Denver Reitsma cooks up ribs at Rotary Ribfest. ( Tiffany Goodwein/ CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Teen grill master cooking up mouth-watering meats at every bite

Aug 9, 2020 | 9:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB- At Ribfest it’s hard to ignore Denver Reitsma. Stationed at the Pistol Pete’s, his voice can be heard from a distance, each word, and weird sound, an expression of passion for cooking up the perfect cut of meat.

At just 17-years-old, the teen from Oklahoma City has made ribbing his life. He said goodbye to traditional high school and turned to online classes, all to make time for what he loves the most: barbecue and traveling across Canada to showcase his skills. His love for ribbing came almost instantaneously.

“It’s going to sound cheezy saying this but probably from the first one or two shows of doing this. I mean I kind of realized this is what I am passionate about doing I love serving customers, I love making people happy, and this is the outlet that I am sort of able to express this passion for.” he said

Reitsma has been grilling since he was 14, dividing his time between traveling, returning to Ontario, and heading back home to Oklahoma.

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“My friends are the people on the crew now. I’m not home as much as I was when I was younger but the crew, it’s like a family, you know what I mean? You are strong if you have your family with you and these people they really make me happy and I never get bored of being here because of having such a great support system,” he said.

As an expert griller of sorts, Reitsma said time is precious and grillers just getting learning how to turn up the heat tend to make this classic mistake.

“ I’d say the number one mistake of new ribbers is trying to go too fast when they chop. You see these big names in the ribbing industry that get a rack of ribs and just pop. Pop, pop, pop, all the way through but really just taking your time, and caring about the food is something that needs to be done,” he said.

The drive-thru Rotary Ribfest took place Aug 7-9 as part of a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat.