Bamabuzzard
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- May 9, 2007
- Location
- Shreveport, LA
We did our first comp earlier this year. It was a great experience and we had a blast. We were able to have two seasoned veterans parked right across from us who gave us a lot of advice and were nice enough to let us see how they did things.
Depending on how you cook your Q at home will depend on how "different" competition Q is compared to what you call "regular Q". For those (like me) who go the simplistic route with their backyard Q. Competition Q will probably be very different from what you cook in the backyard. My backyard Q doesn't have heavy rubs, marinades, injections, etc. I use a very simple rub that is lightly dusted on my ribs, briskets and butts. I do brine my birds but that's about it.
What seems to make competition Q different is you have all these people cooking the same thing and probably using a lot of the same ingredients, methods etc. So what you turn in has to stand out (in a good way). Also, you're trying to impress the judge with ONE BITE. Not a series of bites. So there has to be a lot of flavor and "punch" in that one bite. So for a lot of people they have to cook and season in a manner that is very different from what they would do at home. Granted, this isn't for everybody. Like our brethren above, how he prepares his Q for comps is very similar to what he does at home and in his business. So for him there isn't much deviation from what he normally does. But for others there is a lot of deviation. So it all depends on how you cook at home for yourself compared to what is expected in a comp, as to how "different" comp Q is from "regular" Q.
Depending on how you cook your Q at home will depend on how "different" competition Q is compared to what you call "regular Q". For those (like me) who go the simplistic route with their backyard Q. Competition Q will probably be very different from what you cook in the backyard. My backyard Q doesn't have heavy rubs, marinades, injections, etc. I use a very simple rub that is lightly dusted on my ribs, briskets and butts. I do brine my birds but that's about it.
What seems to make competition Q different is you have all these people cooking the same thing and probably using a lot of the same ingredients, methods etc. So what you turn in has to stand out (in a good way). Also, you're trying to impress the judge with ONE BITE. Not a series of bites. So there has to be a lot of flavor and "punch" in that one bite. So for a lot of people they have to cook and season in a manner that is very different from what they would do at home. Granted, this isn't for everybody. Like our brethren above, how he prepares his Q for comps is very similar to what he does at home and in his business. So for him there isn't much deviation from what he normally does. But for others there is a lot of deviation. So it all depends on how you cook at home for yourself compared to what is expected in a comp, as to how "different" comp Q is from "regular" Q.