Swamp Loggers competition

[toddrod]

On the show Swamp Loggers last night, one of the loggers was in a competition where they did a whole hog and when the judges came around they flipped that hog over and "crunched" up the skin (to judge crispness) and then preceded to just destroy the hog into pieces while picking pieces of it to taste. It also looked as if they were not allowed to put any type of seasoning or injection into or on the hog.

Stump (BBQ pit maker) was there helping him with the cook.

Anybody know what type of competition this is??

[Lake Dogs]

I didnt see the episode. Was it just 1 judge there at a time? Perhaps 4 judges? It might've been an MBN cookoff; they do whole hog as one of the competition categories. I know of other whole hog cookoffs in the NC area that aren't MBN.

[Market Hunter]

toddrod,

I believe the competetion you are speaking of was in Kinston, NC. Around Eastern NC, there are whole hogs comps where there is little to no injections/seasoning done. Also, smokers are seldom used and the preference tends to be cooking with propane. We jokingly refer to them as "yellow pigs" when they are done. Scoring is based on presentation (smallest score) to skin crispness to taste (largest score).

Definitely not MBN

[smokeyw]

It was a North Carolina Pork Council sanctioned contest. They are based on 6 categories: appearance, brownness, skin crispiness, moisture, meat and sauce taste, and completeness. Up until this year you could baste with sauce or inject. It was up to the cook. The rules changed this year and anyone caught injecting or applying sauce will be disqualified. I believe that the rules were changed because a few complained they could not win and the rules were changed to level the playing field. There seems to be some sort of "secret committee" that sets the rules and no one can find out who makes up this committee or what it takes to become a member. It used to be about cooking the very best pig possible but the rules are straying away from that and it really is becoming more about appearance. Most of the competitions are based completely on onsite judging scores and seldom is there a blind tasting score associated with it. If there is a blind taste judging it is not done by trained judges but rather by celebrity type judges who may or may not even no what good barbecue is. As far as that goes, many of the onsite judges have no idea how to cook a pig or what cooking a pig involves. To become a judge you have to watch a video and shadow a certified judge in one competition.