SCA what do you guys think?
 

Thinking about cooking an SCA event. Not sure where yet. Are SCA events family friendly? I would like to take my 4 year old son with me. My wife would be going too in case he got bored. He always wants to help me cook so I doubt he will be bored. I know the head cook has to be 18 but it doesn't mention assistant cooks. I emailed SCA to ask about that. If they are ok with it I am bringing him along to help season the meat and walk the box up with me. He loves to be involved in cooking. I thought KCBS would be way to intense at his age but sca might be better for him to come along.

I think this would be good way to introducing him to cook offs. Any thoughts? Thanks for your input.

... I hear it's easier to take pictures of steaks than ribs ... so, go for it :razz:

I think you are over thinking what constitutes a team.

When have been cooking SCA for just over a year now and we love it. SCA is very family friendly. I have a 12 year old known as the steak princess. My wife signs up but my daughter does everything else herself. I start the fire in her small green egg and she controls it from there. She has beaten me 6 out of 7 times and I was qualified for the World Steak Championship in Ft Worth this year. If you have any other questions about the SCA I will be glad to answer them for you.

Yeah, definitely bring him along. One of the best things about SCA comps is that it's over and done with in a few hours, so even if he gets bored, you won't be out there for the whole day/night!

I brought my nine year old to hang out with me when I judged a large SCA event earlier in the year and he had a great time! We put him to work running comp boxes to the different judges tables, and you should have seen the look on his face when we told him that he could taste from any boxes that had already been judged on the "Grazing Table"!

Great family environment.

I did an SCA event a few months back. Your milage may vary, but the one I was at was very family friendly. Lots of husband/wife teams and some of them had kids. The one I was at also had a kids contest where the kids cooked a pork chop. Parents could help with potential safety issues, coach and such but the kid had to do the actual cooking.

These are not intense KCBS events. It's super laid back. A "team" can be anything from you and your 4 year old with a 12" hibachi sitting in the dirt, to an actual team.

It might be a good event for kids with short attention spans. You roll up at like 9AM and you are on you way home by 4PM or so.

They are lots of fun and affordable. I wish there was more of them. You should try it.

One in Edgewater MD 11/4

SCA comps are very family friendly. Since the comps are pretty short, you see many families spending the day out there and competing.

Rusty over thinking something? Not the first time!

Just take your wife and kid along and have fun. My wife will sometimes bring our kids to the Saturday of KCBS contests. If they get bored or in the way, she'll take them to whatever event the comp is usually attached to. Get him involved. My son, who is 10 now, did a Kids Q event 5-6 years ago and had a great time.

I haven't attended an SCA comp, but I have watched them handing out steaks to cook at one. (same day I was judging a bbq contest) Since you are talking about cooking one piece of meat to the correct doneness, I would say the intensity will be waaaay less than having two to six pieces of four different kinds of meat to cook correctly. May be a great way to break in a Jr. cook? :thumb::thumb:

I've done probably 4 or 5 SCA cooks now, and I really enjoy it. So much easier than BBQ in terms of time and equipment.

Some great folks in the SCA also. Very family friendly and just downright decent folks.

WrightonQ was kind enough to let me borrow one of his Thermapens when I left mine at the last contest I did. Testament to the kind of competitors there. Also a lot of knowledge transfer happens freely more so than BBQ in my experience.

We are in. Just got my parents lined up to take care of my daughter.

Tommy wanted to have a team name so we are competing under the name Tommy and Daddy
Steak Team. Should be fun.

That's awesome. You guys will enjoy it.

That will be a great experience for both of you! Now it is time for practice!