July 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

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Right on Q: Speed Herrig Shares Top BBQ Tips By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby Where there’s smoke, there’s flavor, especially when Duane “Speed” Herrig is cooking. For more than 40 years, this Wall Lake native has been the face and voice of Cookies BBQ Sauce, the sweet, smoky sauce that has appealed to barbecue lovers since 1976. “We really get into the sauce around here,” joked Herrig, 85, Iowa’s beloved barbecue promoter. Thanks to decades of practice with all things food, Herrig was unfazed when Sinclair Tractor asked him to bring his crew to feed 10,000 people during a customer appreciation event at the Henry County Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant. “We prepared about 3,000 pounds of pulled pork,” said Herrig, a 1956 Wall Lake High School graduate and U.S. Navy veteran. Great food and fun have long been a recipe for success for Herrig, who lives on the same Wall Lake-area Century Farm where he was raised. “I’ve always liked to mess around in the kitchen,” said Herrig, who learned a lot about cooking from his mother, Alma. “Because of food, I’ve met lots of great people and even got to cook for President George H.W. Bush during the World Pork Expo in Des Moines one year.” Food wasn’t always Herrig’s focus, however. In 1962, he opened an auto repair shop on his family’s farm in the machine shed. By the late 1970s, he also started working as a commissioned salesman for a local company that made barbecue sauce. By the early 1980s, he purchased the business that would expand into Cookies Food Products and make him famous as “Speed the Sauce Man.” Herrig grew the businesses with his late wife, Judy, and their three children. “There were some super lean times and a lot of long hours, but we made it,” noted Herrig, who Page 12 July 2023 is also a founding member of the Iowa Barbecue Society. Today, Herrig is as busy as ever. His family’s Century Farm is home to a corn and soybean operation, Speed’s Golf Carts, Speed’s Automotive Supply and Cookies Food Products’ corporate office. From spring into fall, you might spot Herrig serving meals from Cookies’ famous “rib wagon” at grocery stores across Iowa and beyond. He also makes time for charity events. On July 15, he taught a BBQ bootcamp at BBQ & Brew at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Iowa Pork Producers Association hosted this fun event, which raised funds to help food pantries statewide. Great BBQ doesn’t have to be complicated, said Herrig, who shared his tips for prepping, seasoning and cooking perfect pork BBQ. “People are scared to screw up ribs and pork loins,” he noted. “Just give it a try if you want to bar- continue on pg. 14
Thank You to Our Sponsors Adam Johnson Electric Brian Pickhinke Backhoe & Tiling, Early Essentia Protein Solutions, Lytton Godbersen Herefords, Arthur Johnson Bait Shop, Lake View LakeView Feeders, Lake View Martin's Welding, Auburn Mason Auctions, Odebolt Nutrien Ag Solutions, Odebolt Pete's Seeds, Schaller Peter's Tree Service & Stump Removal, Wall Lake Roland L Geyer Agency, Sac City Western Iowa Energy, Wall Lake July 2023 Page 13
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July 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

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