Black Dog BBQ works in and with Charles City

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Black Dog BBQ has won two Charles City BBQ Challenges and was a vendor at this year’s event.

Black Dog has been working as a vendor and caterer for events since 2015, and this year will be of the vendors offering sustenance to the thousands of hungry RAGBRAI riders.

Joe and Lanee Duckert live in Mason City and attend and compete in competitions all around the MidWest.

“We’ve done competition BBQ for five years,” said Lanee Duckert.

Black Dog chose to be a vendor at this year’s Charles City BBQ Challenge.

“We wanted to be involved in it, but we didn’t want to compete, Duckert said. “We wanted it to grow. We didn’t want to push people away.”

The couple had been barbecuing well before they started doing it competitively.

“My husband started barbecue for fun seven years ago, and then we started doing the competitions,” Duckert said. “Then people started asking us to do some catering for them so we starting doing that business.”

They do about 12 competitions every summer involving the Kansas City Barbeque Society’s official four main meats: chicken, pork, ribs and beef brisket.

But they also offer other things when vending and catering.

“We we’ve had a lot compliments on our BBQ sundae,” Duckert said.

Two years ago the couple bought a trailer, which Charles City residents may recognize because of its frequent appearances at Party in the Park.

“Charles City actually contacted us,”Duckert said. “They came up and asked us if we did vending.”

From there they were asked to be involved in the 2015 July 4 event in Charles City.

“Ever since then they just keep asking us to come back and we do,” Duckert said.

During RAGBRAI, Black Dog will be serving its pork line, including BBQ pork sandwiches, BBQ sundaes, pork street tacos and a loaded pork nacho.

They will also be selling their smoked skinless brats and smoked hotdogs, Duckert said.

The smoked hotdog is especially interesting, as it’s a quarter pound hotdog that they put on their smoker.

“The smoker just adds a different flavor that people really like,” Duckert said.

Black Dog is preparing to serve about 500 of the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people who descend on a RAGBRAI overnight stop.