if y'all are in the mood...my boxes.

My 1st competition was last September. I talked to a bunch of teams, and they were willing to help out a rookie and offer some tips. I also bought a few rubs and sauces just to taste stuff that has been called for walks. I am trying to match a couple flavor profiles and see how it goes.

I got killed on taste in brisket and ribs. My shoulders and chicken actually did well compared to the other 2. In my 2nd comp, non sanctioned, took a 2nd in chicken. This coming May I am hoping to put this new stuff I have come up with to the test with some better results. This is all just my 2 cents worth.

Good luck in the future!

If you have leftovers, I wouldn't mind tasting a little bit of everything. :grin:

Your color is really dark, but they are still appealing to me. I know I am in the minority, but I love your big hunks of pork. What better way to judge Tenderness, but I realize that is a bias, so I will try and put that out of my mind if I ever judge a box like that.

It all looks good to me, but I would give alot of 9's on appearance if I were a judge. Call me crazy but if something really looks like I want to eat it then I'm giving it a 9.

I will be in Middletown, De in May. 2nd annual Middeltown BBQ Cook Off.

I was looking for a NY event, but it seems every weekend I wanted to, I already have one booked, or I will be doing some cooking for a party.

I agree with Bentley on the color -- it is a little dark. Restaurant patron studies have shown a preference toward red but not bright red.

Your boxes look a little crowded. There are no appearance standards as such so its a crapshoot but "balance" in everything would dictate that the greenery (which I am a committee of one to eliminate) show a bit more. This is "fine tuning" -- your stuff looks basically good and well presented.

Current trends in taste are swinging "sweet" and most of what I'm seeing has sweet sauce. Use enough to get a taste in and provide "sheen" but no more. Let the flavor of the meat and the rub come through, too.

On taste, the best advice is always "offend nobody". That means keep rubs and sauces mild and smokiness moderate. This is competition, not fun in the backyard so you've got to go broad-spectrum appeal to get a walk.

Good luck!

Hub

Hub said:

I agree with Bentley on the color -- it is a little dark. Restaurant patron studies have shown a preference toward red but not bright red.

Your boxes look a little crowded. There are no appearance standards as such so its a crapshoot but "balance" in everything would dictate that the greenery (which I am a committee of one to eliminate) show a bit more. This is "fine tuning" -- your stuff looks basically good and well presented.

Current trends in taste are swinging "sweet" and most of what I'm seeing has sweet sauce. Use enough to get a taste in and provide "sheen" but no more. Let the flavor of the meat and the rub come through, too.

On taste, the best advice is always "offend nobody". That means keep rubs and sauces mild and smokiness moderate. This is competition, not fun in the backyard so you've got to go broad-spectrum appeal to get a walk.

Good luck!

Hub

Click to expand...

^^^ +1

ch = 8
ri = 8
pk = 8
bk = 8

Back yard contests vs. sanctioned contests aren't close, from what I've seen come across the judging table. Know that when you enter the sanctioned contest you're going up against many teams that are very seasoned/accomplished and have worked out the kinks and have it down to a fair consistency. It's like comparing double A ball to the majors. I've always been of the opinion that there's no particular reason to start in the back-yard comps if you have sanctioned comps nearby. Might as well just dive right in.

What Hub is saying about the broad-spectrum appeal is DEAD ON. I've tried and tried to explain this to many; some get it, some dont. It's very tough for many because they want to make it exactly how they prefer it. That's great in the back yard, but if it offends only 2 of the 6 judges at your table, frankly you're toast. This goes for every other food competition out there, notably chili cookoffs. Too hot/spicy will get one judge to love it but another three to hate it, and *voila* you're at the bottom. Back to this, the "candy on a bone" might be too sweet, or perhaps all you tasted was sauce.

As far as sauces go, I might suggest doing what we did a few years back.
We made a bunch of butts and briskets. I went with 1 injection in the butts and 2 different rubs (1/2 with one rub, 1/2 with the other). I did the same thing with brisket, only 2 different injections and just 1 rub. Then, we had a sauce party. I made literally 18 different base sauces (not including all the mixtures and variations). There were 6 of us trying this, doing that. It was a great time. As it ends up, many of the sauces that tasted great just didnt compliment the meat; they either smothered the taste of the meat or conflicted with the injection/rub combo. Oh, for fun, at the start, we all put in $20 in a pot and chose which sauce we projected would win. Well, nobody won the money. The team won, because darned if all 6 of us didnt agree, and it was a mixture of 3 of the sauces. We also ended up deciding to keep our old pork rub but using a new brisket injection.

^^^ And, that's like judging. 95% of the time, without conferring with one another, judges agree on what the best barbecue at the table was. Everyone once in a while they'll be split among two, but they always agree those were the best two.

boogie, I was thinking about a competition a few years back. A team made it to finals in whole hog. I was a finals judge. One particular entry was fan-dang-tastic all by itself. However, they presented it with a sauce, which we had to judge with the pork; no choice. I recognized the sauce from the previous day; it won the sauce contest. Right off you're thinking: Bingo, we have a winner. Not to be. The sauce conflicted with the spices/flavor on the pork. They didnt work together at all. On this day the best tasting most moist best presented whole hog got 2nd place because they presented it with a great sauce that didnt go with the meat at all. Afterwards, judges all talking amongst ourselves (afterwards, mind you), we found out that we all agreed, down the line. Perfect barbecue hurt because the great sauce didnt go with it well. The sauce should compliment the flavor of the meat; enhance it if you will. Not conflict, and no over-power.

The competition I won my 2nd in chicken was a non sanctioned event, I got to taste some of the other competitors foods, and it all tasted different. Myself and 2 other teams that were in it have been in a KCBS event 2 weeks prior, and all of ours were similar, knowing what the trend was. Then there were other people just turning in whatever flavor they liked in their backyard cooking.

Thats the biggest thing I learned, when i tried stuff in the KCBS event I was in last year, they were all trending towards the same flavors. ( which was sweeter rub and sauce)

I have only been in 2 competitions, ( 1 KCBS, 1 Un-Sanctioned) but I am looking forward to the 5 I am signed up for so far this year. Hopefully, I will get to meet some of you out there, 1 month from tomorrow is the 1st one for me in Middletown, DE! Can't wait to get back out there!