Critique my IBCA turn-in box

That all looks really good to me. The only thing that stuck out to me was that there seemed to be a big difference in the thickness of the ribs.

Great color on the chicken!

Well...

Make sure you fold the foil to cover the entire bottom of the tray, no white showing. Ribs appear to be done that way, chicken looks like some white is showing, brisket hard to to tell.

Chicken looks dry, at a minimum spritz with warm apple juice just prior to turn in. Not saying that it is, I'm just saying in that picture it looks like its dry.

Good looking IBCA ribs, but if your not using an electric knife, consider doing so. There appear to be some jagged edges and top rib towards the bottom of the picture has bone showing near the top of the rib. Tighten them up, unless the top guys, which appear to be like ribs 2-5 are too top heavy. I try to only show the sides of one top rib and one bottom rib.

Brisket - pretty thin slices, makes me think it was a bit tough? I like the way you filled the box, many folks push all the slices towards the hinge. Trim the brisket before you cook it to fit the box.

These of course are only my opinions, your mileage may vary. Good luck and let us know how your next comp goes.

I concur with RangerJ. Appearance as far as IBCA is concerned is not as important as taste, tenderness and moistness. Not saying it doesn't matter, cause I do think it's important for your turn-ins to look good, but in the end, taste trumps all. If you got both going for you, all the better.

Ranger J nailed it for you also keep in mind it's a tasting contest so looks really don't matter much. I would suggest that you either judged or work the judging area so you can get a feel for good vs chit just sucks food.

I agree...you can make your box as "pretty" as you want, but remember, the judges are going to EAT it, and that's likely to mess up what you've done. The BBQ needs to taste & smell good, most importantly. Yes, it'd be a good idea to work in the judging area sometime - see what's turned in, see what the judges are taught, and see what the judges do. Had a cooker here watch the judging at a recent contest - he was surprised to see some of the judges smelling the food as well as tasting it!

Lynn H.

The food looks great. I would focus on trying to be a little more consistant with your cuts. The ribs are differing is size, and look a little thrown in the box. The brisket looks like the sliced are a little thin on one side. The chicken has great color, but looks shoved/forced into the box. Like I said, the food looks great, and what I have said is only to try to help you improve moving forward.

Also, my expierence is with KCBS, I have not been around IBCA, so take my advise with a grain of salt if I am incorrect.

I know that sauce is frowned on, BUT!!!

The chicken looks dry and wrinkly (is this really a word?), the ribs look good for KCBS but appear to be underdone for IBCA (think Tony Roma). The brisket looks dry and see 1st and last comment.

The judges are people off the street and they are eating the Q. Sauce is frowned on, BUT!!

Remember PLASTIC knife and fork

As a head judge, I always remind cooks that judges take a sample of product with a plastic knife and fork. All of your boxes looked good from the appearance point of view. How did the chicken skin cut? How easy was it to cut a piece off the ribs? The brisket did look a bit dry. Overall, the appearance of the meats was good. Remember, only the first judge that tastes a box in the preliminary round sees meat in a box that has not been sampled. The rest of the 4-8 judges on the table see meat that has already been cut, skin moved, and for ribs spots where bones are sticking out. The meat in the box must look good, but more importantly, it must cut easy and taste good.

RangerJ said:

Make sure you fold the foil to cover the entire bottom of the tray, no white showing.

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Easier than a parsley box I guess :becky: Even in ICBA it matters a little bit I guess - human nature. If it looks good, you expect it to taste good. Not sure how good the chicken looks by the time it gets to the last judge though.

CBQ said:

Easier than a parsley box I guess :becky: Even in ICBA it matters a little bit I guess - human nature. If it looks good, you expect it to taste good. Not sure how good the chicken looks by the time it gets to the last judge though.

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Yes, even in IBCA it's those little details that can mean the difference between 1st and 3rd. In Tx Gulf Coast sanctioned events, we are required to put 2 halves in the box, 1 to sample the other to "look at". :crazy::thumb:

JS-TX said:

In Tx Gulf Coast sanctioned events, we are required to put 2 halves in the box, 1 to sample the other to "look at". :crazy::thumb:

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Interesting. Do you know which half will be for looking and which for eating when you turn in, or do the judges decide?

It mostly up to the Judges to decide, the rep try to keep them consistent on which one but they are humans LOL