Tahoka Texas MERGED Threads

Competition Bound-Tahoka Texas

Well my brothers in smoke, I have entered my first competition. It is sanctioned by the Lone Star Barbecue Society and features three meat categories. I signed up as Uncle Carnies Sograte BBQ team (long story). While I have been cooking brisket for years and can make some decent chicken, I need some major help with the pork spare ribs. Do you guys have any competition advice and/or suggestions for chicken and ribs? I will gladly absorb any advice and ideas you can throw at me.

RE: Competition Bound

Thanks guys, I will post results as soon as I can. Hopefully it will not be a complete disapointment. Out of the three meat categories and beans hopefully I will get to hear my name at least once ;-). I have never had any ribs that were worth eating, but since it does not cost any more to enter additional categories I am going to give them a try. Any suggestions? Rubs?

RE: Competition Bound

hmmm... sweet and spicy, that sounds like the answer I was looking for. I will mix some up this week and see how it turns out. I was getting worried about going to the big show with no ideas for the ribs.

That chipotle sauce sound great too. I love chipotle and after all, this is Texas. Kinda like the old Texas chilli cook-off joke. I will browse around and see what kind of chipolte sauces I can find that would be a nice complimentary mop without overpowering the meat.

Thanks again for all of your help! I feel like a school kid on the first day of school, little nervous but very excited.

RE: Competition Bound

I will be careful not to over season, and especially not over heat the ribs.

Concentrate on getting the meat right! No amount of sauce or rub will fix lousy meat.

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The only ribs I have done were beef ribs. I tried them several time and always end up feeding them to the dog. Hey, she loves it when i que... she eats good!

What do you recommend 3-4 hours at about 225-250?

RE: Competition Bound

I have never had any ribs that were worth eating

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Is it just me or does it seem like the things people don't think will place end up placing and the things they think will place end up not placing. Or maybe I have too much time on my hands and I'm overanalyzing. :lol:

Good luck, Meathead!

RE: Competition Bound

Good Luck Meathead. Just go out there and haved fun

RE: Competition Bound

Thanks for all of the advise and encouragement. I am looking forward to the experience. Is there a better way to spend a weekend than cooking Q with a group of people that have a passion for cooking Q?

Results of our First Competition - Tahoka Texas

We just got back from our first competition in Tahoka Texas. What an incredible experience that was. I will keep it short as I have a long day ahead of me getting everything unloaded, unpacked, put back up, return the borrowed RV and the borrowed trailer (I just hauled my backyard cooker on a trailer).

Now for the news you want to read about. We entered all three meat categories of chicken (half chicken), ribs and brisket plus the jackpot beans. The first turn-in due was the beans. They were damn sure good, proababy some of the best I have made. We did not make them any different than usual except we poured a full can of keystone in them and this was the first time to cook then in a pot over a fire and not in the controlled enviroment of a crock pot. We got 2nd place in beans! Missed the jackpot but what the hell, we got 2nd! Wow what a rush - could this possibly be a sign of things to come?

Our chicken was not done and we had to go to some extreme measures to make sure it was ready to turn in. We got it done but really lost the effect we were going for. Needless to say we did not place in chicken - but we did learn a few lessons.

We have NEVER cooked ribs before. Thanks to the brethen - I got some great advice. We used the 3-2-1 method and mopped about 15 minutes before pulling off the smoker. We could tell that they were looking very good and really got excited about them. The next problem after we got them cooked was to slice them. I had no idea how to do it other than watching enough Food TV and OLN to know about the "competition cut". They damn sure were not pretty - but the judges were specifically told not to account for appearence. The ribs got 6th place!

Brisket is our masterpiece. Been cooking brisket for years and it just gets better every time. We cooked four briskets - one for donation (part of the enrty fee - sold by silent auction for charity) and three to choose from for turn in. I sliced into the first one and it was dry, real dry. I have never had one dry like that. I grabbed the next one, which was the largest one of the cook, and sliced it open. It was beautiful! Juicy, flavorful tender, not overdone - perfect. Not my best but damn sure nothing wrong with it. Well, it got us 9th in brisket. I was really hoping for better but did not have any idea of what the competition was turning in. I had no idea what we were up against.

Overall I have to say that after the awards - everybody knew we were there! We placed in three out of the four categories we entered. We got more awards than a lot of the more experienced teams. After the awards I found out that the top three Texas cooks (1, 2 and 3 in LSBS points) were at this competition. These were obviously the ones that were called up in every category. We really got a huge boost of confidence and are totally hooked.

Thanks for all of the help and advice from all of you seasoned veterans. You actually helped more than you will ever know because I usually spend more time just lurking and reading that actually postings and talking.

Watch my blog bbqandbeer.blogspot.com for a little better detailed version of our experience along with some pictures and more thank you's that are due.