elvis67
Full Fledged Farker
I entered my first competition last weekend and was real paranoid about my meat cooling off. Was trying pick nice slices and everything but I felt I took too much time and my meat cooled. Any thoughts??
When I did mine, I grabbed a stopwatch and leasurly walked to the turn-in area to see how long it took to get there. It wasn't long, but at the royal, it just may be. If you have a 3 minute walk to turn in, set your clock 3 minutes faster than the turn in clock.At the Royal you would start earlier because of the distance and crowds you have to go through.
And this folks, is a testimony as to why Rod finished first in brisket at the BoCo Fair, congrats! We'll bring our A game the next time in brisket, for sure!kcpellethead said:Wait as long as you can without chancing a DQ for late entry. At first this will seem hectic and stressful, but eventually you'll get the hang of it and even catch the front end of the turn-in window often. You mentioned slicing, so I'm guessing you're thinking about brisket. We wait until ten minutes (1:20PM) before turn-in to slice and test our briskets. Briskets dry out very quickly when sliced, especially out in the wind. We wait so long because we want hot food for the judges. Although they are instructed not to judge based on temperature, which tastes better, cold/room temp beef or hot beef? They may not do it intentionally, but psychologically they will like the warmer product if all other things are equal. Above all else though, don't get a DQ. You've got no shot to win a contest without that score.
Rod
Pellet Envy
Rod, very nice post. Stop by the Cattle Call Forum and introduce yourself.Wait as long as you can without chancing a DQ for late entry. At first this will seem hectic and stressful, but eventually you'll get the hang of it and even catch the front end of the turn-in window often. You mentioned slicing, so I'm guessing you're thinking about brisket. We wait until ten minutes (1:20PM) before turn-in to slice and test our briskets. Briskets dry out very quickly when sliced, especially out in the wind. We wait so long because we want hot food for the judges. Although they are instructed not to judge based on temperature, which tastes better, cold/room temp beef or hot beef? They may not do it intentionally, but psychologically they will like the warmer product if all other things are equal. Above all else though, don't get a DQ. You've got no shot to win a contest without that score.
Rod
Pellet Envy