San Juan cook-off draws a crowd
Ribs were the order of the day in San Juan Bautista on June 13
and 14, as the city hosted its annual Rib Cook-off. The scent of
barbecue wafted through the streets as competitors worked to grab
the title of best ribs and people’s choice. The field of five
included barbecue joints from across California and Nevada, with
homegrown Mansmith’s Barbecue among them.
San Juan cook-off draws a crowd
Ribs were the order of the day in San Juan Bautista on June 13 and 14, as the city hosted its annual Rib Cook-off. The scent of barbecue wafted through the streets as competitors worked to grab the title of best ribs and people’s choice. The field of five included barbecue joints from across California and Nevada, with homegrown Mansmith’s Barbecue among them.
Visitors braved the torn up streets of San Juan, which is in the middle of a street improvement project, in search of parking. Third Street was lined with vendors from Muckelemi Street to The Alameda. The booths offered up arts and crafts, and sweet treats such as shaved ice and funnel cakes. The shops and restaurants of San Juan kept their doors open, with sandwich boards announcing specials of the day.
But the main draw of the event, of course, were the barbecue booths down the center of Third Street.
Carson City Barbecue, a crew from Nevada, competed four years ago in the cook-off. This year, they took home the trophies for first place ribs and people’s choice.
“It’s always great to win the best award as well as people’s choice,” said Clayton Ford, who was manning the barbecue pit.
He turned ribs and applied barbecue sauce to them before pulling them off the pit to serve to a long line of customers. Their booth had the longest line around the lunch hour on Sunday, and it continued to grow after the announcement came over the P.A. system that Carson City had taken home the top prize at the cook-off.
The key to his ribs is “just slow cooking,” Ford said. “You’ve got to take your time.”
Carson City Barbecue’s crew competes in four or five cook-offs a year. The rest of the time, they do catering and special events.
Many of the booths offered more than just ribs. Mansmith’s offered up its signature tri-tip sandwiches, while a visitor from Dos Palos served barbecued turkey legs, brisket and other classic barbecue fare.
Smokehouse specialties brought along a smoker that can hold up to 2,000 pounds of meat at a time. While the cook turned ribs and turkey legs on the top of the grill, he had pots of gumbo, jambalaya and beans cooking below. By 2 p.m., the booth had run out of the signature turkey legs.
The other competitors included BushRod’s Western BBQ and Susie’s BBQ.
