Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Rain can't dampen Gogebic Fair barbecue cook-off

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood - With most of the work done under canopies, the rain was unable to dampen the enthusiasm for the Gogebic County Fair's inaugural barbecue cook-off.

Four teams entered the competition; with most, if not all, entering all the cook-off's categories.

"They had three categories they could enter; they could enter brisket, barbecued ribs and chicken. Most people chose to go in all three categories, which was awesome," said Crystal Suzik, one of the contest organizers.

The entries were judged by a panel of five judges - Dan Wanink, Tom Schuessler, Chuck Burhans, Gary Wesolowski and Brittany Bennetts.

"We only judged on taste ... there's supposed to be, in regular judging, (criteria on) taste, texture and appearance," Wanink said.

"We had some great judges too, which was fabulous. Most of the judges were local, and a couple of them have been in cook-offs ... we tried to have a diverse (group) of judges," Suzik said.

She said limiting the criteria to taste was mostly done to keep things simple during the contest's inaugural year.

Pit master and Ironwood resident Brian Johnston, who said he cooks under the name Buggy's Rib Shack, won the competition. Erwin Township's Ray Brown and a crew of people from Whitney Creek Farm took second; Heather and Matt Jones, from Clintonville, Wis., under the name Smokin' Good took third; and Chris Kortemeier and Dean Kitto with Diamond Drywall took fourth.

"For a first year cook-off, it went great," Suzik told the Daily Globe. "Even though (the participants) were being rained on, they were just loving it. As you could see, everybody was really excited - they were happy. It wasn't this kind of competition where everybody had hard feelings."

While Johnston has cooked for his own enjoyment, it's not something he does professionally.

"I'm a weekend warrior. I'm an aircraft mechanic and boat mechanic by trade," Johnston said. "I cook on a grill when I have time. I've been doing it for years, but (this is the) first competition."

Johnston said he primarily cooked his winning dishes over charcoal, but used different woods to flavor the meat.

While he used hickory for his brisket, he put apple wood in with his chicken and ribs.

"I do what I think taste good. I've thrown two pieces of chicken away in my life, since I started cooking," Johnston said, adding he has also had to toss a brisket once due to a seasoning issue.

While Johnston pulled the brisket he entered into the competition after a while, he said it probably cooked for a total of nine to 10 hours.

While Johnston said briskets generally get better the longer they are smoked, cooking for his family means sometimes there are time restraints that prevent him from devoting as much as he'd like to barbecuing.

"The best brisket is a long-cooked brisket," he said. "... but sometimes on a Sunday, that's all you've got."

Along with the cook-off's popularity among contestants, it was also popular with the fairgoers who had braved the rain.

"Everybody loved it. They were in here so early this morning and they were set up and cooking," Suzik said. "You walked onto the fairgrounds, and of course our vendors weren't open yet, so that was all you could smell - these guys cooking."

Johnston said he hopes to defend his crown at next year's competition, but he will likely face a stiff challenge, given Suzik's encouragement at the end of the event.

"We're looking forward to next year, so please come back next year and try to knock off the first place winner," Suzik told the crowd after the results were announced.

The cook-off was just one of several new attractions at this year's fair; with a cornhole tournament, craft fair and petting zoo also being brought to the fair at for the first time. The fair also featured the classic attractions; including musical performances, livestock auction and carnival rides.

The weekend also featured a variety of food options and a successful pie auction.

The fair suffered from the weekend's rain on the fair's busiest days, which fair board chairman Jim Gribble said "substantially" impacted attendance.

"The fair was good. The weather, of course, was horrible so our numbers are bad on Saturday and Sunday," Gribble said. "Thursday and Friday we had fun - the numbers were better on those days because the weather was perfect. But what are you going to do?"

While the fair was able to have all its events, Gribble said it took some rearranging to get everything possible under a roof and out of the rain.

While all the events went off, Gribble said he thought even attendance for annual traditions such as the 4-H livestock auction were also likely hurt by the weather.

"The fair part of (the weekend) went well, the weather part of it didn't," Gribble said. "But like I said, we did the best we could with what we had to work with."

 
 
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