COSTLY lesson learned and box pics

Well guys, I learned a VERY COSTLY lesson this weekend.

Make ABSOLUTELY farking sure that your ribs/brisket slices are COMPLETELY seperated!!!:roll:

I had a rib that wasn't COMPETELY seperated and when the judge picked it up
another one came with it. The rep (Kathy Brasier (sp?) came and told me about it. She said that
when she (the judge)picked it up again off her plate that it came apart.:roll:
But, since it was already on her plate, one judge did not get a sample.

So, I got 1's across the board for appearance and all 1's from the judge who didn't get a sample!!

Talk about COSTLY!!! DAL ribs!!:roll:

On the flip side I was really happy with the chicken we did. I thought it turned out really nice.
Nice and juicy with a really good flavor.

I did the "putting green" which turned out nice but my brisket slices were a bit
too long and you couldn't see any parsely in a couple of spots along the edges.

Anyways, here are the scores and the pics.
Let me have it guys.
It can't be any worse than seeing the rep standing in front of
my table telling me about the ribs.:roll:

12th placeChicken- 878 / 878 / 889 / 988 / 778 / 878
DAL Ribs- 165 / 176 / 176 / 166 / 155 / 111
36th place Pork- 766 / 666 / 667 / 766 / 867 / 688
30th place Brisket- 777 / 888 / 877 / 866 / 866 / 767

37th out of 39 overall
Looks like my chicken saved me from DAL overall!!

All in all it was a great time and great to see and meet so many Brethren.
I think I heard that 16 out of the 39 teams were Brethren teams!!

Rick's Tropical Delight said:

hey! are you sick of reggae yet? :biggrin:

good seein you this weekend. i don't think they should have told you about the ribs until AFTER the next two turn-ins. that just wasn't right

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Nice seeing you again!

Yeah, hearing about the ribs kinda "took the wind out of my sails" for the pork and brisket.:roll:

I still have that farking "Red Red Wine" going through my head!!:lol:

Thanks FARKER!!:twisted:

BBQ Betty guarding her "nest of eggs".

Dale P said:

I cant say that I care for the timing but I saw Cathy cry actual tears about this several hours after the fact. I mean actual tears, it hurt her guys.
That cut in the brisket makes me wonder a bit about marking. Looks like a Z to me!
Sorry about that mistake Bro. Nice to meet you.

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You know, I never even thought about that. You're right though.
I didn't even see that till you called my attention to it.:roll:
It came out of the cryovac like that.
There was a big knife cut running down the length of the meat side, about 8 or 9 inches.
It looked like it was only about 1/8 inch deep so I didn't pay it any attention.
I will DEFINATELY trim the flap of the cut if I ever see that again!!

You know, that would be a really slick way to personalize the meat for a catering gig!:lol:

I'm definately NOT bashing Cathy for telling us. Not at all.
It's just something that she had to do as a Rep. Part of the job.
I have no reason to question her, none at all.
I figure the timing part is just the way they have to do it.
They are probably instructed to IMMEDIATELY notify the team.
How it hit me and how I dealt with it has no reflection on Cathy, just me.

Honestly, I hope Cathy reads this so she doesn't think I have any hard feelings about it, because I don't.

Big Mike said:

I was gonna say the same thing about the brisket. I'd be careful with that.

I don't think the light chicken is a prob, but I do think they need more sauce.

Smooth out the sauce on the ribs some. I'm assuming from the pic that the top 2 ribs are the ones that were still connected. I place each rib in the box one at a time.

Add more pork to the box.

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I'm assuming those 2 ribs as well Mike. Not sure since I didn't see it.

DivaHerself said:

There's a point -- it's hard to focus on your next two turn-ins after a blow like that, but then again, I bet you were extra careful getting those brisket slices COMPLETELY separate! EVERY team gets caught sooner or later on something that makes you go

Here are my box thoughts:

Chicken -- The look too light, and the color is very uniform, rough them up a little with some near-scorch marks. The sizes are not uniform, and that's highlighted by their arrangement -- the front right thigh is very long, and the front left is very short!

Ribs -- The sauce is too heavy, at least from a glance at the photo.

Pork -- The pork looks sparse in the box, I'd like to see more in there.

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Being completely honest here......my mind was scrambled eggs after she told me about
the ribs and I had no idea what I was going to do for the pork box.......blank........that was what I came up with.

Divemaster said:

'Z', man I'm sorry to hear about the ribs... I guess I can see both sides, I'm not sure I would want to know until after my last turn-in, but I can also see Cathy's side of warning you that it happened so it wouldn't again.

In my CBJ class we were told that 'often competitors are going to put in more than 6 pieces so that the table judge can get one. This also covers the entry if two pieces stick together." Words I've taken to heart as I always make sure that there are always eight pieces.

As for the other boxes, I agree that the chicken is a little light, and the sizing is a little off. There is a bit more sauce on the ribs than I would like to see, It almost looks like you are hiding something. I would like to have seen more pork with less sauce or a glaze on it (I know that this box is a blank). I think your brisket looks great but like others have said, watch the flaps.

Again, I'm sorry this happened.

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Thanks Jeff.
Just to be clear, Cathy did nothing wrong.
I just didn't handle it well.

You can bet your sweet arse that it will NEVER happen again!!
Putting 8 ribs in the box is a great piece of insurance. Thanks!

I wasn't hiding anything, I just didn't thin the sauce down enough.
I poured it on so there were no brush marks.
This will be revised as well.

Live and Learn...........