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Competition BBQ *On Topic Only* Discussion regarding all aspects of Competition BBQ. Experiences competing or visiting, questions, getting started, Equipment, announcements of events, Results, Reviews, Planning, etc. Questions here will be responded to with competition BBQ in mind. |
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05-03-2016, 11:33 AM | #1 |
Banned
Join Date: 04-11-16
Location: Fayetteville, AR
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Consistent Taste
Hi everyone. I just finished my second KCBS event and I have some questions about the taste scoring. My appearance scores were perfect, literally. However, I finished 20 out of 26...so that tells you all you need to know about my taste/tenderness scores. I feel like I know where I missed on tenderness, but taste has me puzzled. I know that judges and judging techniques are all different, but I am having trouble figuring out how to improve. Another thing is that geographically (located in Arkansas) I do not have access to a lot of competitions or the budget to travel to a lot of competitions. Only doing 4 competitions a year makes it hard to find out what "consistently works." Does anyone have success stories of what they did to improve their "taste scores." I need to take my 7's to 8's and my 8's to 9's to boost my score. Thanks in advance, you guys are all awesome.
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05-03-2016, 11:39 AM | #2 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 07-05-11
Location: Pierre, SD
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Start nailing tenderness and your taste scores will go up also.
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Last Call Heroes BBQ - Outlaw Smokers - Gateway Drums |
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Thanks from: ---> |
05-03-2016, 12:49 PM | #3 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 07-14-13
Location: freeman,mo
Name/Nickname : Calvin
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I'm sure if you would PM some of the West Coast teams, they would be more than happy to help with the rub/flavoring.
Pretty sure if you nail the tenderness and use some Smokin' Guns Hot rub, you could hear your name called. |
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Thanks from:---> |
05-03-2016, 12:52 PM | #4 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 10-21-14
Location: Olive Branch, MS
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Start nailing tenderness (as mentioned above) and use products that have been known to score well.
Some examples that are well known on this site are Blues Hog Sauces, Smokin Guns rubs, Big Poppa Rubs, Head Country Sauces, Swamp Boys Sauces, Butcher BBQ Injections, Kosmos Q Injections The list goes on and on. Hopefully this will get you started. Also, practice, practice, practice at home on tenderness. Take a class. and practice some more Good luck. Hopefully we will cross paths someday.
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Meatcraft BBQ - Backyard Jambo Pit, 18 WSM, 22 WSM, 2 X Auber controllers |
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Thanks from:---> |
05-03-2016, 01:01 PM | #5 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 07-31-11
Location: Beaumont, CA
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Not sure if this is a photo of an actual entry, or just an example of what comp bbq looks like. If it is a real entry, I would be careful about having the large pieces of "stuff" in your rub/sauce, as it could be visually detracting and also result in uneven taste depending on where a judge might bite
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[I][COLOR=Red][B]Green Card Q[/B][/COLOR][/I] - Pitmaster (term used loosely) KCBS MCBJ & CTC Humphrey's Long Weekender, UDS, Red Box Smoker, SJS/Tamale Pot Smoker, Weber Performer, Weber 18.5 OTS, Alton Brown Flower Pot Smoker (died), Blue Ember Gasser (died} Member of the Hall of Zero's (Noobians v. Veterans Throwdown) |
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05-03-2016, 01:23 PM | #6 |
Take a breath!
Join Date: 06-29-12
Location: Detroit, MI
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Agreed with all posts thus far. Your brisket may taste phenomenal, but if it's tougher than shoe leather both scores will suffer.
Practice at home for sure. Stick to the proven winners in flavorings. Blues hog on just about everything. Smokin' Guns hot on just about everything (I use on all 4 meats). Once you get the basic flavors, then you can start tweeking. Adding salt here, touch of sweet there. When you are at a cook-off, ask a winning team if you can sample a bite. Some will be happy to share, but be careful, others are secretive.
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Chief cook for P B & j's BBQ Team/Dubbed "Skippy" By the legendary Mike Davis |
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05-03-2016, 01:42 PM | #7 |
Knows what a fatty is.
Join Date: 03-08-16
Location: Rockland County, NY
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Like qbert said. Cooking for competition is not cooking for home. You need to basically use what everyone uses. If you are playing chef... it generally doesn't work too well. We moved up from bottom of the pack on everything to 2 name calls on our second comp by cooking just like everyone else. The tenderness thing may be the most important. If you stick with profiles that are widely used it's all down to how perfectly you can cook your meat. Once you.get a few higher scores, then start modifying the flavor profiles to see what you can do. Unfortunately you may want to buy some blues hog if you aren't already using it.
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05-03-2016, 01:58 PM | #8 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-20-12
Location: Twin Cities
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Your forgot Cattle Prod and enhanced ribs!
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3 - Hunsaker Drums, Humphreys Cubed Pint, WSM, 36" Blackstone |
1 members found this post helpful. |
05-03-2016, 02:23 PM | #9 | |
Banned
Join Date: 04-11-16
Location: Fayetteville, AR
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Quote:
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05-03-2016, 03:02 PM | #10 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 10-21-14
Location: Olive Branch, MS
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If you're referring to Smokin' Guns Hot, it's not all that hot. Especially once it's been in a 225-300 degree smoker for 3-10 hours
I'd say it's a 6 on heat YMMV The stuff wins so I wouldn't be worried about the heat too much
__________________
Meatcraft BBQ - Backyard Jambo Pit, 18 WSM, 22 WSM, 2 X Auber controllers |
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Thanks from:---> |
05-03-2016, 03:11 PM | #12 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 01-29-14
Location: Corona, CA
Name/Nickname : Bob
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Some heat is good. Treat it like other spices. Think balance.
Don't over do it ! Judges don't like it and neither do teams whose boxes follow your box at that table.
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KCBS, Operation BBQ Relief |
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Thanks from:---> |
05-03-2016, 03:32 PM | #13 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 05-28-14
Location: St. Louis, MO
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BPS money is the new SGH
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05-03-2016, 03:42 PM | #14 |
Banned
Join Date: 04-11-16
Location: Fayetteville, AR
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Thanks Right On... I am not so much concerned with the heat since that rub wins...just trying to get a point of reference when I am taste testing at home to see if I am in the proper heat range!
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05-03-2016, 03:43 PM | #15 |
Banned
Join Date: 04-11-16
Location: Fayetteville, AR
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Thanks Bryan...I actually started dissolving it in cola...works good for the color and got rid of the "pieces." I like the nutra bullet idea!
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Tags |
competition bbq, kcbs, scores, taste |
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