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

retired trucker said:
When it came to the taste, I was quick to change my opinion of how I thought it should taste, and instead compared it to the other entries instead. None of them were done or tasted the way I would have done them or that I would turn out at my home. They were cooked for a competition and they showed and tasted like that. So, I had to as fairly as I could, judge each entry against the others. I also felt that the other judges did also as best they could. It was an eye opener for me, and I learned a lot from the experience. I also learned that competing was not for me, as most of the competitors were way too serious in their methodology than I would want to be.

Omar
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Nice story but as CBJs we do not judge one entry against the others. That is one of the harder things to not do!
 
I've done several comps, and been lucky enough to do fairly well. Now, temper that with that fact that I've stayed in the backyard division for many of the reasons you mention.

You can spend a fortune on competitions, and it is a time sink. I think the key is to do them spread out if you are not a serious circuit-type competitor. Keeps me refreshed, also I have a lot of help (which I need these days due to physical limitations, but that's another thread). Without family and friends helping out it would be too much work to be fun.

My $.02 from a once in a while and here-and-there competitor.
 
JoSal73 said:
Would anyone care to expand on exactly what kind of hard work, time, and money is involved?

How is competition cooking different than you would cook for another event like a catering gig or a family/work function ?

The money I kind of understand if you're needing to travel long distances and set up and cook there, and then there's the entry fee, but other than the initial cost for a trailer or other transport devices and entry fees...what else is there besides the standard costs you would incur anyway?
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Here is a typical competition week for me.

Sunday - Take briskets out of the freezer and put in fridge. Clean out the trailer from the previous week's competition (if there was one). Roast coffee.

Monday - restock non-perishables in trailer, refill rub containers

Tuesday - go shopping for chicken, butts, ribs and garnish plus any supplies that are needed. Make injections and sauces and refill the containers.

Wednesday - trim chicken, ribs, buts and briskets.

Thursday - Fill truck with gas, buy ice. load all perishables into trailer, load coolers with meats, beer, water, etc. Wash garnish and load into cooler and into trailer. go through checklists to see what I forgot :-D

Friday - Hitch truck and go through checklists again. Drive to comp site (up to 4 hours for us). Once on site figure out where we will be setting up, unhitch trailer, set up site and set up inside of trailer. Do prep work on all meats, build four boxes, go to cooks meeting, cook and eat dinner, clean smoker, light smoker, put butts and briskets into smoker. Finally get to bed between midnight and 1am.

Saturday - Up at 5:30, make coffee, wrap briskets and butts, finish prep on ribs and put into cooker. Finish prep on chicken and put into cooker, wrap ribs, separate brisket for burnt ends, sauce chicken, sauce ribs, prepare chicken turn in, prepare ribs turn in, prepare pork turn in, prepare brisket turn in. Put away all leftovers. Collapse for 5 minutes :-D Cool down smoker and dispose of ash and grease, clean inside of trailer, pack everything back into trailer. Go to awards, cheer for friends, get results, whine about the judges :becky:, hitch trailer, drive home (again, up to 4 hours), back trailer into driveway while swearing at the rude drivers who go over the curb and onto the grass instead of waiting for two minutes :-D, put all leftovers in the garage fridge. Collapse.

Sunday - Do it all over again.

Our average for a competition is $600 for entry fees, meat, ice, gas, etc. That doesn't include the trailer, truck and smoker.

BUT... We get to hang out with some of the best people in the world, see old friends and make new ones, and see some places in the midwest that we probably wouldn't get to see.

:thumb:
 
Mod Note:

Even though scguy mentioned that he was retiring from competitions, this has become a competition discussion, so I moved it to the Competition section of the forum.
 
ShencoSmoke said:
Don't underestimate the power of the drum. In reality it is no different than any other vertical cabinet style smoker that many top teams use. They are burning charcoal or lump or some combination of both, the same as your drum. The only difference is that the more expensive smokers are more efficient, have a bigger capacity, and are easier to use (in general). I switched from a Jambo to drums last season and didn't miss a beat.
View attachment 109087
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Make no mistake, many of the top teams are using drums!
 
Bamabuzzard said:
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.
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Just think it's funny how upset you seem about the fact that nobody from Louisiana placed in the top ten. It's like you think the only people who know how to cook gumbo are from there, and only people from there should be allowed to judge gumbo. Maybe the volumes that speakers is that maybe people from Louisiana should only cook in competitions with rules limiting where you live in order to participate or judge.
 
I think it's important to keep i perspective why you want to compete. If one gets into it for confirmation that they cook good BBQ, then is is not the way to go. Cook for your friends and neighbors, let them rave about how good it is. They will, and it is a lot cheaper.

If you like the challenge of pleasing six different people each time out, the commpondre of seeing friends you will meet along the way, and throw in an overnight camping trip with little sleep, stick with it.
 
Ron_L said:
Tuesday - go shopping for chicken, butts, ribs and garnish plus any supplies that are needed. Make injections and sauces and refill the containers.

Wednesday - trim chicken, ribs, buts and briskets.


:thumb:
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Tuesday's and Wednesday's tasks save a TON of time on Friday. We don't trim at comps anymore. Less mess and cleanup and just easier at home.
 
This is the same as all sports. What time you spend on it, you reap the rewards.

If you go to comps and become friends with other cooks, run into some problems, ask them for a little guidance. Most of the time you will receive it. Enjoy the company of fellow cooks and kindle a friendship for life.

Now if you go to comp with the idea that your food is the best in the neighborhood and all judges that don't agree are butt-heads, you may learn that it's a long hard trail.:shock:

Comp food is cooked with the idea that you are there to try and please 5 of the 6 judges, not what your neighbors think is good. The judges should be trained with guidelines of the texture for perfect cooked bbq is. If you don't know them, you better learn them before spending more than $500 on the comp, because you have to cook it perfect to have a chance of winning.

Seems simple to me....:thumb:
 
We were there too. Had a Brethren banner, wish you would have seen it and stopped by. Last year was our first ever comp. We did respectful first time out. This year I thought we did our best pork ever but it didn't score well, 23 out of 43. Ribs were OK. Don't give up. In 5 comps that we have done we haven't earned a trophy or check but we are not going to quit. I took the judges class after the Cup last year and it helped. I will be more than happy to help you out with what they look for.
 
I understand your thoughts - it's hard for the hobby competitor to go through all the effort and money once or twice a year against seasoned teams who do it all the time and are more prepared.

If I were you, I would just look into some smaller local contests - not too many big fish compete, it's drastically cheaper and if you are just in for some fun with "normal" people, it's a blast.
 
Ron_L said:
Here is a typical competition week for me.

Sunday - Take briskets out of the freezer and put in fridge. Clean out the trailer from the previous week's competition (if there was one). Roast coffee.

Monday - restock non-perishables in trailer, refill rub containers


:thumb:
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Couple things I noticed on here:

1- Having a trailer that is partially full and is dedicated to bbq is a huge time saver. You can spend an extra day loading (literally) a truck or a trailer that is used for other activities. Having a trailer/camper that doesn't need everything unloaded after every comp is a huge time saver, so if you don't, add some hours for this.

2- searching for the brisket to put it in the freezer can make for multiple trips to multiple locations in the course of the week/weeks leading up to a comp.

Mine

Sundays - Trim chicken vac pak and Freeze (Thanks Scottie)

Monday - I take inventory of the trailer so I have time to buy what is short. I also pull all my rubs out. I keep them vacuum packed between comps to try and keep as fresh as possible, so I load all my shakers and start loading my tool box up with them.

Tuesday - Rest Depot, buy anything missing, load all non-parishables in the trailer, retake inventory to make sure everything is there.

Weds - Trim Pork, Briskets, Make injections and sauces, vacuum pack what I can, rest goes in dedicated bbq fridge.

Thursday - Binnys for refreshements, jewel for greens and food to eat while at the comp, top of truck, hook up trailer, load all coolers, ice everything down, triple inventory trailer.

Friday - Vacation day off work, quadruple check trailer inventory, top off ice by 6am hit the road.

Saturday - Get home from comp (4pm or later most the time), spend an hour unloading perishables, vacuum pack left overs, spend an hour looking at box pictures and comparing them to the judges appearance scores, look at recipe tweaks vs scores over last comp, regret tweaks, open another bottle of jack, drowned sorrows, Do a load of laundry of "stinky bbq clothes" using full bottle of shout so you have one shirt that isn't stained, hop in shower, fall asleep by 8pm.

Sunday - Wash coolers and cambros, take inventory of trailer, master a game of tetris with the dishwasher to fit all cookie trays and cooking racks. Return everything to its proper location in the trailer, take another inventory.

Meat, rubs, injections, disposable pans for a comp I budget $500
Beverages $150 (Jack is not cheap and you can go through a lot)
Food while there $75 (We eat well)
Entry $200-400 around here
Fuel $100ish

The pay off is, it is the most miserable fun you will ever have. I enjoy the hell out of it, even in bad weather. Yes you could spend your money on wiser things, but to me its fun.
 
Most hobbies are expensive and don't ever win you as much as you spend.

I once raced 4wheelers semi professionally and was putting thousands of dollars into that hobby a month. THen one day it hit me on how much i was putting into it and how little i was getting in return. Sold my stuff and have never been back.

Sounds like you like to cook but the comp thing might not be up your alley. i would do like you said and either compete at some small local events or maybe just cook each weekend at friends house. THat way you still get to enjoy the part that you love (Cooking) but don't have to worry about all the $$$$ and heart ache you are putting into it.
 
Looking at the score sheet you did well man. I see alot of 9s on your ribs. 9.8, 9.7, even a 9.9! I hope you don't feel as discouraged now as you did this weekend. We're still struggling with pork ourselves. The financial part will level out some after a few comps. All I spent on this one was entry fee, 4 racks of ribs, 2 bottles of rub, and some sauce. Looking at the sheet you beat and were close to some top SBN teams. I would call that a win in it's self.
 
fnbish said:
What comps get done so early that you get home at 4pm on a Saturday. Only Sams club allows that around here :-D
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SBN and SCBA both usually have awards around 2-3pm. After that you can leave. We usually start breaking down and start packing up after the last turn in.
 
It is expensive, and if you are in it to make a living..well, good luck. Definitely try to get local businesses to sponsor, get a team of people and split the costs. There are a lot of ways to try and offset the costs. Most Competitions are supporting some charity and that is what it all about. This is a hobby that costs $$ like any other. These comps are like a weekend getaway, its suppose to be fun, so keep that in mind and have fun, otherwise its just not worth it.
 
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