Bigmista
somebody shut me the fark up.
Anyone out there with IBCA contest experience? I'm cooking in an IBCA contest next weekend and I would appreciate any tips you could offer.
Ibca
- Thread starter Bigmista
- Start date
No garnish, no sauce (usually), just meat. Brisket, spare ribs (No baby backs), chicken half.
No lettuce makes turn in time easier and more difficult. No sorting of lettuce, but at the same time you can't use it to hold your meat in place or cover any imperfection in appearance.
If you use sauce in the cooking process you are good to go and legal. Some cooks have been known to push that rule to the limit in more than one way. I cooked with a guy that would let his sliced brisket sit in the pan with all of the liquid from that same brisket before loading his box up. Never heard that technique challenged but it would be worth running by your judges in advance. That was also several years ago so things may have changed since then.
Shoot WishinFishin a PM. He just did a contest down in West recently.
No lettuce makes turn in time easier and more difficult. No sorting of lettuce, but at the same time you can't use it to hold your meat in place or cover any imperfection in appearance.
If you use sauce in the cooking process you are good to go and legal. Some cooks have been known to push that rule to the limit in more than one way. I cooked with a guy that would let his sliced brisket sit in the pan with all of the liquid from that same brisket before loading his box up. Never heard that technique challenged but it would be worth running by your judges in advance. That was also several years ago so things may have changed since then.
Shoot WishinFishin a PM. He just did a contest down in West recently.
N
Neal
Guest
I did the Hold 'em & Hit 'em in Houston, TX last January.
I thought it was easier as far as the turn in goes...you don't have to mess with garnish, only 3 categories instead of 4 and you have an hour between turn-ins. So you are not as rushed as you are in a KCBS contest.
That being said, we didn't win anything. I cooked basically the same ribs & brisket as I would in a KCBS contest. The guys next to us were seasoned IBCA guys and they said sweet & salty wins. Of course they didn't have any calls either. Johnny Trigg was at this cook off too. I asked him for advice and he says he cooks the same way no matter what the contest. So take that for what it's worth. I think he ended up getting a call in ribs.
As far as what to cook...it's pretty well laid out I think. Spare ribs only, half chicken and brisket. You have to turn in full length briket slices - in other words you can't trim the ends to fit in the box or get rid of those overly tender flaking off ends if you wrap it. Chicken was a challenge, since I always cook thighs, but it turned out OK.
Judging is different and the one thing I was dissapointed in was not recieving a sheet at the end of the event telling me how I scored against everyone else. Judging in IBCA is set up in such a way, that this is impossible to do (or so I was told). You get a call if you were in the top 10, and they call out your ticket number (not your team name) for that - then they call out the next 10 numbers that made it to the final table. Other than that, you have no idea how you scored.
Sorry for the long response...I guess too much info is better than not enough...sometimes.
I thought it was easier as far as the turn in goes...you don't have to mess with garnish, only 3 categories instead of 4 and you have an hour between turn-ins. So you are not as rushed as you are in a KCBS contest.
That being said, we didn't win anything. I cooked basically the same ribs & brisket as I would in a KCBS contest. The guys next to us were seasoned IBCA guys and they said sweet & salty wins. Of course they didn't have any calls either. Johnny Trigg was at this cook off too. I asked him for advice and he says he cooks the same way no matter what the contest. So take that for what it's worth. I think he ended up getting a call in ribs.
As far as what to cook...it's pretty well laid out I think. Spare ribs only, half chicken and brisket. You have to turn in full length briket slices - in other words you can't trim the ends to fit in the box or get rid of those overly tender flaking off ends if you wrap it. Chicken was a challenge, since I always cook thighs, but it turned out OK.
Judging is different and the one thing I was dissapointed in was not recieving a sheet at the end of the event telling me how I scored against everyone else. Judging in IBCA is set up in such a way, that this is impossible to do (or so I was told). You get a call if you were in the top 10, and they call out your ticket number (not your team name) for that - then they call out the next 10 numbers that made it to the final table. Other than that, you have no idea how you scored.
Sorry for the long response...I guess too much info is better than not enough...sometimes.
Bigmista
somebody shut me the fark up.
Luckily this will be a small contest. 12 teams max. So we will atleast have an idea of how we placed.
Pigs on The Run
Full Fledged Farker
go big and sweet. remeber no certified judges . Find the biggest meaty spares. Do beer can chicken and do pork like the cheapest guy in town. Also bring friends to judge the pre lims. They will take people off the street. If you like kcbs it will be a little disaponiting un less you win. We had a good time . good luck.
John
John
Bigmista
somebody shut me the fark up.
So you are saying do the whole chicken and then cut it in half instead of butterflying it first?
As far as judges, I think that's covered. They are getting a bunch of CBJ's and the rest will be volunteer firemen.
As far as judges, I think that's covered. They are getting a bunch of CBJ's and the rest will be volunteer firemen.
ThomEmery
Babbling Farker
I am happy to report the Judges will be 50% CBJs at this event.
Yes the Cooked on Sause was a problem for a few guys at West
I did my Head Judge training there. The question of getting your scores back is something we will have to come up with a answer to. There is a puter program being developed to take care of that.
Yes the Cooked on Sause was a problem for a few guys at West
I did my Head Judge training there. The question of getting your scores back is something we will have to come up with a answer to. There is a puter program being developed to take care of that.
N
Neal
Guest
We cooked half chickens as did all of the teams around us that I talked to. I guess it's a judgement call, but seems like it would be easier to to make a clean presentation that way. Of course, we hada alot more teams, so we had to turn in two halves...with 12 teams you might only have to turn one half and you can sacrifice one side of a whole chicken when you cut it and present the good side.
The score sheet issue would be great to have resolved. That would have been the only thing I could have asked for to make my IBCA experience complete. Other than that, I like everything about the contest I cooked in.
The score sheet issue would be great to have resolved. That would have been the only thing I could have asked for to make my IBCA experience complete. Other than that, I like everything about the contest I cooked in.
Is the 1/2 chicken cut up in the box before turn in? If so how many pcs.
Bigmista
somebody shut me the fark up.
Nope it is whole. THe judges cut off the piece they want.
