South Dakota BBQ History

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Thanks to the Norway Rib Eaters, Herb Bliss, Heck Harnois, Eli Hanson and Kenny Erickson, Vermillion just may be the barbeque capital of South Dakota with a proud history of huge community barbeque events that date back to the 1940’s. Vermillion residents and students from the University of South Dakota that have attended the local rib feeds over the last 65 years often recount fond memories of these classic culinary feasts.

Cookin’ with Cobs and the Legend of the Norway Rib Eaters

While the south is known for its hickory and Texas is known for its mesquite, thanks to a small group of barbeque pioneers, South Dakota is known for its “corncobs.” That’s right, corncobs, a barbeque heat source not unlike hickory or mesquite was first born out of necessity and availability.

In the 1800’s when homesteaders first ventured on to the plains of the Dakotas, they were greeted with endless waves of beautiful prairie grasses. While these wide-open acres offered would-be farmers and ranchers’ fertile soil and rich hunting ground, they yielded little in the line of trees that offered the vital protection and warmth needed to survive the long cold winters for which the area was known.

To solve this problem the settlers-built sod houses and burned whatever was available. This often included what were commonly known as buffalo chips. While these dehydrated morsels left behind by the prairies largest inhabitants were plentiful and functional as a heat source, they were anything but an ideal way to cook meals and warm small earthen homes. It was not until farmers harvested their first crops that they were able to find a more suitable and plentiful if not more aromatic alternative, “corncobs.”  Cobs soon became the fuel of choice for the fireplaces and “potbelly stoves” in the homes of many. Farmers would use this “cleaner burning alternative fuel
source” to cook their meals and warm their homes for many years to come.

Corncobs: The Pioneer Charcoal

Back in 1940 a group of barbeque enthusiasts from the Norway Township west of Vermillion came up with the idea to host a rib feed at an area known as Wery Grove the site where the Clay County rodeo grounds is now located. However, the group was faced with a dilemma, how could they produce quality ribs with a sweet smoky barbequed flavor without a ready supply of hickory, fruitwood, or other traditional barbeque heat sources.

Corncobs were a natural choice, but these barbeque pros knew that burning cobs produced a level of heat far too intense to be used for the low and slow heat needed to properly barbeque ribs. This problem was remedied by pre-burning the cobs in a small pile until they cooked down to embers. A scoop shovel was then used to place the coals under the grates of makeshift grills.

While the Norway Rib Eaters were not the first to cook over cobs, they were the first to turn it into an art form. Their modest size rib feeds grew as time went on. The first rib feed served just over 50 people but in later years, they would prepare over 1,000 lbs. of ribs at a single event. In the 1970’s, Rib Eater protégés Larry Mart and Paul Bliss cooked over a ton of ribs at a time for several events in the area.

Cooking over cobs is more than a barbeque process; it is a tradition that is representative of the heritage of the Vermillion area and the State of South Dakota. The people of the Vermillion community and the Norway Township are proud to claim this unique cooking process as their own.

Cooking over corncob embers is a tradition that soon spread throughout SD, NE, and IA. It is also a tradition that has been passed along from father to son (in some cases mother to daughter), representing five generations of barbeque tradition in this region. While it is much harder to find cobs now days since very few farmers shell corn as they did in the past, there are still some hardcore traditionalists that make the effort to find those remaining cobs to perpetuate a tradition rich in South Dakota history.

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A young Heck Harnois cooks with cobs in the early 1940’s: Heck provided the BBQ sauce for the first Norway Rib Eater events. While the recipe is still a secret his daughter-in-law Maryln continues to prepare the mixture for many of the rib feeds in the area. In 2005 Heck’s BBQ Sauce was the sauce used to win the rib championship of the first Ribs, Rods & Rock’n Roll BBQ cook-off.

One Ton of BBQ Ribs

One Ton of BBQ Ribs that was held in the early 70's. Over 2000lbs of ribs were cooked over cobs and served to the thousands of hungry participants. Larry Mart headed up a crew of local BBQ legends to pull this one off. What else can be said other than WOW!
That is South Dakota style BBQ!

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