Comp superstitions & epic screw ups

Superstitions - I am a big fan of the 10 am lucky beer. I also set my pit to 231 instead of 230. When I won my first GC, I had a little too much to drink and struggled setting up the guru. Woke up the next morning to it being set at 231 and it has stayed there since.

Screw ups- I would say my first 2 seasons of competing was a screw up..
 
Superstitions - I always cook 13 thighs.

No epic screw ups come to mind, but I do have a couple that had the potential to be.

Lexington, MA 2012 - Got staggering drunk, woke up in the trailer at 3 am in a panic as I was positive that I didn't put the pork on the smoker. Checked everything out and it was humming right along. Got 1st in pork. :mrgreen:

Rockin' Ribfest, Merrimack, NH also 2012 - My son was cooking with me and helping me get boxes around. Things were going smoothly until brisket. I had all the juice in a fat separator and told my son to hold on tight so he wouldn't drop it..........he broke the handle off and I lost every drop. Made up a quick substitute with a can of beef broth, doctored it up a bit, and hoped fore the best. He looked like he was going to be sick over it. Wound up 1st in Brisket and GC........on Father's day even.
 
I guess some people would call my team's obsession with bandanas a superstition, but that's because they don't understand the special powers.

As far as screw ups go, I think my biggest one was getting a call at my first contest.
 
Untraceable said:
I should probably do it more often
Click to expand...

Umm... Bleached meat? Seems kind of dick to me. Just saying. Don't get me wrong I am all for unhealthy cooking but you could really hurt a judge pulling that kind of chit. They are people too. If it were me I would take the DQ rather than make someone sick. Accidents happen and they suck but how you handle it says a lot about the kind of person you are.
How would you feel if I did that to you? Not much I can say as you already did it but really you should be ashamed.
 
Got to wear my team t shirt to awards. Always sit near the back at awards. Always be unassuming.

Fails - so many. Forgot my sauces at home. Forgot (insert anything here) at home.
Overslept many times. Most recent was by 3 hours, torched the paint job on my drums trying to catch up.
Dropped on the grungy floor a rack full of freshly seasoned thighs that were headed to the smoker.
Didn't realize how much stronger beer was in the Netherlands than the US on Friday night.
There's lots more but I'll stop there...
 
Rusty Kettle said:
Umm... Bleached meat? Seems kind of dick to me. Just saying. Don't get me wrong I am all for unhealthy cooking but you could really hurt a judge pulling that kind of chit. They are people too. If it were me I would take the DQ rather than make someone sick. Accidents happen and they suck but how you handle it says a lot about the kind of person you are.
How would you feel if I did that to you? Not much I can say as you already did it but really you should be ashamed.
Click to expand...

You probably would have gave it 9-9-8, or 9-8-9. I mean, it wasn't perfect brisket, but it scored pretty high in an invitational
 
Rusty Kettle said:
Umm... Bleached meat? Seems kind of dick to me. Just saying. Don't get me wrong I am all for unhealthy cooking but you could really hurt a judge pulling that kind of chit. They are people too. If it were me I would take the DQ rather than make someone sick. Accidents happen and they suck but how you handle it says a lot about the kind of person you are.
How would you feel if I did that to you? Not much I can say as you already did it but really you should be ashamed.
Click to expand...

I guess you've never accidentally had a mouthful of swimming pool water?:roll:

Anyway, I did it to my chicken once too. It scored a 167, good enough for 13th place. Funny thing was after Sonja took the box, I took a extra piece of chicken and hit it with the bleach water, then sampled it twice to see what it tasted like.:loco:
 
Superstitions - I always wear the same Cubs baseball hat. My teammate says "it used to be green." Same music during turn ins. Elvis at 5 a.m. while building boxes, drinking coffee and trying to sober up.

Screw ups - usually involve drinking more than my fair share - backwards somersaults, wandering around Dwight, IL wondering where I was... the list is pretty long. One screw up was cooking Smithfield butts for the first time at a contest. Money muscle was as hard as a rock. Left it out of the box, and managed 7th place at the Sam's local in South Bend.
 
Typical pool water = 1-3 ppm Chlorine
Recommended disinfecting solution = 200 ppm Chlorine

I wouldn't be concerned with the amount of chlorine contained in the mist that landed on the food, and would judge any even if I knew it was there.

Recommendation for KCBS to include "too bleachy" on comment cards, wherever Untraceable competes :razz:
 
Untraceable said:
You probably would have gave it 9-9-8, or 9-8-9. I mean, it wasn't perfect brisket, but it scored pretty high in an invitational
Click to expand...
Not everything is about winning or scoring high. Just my opinion.
As cooks we should be willing to miss turn in when safety is an issue. Even if it costs us a GC. I am not a judge but if I read that I would walk away from it. When cooks are more concerned about 9's then the safety of the people judging that is just wrong.
I think sometimes cooks forget judges are just people. They love barbecue just as much as we do. They deserve better. They deserve to be safe.
Mistakes happen and they suck. How we handle those mistakes says a lot about the kind of people we are. What kind of person do you want to be?
The person who wants to win so bad you are willing to hurt someone or the person that is willing to take a DQ to keep people from getting sick?
If I screw up and it is a safety concern then I am not serving it. I will take a DQ over risking someone else's safety. Judges deserve better treatment then that.
 
DUBBAGA said:
Typical pool water = 1-3 ppm Chlorine
Recommended disinfecting solution = 200 ppm Chlorine

I wouldn't be concerned with the amount of chlorine contained in the mist that landed on the food, and would judge any even if I knew it was there.

Recommendation for KCBS to include "too bleachy" on comment cards, wherever Untraceable competes :razz:
Click to expand...

Good to know. Can I bleach your food? :)
 
I had an analog clock's batteries die and the clock stopped at 11:57. I was boxing chicken and kept looking up thinking that I still had time. I stepped out of the trailer at 12:05 for chicken turn in. Needless to say we switched to digital clocks after that....

A few other mistakes along the way over the last 5 years, but not going there....

Eggspert
 
I always have a bag of Twizzlers around for the weekend. It was just a treat we had at our first comp and we've had them around ever since.
 
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