Now I see why Johnny Trigg says he doesn't eat his comp ribs.

Bamabuzzard said:

I looked at that and knew without having to taste it. There's NO WAY I could eat those ribs. I understand the "judges only getting one bite" thought process and I agree. But as a general spectator there's no way someone could actually taste much of the meat on many of the ribs I saw. I guess that is the difference in competition ribs and backyard ribs.

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Different strokes... My family loves those candy ribs. I do not. I have to set some aside for myself. I do like a sweet tomato-based BBQ sauce though.

Its like the salt n sugar injections for pork, its hard to believe 1/4 cup of salt and 1 cup of white sugar is injected into each pork butt and cannot taste the salt or sugar. When you pack the top of a rib with the brown sugar, it really does render out, what little sweetness is there, gets pulled back when you add acid n heat. Do an experiment, one set of ribs with your regular rub, then another regular rub and then lots of brown sugar, cook like this till the end, no foil, maybe a baste at the end. Do a blind fold test and you will not be able to pick the sweet rib out..The brown sugar seals the rib on the outside..I just find coat with the brown sugar from the start gave me a better rib, When foiled this way it will get a little sweeter, so add some heat n acid to balence the palette out..Give it a try..

I absolutely love candy ribs. I dislike sweet chicken-brisket-pork.

Lol got to say this is entertaining watching the mud slinging. I have one thing to say and it is to each their own. The backyard is one way and the comps are another it really is a matter of preference really to what you do in the backyard and competition circuit. I plan to compete this year and I am for bringing my flavor profile I developed at home. I may win and I may not but one things for sure I would never serve my chicken the way I like it personally as it is extremely hot and my dry rub recipe is put on like shake n bake it holds the moisture in and I love rubbery skin even though the preference for most people even in the backyard is crisp skin. I made my family tear up with all that heat. My bbq sauce if people saw me make it they would be shocked at how much Tabasco sauce I pour into the pot I probably will use about 1/4 of the bottle and it is actually a very subtle heat and even my mom who hates spicy hot food loves my sauce so while it looks insane and drastic it is far from. It really a matter of building a solid flavor profile to compliment the meat. Good example I had my brother try my sauce just a spoon of sauce he totally cringed and you could tell he thought it was gross on its own and then I gave him pulled pork with it sauced and he ate loads of it. My point is it is all about building a flavor profile and getting the just right flavor combination to really wow people. Some people love their comp food and some would never serve it to their family and friends. Good example too I wanted to smoke a turkey for thanksgiving and baste it in bbq sauce and I did not because it was really drastic in my neck of the woods and instead seasoned it with webers kickin chicken and basted in olive oil to brown the skin. I still say it would be good if they gave it a chance but my first year doing a turkey I was lucky they tried it being smoked I was told by every single person they thought smoked turkey would taste bad and not work. It is not common in PA. My dad told me later he never thought it would work. He said he never heard of smoking a turkey. After my really long rant the point is to each their own don't knock it unless you try it and remember just because it is not for you doesn't mean someone else doesn't like it. Remember we all have the same main goal make great bbq. That and to get as fat as possible from over eating bbq lol.

2 years ago my cousin, brother and I threw a birthday party for my uncle. My cousin borrowed a nice trailer firebox smoker and we cooked 20 racks of St Louis spares over some nice Texas post oak. My brother did 12 racks his way, which is to use a basic Texas style rub (salt pepper cayenne), baste with butter, lemon and worchestershire and finish with a texas style sauce (tomato vinegar pepper). I cooked 8 of the racks using a close facsimile of Johnny Trigg's method (wrapped with tiger sauce, brown sugar, honey and squeeze parkay, out of the foil, finished with a sweet, vinegary glaze). I really like my brother's ribs. Classic style, the way i grew up eating them. But the competition ribs were really good too. The sweetness in my opinion wasn't overpowering. I felt that the sweetness enhanced the natural sweetness of the fat in the spare ribs and worked. Everybody at the party agreed. They wiped out the tray of my ribs leaving a majority of my brother's ribs on his tray. Needless to say, he was a little butthurt.

I would be fine with either. As long as a rib is cooked well, everything else is just style. When it comes to style, different strokes for different folks.

Bamabuzzard said:

Again, just listing ingredients without amounts is a bad example. But when I physically see the amounts I think I can make a pretty good assumption on if it's going to be sweet or not.

Having the words Sugar, molasses, etc. on a label is much different than actually seeing someone pile sugar, honey and butter on a slab of ribs. Not sure how you can't see the difference. One you have no idea the amounts relative to the entire product and the other you physically see it with your own eyes.

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Yes making snap judgements by the way something looks always turns out well for people.

I simply cannot accept the "that's how it is in KCBS" argument. While there are certainly hard and fast criteria, I'm pretty sure I have never read where everything needs to be extremely sweet and only satisfying for a single taste. If I want that, I can go to the store and buy a chocolate bar. For change to happen, folks (judges and cooks) need to speak up and force change (or move to other organizations). Maybe the current flavor profile is really the preference and nothing will change, but just continuing the status quo makes no sense to me.

sliding_billy said:

I simply cannot accept the "that's how it is in KCBS" argument. While there are certainly hard and fast criteria, I'm pretty sure I have never read where everything needs to be extremely sweet and only satisfying for a single taste. If I want that, I can go to the store and buy a chocolate bar. For change to happen, folks (judges and cooks) need to speak up and force change (or move to other organizations). Maybe the current flavor profile is really the preference and nothing will change, but just continuing the status quo makes no sense to me.

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I think trends are changing. I can't speak for everywhere in the country, but I would not classify our food as sweet. If anything I like more bold flavors in our food and it has been working and judges seem to want something different. Granted this is more of a topic for the comp sections, but I think the stereotype is overly perpetuated from what folks see on tv and hear through discussions such as this one.

The words of "candy BBQ" simply get repeated by those outside of the competition world because of what they see on pitmasters so the steroetype stays true when is might not actually be that way. And I don't mean that some cliche wannabe, sitting behind my computer chest beating "you don't know comps if you don't cook in them" kind of way. I genuinely dislike the backyard vs comp mentality because it is isn't good for furthering the bbq community. I also dislike the stereotype of the backyard guy who is "too cool for school" and would never cook a comp. I don't think lassoing people into that description is good either.

But really that is a discussion for another thread.

sliding_billy said:

I simply cannot accept the "that's how it is in KCBS" argument. While there are certainly hard and fast criteria, I'm pretty sure I have never read where everything needs to be extremely sweet and only satisfying for a single taste. If I want that, I can go to the store and buy a chocolate bar. For change to happen, folks (judges and cooks) need to speak up and force change (or move to other organizations). Maybe the current flavor profile is really the preference and nothing will change, but just continuing the status quo makes no sense to me.

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Dude,

It really is not that way. Glad at least one person has an open mind. The problem is when someone knows nothing about a subject, then is told one person is an expert they will hold on to anything that person says with extreme prejudice.

sliding_billy said:

I simply cannot accept the "that's how it is in KCBS" argument. While there are certainly hard and fast criteria, I'm pretty sure I have never read where everything needs to be extremely sweet and only satisfying for a single taste. If I want that, I can go to the store and buy a chocolate bar. For change to happen, folks (judges and cooks) need to speak up and force change (or move to other organizations). Maybe the current flavor profile is really the preference and nothing will change, but just continuing the status quo makes no sense to me.

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Ok then compete and make changes there is nothing wrong with going against the grain. I know most people use thighs for chicken in comps I plan to use the legs even though symmetrically it's not appealing I think taste wise the leg is the best part of the chicken. This may cost points but it may not. It is a risk but so is every choice we make in everything we do.

fnbish said:

You can't knock it until you tried it and try it without any preconceived notions which at this point is probably impossible. Certainly those extra ingredients do add sweetness, but it isn't like every ounce of brown sugar and butter ends up in the ribs or sitting on top of it when you take a bite. It all becomes a liquid that adds an additional layer of flavor to the ribs that is then drained off before finishing. I have added those things and in some variation still do and do not think my ribs are candy or overly sweet at all.

Not all that different than slapping a sugary (honey, brown sugar, molasses, etc) sauce on there. And yes some folks don't like those sauces either I know. But sugary sauces seems completely acceptable vs the butter/brown sugar step which is not.

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I agree... and actually really like my ribs. Sure the brown sugar, honey, etc add sweetness to it, but it is offset with the heat in my sauce. All of that and I can still taste the rub and meat.

deguerre said:

Next thing you know they'll be stuffing chicken into muffin tins and smothering them with squeezable Parkay...

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Or Bigger. http://youtu.be/BjVPLF9G4qY

Bamabuzzard said:

You're obviously more into being a smart elic and trying to be Mr. Comedian than having a legitimate discussion. Carry on stroking your ego and pride. I glossed over it to begin with but now realize you're just being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative.

Nothing personal but nothing productive comes of dialogues like this.

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Gotcha because none of your comments were that way either. I like how you pulled the I'm taking the high road trick first. Normally the first one to do it seems like they get out scot free and weren't instigating either :becky:. I get ya. Winky face.

A buddy of mine loves a candied rib. My girlfriend does not. Some people don't want all the extra flavor.

For me a good candied rib works with a spicy rub and a spicy vinegar based sauce to balance the sweet.

fnbish said:

I think trends are changing. I can't speak for everywhere in the country, but I would not classify our food as sweet. If anything I like more bold flavors in our food and it has been working and judges seem to want something different. Granted this is more of a topic for the comp sections, but I think the stereotype is overly perpetuated from what folks see on tv and hear through discussions such as this one.

The words of "candy BBQ" simply get repeated by those outside of the competition world because of what they see on pitmasters so the steroetype stays true when is might not actually be that way. And I don't mean that some cliche wannabe, sitting behind my computer chest beating "you don't know comps if you don't cook in them" kind of way. I genuinely dislike the backyard vs comp mentality because it is isn't good for furthering the bbq community. I also dislike the stereotype of the backyard guy who is "too cool for school" and would never cook a comp. I don't think lassoing people into that description is good either.

But really that is a discussion for another thread.

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Hawg Father of Seoul said:

Dude,

It really is not that way. Glad at least one person has an open mind. The problem is when someone knows nothing about a subject, then is told one person is an expert they will hold on to anything that person says with extreme prejudice.

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Rusty Kettle said:

Ok then compete and make changes there is nothing wrong with going against the grain. I know most people use thighs for chicken in comps I plan to use the legs even though symmetrically it's not appealing I think taste wise the leg is the best part of the chicken. This may cost points but it may not. It is a risk but so is every choice we make in everything we do.

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fnbish - Agreed that bold is a better word than sweet, but it still holds more to the one bite satisfaction factor than a more balanced approach.

Hawg Father of Seoul - You know I don't claim to be an expert on comp cooking. I was simply referencing some of the comments made earlier to "get over it and cook whet they want."

Rusty Kettle - Totally agree. That was exactly my point. Until more people are willing to go against the grain, comp cooking simply becomes a technical competition and not about the food.

Sliding Billy,

I was saying you have an open mind. Your post, the one I quoted, was perfectly timed.

If more people open their minds.. a lot more information would be shared.

Hawg Father of Seoul said:

Sliding Billy,

I was saying you have an open mind. Your post, the one I quoted, was perfectly timed.

If more people open their minds.. a lot more information would be shared.

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Thanks brother. I figured as much, but wanted to clarify in case others were confused.

I have a driveway to plow.......