My first competition

J

j3nks73

Guest
Good day fellow brethren. I feel I can now say that having compteed in my first KCBS sanctioned event. The http://www.bosshogcookoff.com/ was held in Waynesboro GA, my home town and, and we had a total of 30 teams participating.

I have posted below our turn in boxes and my feelings about each. I hope you enjoy looking at my food as much as I enjoyed peparing it.

Chicken - 23rd place
I was a little dissapointed in our chicken but not totally suprised. We had a nice flavor and the tenderness was good however the skin became rubbery in the end and I am sure that killed us.
2489865892_aec1948e28.jpg


Ribs - 30th place
Anyone who has ever competed knows why we finished last. Other than the obvious our ribs were pretty good but in my hast to get them in I made the fatal error that assured us of a last place finish.
2489045189_f7b14c6409.jpg



Brisket - 17th
The first time I had ever laid eyes on a brisket was last Tuesday. taking that into consideration I am very proud of our scores. It was flavorful, tender, and juicy. I will be cooking a lot more brisket in the future.
2489048181_5c64c1d43c.jpg



Pork - 12th place
I was very please with our pork. This is probably what I am best at and even though we didn't place high enough to walk I feel that given time we might have a top 10 finisher here.
2489863092_124dc3fb63.jpg


It was a long two days and I can honestly say I don't remember the last time I worked so hard. Every thing I have read on this board is absolutly true from time managment to being carefull not to over indulge.

In the end though we had good fun and fellowship and that's what it's all about.

I welcome your comments and thank you for taking the time to have a look at what we did.

:smile:

Travis
 
How do you think your ribs would have done if you had at least one more in there?
 
Fatback Joe said:
How do you think your ribs would have done if you had at least one more in there?
Click to expand...

They were a little dark and when I tried them the were a little tough in my opinion. The judges that did score us gave us a mix of 6,7, and a couple of 8's. If I had to guess I would say a 17th - 23rd place rib.

I think everything I did suffered to a degree just because of the overwhelmingness of cooking all 4 catagories for the first time.
 
Congrats on your first contest. Sounds like you are hooked now. Your boxes don't look to bad to me. I think you should concentrate on the food first and presentation second. But to get some more ideas try searching on here to see some more boxes there might be a presentation you would want to try next time. I have to say the biggest part of doing well is practice the more you cook in a competition setting the easier it will get.
 
I am sure that the rubbery skin did you no favors in the chicken cateory. Also, they were not really all that pretty. Like folks say, cook about 24 thighs and take the best six as far as symmetry size and color go.

Your ribs were sort of ugly, but not too far off. Add some more paprika to your rub. I was talking to Debbie Davis (lottabull) and she gave me that bit of advice. Folks like a red tint to the ribs.

Your brisket looked to be sort of thick. They also looked ugly in the box. I might try to pretrim the brisket before putting it in the smoker so as to make for a better appearance.

You pulled pork did look good. Be careful not to change them up too much, just tweak them to get to the next level.

It might just be the photos, but your garnish didn't look so good. Also your meat looked dry and I am sure that the photos were probably the reason for that.

All in all, I would say you did very well in your first cookoff.

In my first event, I did well with ribs but they have been all over the board since then. I would imagine they are always the same, but the competition will sometimes be better. Therefore I don't change a thing. I cook IBCA so the flavor and texture are more important than appearance, but they still need to look good to get off the first set of tables.
 
I would take some time and look around here at others turn in boxes. Yours look ok I would give them 6's, but I think you could find some ideas to help you out.

Take a weekend and do all four again trying to make times and all. Practice will get you where you want to be. Congrats on your first contest.
 
Thanks for all of the input guys. It's hard to hear someone tell you your food is ugly but the truth is what's important, especially for someone who cooks a great deal and hears how good they are all the time. It's nice to hear other opinions... the good and the bad.

As I said we had fun our first time out and learned a lot of lessons.
 
Congratulations on your first comp, Travis. Great job! Keep a log on what you did and changes to be made at the next cook. Practice at home and I mean practice with a schedule. You'll come right along.
 
Hey you got one under your belt, and you learned. Now you just need ot start making adjustments - you will forget all about the work when you get a call.
 
I think you are off to a great start.
Lots of work to do--but a good place to begin the journey!

No pics of the first turn-in's that CHAD and I did about 4 years ago.
But, they needed as much "fine-tuning" as yours do now.
And, it can be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad ya had fun!

TIM
 
I think "hearing" how good your food is, then presenting it to judges will also affect me. Thanks for the pics, as my first comp is in July and Im learning here every day. If I could get my son, my son-in-law, my brother, my mother-in law, my older brother, and my next door neighbor seated at the same judging table I'd win GC every time out. But reality sucks, but we keep trying. I bet it all TASTED great!
 
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