Pork Turn In Box - I'm open to feedback *PRON

[sigpi906]

This was our first time building garnished boxes for a competition. Thanks to all the brethren who gave me tips and advice on what to do... and more importantly, what NOT to do.

I'm open to any constructive criticism you guys are willing to offer... Always looking to improve.

We got the 3rd place call at the Buzz BQ in Little Rock, AR with this box on Saturday. It's a non-sanctioned event with the rules based mostly on KCBS standards. We won't have score sheets for another week, so I can't post any scores yet.

[code3rrt]

Congrats!

I'm not a comp guy, so no advice, looks good to me.

KC

[Johnny_Crunch]

Looks pretty good. I may have had a little less bark showing on the left side. More balance perhaps.

[1FUNVET]

Looks good to me.

[Phubar]

Posted a similair thread not too long ago...GTR suggested that I should post it in the Competition section of the Phorum for more Pheedback.

[SmokeDiddy]

I don't do comps, but the box looks pretty good to me. I suspect that if you were 3rd place, it was probably nitpicking. Then again, I don't do comps so take my comment with a grain of salt.

[sigpi906]

Yeah, J... I didn't see that until I got back to the tent and looked at the picture. It's amazing what you see in a picture that never seems to reveal itself in real life.

[Lake Dogs]

I DO comps and am a CBJ in addition to being a fellow competitor. The pic is a little dark (lighting), but:

a) the garnish is getting a bit much, to the point of being distracting. The closer to a putting green you can get, the better. Think of it as "background framing"... Set the meat actually on top of it vs. what appears to almost be "in" it.

b) personally, I LOVE that the meat looks like meat! However, sometimes I'm in a minority where this is concerned. There is allllmost an expectation that it'll have sliced Money Muscle nowadays. Me, you're getting either an 8 or 9 on presentation/appearance, depending on actually how dark the bark is/was. The pic looks very dark, but in actuality it was probably a bit lighter...

[Jaskew82]

I looked at it for about 10 seconds (rough amount of time a CBJ gets to see a turnin box to judge) and here are my thoughts...

Garnish is not very enticing. I know you aren't supposed to be judged on garnish but I do believe that it effects the overall appearance of the meat. Be careful to make sure all of the parley is the same type of leaf. Also make sure it is all uniform is size, shape and height in the box.

Consider large pieces of meat. I find that pulled or chopped meats cool quickly and thus lose taste. Additionally, larger pieces are easier to shape into a more uniform size which ultimately is more pleasing to the eye.

I would score this box probably at a 7 or 8 overall appearance. Not bad at all. Good work and keep it up.

[grantw]

wouldn't you want less black on it for a comp? just seems like it should have been shielded from the smoke abit, im sure it tastes deadly its just not as purdy as it could be

[grantw]

like that?

[Jaskew82]

Grant, I like that box. Though I don't love the leafy lettuce garnish, but that is just my opinion. The sliced money muscle could be neater but overall, a fantastic box. Probably a 9.

[sigpi906]

Originally Posted by Lake Dogs

I DO comps and am a CBJ in addition to being a fellow competitor. The pic is a little dark (lighting), but:

a) the garnish is getting a bit much, to the point of being distracting. The closer to a putting green you can get, the better. Think of it as "background framing"... Set the meat actually on top of it vs. what appears to almost be "in" it.

b) personally, I LOVE that the meat looks like meat! However, sometimes I'm in a minority where this is concerned. There is allllmost an expectation that it'll have sliced Money Muscle nowadays. Me, you're getting either an 8 or 9 on presentation/appearance, depending on actually how dark the bark is/was. The pic looks very dark, but in actuality it was probably a bit lighter...

I wanted to cut the money muscle and provide slices, but as it turns out, a competition is not the place to learn how to do that. I'd never done it before and was unprepared for how tender it was. It just fell apart under my knife. Who knew cutting pork that had been cooked to 200* would prove so difficult. I'm going to start working on this.

When you say that you're in a minority in liking that the meat looks like meat... what do you mean? What are people doing that makes it not look like meat?

[aawa]

Originally Posted by sigpi906

I wanted to cut the money muscle and provide slices, but as it turns out, a competition is not the place to learn how to do that. I'd never done it before and was unprepared for how tender it was. It just fell apart under my knife. Who knew cutting pork that had been cooked to 200* would prove so difficult. I'm going to start working on this.

When you say that you're in a minority in liking that the meat looks like meat... what do you mean? What are people doing that makes it not look like meat?

I have seen a couple threads on here with people doing their pulled pork for competition. The pieces were very manicured, same size, etc that when I saw the picture, I thought I was looking at a pile of wet playdoh pieces of meat as opposed to real meat.

[Big M1ke]

Looks good enough to eat