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Competition Chicken

BrewerDJ

BrewerDJ

Knows what a fatty is.
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I've been looking at many of the Box threads and most, if not all of them have been thighs. Why doesn't anyone put in Drums or wings or breast or a combination? Is it not allowed or is just for visual presentation to have uniform pieces? I guess wings might not be meaty enough or maybe dry out too much.
 
Thanks Boogie. Good thread. From the picture in that thread the thigh looks boneless. Is that the norm? Bone the thigh before cooking? And do you bring just thighs to the comp or do you have to bring whole birds and butcher them down. Going by the Brethren Bill of Rights the meat can be trimmed prior to inspection so I guess just thighs would be fine.
 
i debone for a number of reasons. others don't for their reasons.

i trim everything before packing in the cooler for the trip.
 
If you can cook a PERFECT chicken breast; moist and tender, you can score well. I won more chicken $$$ with white meat than with dark (but I won with dark also).

But I DO know how to brine 'em ;)
 
back in december i turned in wings with thighs. we ended up like 13th or 14 th second on our table. i thought the wings were out of sight, but without doing it a second time im not sure if it was a good idea
 
From this judge's perspective:

I have judged thighs, breast, wings and pulled. As a eater, I *love* variety and would encourage cooks to not only experiement with the pieces, but with the flavors as well. As a judge, it doesn't matter one bit what type of chicken is entered. If its good, it scores well.

I personally dislike the "cook to the judges" philosophy, but I understand that it is based on the reality of the scores coming out of the tent.

I have seen wings only rarely in the mid-atlantic region, where I do my judging. The last time was at a Sam's Club regional in Laurel, MD last year. My recollection from the table's discussion was that everyone appreciated the change in pace, but, unfortunately, the wings flavor profile was not as good as the other entries at the table. I could easily see the cook thinking the problem was that he entered wings, but the problem really was that he entered "meh" wings.
 
From another judge's perspective - I also like to see diversity in the box. But I like to be able to tell that it actually is chicken. The little skin covered balls of boneless parts is not all that visually appealing to me. It might score high in taste and tenderness, but not so much in appearance. Slices and chunks of white meat seem to go well at the tables where I've judged. Also I've judged several entries where there was chopped chicken underneath the thighs or legs. Something different that seems to meet the pleasure of judges around me as well.

Just my $.02.

Gizzards - NO WAY!!!
 
I think most cooks think that thighs are the tastiest part of the chicken, and I've heard this echoed by many chefs as well, but we've had calls with breast meat a time or two. Mostly, I think it's commonly accepted that judges will judge thighs better, although I'm not sure that's true. When I judged, I welcomed something that was not a perfectly symmetrical mahogany thigh, but also some breast/wing turn in's I ate looked good, the flavor didn't live up often times
 
BrewerDJ said:
I've been looking at many of the Box threads and most, if not all of them have been thighs. Why doesn't anyone put in Drums or wings or breast or a combination? Is it not allowed or is just for visual presentation to have uniform pieces? I guess wings might not be meaty enough or maybe dry out too much.
Click to expand...


You answered your own questions correctly. Saved us a lot of time. :becky:

Uniform is better.

Wings aren't meaty enough, nor drummies really.

Breasts can win, but are easily dried out.

You can win with anything, but why handicap yourself by not using thighs?
 
After reading and watching tutorials on how to trim thighs for comps I understand why people use them, it's the easiest way to get consistent chicken. Pulling off the skin and than trimming the meat and than wrapping them up to make every portion equal in size helps tremendously for appearance sake. I'm looking into starting competing so I became a CBJ to learn all I could about the other side of he table, and I never really cared for the bite I would get on thighs so I wanted to use drums instead, but after practicing and studying it's just easier on thighs to get a consistent look. And I really think most chicken in won and lost in appearance scores.
 
Not everyone turns in thighs and I think there is more variability than in the past right now. Two of the Top Ten Toy teams last year cooked legs. I wish more teams would turn in legs so it would lose the stigma of "not a thigh". And, I wish more judges would be more open to legs and any other chicken cut for that matter. Many are and I thank them. Many are still anti anything but thighs and I wish that would change. Preping thighs is a royal pain!
 
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