Comp vs Home cooks

[oldbill]

I competed many years ago before all of the injections and stuff got popular, the emphasis was put on THE COOK making the meat tender, juicy and flavorful and it seems to me that competition cooks today spend a LOT of time and money, using artificial "enhancers" to make a piece of meat into something that it isn't supposed to be! I tasted a friends comp brisket not long ago and it didn't even taste like a brisket to me, he'd pumped it full of some commercial injection and coated it with some kind of complex, mega ingredient rub as well as a marinade and the result was a mushy, weird tasting piece of meat that only looked like brisket. After I gave him my brutally honest opinion about it he said "yeah,... but that's what wins these days".:shock:
I think that BBQ competitions should be about the skill of the cook and not the artificial crap that was used during the prep and cooking process,... the meat should be able to stand on it's own without the help of all that junk!:wink:
My friend BTW ended up placing near the top of the field with his brisket,... which further convinced me that I will probably never have any interest in competing again.:tsk:

 

[jsmorrow2s]

WOW! this is def an eye opener to the newb that i am! makes me think that i like the thought of doig a comp, but i would rather just sit back, cook good food, and drink a few real good hearty brews

 

[aawa]

I have cooked a few competitions but I cook quite a bit for family and friends.

During one of the competitions, I cooked just like I do at home for my friends and family. I felt I nailed appearance and tenderness (all 8's and 9's) and I finished in the top half of the field. I used sauces that were heavy in vinegar, no injections, light use of butter, brown sugar and agave nectar. I felt that the cook was the best I had done for the small amount of competitions I have done. It was the worst overall score I had received. It was because I got hammered in taste category. I averaged a 7.3 on my taste where the other competitions, my taste scores were average at 8.1

I learned after several practice cooks that I can no sit down and eat a meal of competition style meats. It is so overwhelming to my pallet and the richness tears through my stomach that I end up running to the bathroom within an hour of eating it. Because of this, I only take 1-2 bites of my competition meats when determining what to put in the box.

There is a huge difference between competition meats and backyard cooking. I prefer cooking for my friends and family vs cooking at a competition.

 

[Right on Q]

I get really upset at that "I wouldn't ever cook this at home" narrative. While I do think there are entries that are overloaded in flavor, easily 75% of the samples I get are something I would love to eat at home/in a restaurant. Like you said, comp food is good food.

I tend to agree with this. My comp flavors are just heavier seasoned versions of great sauces and rubs i use at home all the time.

When i cook for friends, I use the same flavor profile I use in comps. I just dial it back a notch or two so we can enjoy more than a few bites.

 

[aawa]

How does this style transition over to the commercially available rubs that teams sell? Everybody loves some Plowboys, but are other rubs not such a safe bet?

The commercial rubs that they are selling are are damn good and can/should be used at home. Rubs are the basics of bbq.

If you like Plowboys, you will probably also love 3eyz pork rub, the whole line of Simple Marvelous, Oakridge rubs, and Big Poppa Smokers rubs. They are fantastic rubs that everybody can use at home to produce some good eatin bbq.