Competition Site Set-up Advice

I'm looking for ways to improve my set-up. I want to see how others are coping with a similar set-up. I currently set-up as follows on a 20' x 20' site (see attached pictures of a typical set-up )

- single 10' x 10' Quick Shade pop-up canopy with walls (sometimes I put the walls all the way up and other times only half way)
-trailered offset smoker (~ footprint is 10' x 6')
- two 6' tables (I set-up them up typically, in an L-shape with one table facing my smoker so that I can transfer meat back and forth easily
-1 card table
- three 3-drawer plastic cabinets from Menards
- variety of plastic tubs with covers
- a bunch of coolers (one for holding hot meat)
- those cheapo aluminum work lights that I clamp to my tent frame and direct at my smoker and one over the work table

Some of the problems that I see is a cluttered work space. I am thinking of a second tent, one for the kitchen and one for hanging out.

I have my rubs, cooking utensils, extension cords, tools, matches, thermometers, etc. in the plastic drawer units, which sit on the other table. The tubs hold: larger extension cords, work lights, blankets, paper towels, foil, knives, cutting boards, etc..

I've seen some teams that have their paper towels, plastic wrap, foil, etc. on some type of hanging roll. I've been just juggling those things around..........it's working, but I think that I can make it more efficient.

Should I be looking at differnet storage ideas, different tent sizes, layout?

One pice of advice that I can share that works for me is that I label each drawer and storage box, D1 - D9 for the drawers and B1 - B4 for the boxes. I have a checklist in Excel that has all of the supplies that I need with the storage location. It is very easy to inventory and to pack. Things that get loaded into the car are cleverly marked "CAR", while others are marked "SMOKER", like the wood, propane, coolers, etc. I only have a Ford Freestyle, so I have to pack very efficiently.........I just can't toss it in and expect everything to fit.

So, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Thanks for the comments. I do have 1 cold cooler for comp meats, 1 empty cooler waiting to become the holding cooler for comp meats once cooked, a cooler for beer, pop and water and another cooler for regular food. We also bring a disposable styrofoam cooler to hold ice for drinks.

There a few things that are a neccessity that are stored in those drawers and then there are the back-up stuff that has never been used.......yet.

It gets even worse in a cold weather contest because we have the walls all up and zippered..........you are confined. There's between 3 and 4 of us in there, too. This is where that second tent would pay off.

Looking over my pictures I could probably get rid of the drawer sets and get one tall vertical pantry type unit that would sit on the floor (ground)........or maybe just stack those drawer sets on top of each other. :idea: I could then get a smaller table to replace the one where all of the stuff sat. That table seemed to be only used to hold stuff. I always have one table clear for working on the food.

I do need the blender for margarita's.......but only in the summer!

My first comp was a nightmare. I didn't have those drawer sets or even the covered boxes.............plastic laundry baskets. Everything was exposed! Embarrassing! :redface:

You keep learning!

Thanks again,