WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BISON COOKOFF

For two days, on the third weekend in May, cookers from all over the Lone Star State test their recipes and their reputations not just on beef, chicken, and pork but on buffalo. Recent cook-offs have seen more than 40 cookers from all over the Southwest put together some great sizzle, rub, and sauce on their delicious products beneath the twin mesas called Santa Anna’s Peaks. The Comanche war chief and his people used the peaks above the town as welcome landmarks in their historical journeys across the state. The twin peaks served as visual guides for Texas Rangers who trailed the American Indians who trailed the great herds of buffalo that once roamed the “short-grass country.” In the heart of Texas Forts Trail, Santa Anna’s peaks were also the historic training ground for the Comanches’ fiercest warriors.

Celebrating this special history, the Santa Anna Historical Development Organization put together the first Bison Cookoff at Funtier Day, a local festival, in 1994, with eighteen cookers participating. The Texas Bison Association Board of Directors sanctions and oversees the judging of the bison cook-off, encouraging cookers to treat bison meat as a specialty, not just another beef brisket. Winners’ secrets make for some delicious meat. Sanctioning by the West Texas Barbecue Association was also secured. This year, the WTBA merged with the International Barbecue Association, so the event is truly international.

Bison is naturally flavorful and tender and can be prepared much the same as beef. The meat is naturally leaner, since buffalo are typically grazed on open range and not raised in a feedlot. Comparing bison to beef, the numbers are impressive: 2.4 grams of fat to 9.28, 143 calories to 211, and 82 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams of cooked lean meat to 86 for beef.

• The great American bison is the largest land mammal in North America since the end of the Ice Age.
  
• Estimates of the prehistoric bison herd that ranged over North America vary from 30,000,000 to 70,000,000 animals.
  
• Today bison number over 350,000 and can be found from Alaska to Florida and from New York to California. Most of these animals are privately owned, but public herds can be found in many states. Many Native American
• Bison are typically “grass fed” rather than “feedlot”. This means the meat is naturally leaner with no antibiotics or hormones added.
  
• Bison is naturally flavorful and tender and can be prepared much the same as beef.
  
• Bison meat contains 2.4 grams of fat, 143 calories, and 82 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams of cooked lean meat. Comparing, beef has 9..28 grams of fat, 211 calories, 86 milligrams of cholesterol; pork has 9.66 grams of fat, 212 calories, 86 milligrams of cholesterol; and skinless chicken has grams of fat, 190 calories, 89 milligrams of cholesterol. (www.bisoncentral.com)

other Santa Anna websites:

S.A. Chamber of Commerce

S.A. Historical Development