What says spring better than the aromatic mingling of grilled meat and warm breezes? Barbecuing is a rite of the new season and sends a mouth-watering signal to the neighbourhood that there’s been a culinary shift to the great outdoors.
Most of us will dust off the propane cooker, light the gas, and throw supper on the grate. Barbecuing provides a low-prep means to a tasty meal. But for some, grilling is a craft: purchasing just the right cut of meat, choosing between the rotisserie or grill, flavouring with charcoal or fragrant woodchips, and monitoring meat temperatures carefully for perfect doneness.
Niverville residents Bryan Trottier and Darren Sakwi share a passion for the art of grilling. Their backyard spaces are well-stocked with a variety of grills and smokers, each one providing options for a different cooking experience. While neither can fully explain their devotion to the craft, both agree that the sense of satisfaction they derive from preparing a succulent and savoury dish is worth every ounce of effort.
“I think I’m just a fan of good food,” says Trottier. “Every weekend in summer I will either cook for family gatherings or just for whoever is around.”
Trottier owns five barbecues. The propane option is for quick weekday meals. The pellet grill is optimal for long cook times as it augers pellets slowly into a burn pot and maintains a set temperature. His vertical smoker is fuelled by charcoal, adding a unique smoky flavour to the meat but requiring constant attention to maintain the right heat. A kettle grill is perfect for charcoal flavouring, and finally, the Big Green Egg which, according to Trottier, is the pinnacle of backyard grilling. The Egg is a ceramic-coated upscale version of the charcoal barbecue.
Trottier describes his family and friends as “happy guinea pigs” of his experimental outdoor cooking.
“One of the hardest things to master is the timing,” Trottier says. “One time a friend and I did a Turducken—a duck stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey with stuffing between each layer—and we were six hours late for dinner. You can’t make it go faster, so sometimes patience is the key. When I make brisket, I start it at midnight for supper the next day. Pork ribs take me six hours. I have made food for 10 to 15 people and had to throw it away and order pizza. What can I say? Education isn’t free. I do enjoy when my guests rave about the food and then use it as the bar to compare every restaurant we visit from that point on.”
Sakwi’s prime taste subjects are also his ever-willing family and friends. But he enjoys taking the craft to a higher level, entering barbecue competitions around Manitoba and into the United States, where grilling cook-offs bring out hundreds of competitors and handsome cash prizes.
“There is a definite obsession to this craft,” says Sakwi. “Not only to the food but to the cookers used. It’s a religion down south and it’s moving north. People are fanatical about flavour profiles, cooking techniques, sauces, rubs, and cuts of meat. [Some] go as far as raising their own animals with special feed so they can find any edge possible. I’ve heard of people spending upwards of $400 for a brisket. At that price, each bite better be heart-attack-worthy.”
He describes the competitions as intense, sleep-deprived weekends of hard work. Some of these events require a variety of categories using different cuts and types of meat.
“If you don’t have a game plan, you don’t stand a chance,” Sakwi adds. “Our team name is Big O BBQ and we have competed at the Winnipeg Blues and BBQ festival for a number of years. We also competed at the Niverville fair the year they held the event. I distinctly remember [that one], as I only slept two hours in two days. We had blistering winds that wanted to turn our tents and our team into Mary Poppins. It really is a battle of the elements. To date, our best finishes are second place in chicken and a fifth overall. I am proud of these, as it takes many years to perfect recipes and cooking techniques, [not to mention that] the calibre of some teams are top-notch.”
Though Sakwi owns a variety of grills and smokers, his personal favourite is a barbecue-smoker designed by his own company, Stainless Concepts. Still in production, he expects they will be available online very soon.
“My suggestion for anyone who only has a gas grill is: don’t be cheap on a cut of meat, and buy a rotisserie and a temperature probe,” says Sakwi. “Go to a good meat market and spend $80 on a bone-in prime rib roast.”
Even for Sakwi, though, there is a limit to how much one can continually spend on the perfect meal.
“I don’t do this enough for the fact that it’s costly for me to walk into a meat market,” Sawki says. “That, and some cooks are fairly long, sometimes spanning two days. Some people think I’m crazy when they hear I put food on the smoker the evening prior so that it’s ready for supper. And people really think I’ve gone mad when I load up the smoker with 40 or 50 pounds of meat. My thought is if you have the room in the smoker, you might as well load it up.”
Sakwi’s wife, a vegetarian, insists on a good portion of grilled vegetables with every cook.
