PigxelPerfectBbq
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
- Location
- Detroit...
This is my first thread since trolling these forums the past few months. I am big into cooking but never took my BBq'n too seriously untill early this summer when I got my EBC modd'ed it up and been smokin addicted since day 1 of havin it. Im a big hobbiest by nature and am competitive in most things I do so hey why not get into Competition BBQ... I though I had an idea of what it entailed so I figured why wait, might as well learn trial by fire what the competition world is all about. So I've got a little list of my first impressions of what the current competition scene is like through the eyes of a young rookie.
Comp: Blues Brews & Bbq , Birch Run,MI
-At the age of 22 and my gf/helper 21 we were definately the youngest team out there but no matter your age everyone is there doin what we love and that showed
-Dont be suprised if your first comp isnt gunna cost you less than $750.00 once its said and done
-Order your meat ahead of time or atleast have a game plan of where youre getting it and be picky!
-Pre prep as much as your rules allow you to, I only prepp'd my brisket doing 18 chicken thighs there was a hassle compared to at home in your kitchen
-MAKE A LIST, we had to make/send friends on multiple walmart runs for stupid things, like towels to put in the coolers to hold meats, socks for the womans feet (it got freezing at night), extra rags and foil, sanitizer etc.
-Organize your stuff in Bins, we made a serious effort to be organized where 1 bin was all things for cooking ingredient related, one for utensils and miscellanious, another for our personal snack stash etc, we had a dirty utensil/board bin, we had food coolers and drink coolers
-Everyone was SUPER helpful and you can tell there is a sense of satisfaction in helping out the new guys, that made the experience a blast where being the new guy sorta pays off at the end of the day!
-Dont be affraid to ask questions.... one of the top teams there "Big Brothers BBQ" were set up next to us and they answered a lot of my questions with the true intention of helping me succeed
-Get your stuff on early.... I learned the valuable lesson that its okay to let your meats rest for a few hours, better to be done early than late!
-get there with plenty of time to get all setup
-walk around and introduce yourself to teams, it's fun to talk shop about this addicting hobby with other enthusiasts, Friday night can be a blast if you put yourself out there!
-TRY to sleep if you can, but dont do what I did and pass out for 30 min and panic when I thought I over slept when I wanted to get my ribs on. Commit to staying up all night or getting a decent nap one or the other (falling in and out is dangerous for the mind lol)
-Set realistic goals. I wanted a call in atleast 1 category, others told me to just focus on not being DAL. I took some risks and cooked what I like and knew to be a risk in chicken and it bit me in the arse even though the honest critiques of other top teams was it was really good but a risk with the judges. Im super hard on myself but I learned to take my 17/31 overall finish as a positive sign that I must have done some things right... I had atleast one perfect score on all my entries from at least 1 judge at 5 diff tables so that told me I need to lock in my consistency.
-Try to box as even as possible...each of my boxes I had atleast 1 portion I was not at all happy with and it usually showed in my scores. Try to make sure no judge feels left out with the portion they receive
-When it comes to awards sit back relax and let your adrenaline take over as you hope to hear your team name called! What a rush it was, even after being up for 32 hours it sure as heck woke me up!
-oh yeah and don't forget to have fun!
Hopefully this helps some new teams out with what to expect going in through a new comers eyes. This also probably brought some of you back to the good ole days when you were new to the competition scene.
And now for some pics! (feel free to critique the boxes I didnt follow my game plan once it came time to box!)
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22/31 Immediate afterthoughts: Sauce was a little gloopy, some were facing a different direction from one another. Was really dissapointed that this flavor profile didnt work out although I wasnt too happy with how they came out compared to my practice run they were dryer and saltier than usual.
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14/31 Size of ribs were different and not cut evenly/straight, could have used a nice glossy finish
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23/31 Money Muscle could have been cut cleaner. Not sure why i scored so low i had a 999 and 888 rest were 7's and 8's though
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15/31 Uneven slices (my flat ripped in half with the grain as I put it on my board it overcooked a little) so thats why there are half slices. Shoulda sauced and put my burnt ends back on (I dont like the uniform "cubes" so I went with a more natural looking cut burnt end
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Have a conversation piece at your camp, NO ONE walked by without wanting to comment about my knife holder or my Yoder haha
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Injecting Butts
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Gettin that final glaze on chicken and ribs
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Brisket after resting 4 hours ^.^ I was really happy with its taste and tenderness though
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The fat loot I had wished I went home with, but congrats "Smokin in the D"
Thanks for readin and lookin if you made it through the post. Sorry for the lengthy write up but man Im bit by the bug and cant wait to compete again ASAP!
Oh and story behind the team name as I feel there should be one. Is I along with my friends that were there helping me are fulltime 3d artists, designer/art directors hence the play on Pixel bc thats all we normally do is nerd out on computers all day :wacko:
-Ben
Pigxel Perfect BBQ
Comp: Blues Brews & Bbq , Birch Run,MI
-At the age of 22 and my gf/helper 21 we were definately the youngest team out there but no matter your age everyone is there doin what we love and that showed
-Dont be suprised if your first comp isnt gunna cost you less than $750.00 once its said and done
-Order your meat ahead of time or atleast have a game plan of where youre getting it and be picky!
-Pre prep as much as your rules allow you to, I only prepp'd my brisket doing 18 chicken thighs there was a hassle compared to at home in your kitchen
-MAKE A LIST, we had to make/send friends on multiple walmart runs for stupid things, like towels to put in the coolers to hold meats, socks for the womans feet (it got freezing at night), extra rags and foil, sanitizer etc.
-Organize your stuff in Bins, we made a serious effort to be organized where 1 bin was all things for cooking ingredient related, one for utensils and miscellanious, another for our personal snack stash etc, we had a dirty utensil/board bin, we had food coolers and drink coolers
-Everyone was SUPER helpful and you can tell there is a sense of satisfaction in helping out the new guys, that made the experience a blast where being the new guy sorta pays off at the end of the day!
-Dont be affraid to ask questions.... one of the top teams there "Big Brothers BBQ" were set up next to us and they answered a lot of my questions with the true intention of helping me succeed
-Get your stuff on early.... I learned the valuable lesson that its okay to let your meats rest for a few hours, better to be done early than late!
-get there with plenty of time to get all setup
-walk around and introduce yourself to teams, it's fun to talk shop about this addicting hobby with other enthusiasts, Friday night can be a blast if you put yourself out there!
-TRY to sleep if you can, but dont do what I did and pass out for 30 min and panic when I thought I over slept when I wanted to get my ribs on. Commit to staying up all night or getting a decent nap one or the other (falling in and out is dangerous for the mind lol)
-Set realistic goals. I wanted a call in atleast 1 category, others told me to just focus on not being DAL. I took some risks and cooked what I like and knew to be a risk in chicken and it bit me in the arse even though the honest critiques of other top teams was it was really good but a risk with the judges. Im super hard on myself but I learned to take my 17/31 overall finish as a positive sign that I must have done some things right... I had atleast one perfect score on all my entries from at least 1 judge at 5 diff tables so that told me I need to lock in my consistency.
-Try to box as even as possible...each of my boxes I had atleast 1 portion I was not at all happy with and it usually showed in my scores. Try to make sure no judge feels left out with the portion they receive
-When it comes to awards sit back relax and let your adrenaline take over as you hope to hear your team name called! What a rush it was, even after being up for 32 hours it sure as heck woke me up!
-oh yeah and don't forget to have fun!
Hopefully this helps some new teams out with what to expect going in through a new comers eyes. This also probably brought some of you back to the good ole days when you were new to the competition scene.
And now for some pics! (feel free to critique the boxes I didnt follow my game plan once it came time to box!)
22/31 Immediate afterthoughts: Sauce was a little gloopy, some were facing a different direction from one another. Was really dissapointed that this flavor profile didnt work out although I wasnt too happy with how they came out compared to my practice run they were dryer and saltier than usual.
14/31 Size of ribs were different and not cut evenly/straight, could have used a nice glossy finish
23/31 Money Muscle could have been cut cleaner. Not sure why i scored so low i had a 999 and 888 rest were 7's and 8's though
15/31 Uneven slices (my flat ripped in half with the grain as I put it on my board it overcooked a little) so thats why there are half slices. Shoulda sauced and put my burnt ends back on (I dont like the uniform "cubes" so I went with a more natural looking cut burnt end
Have a conversation piece at your camp, NO ONE walked by without wanting to comment about my knife holder or my Yoder haha
Injecting Butts
Gettin that final glaze on chicken and ribs
Brisket after resting 4 hours ^.^ I was really happy with its taste and tenderness though
The fat loot I had wished I went home with, but congrats "Smokin in the D"
Thanks for readin and lookin if you made it through the post. Sorry for the lengthy write up but man Im bit by the bug and cant wait to compete again ASAP!
Oh and story behind the team name as I feel there should be one. Is I along with my friends that were there helping me are fulltime 3d artists, designer/art directors hence the play on Pixel bc thats all we normally do is nerd out on computers all day :wacko:
-Ben
Pigxel Perfect BBQ
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