A low and slow style of barbecuing will be among the highlights of the 2015 Winnipeg Barbecue and Blues Festival.
The Winnipeg Barbecue and Blues Festival, slated for Friday and Saturday, will feature an internationally sanctioned Barbecue Competition that will attract teams from across Canada. Perry Hopkins, the director of barbecue events with the Winnipeg Barbecue and Blues Festival, explains, because of the larges cuts of meat and the low and slow barbecuing style, the teams will start cooking late Friday and cook all night.
The competition is comprised of 4 different meat groups. To start with they will cook any part of a chicken. They will also have to cook a pork rib, either a back rib or a St. Louis cut side rib. The 3rd meat would be a bone in pork butt and then finally they would cook a full beef brisket. Again it’s using the low and slow style of cooking where, instead of fast grilling, they will have their temperature set at roughly in and around 225 degree range. The pork butt for example could be taking 10 plus hours to cook, ribs 4 to 5 hours.
What they’re trying to do is break down those connective tissues to get the tenderest of product for the judges. The judges will score on appearance, taste and tenderness.
The teams, when they’re turning in their meats, will turn them in starting them in at 4:00 pm, and they will turn one meat group in every half hour.
Hopkins says, while grilling has always been popular, this low and slow style of barbecuing has really been picking up over the years. He says, while you can get pretty elaborate with various rubs and preparations of the meat, it’s a simple form of cooking that the common man can embrace.
