London RIbfest 2013 ~ Rib & Sauce Judging

Since 2009 I've had the honour of being a Celebrity Judge at the London Ribfest, and 2013 was no different. So for the August long weekend I have been putting wings on hold and should be addressed as the Lord of the Ribs.

Travel the park and you can find posters for our judging performance.

We were back at the Band Shell where the trophies were on display for the winners.

While I started wearing my Lord of the Wings shirt, I did don the 'Official Rib Judge' t-shirt. Also waiting for me on the table was my name tag (they even crossed out wings and put ribs just like my banner!) some cutlery (I don't know who is using these on their ribs . . .) plate, some water and wet wipes. Later paper towel arrived. As always, the judges have their choice of beer, wine, coolers etc but I was lucky to get a 710 ml of Coke, and it was all I can drink, so that was awesome.

In the binder were the rules for judging, with a great outline of what the scores should mean, as well as focusing on not punishing the ribbers and being polite.  The actual score sheet changed this year with just having a score, and a section for tasting notes. This is something I normally did with a note pad, but now they have incorporated it right into the evals. Very cool.

Judged are supposed to arrive about 30 mins before actual judging, which gives those of us who have been doing this a chance to catch up, and to meet and greet the new judges.

MCing again this year was Nick Papparella from CTV News. As always, the judging event was open with the grandiosity of Town Crier Bill Paul.

A large crowd was in the tent watching the event. As the judging went on, spectators came to the fence behind us to watch.

There were 12 Judges this year, and as always, these Celebrities ran the gamut of London and area society. From left to right was Bill Paul, Dr Jeff Cao & blogger (http://myotherwhitecoat.blogspot.ca/), Lisa Poulin from Via Rail, beside me on my left is Mike Laskey of Laskey Properties, on my right is London Free Press reporter Joe Belanger, Mayor Heather Jackson of St Thomas Ontario, London City Councillor Harold Usher, Captain TJ Nunnenmacher of the Air Canada Pilots Assoc., Toni Ross of Fresh FM (and last year's MC), Lawyer Murray Neilson and finally Metro London editor Angela Mullins. What a crowd!

We were all introduced my Nick, who throughout the judging would ask us about how we did our jobs, the challenges we faced, and how the ribs and sauces were comparing to one another.

One of my favourite parts of the day beside actually eating all of the ribs is talking to everyone and getting their perspectives, because we all look for different things in ribs. I was really flattered by Mike Laskey beside me who had never judged before, and had looked up my blog to get some tips. We chatted a lot about the process and how to approach judging. On my right, Joe Belanger and I talked about cooking our own ribs and what we wanted to see in the ribs we were eating.

There were 10 Rib Vendors this year in competition for the Best BBQ sauce and Best Ribs. Competing teams were:

• Silver Bullet
• Railroad Ribs
• Route 55
• Ribs Royale
• Fire Island
• Jack the Ribber
• Texas Rangers BBQ
• Boss Hog`s
• Kentucky Smokehouse
• Louisiana BBQ

The first competition is the sauces. They come in small cups and we are given a small breadstick to taste. I take a stick, sample the sauce as much as I want until I get an idea of the flavours I was dealing with. Then I cleanse my palate with water so that I am fresh to try the next sauce.

Here is my rough notes on each sauce:

1. "sweet, black peppery - light with a slight tang, but slight bitter after taste" (7)
2. "almost no flavour" (2)
3. "Dark, more smokey but smooth"(8)
4. "Smokey but sour, dark but very sour, After taste that's sour/bitter" (4)
5. "Tomato flavour, slight bite, smooth, like a BBQ/Hot sauce" (9)

The number in the brackets are my scores - the sauces ranged from low to high. #5 is my favourite with it's heat. #2 was basically devoid of any taste and shocked several of us.

6.   "Dark, Christmas flavour (nutmeg?) - very rich" (8)
7.   "Watery, very fruity, maybe plum or marmalade?" (6)
8.   "Dark but a bit of spice and heat" (7)
9.   "Watery, bit of spice, but a little off" (7)
10. "Thick and chunky, a little smokey, chunks of BACON! (7)

I couldn't believe #10 actually had pieces of bacon . . . that was awesome.

After the sauces came the main event, the Ribs. Each round we were given a new plate, which I used to write the number of the rib to keep track later. After each rib I made sure my hands were clean and I also took a drink to prepare for the next offering. Some ribs came hot, others cold. Some were huge pieces, others small. All presented something different.

What I was looking for in a rib was tender meat with a little tug (no fall off the bones meat), a nice crispy bark that has been flame kissed, a smokey flavour to both meat and sauce, and a BBQ sauce that says something.

1. "Smoke flavour, little tug to the meat, sauce is BBQ-y & sweet. Chewy (good way), and really nice bark"  (10)
2. "Tender meat. No bark. Pork flavour really coming through, very wet and wattery sauce, weak flavour. Reminds me of boiled spare rib from home" (3)
3. "More chewy, little tough, no bark, dark sauce (BBQ) but slightly mild sauce, smoke taster from sauce, not rib" (6)
4. "Smokey - but almost a propane taste. Nice smoke ring, slight tug, tender, strong meat flavour, Dark sauce." (7)
5. "Very little smoke - BLAH - no flavour! Ribs are tender - no bark - just nothing" (2)

Everyone found that #1 was amazing from the start and was going to be the one to beat. It started off as an 8 to me, but as the contest went on, it was clear it was a 10 and everything I was looking for in a rib. #2 and #5 were really dissapointing as they did not seem like BBQ at all. They didn't taste bad, but I'm here for Que.

 Shout out to all the great staff and volunteers at the event. They were friendly and there for whenever any of us needed something. Thanks!

6.   "Smoke - tough meat - complimentary sauce, sweet but not over powering" (6)
7.   "Very tender - sweet/sour sauce -no pull or tug, no bark- very wet sauce, no noticable smoke or ring"(5)
8.   "Good pork flavour - cooked well, slight sweet sauce, slight smoke. Balance." (8)
9.   "Well cooked but almost a little too tough, pork flavour - can't identify the sauce" (6)
10. "Saucy - well cooked, very meaty - mild sauce." (6)

In the end, my favourite and I think all the judges was #1. It just had so much going for it. There was a lot of score variances from judge to judge, but I think we all knew greatness when we tasted it.

A big shout out to Cecil Hillier and all the Hillier's at Family Shows Canada, who keep having me back as a judge and giving me some amazing hospitality. I look forward to the event every year, and when it comes to BBQ, even the 'bottom' of the competition is still good.

Also thanks to LJ for waiting, supporting and taking a ton of photos for me at the event.

And congrats to the winners ~ your efforts were shown and you deserve the trophies!

And the Winners Were:


Judge’s Choice First Place

Best Sauce: Boss Hog’s
Best Ribs: Silver Bullet

Judge’s Choice Second Place

Best Sauce: Silver Bullet
Best Ribs: Kentucky Smokehouse

People’s Choice

Best Ribs: Jack the Ribber
People’s Choice Second Place Best Ribs: Texas Rangers

London 2013 Ribfest Fest

London Ribfest 2013 ~ The Fest

There was a lot of write ups for the London Ribfest 2013 in the London Free Press this year:

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/07/30/londoners-relish-ribfest-which-runs-thursday-through-holiday-monday-at-victoria-park


http://www.lfpress.com/2013/07/31/members-of-cecil-hilliers-family-have-operated-family-shows-canada-for-the-past-20-years

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/07/31/pop-to-blues-to-folk-rock-to-country-ribfest-has-full-entertainment-menu

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/08/02/you-be-the-judge-urges-judge-belanger

It was a great day for the festival in Victoria Park in London Ontario. It was sunny and warm in the sun, but it was not humid out. There were a ton of people all out enjoying rides, crafts and food. Lots and lots of food.

The park is laid out with the vendors winding through the wooded parts, but their is a big field in the middle for people to sit out, relax and enjoy some ribs.

Even Fido with his hat was enjoying the park!

Throughout the park are volunteers manning the EcoStations for recycling. As you can see, there is a ton of garbage at an event where 100 000+ people are attending. The Ribbers also use biodegradable containers for their wares, which is great.

Not only are there 10 Rib Vendors cooking ribs, but there are over 100 other food vendors in the park. So even if you don't like ribs, there are a lot of other food choices. It's become a tradition that after my judging LJ and I get a deep fried Mars bar for dessert. So good.

Depending on the time of day, the line-ups for ribs can get pretty big - even 20 people deep. It's worth it. Ribs, pulled pork, chicken and fixins, this is easily the tastiest festival out there. And the smell; Blocks away from the park you can smell the smoke and the pork and it's just heaven. It helps that they have fans blowing the smoke for everyone to experience.

There are 10 Ribbers cooking up ribs and they come from both Canada and the US. Their stands are huge, and most of them have tables full of trophies. But don't let the trophies and the line-ups food you; go up and look at the ribs, ask for a taste of the sauce and then make your choice, as you might be surprised what you find.

I also love the showmanship of the ribbers. One of my favourites is Boss Hog's with their custom made grill and the dude showboating with sauce on the ribs. It's exciting!

The event is over now, but mark your calendars for next years London Ribfest. There's something for everyone, but especially for the carnivores out there. It's a great way to end the summer for sure.

As for me, this was my 5th year Judging, and it's always great to come back:

London 2013 Ribfest Sauce & Rib Judging

This weekend is the London Ribfest 2013.

I am judging again for the 4th year in a row.

To the rib vendors, here's what I'm looking for in a good rib:


RIB:

• Tender meat, that has a little tug on the bone, not fall-off-the-bone.
• Membrane is removed off the back of the ribs.
• Smokey flavour to the meat.

SAUCE:

• A little sweet, a little heat.
• Some dimension to the flavour - not just one note but where I can taste spices or individual ingedients
• If your sauce is going to be bold (and therefore stand out against the others), make sure it's not just one note (super sweet or super salty). Balance is good.

I know this seems simple, but when you are sampling 10 different types of ribs, you have to think about how to make yours stand out. But not make it stand out in a negative way. 

I'm hoping they bring their A games to the competition. But really, terrible BBQ is better than no BBQ.

Lord of the Wings Ribs

Wing Street Wings & Garlic Bread Pizza from PizzaHut

MAY 2013

Back from my conference, with no groceries, I decided to order food out. I had seen a flyer for Pizza Hut, and that's what I got. Some pizza, some wings - sounded good to me.

In the past couple of years I have not been stoked for Pizza Hut pizza. Everything just seemed to be getting cheaper in quality, but not in price. I also like garlic bread, but pizza, garlic bread and wings can get very pricey. So when I saw the add for Garlic Bread Pizza. I was like, that's what I want - pizza on a garlic bread slice with wings.

I opened the box and visually, this was exactly what I wanted. 12 pieces of garlic bread loaded with cheese and pepperoni. It looked greasy, the pepperoni looked crispy, and the cheese gooey.

And it was good as it looked. With one small drawback - the pizza sauce was too strong and I didn't like it. But everything else was awesome. Perfect garlic bread, great mozza cheese, tasty pepperoni. This was a great idea Pizza Hut.

What goes well with garlic bread pizza? Chicken wings of course.

I've reviewed Wing Street wings from Pizza Hut before, but I wanted to see if anything was different. Nope. The chicken was crispy, still tossed in a spicy/tasty but artificial sauce. The wings were meaty, crunchy, but not long.

Overall, a good (but very unbalanced meal). It was great that I could get 3 dishes in 2. Wings were good for takeout wings as usual. The garlic bread pizza was a great concept. I would get it without sauce, but cheese and pepperoni were just right.

Just saying.

PS: I think this promotion is gone from Pizza Hut. Too bad.

THE COPPER PENNY ~ Kingston ON

MAY 2013

I love my job. One of the big perks of my office is that I have a lot of professional development opportunities. One of these opportunities brought me to one of my associations, OACUHO, who was holding a conference at Queen's University in Kingston.

Most of my office co-workers were also in attendance, and one of them, Kat, went to Queens, so when we arrived and were ready for dinner, she suggested the Copper Penny.

This places name will one day become anachronistic, as we here in Canada are in the process of eliminating the penny from our currency.

Inside, the place does not have a consistent theme. The front kind of looks like a breakfast/tea house, the main bar has blue lights, and the back is in earthy clay tones. It did not seem like a pub, but the menu was very pub-like.

Jo, Kat and Sarah decided they were going to share some plates. I was on my own to have wings (but they did let me do some tasting.

There was an order of their fries ($4.65). The CP is famous for its fries, which are kind of a crinkle cut, but the secret is the seasoning (which is said to be onion soup mix) that make them very good.

Want to up those fries? How about make them Fajita Poutine fries. Tender skillet cooked onions, peppers and chicken, topped with gravy, sour cream and salsa. It might look like a mess, but this Tex-Mex meets Quebecois made for a great and hearty North American summit.

There was also a Brushcetta amking its way to the table. I don't like Brushchetta (its the warm tomatoes - I'll usually scoop that off and eat sepperately) but this was not bad. The cheese was a little skimpy in my opinion, but I think everyone enjoyed.

Wings here come in 'singles' or 'large' which doesn't make any sense to me. Single and Double does, or Small and Large, but not Single and Large. There are about 6 wings in an order and was served with a side of weeds lettuce.

They are heavily dusted, then deep fried, then tossed in thick, generous amounts of sauce.

The menu says they are "Super Jumbo" chicken wings. Folks, these were not Super Jumbo. They were not jumbo either. They were large - not so much in length, but they were very meaty.

The skin started out crispy, but the skin absorbed a lot of the thick sauce.

My dining companions also ordered a plate of wings, but went with mild or maybe medium sauced wing (I can't remember). I didn't try, but they liked them. It should also be noted that they refer to these sauces as BBQ with "all the heats" - this is very confusing because the above could be BBQ sauce, but my suicide was clearly not BBQ sauce.

Suicide (or was it hot?) was a nice, buttery, rich, thick sauce that had some heat, but was augmented by pickled jalapenos, which gave the wings a bit of a briney tang.

While the wings are very saucy, it was surprising how well they dusting and skin held up to the thick sauce. There was still a crunch when you bit into them. These were some good wings.

FINAL SCORE: The inside of the Copper Penny is a little strange, but the food was good. The wings were solid specimens, homemade in both sauce and preparation. Meaty, crispy and full of flavour. Too bad they don't have a wing night. 6.5/10

The Copper Penny 
240 Princess Street, Kingston ON
thecopperpenny.ca