Monday, September 4, 2017

Day 233 Labor Day Weekend Heinz Field Rib Fest - food, fun, family and football kickoff tradition

Smokin Joes-a lot of spunk

I am not even a meat person so to go to the Heinz Field Rib Festival   is a little out of my comfort zone as well as a new experience.  Pittsburgh has had a Rib Fest since 1990 when it was held at the now long gone, Three River Stadium.  The pulse of this town is football  and  a rib festival  seems like the  appropriate kick-off  to the  season  since footballs are made from  pigskins. It also could be that ribs are a tailgate favorite and this town goes all out during  Steelers and Pitt football  tailgates. In any event,  Labor  Day and ribs seems to be a deep rooted  Pittsburgh tradition. With free admission and also a great track record of free entertainment, I was off  to try a bunch of  ribs!


I tried 6 different kinds of ribs at the Rib fest 2017

Reflection
Heinz Rib Fest 2017 had 14 award winning rib vendors. They all had  some type of  trophy  displayed in the front of their stands so I figured that they must all be good.  I am not even sure what makes a good rib because I don’t eat a lot of meat.  Talking to patrons I discovered that the sauce  and hardy meat with low fat produced the most accolades.

Cowboy's one of my favorits



I am not a food critic. What I enjoyed most was talking to the vendors who described their creations of  ribs, brisket or pulled pork with pride.  They beamed as they explained their sauce or  their special cooking technique. I managed to try 6 different types of ribs or brisket before my stomach rebelled from the meat!
Chicago BBQ great Brisket
I started off with Cowboy’s BBQ & Rib Co which was my meaty  tasty  first rib.  Smokin Joe’s Ribs  claimed that they did not bake their ribs like the rest but wood grilled them. I liked the spunk of the cook and yes they were one of my favorits.   Smokin T’s BBQ claimed to have the best sauce which had a great tangy kick but the extra sauce seemed watered down. Chicago BBQ had my favorite brisket . Bad Azz BBQ had the longest line and  seemed to have satisfied  repeat customers  but I did not get to try them.

Smokin-T Sause stand


My favorite was Rib-Bins for the taste and the heart displayed in this all family operated business from Chambersburg, PA.  I spoke to Zy, the owner's niece. She was excited to tell me  how they came up with their signature  sweet potato cornbread, which was excellent by the way. They had a great spicy rib that seemed to register the best with my taste buds. I loved that the  whole family was a part of  the Rib-Bins team.

Rib-Bins my favorite rib and sweet potato cornbread







After I thought about it, it’s not  ribs that go so well with football, it’s that most rib vendors are a family owned business where everyone works together just like a football team. The food is good and ribs are a hardy comfort food. It gets us ready for the fun and camaraderie of watching one of America’s favorite sports-football.     
Outlaws-Green Grass and High Tides Forever 

(The Heinz Rib Fest also combines good food with  musical talent.  The admission and music is free.  I saw the Outlaws during my adventure. The Outlaws put on a enthusiastic, guitar riffing show for  2 hours  in the rain!) 

 Spiritual Reflection
 Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-8)

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