Staff photo by Gage Cureton A plate of BBQ ribs from six teams in the Third Annual BBQ Rib Contest rests on the judging table, as Greg Howard scores ribs based on appearance, taste and tenderness Saturday at Allison Park in Sleepy Eye. Howard said he enjoyed each team’s BBQ entry and it was hard to choose the winner. Team Smoke Eater BBQ won the first-place title for best ribs, with members Dan Schottenbauer, Cal Mertz and Chris Fahey of the Sleepy Eye Fire Department.

SLEEPY EYE — BBQ smokers belched aromas and taste buds tingled at the Third Annual BBQ Rib Contest Saturday as Sleepy Eye celebrated its 58th Annual Buttered Corn Days Celebration.

Six teams offered up their own unique recipes to hungry celebration-goers, as a panel of three judges scored the teams’ BBQ hog racks on appearance, taste and overall tenderness.

Team Smoke Eater BBQ won the first-place title for best ribs, with members Dan Schottenbauer, Cal Mertz and Chris Fahey of the Sleepy Eye Fire Department.

“I think we had a good blend of seasoning, and we made a new sauce this year,” Schottenbauer said. “I think we had the sauce down really good, and everybody seemed to like what we had going on.”

Preparation began Friday evening with applying seasoning to the ribs to prep them for the next morning. Schottenbauer said his team then woke up early the next day to fire up the smoker at 4:30 a.m., then began smoking the rib racks around 6 a.m. By noon, the racks were ready to go for the contest.

Schottenbauer said their sauce, combined with their seasoning blend, is the kicker for this year’s success.

“It’s a little sweet and once it goes down you kind of get the heat to follow it up,” Schottenbauer said. “It’s got a little depth to it.”

He said they received their meat as a donation from Christensen Farms.

Team Smokin’ Aces won the second-place title, and Skol Train BBQ secured the third-place spot.

Sponsors for the Third Annual BBQ Rib Contest are Brown County Pork Producers, Christensen Farms, Schwartz Farms, Schweiss Meats, Novotny Real Estate and Appraisals and Haala Industries.

Gage Cureton can be emailed at gcureton@nujournal.com.