Any competion cooks?

midnight said:

I was wondering if any of you cook at any contests? I know 2fat does a few, anyone else? and what do you usually cook on at a contest?

I am entering my first KCBS sanctioned contest this May, I have done sauce contests before and I judged at a KCBS contest, but I have never cooked in one. Anyone have any tips to help out a first timer?

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My Spider Sense says Al's gonna pipe in with something related to Spam.

My only tip - over prepare and have fun. Wait that's two tips.

My only two tips - over prepare, have fun and drink heavily. Dang. Three.

My only three tips - over prepare, have fun, drink heavily and eat lots of peanuts.

Off topic

racer81 I'm going to send you avatar to my wife, might lead to oriental style tonight.

I tried to get to two cookoff last year but got "scheduling conflicts" each time.

What to cook?
Usually if you're playing with the big boys you'll do ribs, chicken, brisket, and pork butt or shoulder. Some events specialize in one or two but the biggies you do all four for the grand championship. Some events will let you do the one or two things you do well - some you gotta cook it all even if you know you suck when it comes to brisket (for example).

Time management is real important since you have a meat inspection and can't rub, marinate, etc. until after the inspection. Also, there is usually a start time and definately you'll have a turn in time for each meat - they only give a 10-15 minute window to turn in...being late will get your entry thrown out.

Some events have "backyard" or "amateur" divisions - one here in FL does this along with the state championship and KC qualifier -- in the backyard divison you do just ribs and chicken.

What to cook on - run what you got. A LOT of top contenders drag a huge cooker to the event for show and use WSMs for the dough. I'm not kidding, check it out!

Just get the rules for the event ahead of time to make sure you understand when to be there, what to bring, etc. Most allow wood, biscuits, charcoal (lump or brikettes), or combinations and you can use a chimney, propane, etc. to start the fire.

I happen to be going to Dr. BBQ's competion cooking class this weekend. Not sure if I want to start competing or not, but I do want to learn all that I can.
Mike

i will volunteer my services to judge anybody's BBQ (on this board, that is) and render a critical analysis is it. also available to judge sauce, beer and peanuts . . .

frognot said:

i will volunteer my services to judge anybody's BBQ (on this board, that is) and render a critical analysis is it. also available to judge sauce, beer and peanuts . . .

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Is there any interest in me posting the schedule of judging/cooking classes from the KCBS Bull Sheet monthly?

Not sure about "competion cooks", I am more into "competion eating" :lol:

I agree with Al. I figured that for me to become a competion eater, I need to become a competion cook first....at least it's going to be fun learning.
Mike

brdbbq said:

Off topic

racer81 I'm going to send you avatar to my wife, might lead to oriental style tonight.

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So, what happened?

racer_81 said:

brdbbq said:

Off topic

racer81 I'm going to send you avatar to my wife, might lead to oriental style tonight.

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So, what happened?

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Gummy.....if you know what I mean.

midnight said:

If you want to be a competion eater you should be a judge at a contest.

1. You know your day is going to be good when the first thing they tell you is not to eat all the food placed before you or you will be too full to finish judging the last entries.

2. You get to eat BBQ for 3 hours AND give your opinion on it to people who actualy care.

3. You can take any leftover food you want home with you so you can eat bbq for supper that night and breakfast the next morning.

4. When the contest is over you can grab a free leftover copy of the Bull Sheet news letter so you have something to read while you have to sit on the toilet after eating bbq for 3 hours :twisted:

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i can do all these. sign me up!

Anything butt, and dessert

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"Anything Butt" usually gets pretty exotic - I've heard of everything from ostrich to wild boar to salmon - you name it! Dessert is tougher - something like an upside down cake in cast iron would work for a first time out!

Good luck :mrgreen:

Midnight,
We usually do 5 to 7 a year.Been competin' for about 4yrs.I love it.I tell everyone "Its the only way a married man can party all night and not get into trouble with the wife".

The most important thing is to have fun. At most contests the veteran teams will help you out and give you advice.

Here's just a few items you will need.When I first started I took the whole kitchen.The more I competed, the more I trimmed down the stuff I took.
Cooker,shelter(ez-up or so forth),charcoal,tables,chairs,dropcord,hose,3 washing containers,meat thermometers, light,coolers,knives,cutting board,foil,ziploc bags,spices,suaces,meats,garnish,drinks,snack food .... and so on.

Good luck,
Willy T.
http://www.geocities.com/willytsdxesmkrs

DFLittle said:

Anything butt, and dessert

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"Anything Butt" usually gets pretty exotic - I've heard of everything from ostrich to wild boar to salmon - you name it! Dessert is tougher - something like an upside down cake in cast iron would work for a first time out!

Good luck :mrgreen:

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.....spam is exotic......kinda.....

Hey, you competition teams.

I always wondered if you see alot of foil usage on these cooks, or is foil (other than maybe to keep something warm, rather than to help cook) frowned upon?

When I went to the Vegas competion, it pretty much looked like everybody was using foil.