Competition Ribs

Lake Dogs · May 23, 2011

I'll never forget the first contest that I judged. Ribs, MIM on-site. I came away saying to friends that the worst ribs I had that day were better than any I'd ever had before. It was a good day, and a good draw. I've beat around the bush, so let me get to it: For me anyway, a picture was literally worth more than the 1,000 words. To see it, touch it, squeeze it, smell it, taste it first hand; well, that taught quite a bit. I'll disagree with Ford somewhat, in that the pork (even ribs) that I see win never make it off the judging table; the darned judges snarf it all right there. Meaning, they're good enough to eat, and eat more. Most MIM/MBN competitions provide ribs in 2 rib bone sections vs. the KCBS standard of just 1 bone. Of the best entries, these darned judges are eating quite a bit! IMHO, the winning entries aren't that sweet, but really find a balance of sweet with a little spicy kick, but not terribly sweet, nor terribly spicy. Smoked, but dont taste like a smoke stack. Again, smoke flavor to enhance the meat flavor. I can talk about it all day, but if you judge a few contests you'll know first hand.

Good luck with them!!!!

Mister Bob · May 23, 2011

wormdrink67 said:
Cook- I'm cbj #60558, it's also on my signature. The judging class taught me about as much about how I should be cooking bbq as my first grade teacher....

:thumb: :heh:

Frank Sacco · May 23, 2011

Sledneck said:
one rib win and suddenly your an expert, pffffft :twisted:

LOL :becky: Nothing to do with ribs, basic bbq knowledge is all I'm offering.

Frank Sacco · May 23, 2011

Sledneck said:
what are you wrapping with?

A-1 and honey

wormdrink67 · May 23, 2011

Sledneck said:
what are you wrapping with?

Apple Juice/brown sugar....

wormdrink67 · May 23, 2011

Rich Parker said:
This could be your problem. Are you getting low scores on taste or tenderness?

Yes, those two are killing me. Between the taste and tenderness categories I racked up five 7's and one 6 from the judges with the kiss of death (a note) saying my ribs were too salty. My first comp I cooked at 4.5 hours, 2nd comp I cooked for 5 hours, 3rd comp I cooked for 5 hours 10 minutes....can't seem to find the tenderness they want.

watertowerbbq · May 24, 2011

wormdrink67 said:
Yes, those two are killing me. Between the taste and tenderness categories I racked up five 7's and one 6 from the judges with the kiss of death (a note) saying my ribs were too salty. My first comp I cooked at 4.5 hours, 2nd comp I cooked for 5 hours, 3rd comp I cooked for 5 hours 10 minutes....can't seem to find the tenderness they want.

I'm no expert by far, but 5 hours for 2 lb baby back seems WAY TOO LONG. I cooked some very tender ribs on Sunday and used 2 - 0.75 - 0.75 with the sauce on for the last 20 minutes. Passed the bend test nicely. Cook temp was 275ºF.

Crash · May 24, 2011

Lots of great info...especially the 86 the mequite part.

Brewer · May 24, 2011

wormdrink67 said:
Cook- I'm cbj #60558, it's also on my signature. The judging class taught me about as much about how I should be cooking bbq as my first grade teacher....

LOL :laugh: +1, I could not agree with you and Mister Bob more. I learned very little about what the judges are looking for, but I learned a great deal about what other cooks were cooking :thumb:

CBQ · May 24, 2011

Who knows what judges want? When you get 9s and 6s on appearance for the same box, what do you do?

I do agree the mesquite is probably a mistake, especially on the smaller meats like ribs and chicken. Fruit woods work nicely with ribs. Too much mesquite will give you a bitter taste. Use it for grilling, not smoking.

Smokesman · May 24, 2011

wormdrink67 said:
Yes, those two are killing me. Between the taste and tenderness categories I racked up five 7's and one 6 from the judges with the kiss of death (a note) saying my ribs were too salty. My first comp I cooked at 4.5 hours, 2nd comp I cooked for 5 hours, 3rd comp I cooked for 5 hours 10 minutes....can't seem to find the tenderness they want.

Was this your first comp when you got the comment card? Have you only changed the cook time in your recipe? Other changes? Share your scores from comp to comp and what changes you have made. For sure though nix the mesquite! Is there an echo in here? :laugh:

Rich Parker · May 25, 2011

wormdrink67 said:
Yes, those two are killing me. Between the taste and tenderness categories I racked up five 7's and one 6 from the judges with the kiss of death (a note) saying my ribs were too salty. My first comp I cooked at 4.5 hours, 2nd comp I cooked for 5 hours, 3rd comp I cooked for 5 hours 10 minutes....can't seem to find the tenderness they want.

Well the tenderness cbj's are taught in class is if they can take a bite from the middle of the rib the meat should pull cleanly from the bone leaving meat on both sides of the bite and the bone should turn white and dry out fairly quickly. Can your ribs pass this test?

For taste try your current rub on one rack and then buy one of the popular commercial rub and try it on another rack to taste them together. If your rub is drastically saltier than the commercial rub then you are probably outside of the norm the cbj's are looking for.

Practice.....Practice....Practice - my favorite part!

Scottie · May 25, 2011

Smokin' Guns Hot, Blues Hog and a toothpick is all you need.

YankeeBBQ · May 25, 2011

Scottie said:
Smokin' Guns Hot, Blues Hog and a toothpick is all you need.

sgh, cp, as, h, bs, aj and bh of course oh and I almost forgot fc's

boogiesnap · May 25, 2011

YankeeBBQ said:
sgh, cp, as, h, bs, aj and bh of course oh and I almost forgot fc's

hmmm, i get 4 of those....

but what about SP, OP, or the illustrious TS?

Scottie · May 25, 2011

YankeeBBQ said:
sgh, cp, as, h, bs, aj and bh of course oh and I almost forgot fc's

You make it too complicated. I might throw some of that new Slabs Sauce in there. We were drinking it like Patron...

Three porks · May 25, 2011

I've heard good things about the glaze. I have a bottle on the way. Can't wait to get it!

Scottie said:
You make it too complicated. I might throw some of that new Slabs Sauce in there. We were drinking it like Patron...

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

boogiesnap · May 25, 2011

ok. so what's cp, as, and fc?

Maddog's · May 25, 2011

My issue is that I can't trust my palette. It's shot for various reasons. So, I follow basic recipies, guidance from the masters, I listen in forums like this one for fresh ideas and I try them out but never alter more than one factor at a time. If you want to trust something, serve your friends and don't bother to ask them IF they like it. You don't care. Ask them to DESCRIBE it! If three of them talk about the salt, no matter what YOU taste there, you've got a salt issue. Ask them to describe the BALANCE between the character of the meat, influence of the smoke and then finally ANYthing else....have 'em describe that relationship. Listen for trends. No, don't ask 'em in a group but one at a time. Then go back and look at any judging comments you have and compare...THEN finally, check your own palette and see which of those trends you are hitting or missing. Balance the profile...balance, Balance, BALANCE! As for "trigg-sweet-brown sugar-parkay-tiger-whatever" find out what the locals are liking. If it's candy, I'm honestly sorry for you but if you wanna win, ya gotta become a candy maker. If you're lucky enough to live where they judge on that fine balance which still respects good meat, then work for it and ENJOY WHAT YOU'RE COOKING!

psny75 · May 25, 2011

Try hickory

Competition Ribs

Quintessential Chatty Farker

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

wormdrink67

Guest

wormdrink67

Guest

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

is one Smokin' Farker

is One Chatty Farker

Full Fledged Farker

Babbling Farker

Quintessential Chatty Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

Quintessential Chatty Farker

Full Fledged Farker

Babbling Farker

Maddog's

Guest

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