My thoughts on first contest

I'm far from an expert, but I'll give you my thoughts.

1) No you weren't marked down for chopped pork, but it does dry out fast on the judges plate while they are judging all the entries.

2) You shouldn't have been marked down for the 3/8" slices...but judges, at the certification class are told that cooks hide overcooked brisket by cutting thicker slices. I wouldn't recommend anything thicker than a pencil width for slices.

Bonus) the ribs issue is why top cooks will trim there meat at home, just sayin!

Congrats on the chicken call!

Congrats on surviving your first comp ! The brisket question I don't have an answer for but the pork I will comment on . There are so many successful pork boxes out there using chopped that I that I cant believe that you would get hit for that.If they were tender not mushy and had nice flavor there had to be another reason. I have used both chopped and pulled also neither and scores don't seem to change much as long as they are properly cooked with nice flavor. Theres also just the chance you hit a low scoring table.

Mixed pork boxes are pretty normal. Some chopped some pulled along with money muscle is a good thing
Sometimes it can look a bit messy with all and that might affect score so try to be artistic (yes, it is a box of pork) when you load your box

Larry,

It was great meeting and talking with you and John Friday night. Andrew and I from Bourbon Barrel BBQ stopped by your site and talked for about 45 minutes late Friday night - we were the ones who talked about SCCA racing and having Bruce Domeck in common. We were super excited to hear you guys get your first call in Chicken at your first comp! You're well on your way now!

Like we said Friday night, you're doing all the right things by making your timeline and working off of it. I agree with pretty much everything you're saying in your list of 5 lessons learned - especially the sleep part, a good cot, pillow, and earplugs are worth their weight in gold. Also agreed on ribs - you've got a good sized cooker, so the easy option there is to make (or at least buy) more ribs than you think you'll need so you've got options.

The comment above about the thick brisket slices is pretty true - we ended up cutting ours way thicker than normal to cover up for cooking longer than we'd intended to. Generally, we'll keep ours to a pencil-width and use the "pull test" to let us know how tender it is.

I make our boxes morning of and keep them in a cooler on ice until time to plate. Many folks make them the night before and keep them cool to keep the lettuce or parsley from wilting and drying out. I think either works fine, so long as you keep them cool and protected from jostling around. Rebuilding a box that got knocked off a shelf at the last minute is NO FUN.

You're off to a great start and are making all the right preparations to be a serious contender if you keep at it. Last piece of advice I'd give is something we mentioned friday night - give it 3 events before you start changing anything taste/cooking-wise. With this comp being your first time cooking all four at once, you've got to let things stabalize a bit before you'll know what was noise and what was truly an area for improvement. When/if you do start making changes, keep as much as you can stable and vary one or two things (tops) at a time. It can be very easy to chase rabbits and go way off a good track. Having your name called in that field is no joke - keep it up and we'll keep hearing it down the road!

-Erik Mohn, Bourbon Barrel BBQ

Congrats on the 5th place Chicken Larry! You should be very proud of that, and frankly in that field you should be bouncing off the walls. I doubt it was the chopped versus pulled that hurt your scores for pork. Where did you get scored down? This should be your focus going forward. As far as brisket goes, maybe they didn't like your burnt ends but loved your slices....maybe they loved your burnt ends but hated your slices. Keep in mind they have to take both into account on that 1 score.

As most here will tell you though, you can't make a clear conclusion on your scores based off of one cook. Who knows, maybe the same exact food would have scored better at a different contest. Welcome to the frustration and remember to make small changes if you are so inclined.

Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk this weekend. We didn't get out much as we spent most of friday clinging to our canopy poles, praying they wouldn't end up in the river.

Thanks for a great post. I'd echo what everyone else has said about ribs- trim them at home. In fact I'd trim all or as much as you can at home before you leave for the comp. Leave as little as possible to do once you are on site as it leaves less room for chance to strike.

Congrats on the chicken call which is a great thing and a bad thing because now you'll be addicted even more! Keep us informed and ask tons of questions on here. For me the second comp was so much easier than the first in a million different ways. Good luck on the trail.

One thing to keep in mind - you need to cook 3 contests to determine anything. You may have hit a bad table on the pork or the brisket. There is no way to tell from a single contest, though KCBScore may give you a hint. (If you were under the average score for most of the judges...it's you, not them.)

Cook a few contests with the same recipes before changing it up. The biggest mistake I made when I started was throwing out what I was doing and starting over when I didn't like the result. Make smaller chances over a period of time, and you will start to understand what works and what doesn't. Make your brisket the same and try it with a more savory sauce and see if it make a difference. Generally a little sweet isn't a bad thing, but people don't expect it as much on beef.

Nice work on the chicken Larry. You will find that judges will always be hit or miss.

One judge gave me a comment card that said my ribs were crunchy. I'm not even sure how to make crunchy ribs?

Nobody's meat is consistent enough to be relied on. If you don't trim at home, at least open the cryovac and see what you have, at least if you are cooking close to minimum amounts of meat. Brisket can have packer cuts through the middle of the flat, you don't know what you really have in a 3-pack of ribs, and even chicken can be tough to judge in the package.

Put more emphasis on how you did on the table than overall, taking the competition into consideration. You can hit a hot table and get a call with so-so product and a third on the table or win a table with excellent food and get 30th overall.

Try chopped vs. chunks after it has been in the box 15 minutes. Chunks will retain heat and moisture better. Sauce is also important on pork, so you might want to evaluate that. Oversauced chopped will end up being soggy and cold when tasted.

Brisket thinner or thicker than pencil width is likely to get scored down. I have done better with cubed point (bark on 1-2 sides) instead of 'burnt ends' with bark on all 6 sides.

Turn the same boxes in at your next competition and you could get walks with both. I was always told not to change anything that I though was good until it finished bad 3 times. I kinda agree with that.

HBMTN said:

Turn the same boxes in at your next competition and you could get walks with both. I was always told not to change anything that I though was good until it finished bad 3 times. I kinda agree with that.

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This. We had a 1st place pork call the week before and thought we had an even better pork entry this past weekend and it was 19th. Think I'm going to change anything? Nope. Larry, as disappointed in your results as you are, you take a quick look at those below you in several categories and you will find many previous Grand Champions. It was a TOUGH contest and you did very well.

^^^^^ Amen to that.^^^^^ Very good feild of competitors.

Great thread Larry!! My first comp is coming in June and this is very helpful info!!

There are some pics of my boxes for Evansville On my Facebook if you would like to see them. Rice Brothers BBQ.

Hey all. Trying to renew this thread due to my first comp coming up on 5/17 (Chesapeake Jubilee in VA).

Although I have many, many questions the one that is at the front of my mind after reading this thread is that many of you stated that you trim/prepare your meat the day before the comp. My understanding was the meat had to be inspected by the officials prior to starting. How is the inspection completed if the meat is out of the original packaging? I do not have a vacuum seal machine that will fit an entire brisket in it.

Second question regards box prep. This thread says to do it the day before also but how can you keep the box looking good for transport to the comp or when saying the day before does that mean Friday prior to turn in?

Thanks for any advise in advance.
Scott
"Woody's Pigsticks"

you can do all the trimming you want, you just cant season/brine/inject whatever before passing meat inspection.

You will get your boxes sometime friday. People are inferring to do them after the cooks meeting

Nucldo said:

Hey all. Trying to renew this thread due to my first comp coming up on 5/17 (Chesapeake Jubilee in VA).

Although I have many, many questions the one that is at the front of my mind after reading this thread is that many of you stated that you trim/prepare your meat the day before the comp. My understanding was the meat had to be inspected by the officials prior to starting. How is the inspection completed if the meat is out of the original packaging? I do not have a vacuum seal machine that will fit an entire brisket in it.

Second question regards box prep. This thread says to do it the day before also but how can you keep the box looking good for transport to the comp or when saying the day before does that mean Friday prior to turn in?

Thanks for any advise in advance.
Scott
"Woody's Pigsticks"

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I use 2 1/2 gallon ziplock bags from Walmarts to put the trimmed meat in.

Some cooks will make the boxes at home and use a "flipping" processes at the comp, but for your 1st comp, I'd recommend doing them Friday after the boxes are handed out. It might keep you out of trouble and focused.:-D

Have fun and good luck!