POLL - Use of MSG in comp cooking

I use it at home why not in comps?

Studied a lot of teams who compete on the NY circuit and those who do not use it are in a small minority.

This poll got me thinking a little. I initially answered "Don't know" but after going home to check out my BBQ supplies, I need to change it to "Always use it"!

MSG = makes stuff gooder. The only concern is with hypochondriacs who wanna cry headache. It's BBQ not health food.

Extreme said:

MSG = makes stuff gooder.

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Awesome!:becky:

MSG is just like anything else...sure there are a few people who are allergic too it, but the numbers are very small.

Warning: Soapbox time

I know a research assistantat the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them. They make these creatures morbidly obese by injecting them with
MSG when they are first born.

The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and perhaps humans) to become obese. They even have a name for the fat rodents they create: 'MSG-Treated Rats.'

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more.

A study of the elderly showed that older people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobbying group says eating more is a benefit to the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?

'Betcha can't eat [just] one,' takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight!

MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

I'm not an idiot. I know that you want to do everything you can to win a comp. I also know that BBQ is not a health food.

However, MSG is a poison and I would no more use MSG in my cooking than I would mix anti-freeze in with my cocktails to make them sweeter or mix cocaine in with my rub.

Southern Home Boy said:

However, MSG is a poison and I would no more use MSG in my cooking than I would mix anti-freeze in with my cocktails to make them sweeter or mix cocaine in with my rub.

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I tried mixing cocaine in my rub once - it just made me sneeze alot more! :becky:

Southern Home Boy said:

However, MSG is a poison and I would no more use MSG in my cooking than I would mix anti-freeze in with my cocktails to make them sweeter or mix cocaine in with my rub.

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I was fine with everything you said up until the last sentence. I think calling it a "poison" and likening it to antifreeze and cocaine is a bit much. Assuming for a moment that it does cause obesity and is addictive, that doesn't make it a poison. No more than a donut or a pizza could be called a poison.

Do you have other facts that support the "poison" mentality?

We just went through this drill-----
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82319&highlight=msg

If you are not up to speed on the Brethren policy there--take a look.

May I suggest we all knock it off before Jorge gets involved???
And, he and the other current MOD's are right.
Not Brotherly discussions.

TIM

Retired Moderator

I know a guy too. He says MSG is as safe as air. I only buy cereal with MSG in it, and spoon a little extra on top of the cereal before pouring in some MSG-enhanced milk.

Just saying. He said so.

(Please note: Not trying to start anything...just...well...If I had a delete button I could click...I would click it)

Southern Home Boy said:

I would no more use MSG in my cooking than I would mix anti-freeze in with my cocktails to make them sweeter or mix cocaine in with my rub.

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You don't use cocaine in your rubs? :tsk:

Just for the record - Allegedly: smoked & grilled food is a carcinogen, MSG is bad for you, beef is responsible for depletion of the ozone (methane from cow farts), raising pigs creates storm water run-off littered with pig feces, chicken is filled with hormones, and Al Gore invented the internet.

If any of these claims bother you, you should seriously consider switching to tofu (which btw allegedly causes dementia)

I think MSG is fine, but those that do not must love FAB

I dont know what it is but..........I use about 5 pounds at every comp!!

BoneDaddy's said:

I think MSG is fine, but those that do not must love FAB

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Worrying about whether it was FAB Free or not probably distracts them from the brown sugar, honey, butter, and other goodies being added to naturally fatty foods.

:boxing:

I was hoping more folks would chime in on this with a "YES" and an explanation if they wanted to, or a "NO" and explanation...

As for me - Yes I absolutely use MSG in competition You have a judge sitting at a table with 6 samples, if the other 5 have it and yours does not, yours will likely be looked at as "not as flavorfull"
MSG makes the flavors POP to life and fills the mouth and tastebuds with that flavor.

I have also unscientifically concluded that MSG added to beef & pork draw a deeper smokering during cooking.

Last point - while I do use it in comps (and some of the rubs that I use at home) I also feel strongly that it can be over used... just like using salt, if you use to much it will overpower the true flavors that you're trying to showcase.

For this reason I prefer to use NO MSG rubs if I am buying them and then I add it to the level that I want. It gives me more control.