbq and while doing so it only seemed appropriate to spice our day up a little with a little competitive cooking....

I challenged my good friend Debbie to a Rib Cook-Off and man did we ever have a throwdown on our hands. Her ribs were a different style than my own, so it really was hard to judge our ribs because they were so different...like trying to judge apples and oranges.

My ribs were slow cooked with a rub in the oven, wrapped in a foil packet with a little water to provide a slow steam. Then, just before the meat falls from the bone I remove them and begin the basting process. I think my trick is to let the ribs come to room temperature...that way the fat seizes a little and they stay juicy. I also prefer to taste the rib itself and then the sauce compliments the smoked meat. I finish them on a charcoal grill to get the crisp, burnt edge texture and lovely smoke flavor.

Debbie's process was to boil the ribs for about an hour, pull them out of the water and then pour on her bbq sauce, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. Then she finishes them on the grill.

Now about the sauces...I made the sweet, rich, dark and sticky rib sauce with lots of brown sugar, molasses, tomato, vinegar, onion and so on...Debbie mixed Scott's BBQ with a mustard based bbq sauce. As I mentioned before, our styles were totally different as were our bbq sauces. This made it difficult to judge...so we went for overall taste.

Our judges certainly dug in and gave us great feedback "Top Chef" style. Jen told us if we used my technique and Debbie's sauce she would declare them the perfect rib. She loves a mustard-based sauce, but loved the texture and juiciness of my rib cooking technique.

Susan is in love with Debbie, but has been best friends and my roommate on two different occasions, so she was completely impartial...and Tracy decided we both did a fantastic job and declared it a tie.

It was so much fun to compete and have fun and of course, TASTE, our delicious creations.

As a side note, I made some of the best collards fresh from the farmer's market that morning.

I'm starting to really like the blogging idea, if not for more than a journal of my life with food, friends and family.

Hopefully you had a fun 4th celebration and got the chance to enjoy a good old bbq!