Competition Sauces & Rubs

BrewerDJ

BrewerDJ

Knows what a fatty is.
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We just competed in our 2nd contest, Williepallooza, and in the cooks meeting they told us they were changing the scoring weighting system. Giving more weight to tenderness and less to taste. They said it was because so many people are using the same sauces and rubs that everything is tasting similar and this would give more weight to the cooking process and how well the cooks prepared they're meats. Is everyone really using the same stuff? I thought most people would be making their own sauces and rubs. Or are there really just a few rubs and sauces that most people are using? What are these magic sauces and rubs that are winning all the medals? We have been working for the last couple of years on our sauces and rubs. Last year we took a 7th in Pork and this year a 8th in Brisket. Are we wasting time with trying to make our own? I'd at least like to try some of these winning rubs & sauces and see how they compare.

Thanks for any input or leads to the spice blends.
 
This is the first I've heard of the weight of the tenderness scores being debated/changed...
 
I just took the CBJ class this past weekend and they said nothing about the change. The only thing that they said FOR SURE that was changing was not referring to pork as the butt (Boston butt, or any variation therof) anymore and calling it the shoulder instead.
 
I use my own sauce for pork (butt, shoulder, whatever you want to call it). For ribs, brisket, and chicken, I use commercially available sauces (I may doctor them a little). As far as rubs go, I buy them most of the time.
 
Williepallooza uses the BBQ Brethren Bill of Rights. Which allows the contest organizer to modify almost any part of the rules at their discretion. I had no problem with the modified scoring but I am interested in the idea that most people are using the same rubs and sauces.
 
The secret is out. Everyone is using Smokin' Guns Hot and Blue's Hog Original.

Seriously, there are dozens of commercial rubs and sauces that will be used by Grand Champion winners this year. Go out and buy 8-10 rubs, a half dozen sauces, and brisket and pork injections from one of the sites that caters to competitive BBQ. Do comparative testing with your cooking method and continue to develop your recipes.

I'm not saying to never do you own thing, just that you can get 80% of the way there with 20% of the effort by starting with commercial seasonings.
 
using commerical sauces will help you be more consistant. It's hard to make your own sauces and rubs and have them turn out the same each time.
 
BrewerDJ said:
Williepallooza uses the BBQ Brethren Bill of Rights. Which allows the contest organizer to modify almost any part of the rules at their discretion. I had no problem with the modified scoring but I am interested in the idea that most people are using the same rubs and sauces.
Click to expand...

I asked the question, pretty much knowing the answer, so that folks would not freak out and think KCBS had changed the rules 8).

As to it's value, I will leave that to others.

TIM
 
We did our first couple of contests with our own stuff and didn't score so well. Switched to commercial stuff and our scores improved. (I'm sure some of it was learning to cook better)
We developed our own rub last year and are finally going to our own sauce again this year.
I think it helped trying several commercial products over a few years to see what sort of things the judges liked. Hopefully scores keep getting better this year with the B&C sauce and rub.
 
Another thing that I highly recommend: Take the judges class for whichever sanctioning body you are competing in. This will give you great insight in to what they are judging. Our scores went up tremendously after we took the class and judged a couple of contests.
 
We make our own rub and buy commercial sauce. Great to have you guys next door again! Hopefully I will come out and compete next year instead of just visiting.

WOOOOOO! :thumb:

(Todd from Ohio)
 
commercial sauces and rubs have the advantage when it comes to giving you the same product day in and day out. There are no magical combinations, there are plenty that work together and others that don't.

I'm a big fan of the Simply Marvelous/Smoke On Wheels/Blues Hog combo, others will tell you different combos.

As far as the rule change, I'm not sure about the Brethren rules but I think KCBS made a slight change to the weighting of the appearance score to help avoid ties. I hadn't heard about any rule change because the turn ins were tasting too similar.
 
FYI all, Williepalooza is not a KCBS comp so it does not follow the same rules/guidelines.

This is a MABA sanctioned contest as far as I know.
 
Muzzlebrake said:
commercial sauces and rubs have the advantage when it comes to giving you the same product day in and day out. There are no magical combinations, there are plenty that work together and others that don't.

I'm a big fan of the Simply Marvelous/Smoke On Wheels/Blues Hog combo, others will tell you different combos.

As far as the rule change, I'm not sure about the Brethren rules but I think KCBS made a slight change to the weighting of the appearance score to help avoid ties. I hadn't heard about any rule change because the turn ins were tasting too similar.
Click to expand...

If it is fact that "Turn In's" are all really tasting that much the same, in experienced folks opinion, when you compete then are you trying to taste the same and win on how well you cook your meat, or do you think you should go outside the box with flavor in addition to cooking meat well. I have a line of bbq sauces I sell at farmers markets and also make the same for my catering- we often are trying to blend and come up with new flavors and would love to give them a whirl in the next couple contests we do. With that said I think I do a very good job with the cooking of the meat so don't want to get scored down for perhaps tasting different
 
anyone try other flavor profiles?

Muzzlebrake said:
commercial sauces and rubs have the advantage when it comes to giving you the same product day in and day out. There are no magical combinations, there are plenty that work together and others that don't.

I'm a big fan of the Simply Marvelous/Smoke On Wheels/Blues Hog combo, others will tell you different combos.

As far as the rule change, I'm not sure about the Brethren rules but I think KCBS made a slight change to the weighting of the appearance score to help avoid ties. I hadn't heard about any rule change because the turn ins were tasting too similar.
Click to expand...

perhaps jerk chicken, huli huli chicken or something other then standard
 
BrewerDJ said:
They said it was because so many people are using the same sauces and rubs that everything is tasting similar and this would give more weight to the cooking process and how well the cooks prepared they're meats.
Click to expand...

So it's less important how it tastes? How you cook it affects the flavor profile. I spent last month working on my chicken, and in several tests we cooked the same ingredients in different ways. Same rub, same sauce.
If I gave you these to try, and didn't tell you they had the same ingredients, you would never ever think that. Since the BBQ Brethren rules allow it, I guess it's "legal" for the organizers to change the scoring, but I don't think it's right.

BrewerDJ said:
Are we wasting time with trying to make our own? I'd at least like to try some of these winning rubs & sauces and see how they compare.
Click to expand...

Some very good teams make their own. Others buy everything. I would suggest taking a competition class to see what other team use and how they use it. Also, check out the Kansas City BBQ Store. Almost everything they sell is competition grade.
 
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