After my 2nd BBQ competition, I think I'm retiring..

Congrats for even trying. I think these things are so damn restrictive I wouldn't have fun. It's so anal; every judge has the same mindset in exactly what they are looking for. I think I make the best chili in the world but I would bomb at a competition as the buttheads judging are looking for the exact same flavor profiles, textures, colors and consistency in the size and cut of meat it trumps real flavor.

Best wishes whichever way you go. I'd feel like urinating to put out my pit and let them have their little social.

You and I are in the same boat with the drums. My ribs were cooked in this smoker and did better than guys with $5000+ smokers. Plus, the best was hearing one guy walk by and say to his wife "I'd never eat ANYTHING that came out of that..." :biggrin1::biggrin1:

Dan, congrats on that very ugly drum. Hilarious! I love that and I would be very honored to eat your ribs!

I'll be in my first bbq competition April 10th and even if we win the entire thing I doubt I'll be doing them often. I'm not saying I won't do some here and there from time to time but as you've stated. I'm already seeing how expensive they are and time consuming.

Also, regarding the judging. We got a "taste" of that this past weekend in a gumbo competition we entered. Where a team with a burnt roux placed in the top five and some of the teams that placed higher had gumbo that tasted like something out of a box. :crazy:

I firmly believe personal preference establishes what's good and what's not. So I wouldn't get too worked up over what a judge thinks. Because ultimately they are just like the rest of us. They have their preferences and biases that without a doubt goes into their judging.

At least you gave it a shot...better than any attempts I ever made....GL

I neglected to mention something.....I do know how expensive the comps are. Just the meat alone is a killer. What I did was get people to sponsor us. Local butcher shop, popular restaurant...any of these places are at least worth asking. I offered to cook after the comp for whoever was sponsoring us which worked well. We also took some of their marketing materials and offered to hand out to whoever we could. Another thing we did was extended invitations to the sponsor to come to the comp and hang out...kinda see what it's all about.....and of course while at the comp eat until you're about to burst. Point is there are ways to get some of your expenses covered.....

UDS are solid cookers , I did my first comp last year using 2 UDS , we got 6th in pork but tanked in the other meats , it was a blast beating some of the high rollers , I'm looking forward to my next comp.

don't be suprised if next week you start running through your mind what you would do differently next year, and get a little jar (okay a big jar) and start figuring out how much per week you need to put into it to to do another one, then start pricing gurus, pop-ups and cambros, and finally jumping up on the hood of your car and proclaiming to your teammates "boys, next year we gonna get out there and kick some butt!" :grin: okay, that last one was just a joke but it does have a way of drawing you in. what i really want to tell you is this. you are right that you are up against people who are doing it alot more and are way more tuned into what the judges want and are just more well oiled than you will be with just one or two competitions a year, but don't deny yourself a great time with family and friends and something to look foward to each year just because of results.

From THIS "butthead's" perspective: :wink:
Do yourself a favor and either become a judge with THAT sanctioning organization, OR befriend a judge who is a CBJ with that sanctioning organization and pick his/her brain and let him/her "judge" your entries and give honest criticism. Without knowing what wins it is difficult to get to that point.

Man competitions are expensive I have been in one got my arse handed to me in a backyard contest and I probably had thousands in practice, meat, charcoal, supplies for first competition. It really sucked DAL every category. Thing is I am to hard headed to give up and surrender. I just cooked 15 lbs precooked weight on a 14.5" WSM to practice for an amateur comp in Virginia where they want pulled pork 4 lbs and 12 ribs. I am only using a 14.5" WSM no problem with pork as it is a blob of meat but ribs need room I can maybe squeeze four racks of st Louis cut trimmed to size spare ribs in the rib rack on top. It is grueling tending this pit but hey hard work hopefully will pay off in the end. If all goes well we will hit 3 amateur competions starting may through June and take one cooking class in May with DivaQ if we get the day off in time to sign up. July and probably August we are going to be not competing until September or October as my wife is having our second child. It is going to be an interesting 3 months of competing, practice, and a class. The goal is to eventually move up to ceramic cookers when we get a small trailer to strap them to even with the risk of breaking them I think they are the best beginner competition smoker/grills on the market. The dry rub doesn't burn as easily on a kamado. I am going to take the risk and role the dice. For now though a 14.5" will fit in my car and I can handle loading and unloading it by myself. It may seem crazy to compete this way but if you want to compete and your budget is low you have to cut the budget a lot. We will probably bring two pork butts and 4 racks of ribs and that is it meat wise for April. Hopefully can win some money and get a trailer if not we will just keep plugging along. My point is don't let cost deter you. Find ways to cut costs.

Sausage Warrior said:

Congrats for even trying. I think these things are so damn restrictive I wouldn't have fun. It's so anal; every judge has the same mindset in exactly what they are looking for. I think I make the best chili in the world but I would bomb at a competition as the buttheads judging are looking for the exact same flavor profiles, textures, colors and consistency in the size and cut of meat it trumps real flavor.

Best wishes whichever way you go. I'd feel like urinating to put out my pit and let them have their little social.

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I judge and compete... you calling me an anal butthead?

bbq.tom said:

From THIS "butthead's" perspective: :wink:
Do yourself a favor and either become a judge with THAT sanctioning organization, OR befriend a judge who is a CBJ with that sanctioning organization and pick his/her brain and let him/her "judge" your entries and give honest criticism. Without knowing what wins it is difficult to get to that point.

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What he said^^^^^^^!
I have competed in a few competitions, love it, and plan on doing more in the future. It is expensive. There are also rules established by the organizer to make it a competition. Last weekend, I took the KCBS judges class and became a judge. I wanted to see what they were judging and how they were judging. Learned a lot from a great instructor. First thing he said was that the rules were there to establish guidelines for a perfectly cooked peice of meat. Any individual with a cooker, whether it be a $20,000 cooker or a $25 barrel, can win the competition, as long as the know how to cook the meat.
I have much more respect for the judging process now that i actually know how it works.

I agree with Tom. True there are some judges who prefer certain flavors, but in geneal, we look for a balance of flavors. Not too sweet, not too hot, and no dominant spice. If you have the tenderness down, that tells me you know how to cook. Just work on your rubs and sauces to get that balance of flavor you want to present and get your taste scores up. Don't be afraid to go for your own flavors. Judges do get tired of tasting the same rub week after week when 4 of 6 chicken entries taste exactly the same because they are all using the same popular commercial rub.
So don't give up, just keep working on your flavors, and absolutely take a judging class.
A burnt roux won? That is just so wrong!

Unless you really plan on doing competitions week in and week out, you have to realistic expectations when it comes to how you will do in these competitions. I completely understand not being able to do competitions all the time because it is expensive. All the season bbq competitors will tell you the best way to make a small fortune in bbq competitions is to start with a large fortune.

The people in the top have their processes down to a science and know how to make adjustments when things are just right. You on the other hand don't have it down to a science. This makes a huge difference in how you place. The only way to really do better is to compete week in and week out till the process becomes second nature.

The team I'm on has done 1 competition. A field of 43 teams cooking all 4 kcbs meats (chicken, ribs, pork, brisket) Our team finished 16 out of 43. We placed 34th in chicken, 16th ribs, 16th pork, 10th brisket. Our goal was to finish middle of the pack with no DALS (we finished almost in the top 1/3). We also exceeded our goals with a call. We are going to be doing our second competition next month. I have expectations of finishing in the top 1/3 of the field and have all of our categories finish in the top 1/3. A call would be nice but not expected and winning any sort of money is unexpected as well.

Things to make yourself better for competitions and just cooking bbq in general-

Be completely 100% honest on how your cook went. If you overcooked/undercook something, realize your score will suffer greatly because of it. If your flavor profile is off this will effect your score greatly as well. Be your own worse critic when it comes to all of this.

Have more seasoned competitors taste your bbq and give you an honest/brutal critique. You might not like what they tell you, but the harder the critique the more guidance you have to tighten up your game.

If seasoned competitors allow you to taste their bbq. Make note on everything. Taste, Tenderness, Texture, etc. And if they placed higher than you, make note of the differences and strive to fix them in practice cooks.

Keep cooking and striving to be better. Thinking that you have "mastered" anything is lying to yourself. Unless you are 100% sure what everybody is looking for and able to nail it 100% of the time, you haven't mastered anything. In all of your cooks (even just backyard cooks) give it your 100% effort. Focus on things to make each and every cook perfect (nothing will ever be perfect, but you can come damn close)

P.S. We competed with a UDS, 18.5in WSM, and a Weber Performer. Rock on with competing with a UDS!

5string said:

I agree with Tom. True there are some judges who prefer certain flavors, but in geneal, we look for a balance of flavors. Not too sweet, not too hot, and no dominant spice. If you have the tenderness down, that tells me you know how to cook. Just work on your rubs and sauces to get that balance of flavor you want to present. Don't be afraid to go for your own flavors. Judges do get tired of tasting the same rub week after week when 4 of 6 chicken entries taste exactly the same because they are all using the same popular rub.
So don't give up, just keep working on your flavors, and absolutely take a judging class.
A burnt roux won? That is just so wrong!

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We're in our first BBQ comp. April 10th and I've already told my team we're not going "traditional" sweet rub. That I want to do a rub that has an element of sweet in it but have a presence of a good salt and pepper flavor mixed with some good hickory smoke. Will that impress the judges? Maybe not. But we're going to give it a shot.

Yes, one of the teams that finished in the top five had a burnt roux. Not ONE team from south, louisiana even placed in the top ten. That in and of itself spoke volumes.

The only comps I ever considered were the ones that allowed me the sell what I cooked, at least that way I could break even. Otherwise it is very expensive.