Making adjustments for KCBS in the South

Pulled or chunked wins the day in Dixie. Leave that sliced pork in Iowa.

Pork, sliced? Seriously? Ummmmm.... Not here. The heat has mixed results, as does
sweet... Slice the beef, pull the pork, go with your best rub/sauce. Welcome to
Dixie.

Do what you do, do the best and turn it in. If not you could be asking yourself on the way home "What if if would have done it the way we win with".

I have ZERO experience with the midwest, so can not compare.
I do not know about AR and LA, only FL, GA, and AL.

But,
Down here "sweet" rules except for Beef.
The judges do not seem to like thick sticky sauces, as with LOTS of honey, most of the time.
You might want to stop at one of the main chain BBQ restaurants to see what folks are used to, if you have time.
I know one of the big chains in Southern Al uses tweaked Cattlemen's and that is a good starting point for that area.
A touch of heat seems to work, but needs to be subtle. I have seen several of the lady judges just kill the score if heat or salt is not carefully controlled. They are blessed with more sensitive taste buds than us guys.

We used Blues Hog for awhile. Taste scores were either at the top or bottom of the scale. A totally unpredictable profile for this area, although I love it and use it at home a lot.

Vinegar works sometimes (especially on butts) as long as it is in moderation (like all things).

I have seen sliced pork do "OK" at Douglas for Best of the Best.
But, otherwize it seems to be mostly pulled/shredded/chunked on the pork side.
Baby backs and Spares seem to do equally well--just a matter of what you cook the best.

As Butcher said--I would not change much from what you do are you will be shooting in the dark.
Just tweak it a bit in things that you are comfortable with tweaking.

Probably not a lot of help here--but maybe a thought or two.

When you are in FL--give me a buzz if I can be of help.

TIM

Several years ago, down in Mobile, AL, I asked a friend from way up North if he changed anything when cooking somewhere else. I'll never forget what he told me, "Good food is good food anywhere." His cooking worked to get him GC down in Talledega. If your food's good, why change?

Candy Sue said:

Several years ago, down in Mobile, AL, I asked a friend from way up North if he changed anything when cooking somewhere else. I'll never forget what he told me, "Good food is good food anywhere." His cooking worked to get him GC down in Talledega. If your food's good, why change?

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BINGO. Even then, Mobile is kinda New Orleans East (meaning, they like
it a bit spicier than some). Good is good and will do fine.

From chili cookoffs, I've always made, with no apologies, a fairly spicy and
somewhat hot chili. I call it 2 beer chili (number of beers per bowl you'll
need to keep it cool). It always scores either in the top 2 or in the
bottom 5+- (average 40 cooks). They either enjoy the spice & heat,
or not. I did enjoy receiving all 8's and 9's in one cookoff to also get a
1 from one judge. Yes, a 1. I guess it was too hot for her...

They way I look at it and approach it Joe... Judges are to judge what is in front of them. I cook exactly the same way no matter where I go. About the only place that I get spanked is out in NEBS land. I don't think that is flavor profile either. As I managed to hit 2 second place finishes at a contest this year. Although they did bomb my other 2 categories...

So I would recommend cooking as you know how to cook and don't worry about flavor profiles, et al.... Majority of the time, it seems to work for me...

Good luck. Will probably see you at a couple of them...

Smokin' Joe said:

... this is the only forum on the net where you could ask that question and actually get some serious replies:wink::eusa_clap

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There are others, but this one is certainly a better bet than some.

Hope to see you down here in 2010!

Not to hijack here, but.....I've always wondered?.....

Do you think bringing meats purchased from your home area (in my case the Pacific Northwest) to the South (or Midwest) would have any effect?

I try to bring all of my meat from home. It is what I am used to cooking. When you start changing minor things in your cooking, like changing meats.... It all magnifies in the end.

swamprb said:

Not to hijack here, but.....I've always wondered?.....

Do you think bringing meats purchased from your home area (in my case the Pacific Northwest) to the South (or Midwest) would have any effect?

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I never cook the same briskets or butts, so my answer to that question is, a brisket is a brisket is a brisket. :icon_smil

Let me add chicken to that list, in that case ribs either!

Whether we fly in or drive I bring my own meats. I don't like using meats I am not used to.

Diva Q said:

Whether we fly in or drive I bring my own meats. I don't like using meats I am not used to.

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Guys dont ever have that problem, where women always have options....

Bring your own ,Cook the same or you will always be second guessing and changing to chase the judges. Let's face it you can't please all the judges ,but it helps if you please five at the table !!!! And use Butcher BBQ I did and on the first time trying it was very pleased with the outcome .

Bring what you're used to cooking! Every time I've not, it's led to disappointment. I really like trimming my stuff at home too. Gives me more visiting time!

Ok, now you have all the inputs... now for mine.

i just did a comp in FL a couple of weeks ago, and I too was asking myself this same question. I did change up my chicken and ribs.... I bombed. Now I ask myself, did I do wrong, or was it just a bomb to start with. I will never know. The next time out, it will be what I do all the time. Then I will see. Everyone else loved the ribs and chicken except for the judges, so what do they know. I myself thought that the chicken was some of the best I have done... So, like I have been told before, "On any given weekend, it can be yours".

But they did like my pork, and they LOVED my brisket. :biggrin: