Your WORST Box Ever! (What Not to Turn in!)

ncbbqfan said:

This was KCBS comp I did. Can you spot the problem HERE??:roll:

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I would be thrilled to get 5 beautiful ribs like that for lunch.

Hello to everyone out there...

I am new here and plan on entering my first KCBS competition in April...Anyway after looking at every post in this thread I was hoping that maybe some of you good folks could tell us newbies exactly what made each box bad. I did see a couple that it was obvious but some looked good to me. Knowing why they were bad would make this thread much more beneficial (IMO).

Wow

Ok this was my worst box ever. It was in 2008 at a competition that was oversaw by KCBS. Would you believe it got first and $1000. I am shocked as I now know how to do the boxes and this is terrible.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47021279@N05/4313233832/
Then we went to SOTW Little Rock and sucked hard core there as well:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47021279@N05/4313259672/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47021279@N05/4312518521/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47021279@N05/4312512227/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47021279@N05/4313242984/
I was just happy to salvage enough beef to put in the box, It was sooo stewed.

Buster Dog BBQ said:

First brisket turn in.

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Where is the meat?

The Pickled Pig said:

Thankfully, we didn't take pics of our entries for the first 4 years else these wouldn't qualify as our worst. :shock:

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Are those Pig Feet?

Bigmista said:

Ummm...what animal is this from?

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Those are the tails from the chicken...right?

Worst box ever would be turning in chicken for ribs...

You guys are amatures!!! As a judge I have seen way worse!! How about ribs that were torn apart instead of cut and looked like they were grilled they were so overdone and blackened. These ribs were at a non sanctioned event and as such I was able to walk around and talk to the competitors and I remember seeing a team put ribs on with an hour to turn-in. Must have been their ribs!!! Brisket that I could not pull apart, I remember trying not to laugh as the rest of the judges did the pull test and could not pull their slices apart either. Chicken turned in upside down because the skin was so black or pork turned in sauced so much on top you couldn't see the pork.

Would it be a benefit to say, take a KCBS judging class so as a competitor, we know what not to do? Or is that not allowed

Haltech said:

Would it be a benefit to say, take a KCBS judging class so as a competitor, we know what not to do? Or is that not allowed

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It's allowed, and highly recommended if you are getting started. Many competitors are also certified judges. I mainly cook, but try to judge 1-2 events a year.

My 2 turn in Boxes for the Eagle Fun Event.

The parsley was for the chicken and the lettuce was for the butts.



&

What NOT to do with Chicken...

So... we THOUGHT it would be cool to french some wings, smoke them and then dip them in a Raspberry, Chipotle Sauce. Hmmmm... maybe NOT:

I can say my boxes use to look like this, not anymore. I took the advise of some pro's to go judge some comp's. I judge my first this weekend. I tell you when they open those boxes you can tell the rookies from the pro's. Take the time to do this it is worth the time to see what you are up against.

Here is my first ever brisket turn in box in a KCBS contest. It was in Shannon Il. I scored 133.5 on this turn in. I thought this box looked better then the chicken but who knows

Here I turned this one in at shannon as well. I pulled a Tuffy and forgot to sauce the pork. This one got me 149.4, the joys of a first contest

This was our pork at Smoke in the Valley.

Welcome! I am new around the Brethren as well but been screwing around with BBQ for a long time and am a CBJ. No where near Master Judge or even expert status but I will share my 2 pennies. And like the subjectiveness of bbq judging in general much on the appearance front is in the eyes of the beholder.

So how about this? A rundown off the top of my head (and in no particular order) of what I think makes a good KCBS turn-in box. Not going to comment on how the meat itself should look.
You can read what constitutes a DQ by reading the KCBS regs.

1. The garnish as intended is supposed to enhance the look of the product. Samples should sit above the plane (proud) of the garnish (not buried down in).
2. Neat and tidy - no sauce drips or smudges. After closing box open one last time to make sure the bottom of the lid isn't hitting the meat.
3. Appearance that some level of thought went into presentation/design and that the product wasn't just thrown into the box.
4. Keep it simple - to many go overboard or don't know when to stop adding garnish. Garnish between samples seems to draw your eye away from the product. Think of the garnish as the picture frame around a work of art. Should enhance but not become the focus.
5. Of course, the garnish should be fresh. Store the garnish the same way it was at the market. Mind that it doesn't end up covered in ice in your cooler. A couple hours before you begin assembling boxes cut the stems clean and place in water to plump things up.
6. 2nd part of #4 - Don't overcrowd. A consistent border around the product. If product is placed on the bias then each side should be somewhat symmetrical. Visual balance is key! If one side of the box looks "heavy" then you may want to moves things around a bit.
7. # of samples - 6 samples at a minimum but a couple extra is smart in case something happens en-route to the judges table. It is human nature to pick the best of the bunch. If the last judge has only one choice and it doesn't look that great, even though the overall appearance score has already been made I firmly believe subliminally it affects (however minor) the outcome of the remaining scores.
8. For ribs and brisket I like to see the cross-section of the meat highlighted. Judges are not supposed to factor the level of smoke ring but again there is the subliminal side to judging and a nice smoke ring makes the meat look more appetizing.

All I can think of for now and I'm sure I missed something obvious!?!

a_cmc_2b said:

Hello to everyone out there...

I am new here and plan on entering my first KCBS competition in April...Anyway after looking at every post in this thread I was hoping that maybe some of you good folks could tell us newbies exactly what made each box bad. I did see a couple that it was obvious but some looked good to me. Knowing why they were bad would make this thread much more beneficial (IMO).

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That's all well and good but it sounds to me like you are judging the garnish and want to judge the smoke ring too. As a judge shouldn't you compel yourself to focus on the meat and how that looks? When I look at a box I do my best to look at the meat primarily.

B C BBQ said:

That's all well and good but it sounds to me like you are judging the garnish and want to judge the smoke ring too. As a judge shouldn't you compel yourself to focus on the meat and how that looks? When I look at a box I do my best to look at the meat primarily.

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Hello - my above list was written from the perspective of a competitor not a judge. What our team trys to accomplish with our turn-in boxes...and trying to answer as asked what makes some of the pictures in this thread poor presentations...in my book as a competitor.

As a judge you only have a moment to make an appearance determination and yes you are judging the product and not the garnish. That said, the quality of the presentation (however subconscious) does affect the overall "appearance" of the meat. If that isn't the case then all the effort that goes into the presentation of our product and the discussion within this thread is mute!

I'll say that, as a judge, I can tell, and all the other (experienced) judges can tell when that box is opened and passed around for appearance . . . it's really an overall wow factor.

All of those little details contribute to the overall wow effect.

A comment that experienced judges offer to inexperienced judges is to judge appearance on just how much the presentation makes you want to eat that Q! Typically those entries that appear neat and organized score the highest. Then come the little subliminal things like abundance (more than six samples), shininess (gloss from the sauce), uniformity (similar size and shape) and so forth.

So, those are also the things I concentrate on when I am creating my turn-in boxes.

What not to turn is simply a minimum number of disorganized samples that appear to not be cooked enough. That's what not to turn in.