Rib cookoff a friendly but intense competition

Just two minutes after winning the crown for best ribs at Naperville's Ribfest last year, Duce Raymond already was getting excited about the 2009 competition.

"We're going to try to do it exactly the way we did it last year so hopefully we had a winning recipe and it wasn't just luck and we can do it (again)," said Raymond, catering operations manager for the Sweet Baby Ray's in Wood Dale.

Raymond is also a partner in the business with his uncle Dave Raymond who founded it. He entered the competition with cooking pal Ron Nunes.

Seventeen ribbers will face off Saturday hoping to snag one of two titles - best ribs or best sauce. They'll be judged based on taste, tenderness and appearance.

Sweet Baby Ray's not only won first place for its ribs last year but also came in second for its sauce while Ohio-based Smokin' Joe's Hog Wild Barbeque took home that trophy.

As the second-largest competition in the country, Raymond said Ribfest draws top ribbers and winning last year brought quite a bit of extra attention to the business.

He's been practicing his cooking technique - cook on low heat for six hours and season the meat once before it goes into the smoker and twice while it's inside. This year he is also bringing five different regional sauces to the fest for hungry visitors to try.

But when it comes to sauce, Joe Henderson is the defending champ and has also been testing recipes in preparation for the event.

"You're all vying for the best ribs and best sauce and it's a friendly competition," he said. "Intense but friendly."

He too is sticking with what worked in the past - a sweet, tangy sauce - but said it may have a little extra spice this year.

It won't be all work and no play this weekend for Henderson.

"We love to come up there and listen to the music," he said. "It's a great festival."