WHO’S competition Class Should I Take

[TheGingaNinja]

Just heading home from my first time competing at The Jack. So pumped to have been invited to cook with a buddy’s team who qualified and I’m dyin to get MY team back to the jack.

Just bought a Pitmaker Vault so recently it hasn't even arrived yet and I’m eager to take some competition classes from folks who know their way around a similar style pit. I’m thinking Myron Mixon’s class is an obvious starting point with his cabinet style water cookers but I am hoping the brethren could shed some light on any other competition classes from pitmasters using a pitmaker, backwoods, stumps, etc style cooker?

 

[manmeatbbq]

Fergolicious BBQ is having a comp class coming up in Kansas City. He cooks on a Myron Mixon pit. He has many class alum that do very well and are highly ranked. His next class is December 14th at the KC Grilling Company store in the Kansas City area.

 

[masque13]

i took Myron's class a few years back, as I have one of his cookers, and it was fabulous. we only cook 1-3 contests per year, use tents and rarely have time to practice......but since his class, we have routinely gotten calls, sometime multiple calls in contests. top five category finishes in brisket and chicken on occasion.

RGC at a non KCBS event where we also one people's choice for our pork.

I only mention those things above to let you know that prior to his class we had gotten a couple of calls, but not at the frequency they happened after the class.......and prior to the class I would not have fed my brisket to a dog and now I would feed it to anyone and feel pretty good about it.

lastly, they treat you very nicely at the school and feed the crap out of you. Plus Myron is freaking hilarious.....some of his stories will have you shedding tears you are laughing so hard.

 

[tduffy]

When choosing a class, I would look at the top section of the current KCBS TOY points and 2-3 years past of it and who hits consistently at the big shows. This is a game of who's hot and who's not, and if what they are currently doing is hitting right now. No offense but it wouldn't be Myron's class.

 

[didisea]

The problem is that cabinet smokers are not the "it pit" any longer. If you were cooking on drums, I would say take the Gateway drum class. After that, I would probably say Clark Crew, but that would be more for flavor profiles and trimming, and not cooking on a cabinet smoker. I would say maybe take the one from Rocky Mountain Smokers, or Rob Reinhart, since they are close to you. I would take a good set of flavor profiles and trimming knowledge over specifically how to cook on a cabinet smoker. That you can figure out from practicing on your own pit, what ever it is.

 

[TheGingaNinja]

The problem is that cabinet smokers are not the "it pit" any longer. If you were cooking on drums, I would say take the Gateway drum class. After that, I would probably say Clark Crew, but that would be more for flavor profiles and trimming, and not cooking on a cabinet smoker. I would say maybe take the one from Rocky Mountain Smokers, or Rob Reinhart, since they are close to you. I would take a good set of flavor profiles and trimming knowledge over specifically how to cook on a cabinet smoker. That you can figure out from practicing on your own pit, what ever it is.

Thanks for that! So glad to hear you suggest the RMS class as that’s the team I went to the jack with! Also My kids work for rob Reinhardt! Haha! I’m looking for Clark crew classes online as we speak and I’m sure you heard they just won GC at the jack. Thanks for the great response

 

[pharp]

I have taken several classes. If it were me I would lean towards taking a top tier class as opposed to finding one that cooks on my style of smoker. Not saying it is not important to get advice relevant to your cooker, but getting first hand experience of the taste/tenderness that is winning is more valuable to me than a transferable timeline.

 

[Right on Q]

Echo what tduffy said. Look at the TOY rankings for the last couple of years. That'll point you to Clark Crew, Gettin Basted, and Shake and Bake.

We took Tuffy's class and it was also excellent. This was right after he won his 3rd Jack.

Any of the classes I've mentioned will put you on the right path.

Good luck!

 

[gettinbasted]

Shake and I have one in Italy this weekend if you’re looking for a trip.

 

[TheGingaNinja]

Shake and I have one in Italy this weekend if you’re looking for a trip.

Oh MAN haha that’d be amazing!!

 

[tduffy]

Oh MAN haha that’d be amazing!!

Or sign up for the One in January if there are spots left. I’m going to guess it’s going to fill up pretty fast. I’m going. I don’t know if this is a testament to their class or not but I took it a few years back and I’m going to take it again. I learned a lot the first time but I want to go back and see what else I can learn. I could choose any class I want this winter and I chose theirs.

 

[Ron_L]

Since it sounds like you are new I would look for a class from someone who uses the same, or similar, smoker. That way you can used everything that you get from the class as a starting point. If you take a class from someone with a different style cooker you will have to adapt what you learn to your cooker, which may not be easy, especially since your Vault is new and you likely won’t have had much time and experience with it.

 

[Smokin Hoggz]

I am having a class Dec 7-8, full KCBS timeline & 100% tell-all. We have cooked almost 200 contests and have over 30 GC's and 20 RGC's, We have been to the Jack 9 straight years, won it in 2011 and have 5 top 5 finishes there and won the American Royal Invitational in 2014. We cook on a Humphreys cooker(cabinet style). We have over 130 overall top ten finishes and over 400 category top ten's. www.smokinhoggz.com $600pp $400 spouse/teammate.