How much meat is enough??

[NavarreQ]

How much of each quantity of meat do ya'll cook at a comp?? We cooked 8 butts,3 briskets, 50 chicken thighs, and 5 racks of rib's 2 compt's ago...What is a normal $$ for just meat at a normal comp...My wife is asking me why cost are so high for a team of 3.. I say Hon,(she's AF), Dear,I'm stuck with 2 broke ar## LEGS(2 Msgt Air Force) , and they don't know what to do!! and that did not work out well, so what's bare minimum cost on meat? Thanks for any input,, wife is busting my chops on price and probably rightly so, but what quantity and cost do most people pay for meats at comps?

[GMDGeek]

Having never competed and only going from what I've read and observed, 4 butts, 2 briskets, 24 thighs, and 5-6 racks of ribs. Couldn't imagine prepping 50 thighs. Understand the $$ issue ... I had to discuss this with my wife a couple times and her statement to me was "as long as you are serious and put the effort in, its OK."

[big matt]

Originally Posted by NavarreQ

How much of each quantity of meat do ya'll cook at a comp?? We cooked 8 butts,3 briskets, 50 chicken thighs, and 5 racks of rib's 2 compt's ago...What is a normal $$ for just meat at a normal comp...My wife is asking me why cost are so high for a team of 3.. I say Hon,(she's AF), Dear,I'm stuck with 2 broke ar## LEGS(2 Msgt Air Force) , and they don't know what to do!! and that did not work out well, so what's bare minimum cost on meat? Thanks for any input,, wife is busting my chops on price and probably rightly so, but what quantity and cost do most people pay for meats at comps?

Not to be mean or anything but that's one funny post right there..good god man who are you cooking for and who is eating all of that left over meat?..50 thighs is about 35 too many and 8 butts is a ton..we've cooked extra meat when we are selling it..which you might be otherwise I'd cut it to about 14-16 good thighs and 4 butts..1 brisket for us but most do two and 4-6 good racks.

[rooftop bbq]

2 butts, 1 brisket, 12 thighs, 4 racks of ribs. my cost is about 150 bucks each comp

[Robert]

Not trying to be harsh here, but learn to cook better. 2 butts, 2 briskets, 12-14 thighs and 3-4 racks. These numbers give you a little wiggle room. With the quantity that you are cooking, how would you ever decide which meat to turn in given the 30 minute window (kcbs) between turn in? Plus, you have to be working yourself to death at a cook-off in prepping alone.

YMMV

[dosvans]

4 Butts, 1 brisket, 18 thighs, 3-4 racks of ribs for us.

[Pappy Q]

For KCBS I do 2 butts, 1 whole brisket, 4 ribs and 16 chicken thighs

[Smokin Hoggz]

2 Butts, 1 Brisket, 4 rack of ribs and 16-18 pieces of chicken...... Plan on a budget of about $150-$200 for meat.

[Teamfour]

2 butts, 1 brisket, 3 racks, 12 thighs.

[Big Mike]

I cook 2 butts, 1 brisket, 3 racks of ribs and 12 thighs.

Depending on how you present, I can see the need for 3 butts and I could also see cooking 2 briskets. When I first started I cooked 2 briskets, but I went to 1 a couple years ago.

[Jason TQ]

Wow that seems like a ton of meat. I do 2 butts, 1 or 2 brisket, 4 racks of ribs, and 16 thighs.

[Lake Dogs]

Lots of answers, and only 1 talked about which sanctioning body. Not all competitions, not all sanctioned competitions, are the same. Some have multiple turn-ins which can require more meat, and in some MUCH more meat because of the other styles of judging. That said, it does sound like you're referencing either KCBS or FBA, I'll guess FBA as you're in Florida.

In FBA you'll generally fill the box with meat, usually a little more or a lot more than you would in KCBS, with KCBS's garnish allowance... That could require you to cook a *little* more. For example, in KCBS many get away with 6 1-bone slices on their bed of greenery. That same 6 pieces wont work for FBA; you're more likely to have between 8 to 12 in there...

I tend to fill my KCBS box like I would my FBA box, so for me I cook the same, but you'll see it's a little more than most above.

I usually cook 4 butts, because I want 2 money muscles and I want 2 butts cooked to perfection. We cook 2 briskets because I push them very close to over-done, and hopefully at least 1 will be perfect. 4 racks of ribs, mainly because we like eating the leftovers here. I could do with 3 racks... 16-20 chicken thighs, for us, has always been PLENTY. I will tell you I've seen Bub-Ba-Q (as seen on BBQ Pitmasters) come out of their trailor, trip, and dump their entire chicken box in the sand. Luckily they had enough made so that he went back inside, wiped the box, put another 6 or 9 thighs in there without garnish and ended up 2nd in chicken and GC'd the competition.

[New Pal Frank]

We usually cook 1 whole packe brisket,2 8# pork butts 3 slabs of bb ribs and 18 - 24 thighs.

If we are expecting company we may add a couple mor racks of ribs.

With normal contest, I take left overs to work and feed about 30 guys in my Department. Thet LOVE BBQ season on Mondays.

[Gore]

There are lots of different strategies. Sounds like you're using the shotgun approach, and nothing wrong with that. I think most people here use a rifle.

[Pigs on Fire]

1 Flat, 1 rack of ribs, 6 thighs and a pork collar