My first ever turn-in box!!!

[Wampus]

OK, ok....it was only for a backyard ribs contest, but it WAS at a KCBS event. The event was Wine, Brew & BBQ Too!!! at New Palestine, IN. I hung out with Big JT's Smokin BBQ and have him an extra set of hands Friday and yesterday for his pro stuff. There was also, however, a rib backyard competition for this event that I was excited to try my hand at.

Baby Backs was my weapon of choice. Here's the box just before I closed it and walked it in.

I'd appreciate any HONEST opinions from you experienced folks. I didn't think the ribs stacked up very evenly, and although the glaze and ribs looked farkin beautiful when I pulled them off the smoker, I tore the glaze up pretty good on most of the ribs while slicing.

There was no garnish requirement or limitation on this event. So I could have used tomato, fruit, whatever. But, even though I wasn't ONLY limited to green leaf lettuce, I thought it would score better since that's what the judges were used to looking at. The BY ribs turned in after all the KCBS meats AND the sauce, so it was very last.



Anyway.....I WON!!! Out of 8 teams total, I was CHAMP!!!!

I scored a 165.714 total. I assume (but I don't know) that the same certified judges were scoring the backyard ribs too? Here was my 6 scores:
8 9 9
9 7 8
9 8 9
9 8 8
7 7 8
9 8 9

SO......what improvements could I have made on my box? Obviously, you can only give me presentation advice, but.......? Anything I should work on?

Thanks!

[indianagriller]

I knew this was coming LOL... I already told you what i thought, but Congrats man... I knew you had it won, now only if i can cook ribs like that lol.

[bigabyte]

I'd have given probably a 8 on appearance mostly for the uneven cuts, maybe down to a 7 for the uneven glaze but it's hard to tell from a photo how that would have appeared in real life so I may have thought ti looked fine for the glaze. Otherwise I think it looks great!

Congrats on the win! Are you hooked on competing now?

[bigabyte]

Oh, one more tip...it cant hurt to have one rib (like that one on top left) turned sideways to see the meat. Unless of course you don't want them to judge that for appearance.

[landarc]

My initial thought, which is all I am going to go on, is that the cuts are sort of rough, the piece are not the same width, not really a requirement, but, really expected. I did not object to the glaze or color. I don't really like the alignment in the box though, that angle just feels odd to me. I would go 7 or maybe 8 depending, still, congratulations on the win.

[bmanMA]

i'd look to do a row of 4 with another row of 4 partially stacked. Might consider touching the glaze up after you make your cuts. Get more hardcore with the garnish. Needs to be full and tight. Looks like you nailed the cook though, given your tenderness scores. Nice work!

[Wampus]

Yeah, you know.....I'd never really ever thought about the actual cut before slicing for the box. I've seen others cut for their box and it just looks so easy when YOU are not the one with the slicer/knife!!!

I had a hard time getting evenly between the bones. I'd either go 1/2 way and then hit the bone and the cut would be crooked/not straight, etc. I do agree that they aren't the same width.

I had 3 racks total and they all came off real purty, but once I hacked at 'em with the slicer, suddenly, I was out of good ribs. At home, I usually put the rack upside down so I can see the bones better, but when I tried that at the comp, it totally trashed the glaze. It was a REAL sticky sauce, so that didn't work.

My gloves were sticky too, so when I handled them, I'd pull some of the parsley out or slime up the clean meat.





Yes, Chris.....I'm hooked. I'll be thinking about comp BBQ for at LEAST a week now.


JT: Thanks for letting me hang out and help these last 2 comps. Sorry I can't make it to Jasper this weekend. We'll see if you miss me or not. Or at least miss my ribs....

[bigabyte]

I'd mention something about judging on garnish, but don't want to derail this thread.

[Rich Parker]

Congratulations!

I would say just practice on making them all even so when you place them in the box they look even.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by bmanMA

i'd look to do a row of 4 with another row of 4 partially stacked.

That's tough with baby backs because of the curved bones, but if they will fit I would go with 5 and 5. 4 across looks too small in the box.

As far as cutting, flip the rack over so you can see the bones and then carefully clean up the glaze on each rib before you put it in the box. It's time consuming, but once you get the hang of it you can get 6 or 7 (or sometimes ribs out of the same rack. That give you a better presentation.

[INmitch]

Great job Kempis! We were rootin for ya!

[Harbormaster]

That's a pretty pathetic lookin' box Wampus. I hope you do better than that in Manito.







I gave you an 8 on my 6 seconds looking at the box.
Nicely done, and congratulations on your win!
Not much you can do to improve your appearance scores with what ya got.

[indianagriller]

Originally Posted by INmitch

Great job Kempis! We were rootin for ya!

Scored higher than my ribs lol...

[Chopjaw]

Is there a rule about having the green stuff in the turn in box?

[Bigmista]

Nice! The rough cuts are the only thing I notice. Keep up the good work!