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jminion said:Phil
If a level playing field is really the name of the game, then why not go to you can't use your pit, you have to use someone elses. Draw your pit out of a hat and let see if your a pit master.
That would be cool... and I'd be up for it anytime..... Like i said, its to see what your made of and fire managment is such an integral part of BBQ that you should be judged on those abilities. The elimination of a variable is one thing, but eliminating that variable gives the judges an inaccurate reflection of the cooks ability. No matter how great a chef your are, if you cannot manage a pit, you cannot produce good bbq and that should be taken into consideration when handing someone the title of Grand Champion. We are talking the world of competition, not backyard cooking, or family gatherings or catering. But controling a pit to produce a product in a targeted 2 hour window.
What skill does it take to work something thats set and forget? Heres and interesting scenario. Take someone who has be poopin pellets for the last 10 years, never cooked in a steel offset cooker(or stick burner of some type) and stick them in front of a Lang or Backyard Chef and see what they produce in a mock 24 hour contest. But take someone who has been burning sticks all those years and stick them in front of a pellet pit. He will set the thermostat and then go to the bar for 8 hours. The stick burning cook has proven abilities, that have now been taken out of the equation and and at the touch of a button, the result was a pit of constant temps. Chances are his product will be about the same as if he was on his own pit. But how do you think a long time pellet pooper will fend in front of a pit filled with lump, logs and a damper.... and no thermostat. He's gotta work that pit on his own.. Do you think his product will be as good as it was in his pellet cooker.. a.k.a oven.
jminion said:Kcbs rule are simply as long as your fuel supply is charcoal or wood your legal, that includes pellets.
Jim
We arent questioning KCBS rules. We all live by them. And we all know its the cook, not the cooker. My issue is NOT with the pellets at all.. its with the thermostat and fan. If someone wants to cook with a gravity fed pellet cooker with no fan and thermostat where he has to tend the pit.. I'd be ok with that... This is just discussion on the differing opinions of the two techniques.. But i'll still be going to the state ch in March with my BYC and a couple WSM.