Event rubs rib fans right way

RICHARD BEALES
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It's easy for anyone to make great ribs, maintains Steven Wolf of Bad Wolf Barbecue, but the best teacher of all is experience.

The 16-year professional "ribber" from Kansas City, Mo., has been working the ribfest circuit in Ontario and the northeastern United States for the last 12 of those years. And he said the secret to success has never changed. He and his competitors/colleagues have all won their share of awards and popular acclaim, but there's enough of a difference between their products to keep things challenging after all this time.

"We start off with the same exact rib, but we do various things to make them different from each other," said Wolf, who married a Canadian woman 28 years ago and has been based in the Toronto area ever since.

"We start by putting a rub on the ribs overnight, with our own particular blend of spices, sugar and salt. And that gets into the meat. When we do smoke it, we might use different temperatures, or different times or different woods. And we all have our own sauces."

Wolf was one of five ribbers to set up shop at the inaugural Kinsmen Club of Brantford Ribfest, held Friday through Sunday at Cockshutt Park.

With all ribs selling for the same price, $22 for a full rack, less for a half or a third, why would anybody choose his ribs over theirs?

"Well, the big differences are what you do before you cook, after you cook and the sauces you put on them," Wolf said. "But Bad Wolf Barbecue just has a bigger smile."

The biggest smiles of all belonged to the people who were eating the ribs and taking in the other activities, such as live music, a beer tent and a midway for the kids.

"They're excellent," said Sylvia Gray of Brantford, as she finished off one of many ribs from a rack purchased from the Brick Yard BBQ for herself and three others in her party of family and friends. "They've got just a little bit of spice in them."

Fellow muncher Victoria Rank, 11, offered a thumbs-up and a rating of "very good," while Steisha Austin, 11, reviewed them as "pretty good" and mom Lori Austin of Brantford declared them "delicious."

Their only complaint on a warm day full of good eating?

"It's too expensive for the rides," Lori Austin said. "It's $55 for the two of them (indicating the kids) to have 20 tickets, about seven rides each."

At a nearby table, Kinsmen Club president Elwood Phillips was finishing up his own serving of Brick Yard BBQ ribs.

"They're pretty good," he said. "I've tried two; I tried Pistol Pete's on Friday and they were also good. But I could never make a judge at an event like this; they're all good."

Phillips tipped his hat to Tom Sevier, the club's vice-president and the chairman of Ribfest.

"Tom did a great job on it," he said, noting that with the help of others in the club, he pulled it all together out of nothing.

Sevier recalled that he first considered a ribfest in early spring.

"We were actually approached by a couple of ribbers," he said "They asked us if we'd ever consider a ribfest."

So Sevier did his homework and found that while the shows are a moneymaker for the ribbers, they stand to be good for service clubs, too.

"I called up, I think, six different ribfests throughout Ontario," he said. "Burlington's is the biggest. They got about 176,000 people this year and they have 18 ribbers."

The people he talked to suggested that might be a little optimistic for a first-time operation, however.

"They all said, 'Stick with about five ribbers.' "

And the Kinsmen did. They kept the beer and water concessions for themselves, but didn't charge an entry fee.

"We've tried to keep it simple."

The enthusiasm was there throughout the weekend, however, leaving club treasurer Norm Philpott cautiously optimistic.

"We're hoping for $10,000 (in proceeds)," he said, "but that could be a little on the high side. As for attendance, "we've got to be pushing 20,000 to 23,000."