Bacchus2b
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2014
- Location
- North Texas
I've wanted to compete in an SCA comp for a while now, so last year I took their judging class, and then judged a live major competition so I would have a good idea as to what wins and what does not. I was scheduled to compete last year, but cut my thumb badly in practice and had to pass (Love my new Ken Onion knife sharpener!).
For those of you interested in SCA competition, I thought I would share some thoughts.
- I really need a trailer! I made lists of everything I would need, much like in my old catering days. Carefully laid out all my stuff and still didn't have room for that with my two kids and a German Shepherd. Thoughts of how easy it would be to pack a trailer and just leave it packed for the next competition had me trolling Craigslist for used trailers the very same day!
SCA 5-4-19 I Need a Trailer by David Miller, on Flickr
- Family fun. Having my kids off of video games and outdoors striking up conversations with complete strangers all day was priceless. Many nice folks at this event. Kids and dog all slept in the shade when they were tired.
SCA 5-4-19 Son & Dog by David Miller, on Flickr
- Steak Selection. 35 teams competing yesterday. You draw numbers to determine steak selection order for two rounds of steak selection. My number was 25 out of 35 meaning I was the 25th team to select steaks on the first round, then they reverse the order and I should have been number 10 out of 35 on the second round. I had two issues here. The contest I had judged previously put out additional steaks between round one and round two which made things a little more fair. Round two yesterday was picking from the leftovers of round one. My other issue was more than ten people lining up in front of me for the second round of selection (I should have been #10). The SCA rep could have made another announcement as to how the reverse order worked and monitored that better. I said something but no one did anything.
On a personal note I can pick out the best Ribeye in the grocery store in about five seconds. You have thirty seconds in SCA to pick your steak, but you are looking at 30 plus steaks and I found myself going into paralysis! Also, the person in front of you always seems to pick the steak you had your eye on so you must find a new one!
SCA 5-4-19 Steak Selection by David Miller, on Flickr
Ancillary/Appetizers. One of the things I did not consider was cooking an appetizer on my grill, then having to cook steaks on the same grill shortly afterwards. I used a small amount of Charcoal on my appetizer, but it still produced ash and they did not have ash cans out at that point so I just piled fresh, lit charcoal on top and one side of my grill ended up being much hotter than the other for steaks. My appetizer was an Epic Fail!!! 24th out of 35 entries. Late at night I came up with a Grilled Spam with Bacon Jam Slider concept. My Bacon Jam was killer, but my Slider Buns barely fit the comp box, and I had to put toothpicks in at an angle to get them to fit. I also had large slices of Spam showing off my grill marks but no one cared...…..
SCA 5-4-19 Grilled Spam with Bacon Jam by David Miller, on Flickr
- Turn In. The steaks had huge tails so I did a pretty solid trim job and tied them into a nice shape. Unfortunately after cooking my larger steak pulled apart and looked terrible, so I went with my smaller #2. Made a rookie error and turned in too quickly. The judges are supposed to look at each steak on it's own individual merits, but it's human nature to compare what has come before, and if you are the first to go the judges have nothing to compare to. There were some serious competitors there, and when I saw everyone light grills I assumed it was go time. I got my PK nice and hot and I was worried that it would come down in temperature if I waited longer, so I cooked and let rest for twenty minutes, but turned in right at the start. Lesson learned was to stick with my plan and not worry about what everyone else was doing! I know my flavor was good, but my steak had a small spinalis and I know I lost appearance points. Finished 16th out of 35 teams which was very disappointing to me, but you do the best you can with what you have. There were a few other well-known teams that didn't place in the top ten so I didn't feel too bad!
SCA 5-4-19 Steak by David Miller, on Flickr
Ultimately I'm more than ready to do it again, but it would be nice to try and find someone to compete with me as my kids are still young. I was envious of the teams that had three or four adults packing up tents, chairs, grills, etc. and breaking down in a matter of minutes, and very envious of those with small trailers. I smell a new addiction coming on...….
For those of you interested in SCA competition, I thought I would share some thoughts.
- I really need a trailer! I made lists of everything I would need, much like in my old catering days. Carefully laid out all my stuff and still didn't have room for that with my two kids and a German Shepherd. Thoughts of how easy it would be to pack a trailer and just leave it packed for the next competition had me trolling Craigslist for used trailers the very same day!
SCA 5-4-19 I Need a Trailer by David Miller, on Flickr- Family fun. Having my kids off of video games and outdoors striking up conversations with complete strangers all day was priceless. Many nice folks at this event. Kids and dog all slept in the shade when they were tired.
SCA 5-4-19 Son & Dog by David Miller, on Flickr- Steak Selection. 35 teams competing yesterday. You draw numbers to determine steak selection order for two rounds of steak selection. My number was 25 out of 35 meaning I was the 25th team to select steaks on the first round, then they reverse the order and I should have been number 10 out of 35 on the second round. I had two issues here. The contest I had judged previously put out additional steaks between round one and round two which made things a little more fair. Round two yesterday was picking from the leftovers of round one. My other issue was more than ten people lining up in front of me for the second round of selection (I should have been #10). The SCA rep could have made another announcement as to how the reverse order worked and monitored that better. I said something but no one did anything.
On a personal note I can pick out the best Ribeye in the grocery store in about five seconds. You have thirty seconds in SCA to pick your steak, but you are looking at 30 plus steaks and I found myself going into paralysis! Also, the person in front of you always seems to pick the steak you had your eye on so you must find a new one!
SCA 5-4-19 Steak Selection by David Miller, on FlickrAncillary/Appetizers. One of the things I did not consider was cooking an appetizer on my grill, then having to cook steaks on the same grill shortly afterwards. I used a small amount of Charcoal on my appetizer, but it still produced ash and they did not have ash cans out at that point so I just piled fresh, lit charcoal on top and one side of my grill ended up being much hotter than the other for steaks. My appetizer was an Epic Fail!!! 24th out of 35 entries. Late at night I came up with a Grilled Spam with Bacon Jam Slider concept. My Bacon Jam was killer, but my Slider Buns barely fit the comp box, and I had to put toothpicks in at an angle to get them to fit. I also had large slices of Spam showing off my grill marks but no one cared...…..
SCA 5-4-19 Grilled Spam with Bacon Jam by David Miller, on Flickr- Turn In. The steaks had huge tails so I did a pretty solid trim job and tied them into a nice shape. Unfortunately after cooking my larger steak pulled apart and looked terrible, so I went with my smaller #2. Made a rookie error and turned in too quickly. The judges are supposed to look at each steak on it's own individual merits, but it's human nature to compare what has come before, and if you are the first to go the judges have nothing to compare to. There were some serious competitors there, and when I saw everyone light grills I assumed it was go time. I got my PK nice and hot and I was worried that it would come down in temperature if I waited longer, so I cooked and let rest for twenty minutes, but turned in right at the start. Lesson learned was to stick with my plan and not worry about what everyone else was doing! I know my flavor was good, but my steak had a small spinalis and I know I lost appearance points. Finished 16th out of 35 teams which was very disappointing to me, but you do the best you can with what you have. There were a few other well-known teams that didn't place in the top ten so I didn't feel too bad!
SCA 5-4-19 Steak by David Miller, on FlickrUltimately I'm more than ready to do it again, but it would be nice to try and find someone to compete with me as my kids are still young. I was envious of the teams that had three or four adults packing up tents, chairs, grills, etc. and breaking down in a matter of minutes, and very envious of those with small trailers. I smell a new addiction coming on...….
