NCPC Whole Hog Rule Changes

[smokeyw]

The North Carolina Pork Council which sanctions whole hog cook-off competitions, has just mandated new rules. Absolutely no sauce may be put on the pig, and absolutely no injecting. Either are grounds for disqualification. I am curious what the opinions are on this?

 

[lcbateman3]

I wasn't really impressed with them seeing them in person last weekend. But again, that may just be me. As for the rules, I guess it's all up to them. So it comes down to the cooking procedure.

 

[bbq.tom]

The North Carolina Pork Council which sanctions whole hog cook-off competitions, has just mandated new rules. Absolutely no sauce may be put on the pig, and absolutely no injecting. Either are grounds for disqualification. I am curious what the opinions are on this?

Just curious as to where you found out this information, as I was just on their website and it doesn't say anything about rule changes. It is information that is needed, as I am supposed to be judging for the NCPC in a couple weeks.

 

[E Mellow]

From the sounds of things the Pork Council wants to make this event all about the meat.

 

[smokeyw]

Some of the cook-offs probably will not implement these new rules since the cooks already signed an entry form with the old rules. The only rule that would affect the judge might be the one on sauce since you can see that one. You probably won't know if it was injected. I sent you a PM with more information.

Just curious as to where you found out this information, as I was just on their website and it doesn't say anything about rule changes. It is information that is needed, as I am supposed to be judging for the NCPC in a couple weeks.

 

[smokeyw]

So it's a meat competition instead of a cooking competition? Interesting take.

From the sounds of things the Pork Council wants to make this event all about the meat.

 

[weatherman]

Changes

Not sure what I think about this. Part of the competition is taste and saucing and injecting contributes to that. As far as it turning more to meat then cooking... done is done and not done is not done. Sauces and injecting can't fix whether your hog is done or not. I can understand if the sauce or injection overpowers the taste of the meat, but then it should be scored accordingly. Will the judges still dip the meat into sauce when tasting? If so then why not be able to add taste to it while cooking. This is just my opinion though.

 

[smokeyw]

The judges will still dip the meat in the sauce to taste, and your right that there is no substitute for cooking the pig right. It is either not done, done just right, or overcooked and dryed out possibly. The bottom line is, the only people that will be affected by the new rule changes are the cooks that score very high or win regularly. It appears they are trying to handicap the more experienced cooks who have spent their money and time perfecting their processes.

Not sure what I think about this. Part of the competition is taste and saucing and injecting contributes to that. As far as it turning more to meat then cooking... done is done and not done is not done. Sauces and injecting can't fix whether your hog is done or not. I can understand if the sauce or injection overpowers the taste of the meat, but then it should be scored accordingly. Will the judges still dip the meat into sauce when tasting? If so then why not be able to add taste to it while cooking. This is just my opinion though.

 

[BigBlock]

The way I heard it is you can't use any outside heat sourses (blow torches) and you can't inject ANYTHING into the hog. From what I hear this was done to keep cooks from injecting oil into the hog to get your meat moist. The judges have always only dipped the meat into the sause anyway, and most events use thier own sause when they sell the plates to the public

 

[QansasjayhawQ]

Thanks for the insights. This is all very strange to me. Never cooked whole hog - although I'd like to try it one day.

 

[nancee]

I would like to enter one of these, or at least judge it

 

[Gowan]

Foolish attempt to micro-manage cooks IMO. Rules like this, even when well intentioned, stifle creativity and don't help to advance BBQ. Wonder how the NC Pork Council would feel about being told by cooks how producers should feed their hogs?