Please rate these turn in boxes

Not being a judge, I will give you my honest opinion for what it is worth. I have only been in 2 comps so far, but have learned a LOT.

Chicken, too much sauce.
Pork, looks ok.
Ribs, again looks like too much sauce.
Brisket.... looks like a lot of small pieces all over the place.

Overall, I try to put more lettuce up the sides. You have a lot of white box showing.

For the first time out, doing a great job. You will improve. Keep your eyes out on the posts and you will see other boxes, and pick up tips as well.

Bill

The photos are hard to go by. the light was a bit much for really getting detail.

Chicken looks dark, though. Ribs look pretty good, though I happen to like putting the ribs more together. Pork looks good but potentially dry, and brisket looks uneven and a bit sloppy.

If you're going to use garnish, make it more even.

If you're not going to sauce, rethink that; just more and more, I think teams are shooting themselves in the foot by not using some sauce on their meat.

for example: let's say 100% of judges (let's call it 100%) like sauce, and 70% like dry, also. pretty much 1/3 of your table is potentially going to count you down just for not having sauce. They shouldn't, no, but if they think that sauced tastes better, you should present them sauce, especially considering that 0 judges are going to count you down for having sauce.

How thick are those slices of brisket? i cant tell if they are really thick or if it is just the angle.

For me, on the pork, I think the bark looks pretty dark, maybe cut back on those pieces just a little.

Ribs and chicken look pretty good.

Wow!! Thats your first shot? Really nice job!!
Chicken-8 Way too much sauce, little dark but not a huge problem
Ribs-8 Interesting presentation might be a little too out of the norm for some
Pork-7 Looks a pinch dry and disorganized, but thats what I like chunks w/bark
Brisket-6 Get those pieces lined up as close to perfect as you can. Try to look like one piece sliced up. Also a little thick,should be pencil thickness.

In all boxes try to keep greens the same height all the way around, even with edge.
What did you really get?
ModelMaker

Here is my thoughts

Chicken a little dark maybe a little bit heavy on the sauce 6

Ribs I dig the presentation and think they look good but it is a little off the beaten path so some judges might not like it as much. 8

Pork nice bark maybe a little dark for me though and it looks dry from the picture. 7

Brisket thick slices and a little uneven. 7


All and all I think it is really good for your first time out.

The chicken as already said to thick with sauce a thin glaze would be better.The pork did look dry but hard to tell from picture brisket looked fine as did ribs.

Interesting to see what people from other regions of the country give for app scores and for what reasons.

KC_Bobby said:

Interesting to see what people from other regions of the country give for app scores and for what reasons.

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And your thoughts on the matter?
ModelMaker

Chicken looks a bit oversauced and the front two pieces seem to hang over the front edge of the box. Lettuce doesn't look too bad but try and bring it up the sides of the box more.

Ribs look good, but again bring the lettuce up the sides of the box. Also on the lettuce make it even all around the box. Don't have some hanging over the edge and some just to the edge or not to the edge at all.

Pork, just even up the lettuce in the box. I personally think the bark looks fine. The meat does look a little dry though.

Brisket, the slices are too thick. As mentioned above, only cut them about a pencils width. Also lay them in the box more evenly.

ModelMaker said:

And your thoughts on the matter?
ModelMaker

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I wish he would have taken the pics all at the same angle above the box, like the pork picture. Overall, I think they look like very good boxes for a first time competitor.

Chicken - hard to tell the color of the chicken, looks dark but could be the angle of the picture not getting enough light on the chicken. I dunk my chicken, so you won't hear oversauced from me. I'm going to give it a 7, but it might be better than what the picture shows. Or might be worse, some of the sauce looks a different color, can't tell if that's the photo or the chicken.

Ribs - I personally don't care for the arrangement but I don't think I would not downgrade for that, especially since the cuts look very straight and smooth. Color looks good. Probably give it an 8.

Pork - the bark looks dry, could have used a spritz before shutting the box but I think the non barked meat looks OK. Not much of an arrangement and my eyes did notice the lettuce, unlike the first two. I'd say 7, spritz the bark and a little bit less lettuce showing it's possibly an 8.

Brisket - the cuts look thick, is that a sign of overcooked meat? And the box looks really full and heavy - not that it's a bad thing but something that crossed my mind. 7, slightly better than average and with a little more care slicing and laying out the slices the scores will go up.

I read alot of comments regarding the garnish (not only here, but a lot of presentation threads) and while attention or lack there of can absolutely make one or break a turn in, I personally try not to take the garnish into consideration when I judge (keep in mind, I only did it once) UNLESS I notice how good the turn in looks on the garnish or how bad the garnish is - did the garnish actually make the box look worse than the turn in would have looked without garnish in the box. I try to keep in mind that a judge is there to judge meat, not greens. I'm not going to give or take away a point because the garnish was perfectly even or not - assuming it's not distracting and I am able to focus on the meat or again, makes the meat look mouthwatering.

My original comment was that I was interested because it seemed as if different regions of the country thought different things regarding sauce and if the pork was dry or looked good.

First time out? You did a great job! I'd be far too embarrassed to show our first comp pics if I had them.

Leave the 7th rib out of the box and lay them out on an even plane. Get a little finishing sauce on the pork and consider adding some slices. Trim the brisket to fit the box and cut back on the number of slices submitted.

Absolutely amazing for your first comp. Great job!

Again, did not look at other posts...Ck-7 Rb-8 Pk-7 Bk-7

Edit Mod: Heck it's a sauce contest anyway so you can never have to much sauce, don't listen to these folks... the CBJ's are looking for that candy glaze, thats why I told my sister we would get waxed with her sauces at Viejas. She wanted to experiment, all this talk from judges in California that they are looking for spicier or something that stands out...BS, all 4 of her sauces did both and we got 14th. Sauces it up as much as you can and make it as sweet as you can...that what judges are looking for...Period!

Thanks for letting me vent! LOL!

Jeremiah said:

. One judge gave me a 555 for pork, the other scores were 7s and 8s I think that hurt us bad. I wish this judge would have used the comment cards.

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The lowest score gets dropped in KCBS so it did not affect your score. Getting a comment card should of been mandatory but unfortunately its not

It's hard to see, the pics are not close enough. But since you asked.....
The chicken has a funny color(not appetizing to me) may just be the light. Sauce seems heavy.
Ribs look dry, keep sauce off the sides of ribs. They also need some texture on the outside. I think they are too light of color also.
Pork looks very dry although I like the bark. A lot of bark sure helps if it tastes good. Anyone can put a blob of meat in a box. Kick it up and show a couple different cuts. Cubes, slices, pulled....a little of all
Brisket slices don't look smooth. They seem jagged. Slices are also too thick. Try and shoot for just under pencil thickness. Trim your brisket to fit the box. Don't bend your slices to make them fit. Fill the box with 50% slices and 50% burnt ends.

***Don't mean to offend. You asked for comments. I will give them. That doesn't say I can do better or that I am right about it. It's what I've learned from judging and cooking in contests.

Sledneck said:

The lowest score gets dropped in KCBS so it did not affect your score. Getting a comment card should of been mandatory but unfortunately its not

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I have to agree Sledneck. At least if you are going to score down for something. That way the cook knows what was wrong and can try to avoid that in the future. I also think that it would force the judge to think about WHY he/she is going to score down.

I can't stand it when someone tells me "I just didn't like it."

If you can't indentify a SPECIFIC REASON you didn't like it, you probably shouldn't be judging IMHO.

On topic: I pretty much agee with everyone else. Sauce was too heavy on chicken and looked too dark. Ribs have sauce on the side of one and not the others. Most likely the pic or my monitor, but the ribs look like they have an "orange" color to them like a buffalo wing sauce. Brisket box looked kinda like the meat was just "flopped" in there and needed to be more uniform and little pieces cleaned up was what stuck out for me. Pork box looked good, I liked the bark. Those are the pieces I would have grabbed when the table captain presented it to me for a sample.

These scores are based on the pics we see. They might have been different in person.

Chicken- 6
Ribs- 7
Pork- 9
Brisket- 6

That doesn't say I can do better or that I am right about it.

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Ditto

Bentley said:

Edit Mod: Heck it's a sauce contest anyway so you can never have to much sauce, don't listen to these folks... the CBJ's are looking for that candy glaze, thats why I told my sister we would get waxed with her sauces at Viejas. She wanted to experiment, all this talk from judges in California that they are looking for spicier or something that stands out...BS, all 4 of her sauces did both and we got 14th. Sauces it up as much as you can and make it as sweet as you can...that what judges are looking for...Period!

Thanks for letting me vent! LOL!

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Bentley, interesting comment. I've wondered about the heavy sauce too. Does anyone think that the amount of sauce is a regional thing, or is it nationwide?

You guys can feel free to think saucy, but I sit with 5 other judges times 6 or 7 tables and it's a common remark that real thick and super sweet is not met with all the gusto you seem to think.
I will state that the majority of the judges that speak of this matter prefer a glaze vs a carpet of sauce.
Perhaps a poll of judges is in order?
ModelMaker

ModelMaker said:

You guys can feel free to think saucy, but I sit with 5 other judges times 6 or 7 tables and it's a common remark that real thick and super sweet is not met with all the gusto you seem to think.
I will state that the majority of the judges that speak of this matter prefer a glaze vs a carpet of sauce.
Perhaps a poll of judges is in order?
ModelMaker

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Im for the glaze