IBCA, my first comp time to pop my .....
 

OK, brothers and sisters, this brother needs tips on presentation of the four meats for this comp (IBCA, La Quinta, CA).

Here are the list of meats:

Brisket
Chunked pork
Spares
Half chix

I need some tips on the following:

1. presentation of ribs (how to cut them, st. louis, full, etc.)
2. How much sauce to apply for meats (cooked on I know).
3. sweet versus savory, etc
4. Any pics of applicable turn-in boxes
5. Any other helpful tips

Thanks in advance

Don't know IBCA rules so just thought i'd wish ya good luck!!:mrgreen:

If you have time can you go to an IBCA event before your event? that will be a big HELP to you if not here goes.

Ribs go toward St Louis style on the tender side go with the hollywood cut.

Brisket don't trim the edges after cooking pre-trim to fit box before cooking. 1/4 -3/8 thick

GO to a couple of local BBQ joints that are popular with the locals and see if they are adding sauce to ribs and chicken remember IBCA judges are off the street folks not trained and on the day of the event try to figure out if they are using a bunch of women or old people to judge or heavy drinkers and adjust accordingly with your salt and heat.

GOOD LUCK

You can see pics of our last IBCA comp here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...light=Moorpark

Just remember that any sauce has to be cooked on. Not added at the last minute.

I did an IBCA event in Houston two years ago. I don't know how I finished out of the 110 teams there since they don't do a print out of results, but I was not in the top 10 in any of the three categories (chicken, rib, brisket). So you can take what I am about to post with a grain of salt...

Ribs: at the cook I went to, they mandated all the ribs be turned in the same way. For us that meant St. Louis cut spares, laid in the box flat with the thick side to the left of the box and side with bone showing (pulled back after cooking) pointing to the right - like a book where the think side is the spine. We had to turn in 9 ribs (no more, no less), individually cut (no Hollywood cuts) with 5 on the bottom and 4 on top. Because they were stacked, presentation became less of a factor. They also opened the box and checked them at turn in...so if you had them wrong, they sent you back to do it right.

Sauce: the guys next to us said use very little. Glazed and bake it on (you know that already). Use it for taste...not appearence. I have heard conflicting reports on this, but logic tells me if ribs are being stacked, go easy on the sauce because it will smear everywhere.

Sweet vs. Savory: We went sweet. We didn't win. I know the ribs that I made would have scored in KCBS. Take it for what it's worth. I have tried some Texas rubs and found them to be salty. I have been told by cooks who have competed successfully in Texas to increase the salt taste to win....this would be dictated by region - in CA you would know better than I.

You can't trim brisket to fit the box (I don't anyway) and your slices should be the thickness of a #2 pencil, so bring one along. They opened up the box and literally held a pencil next to each slice at turn in at the contest I did to check the thickness.

Also, not that it makes a difference, but your turn-ins will go into the standard 9" clamshell with a foil piece inside. I think they also use plastic forks. As I mentioned, they told how many samples to turn in. Ours was 9. That was 9 ribs, 9 slices of brisket and we had to do 2 halves for chicken. The turn in for chicken was in a foil half pan instead of a clamshell. We have a lot of teams, which meant a lot of judges...so we had to turn in more. I think the min. is 6 samples.

Here are some pics of IBCA turn-ins. Not mine...but this is what I used in preperation for my first (and so far only) IBCA cook-off...

http://www.ibcabbq.org/Photos/0702Mt...leasant002.JPG

http://www.ibcabbq.org/Photos/0702Me...desSOTR022.jpg

http://www.texasbbqrub.com/albums/HH06/100_0167.jpg
Again - Not my pictures...just a reference...

Thom Emory is the man to pump for information. maybe he will chime in. i know he is tight in the IBCA judging circuit. Good luck.

Sauce: the guys next to us said use very little. Glazed and bake it on (you know that already). Use it for taste...not appearence. I have heard conflicting reports on this, but logic tells me if ribs are being stacked, go easy on the sauce because it will smear everywhere




Ya, really lite sauce on them pic's!!!

And according to Thom they make some slight adjustment's to the normal IBCA rules in California.

edit - check BigMista's thread above post #18.

Like I said...not my pics. Just putting them out there to show box arrangment. Thanks.

There will be 7 slices of brisket and seven ribs. St. Louis cut is fine. Hollywood cut is allowed. Meat is cut with plastic knife and fork. In the west we have added pork so it is a four meat contest. Pork must be pulled in finger sized pieces. Not shredded. Brisket can only be trimmed BEFORE cooking.

That's how we do it in the Wild, Wild West.

Thanks, very insightful tidbits! Keep them coming:wink:

Neil has it down
Here is your free Brethren insight
The Judges use a plastic knife and fork :)
Try eatin your own Q that way

May I ask....what is a hollywood cut of ribs?

Never ever heard of this before?

Another question for the folks here....are there 7 judges, therefore 7 pieces of meat per turn in box?

I know nothing about the ICBA Rules and Regs.

No. The number of judges varies. And the amount of meat submitted varies on the amount of teams in the contest. The judges only take one bite from each box. They cut off that bite with a knife and fork.

A Hollywood cut rib is one where the rib is sliced next to the adjacent bone so you end up with extra wide ribs.