What This CBJ Learned Today About Comp BBQ Cooking

Dear Competition BBQ Cooks:

My hats off to you! I admire what you are able to do weekend after weekend. Today, I went through a dress rehearsal for a KCBS sanctioned BBQ competition. It was grueling. I cooked all four categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork Shoulder, and Brisket.

I learned that you guys and gals work your behinds off in every competition. I learned that it costs a lot of money and time and it takes a lot of love of the art and dedication.

Here are three of the boxes I completed today in my dress rehearsal for an upcoming competition. I won't show my ribs because I deviated from my tried and true method as an experiment and it didn't turn out good.

As the guy who ran the company that invented the parachute said after his first failed attempt, "That's why we do these tests." :thumb:







These boxes need some work, for sure, and the pictures reveal all of the hard work I have to do.

Another thing I learned is, I won't be competing this weekend. There are too many obstacles I have to overcome. Everything from better knives to better lighting for the dark morning hours to being able to sleep on-site. I have the entire fall and winter to prepare, and, prepare I will.

But, until then, I will continue to strive to be the best CBJ that I can possibly be and continue to hone my skills and collect all of the tools that I can to be a better competitor.

So, my hats off to you folks who compete on a regular basis. I can't think of anything that I would rather be able to do. I have no idea how to make a living at it, but, at this time in my life, I'd settle for having fun doing it.

Too many judges are literally oblivious to what's involved in making good competition BBQ. They get annoyed at the judges table when I bring it up. They really do look at me and almost roll their eyes and fall to sleep. But, this is one CBJ who will always stand up for the competitors and make sure that the CBJs on my table know that a lot of hard work, money, time, and love of the art of BBQ goes into every box that they will judge.

I will compete some day, but, not this weekend. I have too many logistical problems to overcome in such a short amount of time.

So, what do you think of my boxes?

Thanks, bro! The comp I wanted to compete in is the one in Richmond called Rescue Fest. It's close to my home.

Thanks for the encouraging words and all the box tips, folks! I contacted Don (the KCBS rep running the comp) and volunteered to help out in areas other than judging. So, I will be attending the comp but not judging or competing.

I did some experimenting in my practice run that resulted in a shortage of pork and brisket. That's one reason the boxes look so thin on meat. I have always used my UDS to cook pork, ribs, and brisket but I've never cooked all three at the same time. So, I decided to use my Bubba Kegs: one for brisket, butt, and chicken and one as a warming oven. I used my UDS for ribs, but changed up my spritzing liquid that turned out to be a flop. I learned not to do that again.

The problem came when brisket juices dripped into the coals in the Bubba Keg and ignited. Next thing I knew, the BK was up to 600 F. I had to fight the flames and remove the meat but not before the bottom of the brisket was charred. That wasn't a real big deal because I cook brisket fat cap down so the charring was on the fat and not the meat and didn't impact the flavor. But, in the end, it did screw some of the point and ruined the au jus.

The pork was fine but since I had to put it in a pan to cook it (same with brisket), the lower portion of the butt was soaked and didn't have any bark when I pulled it. My plan was to fill the bottom of the box with chopped pork and then put pulled and sliced on top of that with a frame of parsley. But, there wasn't enough good meat to do that. You can't see the chopped under the parsley.

I learned a lot and have a plan for dealing with the problems next time. The Bubba Keg will do fine but I just have to make some adjustments to my cooking method.