Chicken Practice

Boshizzle

Boshizzle

somebody shut me the fark up.
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I have begun to practice for my 1st KCBS comp coming up next month. Here are some chicken thighs that I did today as a preliminary practice run. I believe I need some sheers and also need to trim things up so they look more uniform.

The flavor was good, but can use some improvements that I will work on this week. The skin was bite through and, when my daughter in law bit into hers, a lot of juice came out of it, so that was a good thing. My wife, who is a CBJ, said that she would give the flavor and tenderness an 8. So, it looks like I have some work to do in that arena too. She said that on the appearance she would give an 8 or a 9 depending on how the box were arranged. Overall, I think I'm pretty close to some good chicken. What appearance suggestions do you guys have?

picture.php
 
That chicken looks great. Nice glaze and good color. My only advice would be to trim carefully and cook enough (we cook 24 pieces) so you can select 6 that are exactly the same size and shape and arrange them in a way that shows off their 'sameness', ie. all in the same direction in perfectly spaced and aligned rows. You should do very well in appearance.

Good luck!
 
smart arse mod: Put 6 pieces in the box. :)

I think they look good. Go overboard with the details and take notes of what you did. Then you can figure out where you can cut corners later.
 
Chicken looks nice, but be careful about slopping sauce on your garnish!
Yeah, it's a meat competition, but if you're using a garnish, it should make the meat look better

Also, just curious, is that bib lettuce? Iceberg?
 
The spots on the chicken takes away from it. Otherwise, nice color.
 
Good input, folks, thanks!

Stoke&Smoke, yep, that's just iceberg lettuce. Once I get the shape down a little better and make a few adjustments, I will move to a full 6 piece box with lettuce and parsley.

Scottie, I thought the same thing about the sauce last night. I made some adjustments to the sauce and applied it to a bone-in/skinless thigh a cooked for dinner. I think it looks better without the large spice/herb fragments too.

picture.php
 
for uniformity you might want to deconstruct, trim, and reconstruct.
 
Boshizzle said:
Good input, folks, thanks!

...I think it looks better without the large spice/herb fragments too.
Click to expand...

See, as a CBJ, if you ask me, I don't like to see the "perfectly" clear sauce. Just looks unnatural. Now, it might only affect appearance points, hard to tell without seeing a whole box. To me, it would just draw my attention to it as I look for scoring for appeance. I'm with your wife, I'd give you an 8 on the first ones.

Hard to explain, but I like to see some "character" when I look at the chicken. I don't necessarily like to see something clean/pristine. I like to see something cooked in a smoker and they usually have char/bark/black somewhere.
 
SmokinOkie said:
See, as a CBJ, if you ask me, I don't like to see the "perfectly" clear sauce. Just looks unnatural. Now, it might only affect appearance points, hard to tell without seeing a whole box. To me, it would just draw my attention to it as I look for scoring for appeance. I'm with your wife, I'd give you an 8 on the first ones.

Hard to explain, but I like to see some "character" when I look at the chicken. I don't necessarily like to see something clean/pristine. I like to see something cooked in a smoker and they usually have char/bark/black somewhere.
Click to expand...

When I showed the clear sauced one to my wife she said she liked the look of the previous sauce better too. CBJs! :doh: :p
 
I was able to get some more practice in tonight. Here is the result. I only cooked 9 thighs and I learned that I need to cook more to make a better looking box. But, here is the box.

picture.php



And here is the box after the taste/tenderness test on each piece. I seasoned each piece differently in order to refine the flaver for which I am looking. I chose the seasoning for the comp based on the one my wife preferred.

picture.php
 
Last edited:
On the middle one on the right side you would be better to turn it 180* so that the skin shinkage doesn't show so much. The bottom one on the right should have that little point trimmed off before cooking. Other than that (and I'm only going by the pics) I'd give it a solid 8, but remember that boxes usually look better in person than in pics.
 
Looks great, Bo. Glad you and I aren't competing in the same contest at the same time :thumb:
 
I keep waiting to get a box like that last one! How y'all going to know what us judges are getting without taking a bite out of each piece? :-D
 
Thanks, brethren and "sistren!"

Rookie'48, thanks for the tips!

Brauma, I've seen your chicken at Belair and heard about it. I don't think I got it at my judge's table, but what I saw as I strolled around right before turn-ins looked pretty darned good. I'm the lucky one that you won't be in Richmond that weekend.

Rookiedad, yep, bite through and stays that way after the chicken is cold. It takes a tremendous amount of work. My hats off to the cooks that do it weekend after weekend.

Saucywench, I figured that I would cook it and judge it too for the convenience of the judges. :p
 
Holy Garnish Batman.....to much for me. Its suppose to compliment, not take over. Then again judges will be judges & ya just never know
 
Boshizzle said:
I have begun to practice for my 1st KCBS comp coming up next month. Here are some chicken thighs that I did today as a preliminary practice run. I believe I need some sheers and also need to trim things up so they look more uniform.

The flavor was good, but can use some improvements that I will work on this week. The skin was bite through and, when my daughter in law bit into hers, a lot of juice came out of it, so that was a good thing. My wife, who is a CBJ, said that she would give the flavor and tenderness an 8. So, it looks like I have some work to do in that arena too. She said that on the appearance she would give an 8 or a 9 depending on how the box were arranged. Overall, I think I'm pretty close to some good chicken. What appearance suggestions do you guys have?

picture.php
Click to expand...


don't know anything about comp. bbq, but that looks delicious.
 
Boshizzle, you doing Recovery Fest next weekend? If so what team name are you competing under? I'll look you up Friday night and say hi.

Ruben
 
Thanks, guys!

HBMTN, Yep, that's the one. I will try to track you down.

Here is my 1st ever rib box. It is a practice run. Making these boxes is harder than cooking the meat. I have a lot of work to do.

picture.php
 
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