First Competition

congrats on getting the first competition out of the way... we cooked the milk cow as well, we were in the far back corner of the field by the beer tent and port o johns... so when is the next one...

I took the CBJ class in March and my first comp is in a week. I thought it gave a nice insight on what judges do when they judge your entries. There is so much great info on this site for each of the topics you listed above just type them in the search and grab a beer. Congrats on not finishing last that's my goal next weekend!

your question is a bit broad....start with these for great overview tutorials. then, once the info is assimilated, ask specific questions and you'll for sure get the help you seek.

http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/bbq-contests/703-award-winning-competition-brisket.html

http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/bbq-contests/894-award-winning-competition-chicken.html

http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/bbq-contests/1252-award-winning-competition-pork.html

follow the pickled pig tutorials and dont be afraid to expirament, those are where we got our start... now you see what we have evolved into... LOL its addicting. Next time dont be afraid to stop by we always open to visitors...

Do you have pictures of your turn in boxes? That's pretty beneficial to do and the people on here are fantastic about giving their honest opinion. Not always what you want to hear to feel good, but the folks on here helped me move up a lot from comp 1 to comp 2.

Some people will knock you for the garnish. It appears to be covering up some of the meat and looks like the meat is pushed down into it. You're supposed to look at the meat, but that's crap. People will look at it all and that's how you'l be judged, so be careful about how the meat looks with the garnish you present.

Ribs look a little uneven in here and sorta thrown in. I've learned that people want uniform ribs that look as, even if they're not, from the same rack. They appear to be a little off color. I'd give it a 6 or maybe a 7.

Chicken looks burnt and does not look appetizing. Pieces do not look uniform and look to be just thrown in the box. Nothing about this makes me want to taste it. I'd give it a 5 or 6.

Small photo, so kinda hard to tell. The brisket looks good, though. Big pieces, but they may appear a little dry. You did a great job of making the pieces appear uniform in the box. Shouldn't matter in KCBS judging, but the smokering is good. May be a little dry, however. I'd give it an 8.

vbhewitt16 said:

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Congrats on cooking your first comp. You picked a difficult contest for your first cook. Take a look at BBQcritic.com to see what scores well.

Outnumbered said:

Some people will knock you for the garnish. It appears to be covering up some of the meat and looks like the meat is pushed down into it. You're supposed to look at the meat, but that's crap. People will look at it all and that's how you'l be judged, so be careful about how the meat looks with the garnish you present.

Ribs look a little uneven in here and sorta thrown in. I've learned that people want uniform ribs that look as, even if they're not, from the same rack. They appear to be a little off color. I'd give it a 6 or maybe a 7.

Chicken looks burnt and does not look appetizing. Pieces do not look uniform and look to be just thrown in the box. Nothing about this makes me want to taste it. I'd give it a 5 or 6.

Small photo, so kinda hard to tell. The brisket looks good, though. Big pieces, but they may appear a little dry. You did a great job of making the pieces appear uniform in the box. Shouldn't matter in KCBS judging, but the smokering is good. May be a little dry, however. I'd give it an 8.

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Only thing I'd add is throw in some burnt ends with that brisket

porkingINpublic said:

Only thing I'd add is throw in some burnt ends with that brisket

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Only put them in if they are REALLY good.

Congrats on the first comp. It was a tough field. I'm not sure if we me or not.
The first cook is often the hardest and a bit of a reality check to some people...especially if they have no comp experience at all. They aren't the worst boxes I've seen and we've definitely turned in worse. The first thing I noticed in the pictures was the haphazard garnish. It is detracting from the meat, which in the case of the ribs and brisket, look good.

Remember how the scores are weighed. Each appearance point counts as roughly 1/2 point. And each Taste point counts as roughly 2 points. I would focus on the taste of your product first since your appearance scores weren't what really hurt you.

See if another team would be willing to let you attend a comp with them. Shadowing another team is great way to learn all kinds of things.

I mean no offense, but I'm surprised you had 8s in appearance for your chicken. I agree with Outnumbered that those seem like a 6 or a 7. Maybe the picture isn't doing you justice.

If you want to get much more feedback you might want to consider starting a new thread asking people to rate your boxes or something along those lines. Not everyone who would give their 2 cents might open this thread and scroll down to see them.

Congrats on getting that first one out of the way!

Very tough crowd there at the Milk Cow. It was our second contest. Follow the advice if the seasoned competitors above. They are proven winners and won't steer you wrong.

If I may, I'll try to give a bit of a score interpretation:

Chicken: 788788 in appearance, not bad, not great
887865 in tenderness, NOT good, need work here
788765 in taste, this kills Must work here on taste first, and tenderness

Ribs: 898979 in appearance, not bad, but frankly I think they were being generous
787877 in tenderness, possibly a little tough?
988768 in taste, 9's - 6's, usually has a strong taste one way or another, one judge loves it, another really doesnt care much for it at all too spicy? too sweet?

Pork: 677667 in appearance, not good, needs a lot of work here
667767 in tenderness, definitely a theme going on, and needs a lot of work here too
667867 in taste, death. looks like we have much work to do in pork.

Brisky: 788899 in appearance, and not bad, could use a little work, but not a problem
688878 in tenderness, not great, needs work
697779 in taste, 7's seem to be the theme, needs work, this kills


Looking at the boxes, to clean them up I'd trim the hedges. It looks like you have a forest growing in there. Use the greenery to frame (by way of color) the meat by having it sit neatly on the bottom and setting the meat cleanly/neatly on top.

Then, work on your flavor and along the way the tenderness. I read recently where a competitor thought he was putting out wonderful/perfect contender BBQ and had been very frustrated with his results, so he judged a few BBQ contests and found his problem. He was able to judge first hand what mouth watering presentation looked like, and felt what perfect tenderness was, and the tastes make him want to slap his mama. Judging really helps you get a picture of the target to hit.