Comp superstitions & epic screw ups

Sparkcharge · Mar 10, 2017

I'm wondering what kind of superstitions are out there for people & what are some epic screw ups others have had in the comp world.

For our team;
Superstitions: I have to have a specific white bandanna either on, or in my pocket during the cook, and my Wife has to hula hoop while drinking a bud light lime right before turn in process start.

Screw up: A couple years ago I woke up groggy as ever to spray the big meat, then proceeded to hose down the first brisket with 409 like it was on fire. :doh:

JD McGee · Mar 10, 2017

No superstitions to speak of...we do our preps at the same time every competition and follow our timeline religiously. My one major screw up was a couple of years ago...a good friend of mine gave me a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle (15 Year) for my birthday at a favorite comp...I damn near drank half the bottle and had to cook with a major league hangover the next day. My wife was NOT happy...

bbqwizard · Mar 11, 2017

Not sure if it's a superstition or just a ritual, but ..... I drink a draft Guiness after the last turn-in.

Screw-up: Well about 13 years ago while cooking at the Michigan State Championship, my cooking partner (Bbqbull) and I cooked an amazing brisket. Only, instead of holding it in a Cambro, we proceeded to put in the upright of his Klose, completely forgot about it, and, well ended up with brisket jerky powder.

enasnidx · Mar 11, 2017

Hey Sparkcharge! No superstitions to speak of, but maybe I need one... Perhaps a visit to the Rub My Rack camp around 3am on Friday. Seems to work for brisket!

Epic fails: Sam's last year. I pulled chicken straight from the smoker to the box and the skin was so bad I pulled it off and threw it away. Hmm, you know anyone that did ok at the local Sam's last year?

Blanton · Mar 11, 2017

enasnidx said:
Hey Sparkcharge! No superstitions to speak of, but maybe I need one... Perhaps a visit to the Rub My Rack camp around 3am on Friday. Seems to work for brisket!

Epic fails: Sam's last year. I pulled chicken straight from the smoker to the box and the skin was so bad I pulled it off and threw it away. Hmm, you know anyone that did ok at the local Sam's last year?

Who's up at 3am? :razz:

ronbrad62 · Mar 11, 2017

No superstitions, but in my second ever BY comp, I didn't anticipate just how cold it was going to get overnight, and the BY had earlier turn-in times than the pros, so my chicken wasn't done in time. I take the weather well into account these days.

Ron_L · Mar 11, 2017

I guess we really don't have any superstitions, but I've screwed up a lot

At one comp last season I realized at 10:00 am that the chicken that was supposed to go into the cooker at 9:00 was still in the Cambro! I put it in the hot spot on the cooker and made turn ins!

Blanton · Mar 11, 2017

Fail? I'm not sure, this Pork box put me in mid position overall for $500 at my first KCBS contest

Sparkcharge · Mar 11, 2017

JeffR said:
Who's up at 3am? :razz:

That was a late night, way-way-way too darn late

morgan-que · Mar 11, 2017

Superstitions: none to speak of other than a shot after boxing before the turn in.

Epic fail: deciding to do competitions!!

shares · Mar 12, 2017

Celebratory safe arrival beer - so far the anticipation has gotten us through travels thick and thin!

J&B'sBBQ · Mar 12, 2017

Superstitions: We do an 11:11 shot on Saturday, regardless of who shows up to do it with us

. Also, if you're ever at a contest where we are, you're welcome to join us for 11:11! The more the merrier! I also NEVER miss cooks church.

Epic fail: Probably the infamous salty brisket in Lawrenceville last year. I was gagging when I tried one of the BE's because it was sooooo salty. Or Greenwood the year we were there as a BY team. The wind picked up and blew my pork box (just greens) on the ground as I was about to put meat into it. We literally threw the greens back into the box, threw in the meat and ran. We ended up with 1st in pork that day.

INmitch · Mar 12, 2017

I've got a few superstitions.
I've been using the same $2 bargain bin injector since 2008.
I've been using the same old garlic powder shaker to put my brisket rub in since 2011. I've replaced the cap twice now.
Brisket injection is mixed at home but always goes to the comp in a used Smirnoff vodka bottle.
And last but not least I kiss my bride before she takes off with the brisket box.

nachos4life · Mar 13, 2017

I love reading stuff like this!

superstitions... we always eat pringles and beef jerky the entire time. And after getting a couple walks after doing so, we always make sure to have cheap, ice cold, scotch on hand. We believe keeping it in the cooler is the key.

as far as epic fails... nothing huge I guess other than melting a thermometer on the pit, pouring hot au jus all over my feet ( a few times).

Untraceable · Mar 13, 2017

I've managed to spritz a brisket box with bleach water even though I had the spray bottle as clearly marked as possible. Stomach hit the floor when that first stream was not the mist it was supposed to be. Little more aujus and I don't think the judges knew as I got a decent brisket call with it.

Faceplanted a Humphreys pushing it up a gravel slope by myself. Smashed the therm, dented the door in. That sucked

As far as superstitions, I'm more of a karma guy at the contest. There has been a horrible correlation of drinking far too much and doing awesome lately. Not the kind of lesson you want to bank on.

cpw · Mar 13, 2017

I'm not superstitious at all, except when it comes to BBQ. I always wear my Atlanta BBQ store t shirt on Friday, we always have PBJ for lunch on Friday, and we always have a Bud light toast after brisket turn in. After this weekend's disastrous finish, I may have to burn a few new items of clothing just to make sure there's no bad stuff in there

2 major screw ups, that I can recall. Went to a contest and somehow lost the chicken brine. To this day I have no idea where it went. My teammate sprayed half of our ribs with Windex (now referred to as "blue spritz") last year. Luckily we had 2 that were ok and we ended up getting 3rd out of 90 teams.

ModelMaker · Mar 13, 2017

Untraceable said:
I've managed to spritz a brisket box with bleach water even though I had the spray bottle as clearly marked as possible. Stomach hit the floor when that first stream was not the mist it was supposed to be. Little more aujus and I don't think the judges knew as I got a decent brisket call with it.

Faceplanted a Humphreys pushing it up a gravel slope by myself. Smashed the therm, dented the door in. That sucked

As far as superstitions, I'm more of a karma guy at the contest. There has been a horrible correlation of drinking far too much and doing awesome lately. Not the kind of lesson you want to bank on.

You sent bleach contaminated meat into the judges?
Imagine the most foul mouthed disrespectful tirade you can imagine and then double it.
That's what I have to say to you.
Ed

Qbert60 · Mar 13, 2017

Epic fail: At the 3rd BBQ comp of my short career, I was taking it off the hot shelf of my cooker. I asked a buddy to hold the shelf so it didn't tip (I forgot to put stoppers in it when i added it). He didn't grab a glove, the shelf tipped a little too much and on the ground the brisket went. I thought, damn it man, proceeded to pick it up and toss it in the garbage, missing the can completely. I then thought, I can save it. Picked it up, rinsed it off, warmed some leftover wrap liquid in a microwave, wrapped it up and turned it in. And I didn't come in last place!!! Ahh memories!!!

Untraceable · Mar 13, 2017

ModelMaker said:
You sent bleach contaminated meat into the judges?
Imagine the most foul mouthed disrespectful tirade you can imagine and then double it.
That's what I have to say to you.
Ed

I should probably do it more often

EngineeredBBQ · Mar 13, 2017

Superstitions - (I am not a superstitious person) - I always wear my first 180 pin on my hat.

Screw ups - at the Denver Stock Show this year it was about 0 degrees and I gave myself a case of carbon monoxide poisoning (no I didn't get drunk the night before), I slept through my alarm and started my pits 2 hours late (I guess I am lucky I woke up at all). I felt so sick all morning but powered through, had to crank my can to about 450 to get my brisket finished lol. Somehow the bbq gods took pity on me and gave me RGC!

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