What makes a Grand Champion?

[MeatStreet]

Just got back from a comp and I'm yet again disappointed in the results.

I thought I had the best cook I've ever had for 3/4 of the four meats, but scored 150-160.

The crazy thing is that I had a TERRIBLE cook on my chicken and it scored the best (165). I thought it was flavorless and the presentation was way off, yet it outscored the other three meats handily.

I'm wondering what I can do differently. I've heard a lot of things (cook the most basic bbq, it's a tenderness contest, cook the meat until it's done, etc.), and I believe I cook to those goals to the best extent possible.

So what is it that separates the top ten teams at a comp from the rest? The "same" teams win week in and out.

What is it that they are doing so much differently?

Any advice from those who are winning is appreciated.

 

[GrillBillie_D]

The quickest way to learn what wins at a contest is to take a class from those that win. That gives you a great idea as to what things they focus on (not just recipes but the things they focus on during the cook). I think the next way would be to judge a few contests. That will give you more chances to see what is being turned in and how it tastes.

 

[ronbrad62]

I'm watching this thread myself because I'm in the same boat. My biggest hang up is ribs, and with the scores I've gotten, I'm surprised I haven't killed anybody. My plan is to not worry so much about how it tastes, I'm going to try to focus on giving the judges a product they cannot ding me on. How do I get there? I'm not sure yet, but I will let you know when I do.

 

[West River BBQ]

I think it's a zen thing - can only be experienced and not explained. Oh, that elusive Shangri-La!

 

[B'Mackin]

I would totally echo what Dennis said. That was my experience on the way to winning my first GC.

1) Get in the tent and judge a few comps to see what scores well and what doesn't.
2) Take a class or two and learn from the best.
3) Practice, practice and practice. The scores will come!

Words of wisdom that I really take to heart that I've gleaned from some good friends and successful pitmasters.
1) Let the meat tell you what to do to it. I would get so hung up on times and numbers and temp - flip at 3 hours, wrap at 165, take out at 203. Don't get me wrong, timelines and temps are a super helpful tool and I always have a timeline when I cook. But don't live and die by the times and temps. If it feels loose, take it off. If the color looks good, wrap it. If ribs are taking longer, let them take longer.

2) Contests are often won and lost in the 15 minutes before boxing. How well can you adapt and adjust at the end if something didn't go right? Ribs are under, what do you do? Brisket is over, help!! Does it need salt? Is it too salty? Making those last minute decisions can win or lose you a comp.

Good luck!

 

[sudsandswine]

I’ve only done one competition so I’m hardly an expert but I did become a KCBS judge and sat a competition or two and then took a class from a winning team before doing my first competition. Knowing what judges are rating on, then participating in judging and tasting a variety of submissions yourself, combined with taking a class from a successful team is probably still less a time and money commitment than fumbling your way (generally speaking) through a few competitions will set you back. I finished overall in the top 1/3 in a competitive field and beat the team I took my class from in pork, while dealing with some adverse weather conditions, and was happy with the outcome.

 

[thirdeye]

I agree with taking classes, and if you walk away with 3 or 4 good tips it's worth it. Judging at least one contest a year lets you see and taste what other cooks are turning in. Judges don't discuss actual scores, but after the slips are collected they might mention the better entries, and the one they liked the least.

From a judges point of view, really work on appearance because it carries the lowest weight for calculating the final score...shoot for 8's and 9's every time. Judges spend 5 seconds or less on appearance. For taste, which is subjective for a judge, don't worry about 'wowing' the judges, your goal is to not offend anyone. Tenderness wise, shoot for best doneness/moistness you can get. Judges are evaluating taste and tenderness at the same time with the same bite.

Take a look at some boxes on http://www.bbqcritic.com/judgemybox. This might give you some ideas. Once you find an arrangement that works, stick with it. A reference photo is handy when building your box.

You want to get a judges attention in one bite but with all the flavors you have to work with, make sure one does not mask others. For example some judges don't like heat, so don't allow pepper to dominate. Some cooks won't have visible pepper flakes. A little too much salt can also be a turnoff. And if a judge bites and thinks something like "All I taste is honey", they might score down.

For tenderness, KCBS does give some instruction, so judges have guidelines as a reference.

Have you ever received comment cards? The check boxes cover about everything that might come to mind when a judge is scoring. Use this to your advantage.

 

[ModelMaker]

For many years now after leaving the tent I would roam around visiting friend cook teams and those I've never talked to before and one constant answer to my question "how'd your cook go?" is "fantastic I kicked ass and took names, or what a load of crap I sent in" and more times then not the "ass kickers" sat the whole afternoon and the "crap senders" would take a walk or two.
I have no explanation, it just happens.
Ed

 

[eap0510]

I have been competing for about 6 years now. I have gotten several calls in all categories but have yet to get Grand. The years that I get the most calls is when I was practicing literally every weekend. One year it seemed like I was either judging, competing, or practicing that I absolutely hated my BBQ. Even my neighbors were starting to complain that they were getting tired of BBQ. It was that year that I was consistently finishing in the top 10.
It is of my opinion that when you and your neighbors hate BBQ that you know you are practicing enough and the calls will start to come in.

 

[Right on Q]

I have been competing for about 6 years now. I have gotten several calls in all categories but have yet to get Grand. The years that I get the most calls is when I was practicing literally every weekend. One year it seemed like I was either judging, competing, or practicing that I absolutely hated my BBQ. Even my neighbors were starting to complain that they were getting tired of BBQ. It was that year that I was consistently finishing in the top 10.
It is of my opinion that when you and your neighbors hate BBQ that you know you are practicing enough and the calls will start to come in.

This has been my experience as well. Started out scoring horribly. Didn't know what to do.

Took a dvd class and scores started to improve.

Took an in person class and started practicing more, scores improved further with some top 5/10 calls.

Finally, I took a class from a multiple time world champion and practiced every weekend and got a perfect perfect score in ribs (only 1st place i've gotten)

Then COVID came and contests stopped and I stopped practicing......

I practiced 5 weeks in a row before that contest. The day of the contest a tornado came in the area and blew our tent away an hour before turn ins. I ended up cutting my ribs using a neighbors table and thought it was crap.

That's been my experience in a nutshell. Learn from the best and practice, practice, practice until you're sick of BBQ. Hope it helps

 

[Jason TQ]

When we were "acceptable" seemed to really come down to us cooking consistently. Problem is that comes from doing lots of events and practicing most off weekends.

Seems the top teams are still the ones cooking a lot more than others. Teams can catch fire in a bottle and get than 1st random GC if they don't cook 20 events (or however many events you can even do these days). Few years back teams were cooking 30+ easy.

The other challenge now that makes winning even harder is comp has gotten so incestuous. Everyone has taken everyone's class so now instead of in a field of 50 where they were like 10 teams always winning, now it is half the field.

But the advice above about getting into a class to see what is winning is certainly a great first step. Then practicing all the time. Truthfully if you only do a handful of events in a year it's gonna be tough to come out on top over the teams doing it all the time.

 

[masque13]

I think many excellent things have already been written. I fully endorse almost all of it.

I will tell you that as someone who has multiple calls, even had contest with multiple calls and even had a contest with a 3rd and 4th in the same contest, but never a GC, I think the main thing I have come to realize is that the teams who win a lot, are truly "pro" teams.

They almost always have rigs that suit their needs perfectly, they cook 15-30 contests per year, and god only knows how much practicing they do in between. many of them have sponsors that help cover the costs to allow them to cook more often than a non "pro" cook and they usually have a family or friends that is all in on supporting or dealing with that life.

in other words, for many of these folks comp BBQ is the primary focus in their life or certainly near the top.

so when you are that dedicated and you practice that much you get very good most of the time at what you do. or at least you should. I know I do.

and there is the difference. I've been doing comp cooking for 7-8 years but I have still done less than 15 contests....that is because of work, family commitments, the money it takes to do it, the money it takes to practice.

but I love it enough to have spent thousands of dollars to be a part of it, taken a couple of classes from folks who are at the absolute top of the heap in the sport, which has helped tremendously. but I simply dont do it enough to be consistent enough to win.

i have scored plenty high enough in multiple comps on all 4 categories to win a comp......but I have never put it together at the same time......something always stands in the way.....and it's usually those pro teams who managed to cook all four of their meats at such a high level that my overall score can't beat theirs.

so the overall point I am making is that the rule of thumb is that to be a "pro" or an expert at anything takes like 10,000 hours of doing it. I would almost bet you that all of the big name teams that have been cooking for years have that or double that in time spent learning their craft, dealing with adversity, making a bad piece of meat still turn out decent etc.

they have earned that skill with hard work, sweat and money. . and I'm not saying anyone disagrees with that.....my point is that us regular guys beating guys like that on a consistent basis isn't going to be something I would expect......we might get lucky and pull a GC or win a category or two in time.....but to go beyond that just requires to much time, dedication and money in my humble opinion. I'm envious of those people though. I love the sport and wish I could do it more.

 

[SuperQue]

I cooked in the backyard there last weekend and knew a lot of the pro teams from watching the BBQ league series. We cooked next to Kelly who won Day 1 GC and he was cooking alone but he knows his process so well that it works. There were a lot of teams there from the BBQ league plus heavy hitters like the Bus, so there was little chance to come out on top against those guys.

I'll echo what was said above:
1. Judge - you get to see what these teams are cooking
2. Practice until you can't get it wrong. I practice trimming chicken thighs all the time and I'm getting all 9's in appearance score.
3. take some sort of class or sign up for the BBQ League

Good Luck

aka Stone Cold Grillers

 

[Sledneck]

Takes some luck and the best doctored blues hog of the day

 

[Bill-Chicago]

You will also need a team logo that uses the same chicken, pig, and cow as everyone else.


You can't walk the walk if you don't dress for the part

 

[ewatts2003]

Tenderness and finishing are the biggest differences between those who consistently do well and the rest of us. Those guys nail tenderness every week. Their flavor profiles are also very non-offensive so they will appeal to more judges palettes. And with the finishing, they take a bite and right away know it needs more heat, more sweet, more salt, etc... Also they cook a ton, so that helps.

 

[Fatback Joe]

Tenderness and finishing are the biggest differences between those who consistently do well and the rest of us. Those guys nail tenderness every week. Their flavor profiles are also very non-offensive so they will appeal to more judges palettes. And with the finishing, they take a bite and right away know it needs more heat, more sweet, more salt, etc... Also they cook a ton, so that helps.

This has been my experience as well, I hopped out of the competition game a few years back, but it wasn't until I got my tenderness side figured out and hit it consistently that I started winning. Once I got that part dialed in, I felt like I was in the running every comp even if I didn't GC.

Managed to GC back to back even before I hung it up. I was certainly no "pro" I usually only did 5 comps or so a year.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

This has been my experience as well, I hopped out of the competition game a few years back, but it wasn't until I got my tenderness side figured out and hit it consistently that I started winning. Once I got that part dialed in, I felt like I was in the running every comp even if I didn't GC.

Managed to GC back to back even before I hung it up. I was certainly no "pro" I usually only did 5 comps or so a year.

It was tenderness AND your logo that was behind the GC's