Big Ed's passions: barbecue, racing

By WES KAPPELMAN
The Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA April 15, 2008 01:33 pm

— The owners of Big Ed’s BBQ have two passions, barbecue and racing.
Ed and Hanna Dowd own Big Ed’s BBQ at 104 First Ave. E.
They close on Sunday and Wednesday night to watch the races at the Southern Iowa Speedway. They also travel to tracks in Cordova, Ill., Cedar Falls and Eddyville to sell barbecue.
“The only time Big Ed’s is closed is to go racing,” Hanna said.
For Ed, it’s the best of both worlds. He gets to prepare and sell a lot of barbecue and he sets up right next to the track with his trailer and watch the races.
Ed said the speed, the noise and the smell of fuel draw him to the track.
“It’s just the thrill of racing,” he said.
Hanna said she gets an adrenaline rush at the racetrack.
“You have to go to understand,” she said.
The excitement of the track is captured in photos and banners displayed throughout the dining room of Big Ed’s BBQ. Pictures of local and national drivers adorn the wall alongside flags for the Talledega Superspeedway and the Daytona International Speedway. There is also a photo of Ed and Hanna with Kasey Kahne during Kahne’s stop in Oskaloosa last year. There are also several photos of Brad Pinkerton, a local driver that Big Ed’s BBQ sponsors. They’ve picked up some of the memorabilia from attending races and some has been donated.
When Big Ed’s first opened his store in 2004, Hanna and Ed didn’t close early on Wednesday. Business was slow Wednesday nights because of church events and the races. On those nights, Hanna wanted to go to the races, while Ed wanted her to stay and keep the store open. Eventually Hanna won the argument and now they both go to the races on Wednesday nights.
Big Ed’s first experience in barbecue began at the Rib Shack in Galesburg, Ill., while attending high school.
“The first job I had was cooking ribs at a rib joint in Illinois in ‘77,” Dowd said. “It was a good job.”
Each day he would load the meat in the smoker before attending classes, then return to the Rib Shack after work. In addition to classes and working at the Rib Shack, he said he also competed on the track team, setting a school record for the 220-yard dash.
His boss at the Rib Shack told him he was going to become a barbecue man someday, but Big Ed had other plans at the time.
After graduating from high school in 1977, Ed became interested in NASCAR and started attending races around Galesburg. At one point, he and his brother, Ray, started putting a car together, but the two ran out of money for the project.
Eventually, Ed moved to Oskaloosa and began working for Clow Valve. He said he came to Oskaloosa to slow down.
In the mid-90s, he opened a stand in the parking lot by Penn Central Mall. He sold ribs, chicken, pulled-pork sandwiches and beef sandwiches. He soon began working different events around Oskaloosa and Ottumwa. His first event was the Rolling Oldies Classic Car Show. When he started up, everything revolved around cars.
Big Ed furthered his journey to become a barbecue man when he agreed to cook for his daughter-in-law’s wedding reception. She originally said there would be approximately 60 people coming, but that soon changed when she sent out 175 wedding invitations.
To accommodate the increase, he constructed a portable smoker cooker. The smoker could hold 250 pounds of meat and provided for the reception.
“After I had it built, I thought, ‘What am I going to do with this thing?’” Ed said.
When he got home he decided to add wheels to the smoker.
“Then it became Big Ed’s Barbecue Number 1,” Ed said.
While racing is big in Southern Iowa, barbecue does not have the following it does north of I-80 or in Missouri, Ed said. Some people need to be taught barbecue fundamentals.
“Throw away the gas grill,” Ed said. “Low and slow, take your time, don’t get in a hurry.”
He learned to cook with hickory, but has tried other types of wood. There is also more to barbecue than hot dogs and brats, Ed said.
He is of the old school of barbecue, he smokes the meat with hickory and does not use gas grills. His barbecue sauce is the result of three different recipes and his own twist. He said he usually uses 10 to 15 gallons per week.
“I like to call it Illowa barbecue because I started in Illinois then I perfected it when I moved here,” Ed said.
He said he is considering relocating to the Cedar Falls and Waterloo-area because there is more of an interest in barbecue there. One of the difficulties in Oskaloosa was some people weren’t familiar with old-fashioned barbecue. In addition to the racing memorabilia, the dining room is also decorated with information about Ed’s style of barbecue. Another difficulty for Big Ed’s BBQ is parking.
Hanna, originally from Germany, said her favorite food at the Big Ed’s BBQ is the brisket. The restaurant started serving the brisket as an experiment a few years back. Ed ordered two briskets to practice preparing them. Due to a delivery mixup, he received two cases. Now customers ask for the brisket even more often than they ask for ribs.
Hanna and Ed enjoy working together and look forward to continuing their barbecue and racing excursions. This year, they are going to visit the Texas Motor Speedway for the first time as they add to their list of tracks visited.
Herald Staff Writer Wes Kappelman can be reached by e-mail at news2@oskyherald.com

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