Cooking Classes

I took Myron Mixon's class in 2005. It was the best $500 I ever spent on a hobby weekend. Full KCBS/FBA schedule, chalk talk with him, David Hare, James Britt, and Buster Dunn. Friday evening until Sunday afternoon.

No "secret squirrel" stuff...plain talk, straight answers, etc.

He now does whole hog at almost every class...I'm thinking of taking it again just to get that...

Greatgrills said:

What would you consider some of the selling points of a cooking class??? Let's say that Joe Blow wants to put on a class what would you expect out of it??? Would you want to do the whole KCBS contest times(someone doing the cooking), would you want just an overview(short version of a KCBS contest), or would you want to bring your own pits, meats, rubs, everything YOU would use at a contest, ect???? Have seen so many cooking classes out there and they all offer something different.. Just wondering what your selling points are

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Mark,

The class that I took last year was done by Texas RibRangers (Bill & Barbara Milroy) and if I remember correctly, I found it on the KCBS website. I took it because I wanted to try a competition and figured that I could learn some things that I did not know about the "in & outs" of a competition. Most of the people there were wanting to learn about competitions. Some of the things we were shown was how to trim and prep all of the meats, approx. cooking times for meat based on pit temps, and "how to" prep turn in boxes. I could have brought my pit but elected not to, and all of the meat was included in the cost of the class which I felt was a bonus. In addition we cooked our lunch which was not any of the four meats for a comp but things you might que for family and friends. Bill and Barb did a very good job, IMO of putting on the class as far as presentation and for those of us in the class it was very "hands on" also. All in all I was very satisfied with the class because the things that I was looking to learn about, prepping meat and turn in boxes was covered very well.

hope this helps you,

gary

I took the Fast Eddy class in December. I choose it because I was looking for tips and tricks with the FE. Really enjoyed it, not only did I learn a lot about my smoker but Eddy and Paul Schatte shared a lot of great information. The difference in cooking styles was very interesting. Cost was also a big factor, it was more within my budget than some of the others.

Unless you had impeccable credentials, it would be very difficult for you to attract an audience to a class you would give. If you have been looking at some of the cooking classes that will take place and some of the brethren will attend, they are classes given by the big guns like Paul Kirk, Dr, BBQ, Mike Davis, Miron Mixon, Lite my Fire etc. These are some of the heavy weights who have won time after time on the BBQ Circuit today and in the past. Unless your team has these types of credentials it is difficult to attract audience. I chose to attend Dr. BBQ's class because we have been finishing between 12th and 15th and we want to move up. I feel that we are at the point where we could use the help to improve our scores. What is wrong with us attempting to improve by attending a class.

At Paul Kirks class i learned very little but had a great time hanging out with all of the brethren in a great location.Did get to pick pauls brain a little which was worth it, had i travelled and went with nobody i knew it would of sucked

These classes have lots of value I was in AZ with QN4U this weekend
We have Chris Lilly coming into Calif in July It just cuts your learning curve
down

I went to a class last year given by Mike Lee of the Yankee BBQ team (another one, not our own YankeeBBQ) and thought that it helped me with how a contest is run but did not do anything for my cooking skills.

That being said, I think that is kind of the purpose of the class and it performed its mission fairly well (another of my classmates seemed to have good success last year). We did not do any cooking but were given demos on butchering, site setups, equipment and turn in boxes.

The class was also very inexpensive and I think a great way to get your feet a little wet without a huge cost. I would recommend it to anyone that doesn't want to spend a bunch of money, yet still get some idea of how to compete. I think that $200 to $500 for an introductory class can be intiimidating.

I am looking forward to the Dr BBQ Brethern Class this March and think that I will be learning much more about cooking there.

I just completed the KCBS Judge certification Class this past weekend and have to say that I did not learn nearly as much as would have liked to in that class. I can however now come over and officially judge. So if anyone within a reasonable distance from me has some extra and needs a "certified judges opinion" I will bring the beer. LOL

SmokeInDaEye said:

I would take a class like the good Doc's in the future, but having only done 1 contest so far, I would rather spend my time and money getting real experience.

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Clint, having only done 5 comps, I'd suggest getting into a class quick... You'll get a huge jumpstart, I think. We're taking Ray's class in April, and I can't wait.

I refuse! I'm gonna do everything the hard way. Gonna bump my head against the wall until it cracks and I break threw!

Oh yeah and I'll keep coming here and learning stuff.

Michelle,
That is too bad...... I should have been a bit more friendly and introduced myself.
Had to think about it for a minute but I guess what I was hoping to learn is what other people's idea of good 'Q is. Make sense?

Muzzlebrake said:

Michelle,
That is too bad...... I should have been a bit more friendly and introduced myself.
Had to think about it for a minute but I guess what I was hoping to learn is what other people's idea of good 'Q is. Make sense?

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Judge a few contests and you will find out in short order.

Guy is right... You won't learn a lot just from the class, but you'll learn a lot more when you judge. The class is usually all done with just 1 team doing all the cooking, and trying to highlight flaws.

Sawdustguy said:

Judge a few contests and you will find out in short order.

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Oh yeah I am sure that I will learn bunches nothing like learning from experience.

Do judges have time to discuss things during the contest like between meats, or do they just tend to hang out and compare notes afterward?

What do you enjoy more? competing or judging?

We love cooking. Taking a judges class and judging a contest gave us alot of data on what judges look for at a contest. This helps us during a contest. We also feel we could never learn everything on our own so we decided to take the Dr. BBQ class to see how he does it.