Column: Dan Matz, Market Notes

People involved with production agriculture are focused on producing the most yield and hopefully selling that product at the highest price. If that is done correctly farmers will be able to keep their finances on the positive side. Many factors are involved that can disrupt that scenario, some man-made, some not, weather is a huge factor. At the end of the year hopefully all the correct decisions were made to keep the farm profitable.

Sometimes taking the raw commodity and enhancing it in some way gives it added value. Ethanol is a good example – farmers buy a share in an ethanol plant – deliver their corn, ethanol and other products are produced, the farmer added value to his corn. Organic agriculture could be viewed as adding value to a commodity, instead of taking the crop and doing something to it to add value, they produce it using strict rules to keep all inputs natural and chemical free, so that the end product has added value for consumers looking for a chemical-free product.

Every community can look at a farmers market as its own value added market. Compared to other outlets that supply the products we need, a farmers market has local vendors selling local products, this alone is a huge value added perk that consumers have available to them free of charge. Transportation of products from farm to store eats up large quantities of fossil fuels and with every mile adds expense to the product. If produced and sold locally we’re saving on the environment. Vendors at a farmers market are members of the community and trying to earn a profit that they in turn keep in the community by purchasing their products local, it’s a nice circle that is a win-win for the area.

At the farmers market my focus is on pork and beef. I’m always interested in adding some value to my product. So again we participated in the Big Island BBQ, mainly to see if we can compete and also to see what we can learn on grilling and smoking from the best in the country. Teams were represented from all over the Midwest; part of the fun is walking around looking at all the different smokers and setups that teams were using. This year had more teams participate than the previous year, the weather was perfect and people who live close to the fairgrounds could probably smell the aroma from the smokers. This is the one and only barbeque contest I participate in, mainly because it’s close and the weather has always been perfect, which is important, many teams are up all night preparing the ribs, pork, brisket and chicken.

Most meat you slow cook are not exactly the best cuts of meat. Beef brisket for example is a poor cut of meat, but when cooked slow and correctly can very easily be the best beef you have ever had. The brisket is also the most challenging to cook. There were 58 teams at the contest, and there were also 58 different ways to smoke a brisket. Some used rubs, some marinades, some wrapped their brisket in tin foil, some injected and most did a combination of all of these. I walked around and tried to steal as many tips as I could and most teams were very hospitable, but I never quite got the whole recipe. Most rubs were in a plastic container, but salt, pepper, garlic and brown sugar make for a good starting point with the rub, as for the wood used to smoke the brisket, apple, hickory, oak and mesquite were common. The main thing was to cook the brisket slow at low, even temperatures usually in the 200 to 225 degree range until done.

The pork shoulder contains the tastiest pork you will find on the pig, but can be a challenge to make. The biggest challenge with pulled pork is having any left over before you’re done pulling the pork; many samples seem to be taken while in the act of pulling (shredding). Just like the brisket there are many different rubs and marinades, but the same smoking techniques are used. Cook slow at a low, even temperature. In a contest turn-in times are part of the challenge, but in the backyard you’re not working against the clock so let the meat take its time and it will be worth it.

Dan Matz is a member of the Albert Lea Farmers Market.