Inedible Chicken Score, Still Got 8th, Learning Experience

Looking for some feedback if anyone else has had something like this happen to them and also just sharing a learning experience.

At this last weekends competition (which I gave general details in another post) we tried a new chicken recipe that we had been practicing for a while. Nothing earth shattering. Scraping skins, cooking in margarine bath foiled, finishing on the smoker with sauce. We had awesome bite through skin and the flavor was much better than what we had done in the past.

So here are our scores

999, 988, 788, 888, 887, and........wait for it.............922. Booyah!!

We had what I would assume is the normal what the hell (though we didn't say hell) reaction. Then found the comment card with the note saying "red juice, undercooked". After our what the hell reaction and cursing the bbq gods we had to swallow our pride and say ok what could we have done wrong?

This is what we came up with.........we cooked 14 chicken thighs, all trimmed to as similar size/shape that we could get. After the hour in the margarine bath at 250, then another hour on the smoker with sauce we took them off after a few probed 165-170. Then we probed about 7 more and all came up in the same range and very clear juices. Then we picked the 6 best looking and stuck them in the box. So the only thing I can think of is some how 1 piece that we didn't probe was undercooked. But that is also hard to believe because we ate the other 8 pieces immediately after chicken turn in and they were all 100% done and delicious. So 1 out of 14 that ended up in the box was underdone.........

But the thing that blew our minds is that while different pieces of meat absolutely cook differently, how could it happen to such small pieces of meat no more than 1 ounce different per each piece. 2 identical weight butts can have an hour or more variation of cook time, but has anyone ever seen this with chicken thighs??

We thought there was no way and that the judge had made a horrible mistake or didn't know what they were seeing. I literally took the KCBS judging class the week before and learned about the only way you get an inedible chicken score is if it is bleeding/red juices. I want to be very clear I am no judging expert, but can't get my mind around how 1 piece didn't get fully cooked. We were specifically told in the judging class though that we shouldn't confuse the blood vessels that can rupture near the bone with red juices. I'm sure you all have seen them that looks like blood stains on the bone even though the chicken is cooked properly. That is the only thing I can come up with on how they could have been mistaken and then there is nothing we could have done.

The bottom line is we are still a little mad, though we will get over ourselves. We realize we didn't see what the judge saw when he picked up the piece of chicken and I'm assuming they opened with their hands and red liquid ran out. Even if the judge was wrong we have to learn from this. So you will be assured that every piece of chicken from now on will be probed before it goes into the box.

Oh and we still got 8th in chicken .




One of the 8 pieces we ate.

Jeff_in_KC said:

Could have been a judge that doesn't understand the redness that smoke gives chicken. The table captain should have caught that and questioned him. Maybe he did. As for the blood vessel near the bone, remove it when you are trimming your chicken. I get all of them I can and never have a problem. I find it difficult, if not impossible to believe you had a single piece not finished when the rest were at the temps you listed.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that trimming tip. I hadn't though about removing it since if still cooked properly, the judges should known the difference. At least that is what we were taught in the judging class. But why even give them the chance to have to make that judgement. That tip is definitely noted and we won't give them that change again.

jbrink01 said:

Happened to me 3 weeks ago. 5th in chicken, 4th OA with a 922 in chicken. I met the judge by happenstance the following week (turns out he was a friend). It was the vein next to the bone that I missed when trimming.

Click to expand...

So I'm not the only one . I'll be doing some extra trimming now.

Sawdustguy said:

Is it me or is at least once every other week we have a judges bitch thread. Is everyone so thin skinned, that they don't realize these things happen. Does nobody realize that judges are people not machines and that you will get some very good ones and occasionally get one that will make you scratch your head. It's all part of the game. We all think we should all get 9's for every mark, but come on people, this is reality, not a dream. I guess I am just tired of hearing the judges getting the brunt of every bad score someone gets.

Click to expand...

Easy there. I think you missed a big part of my post. It was a long rant, but I tried to be polite and give the benefit of the doubt and said even if the judge was right or wrong that I still needed to learn. And also since I am still learning I wanted feedback. Which I got in the form of a few guys telling me to watch the veins and trim them. So I'm going to take that feedback to heart. There are greater tragedies in the world I know, but i'm knew and was genuinely trying to get some help from the brethren here which I said in my post. Sorry if I came off like a douchebag. Didn't mean to. I even just took the judging class specifically to know what the judges go through and to learn that process so I definitely respect that. I apologize for my rookieness.

ssbbqguy said:

I agree totally with trimming, not forgetting the veins,but there may be another factor. A few years back we had red juices in trays more than normal. The questions were answered by the producers that they were harvesting birds at a younger age, with less bone development. Younger bones, more porus, and would leach out into the box. Looks like blood ,but have been told it's more like marrow juice for lack of a better term. The problem seems to solve itself from cooking at a higher temp. Since ramping up finishing temps., I actually forgot about it. Sorry to hear about your score and agree it's less likely to be blood but other red juice is more probable. Still sucks. Try cooking at a higher temp and test. Hope that helps. Steve.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that info. We wanted to cook more in the 275-300 range on the WSM, but for some reason it wouldn't get up there during the short period of cooking chicken. This didn't ruin our fun at all. Got 3rd in ribs and 2nd in pork . Just wanted to learn what I can do to prevent it in the future. You all are a great help.