Please judge my boxes

[smokeyw]

These are my turn in boxes from the Eastern North Carolina Barbecue throwdown. I would appreciate any feedback I could get. I forgot to get a pic of the brisket box in the excitement.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Those look great to me. Chicken 9, ribs are not cut very evenly which would knock them down to a 8 from me. Pork 9. I really want to reach in for a bite from every box.

I would be surprised with anything lower than 8s.

[Ron_L]

Overall very nice boxes.

For all of them I think you could have spent a little more time evening out the edges of the garnish to provide a better frame for the meat. On the chicken the brush marks are pretty obvious, so that may knock the scores down a bit depending on the judge. I agree about the ribs, plus having the ribs from the same slab and in the same order makes them look better in the box. For the pork box it looks like some bark is missing off of the right end slice, and it loos like some gunk could have been cleaned up on the top edge of the next two slices.

Solid 8's on all three, maybe a 9 on the chicken and ribs.

[Rookie'48]

What Ronelle said ^^^^^ with one exception: judges in KCBS comps are not supposed to judge the garnish. And we all know that no one does, right ?

[cmcadams]

I'd say that I'd be careful with the chicken.. It looks great, but it also is in an "X", and I'd be cautious of someone claiming that it's marking, etc.

The ribs, I agree with other comments.

The pork looks great, but I don't see why 3 areas of meat instead of 2. It just looks busy, and might detract on some scores.

[NorthwestBBQ]

In your rib box you have the parsley on top of the rib ends. When a judge picks a rib with tongs the parsley will most likely pick up with it. Overall the boxes look great but you need to make the parsley edges more even to "frame" the meat.

[ClayHill]

Originally Posted by cmcadams

I'd say that I'd be careful with the chicken.. It looks great, but it also is in an "X", and I'd be cautious of someone claiming that it's marking, etc.

I wouldnt worry about that postion being called for marking, and if a CBJ think it is and wants to comment, they best wait till all the scores are written down and then discuss.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by NorthwestBBQ

In your rib box you have the parsley on top of the rib ends. When a judge picks a rib with tongs the parsley will most likely pick up with it. Overall the boxes look great but you need to make the parsley edges more even to "frame" the meat.

Tongs?

[bbq.tom]

I'd give these boxes a 9-8-9 in order. Chicken looks great, Ribs look good, but not quite great, and pork looks great!!! Too bad I didn't get any of these boxes when I judged that comp!

[smokeyw]

Thanks for the replys. We actually didn't get anything lower than an 8 on any of them but got more 8s than 9s. I knew the ribs were not 9s even though I did get some. I was disappointed in the quality of the ribs after I opened the cryovac and started prepping them. If I had prepped at home ahead of time I would have gone and bought some more. I used ribs out of 4 slabs to make up the box. I did get a walk for the pork for 7th place. Thanks again for the feedback.

[Cokyjara]

I am a bit surprised to hear so many giving the chicken a 9. The color seems very light from what I hear at the judging tables. I would probably give it a high 7 on my card. The garnish also could of been placed more evenly to help frame the chicken better. That likely would of taken it to an low 8 but no higher because of the light color of the thigh. I am stating "high" and "low" so as to know more closely where a little difference can make a whole number higher.

The ribs are beautiful color, just a little to much difference in size on the front row and slightly crooked cut on one of the ribs. Garnish helps frame the meat better than the chicken did. You may have been able to slide the rib on the left up and covered the size difference with the garnish. I would give it an low 8.

I like seeing the three meats. Shows you are able to get every part right and not afraid to put it all out there to be judged. Of course taste and tenderness is another story! Its so close to a 9 for me. The thing holding it back is the right slice on top and the lack of deep color on the sliced pork. If the bark on it was more of that mahogany I would easily give it a low 9. When pork is pulled it really benifits from a perfect back drop of uniform edged garnish to soften the rough nature of pulled and chopped pork. You can soften the rough edges nicely with the garnish and make the meat stand out more.We don't judge the garnish but it sure can help with that first glance before you start looking the meat over with the eagle eye!

A normal card of six and all three of your boxes boxes would be near or at the top for appearance at the majority of my contests judged. Chicken maybe being the exception? Although the thighs seem very evenly sized and sauced, the light color just jumped out as being a little to light.

Overall...some beautiful and tasty looking stuff!!!!

[Matt_A]

Originally Posted by NorthwestBBQ

In your rib box you have the parsley on top of the rib ends. When a judge picks a rib with tongs the parsley will most likely pick up with it. Overall the boxes look great but you need to make the parsley edges more even to "frame" the meat.

Who users tongs???? In KCBS we use our fingers and if garnish comes with the meat, so what? I usually grab some parsley out of the first parsley box that goes by, it's a way better palette cleanser than saltines.

[QansasjayhawQ]

Very nice. Very shiny.

You know why light colors aren't good? Because the judges worry about chicken being under done.

The reality is that many mammals eat raw chicken every day with no ill effects. However, as animals that don't kill our own food anymore, we have to be very careful about our meat.

But the bottom line is, if your chicken doesn't have a nice 'toasty' color to it, a lot of judges will start 'dabbing' with their paper towels to see if the chicken juices run clear.

Get your chicken color to match your rib color and you'll be fine.

On the garnish - well, KCBS judges don't judge garnish. BUT - think of garnish as a picture frame. We are judging the meat . . . but when framed by a nice garnish - it helps make the entry appear more appetizing.

And that's a point I keep trying to make here. Presentation is important, yes. But flavor is far more important and tenderness more important than presentation.

Spend your efforts proportionately . . . least on presentation, then tenderness and finally concentrate most on flavor.

But the consistent winners hit excellence in BBQ on all three aspects.

I hope this helps.

[NorthwestBBQ]

Originally Posted by Matt_A

Who users tongs???? In KCBS we use our fingers and if garnish comes with the meat, so what? I usually grab some parsley out of the first parsley box that goes by, it's a way better palette cleanser than saltines.

While I'm a proud KCBS member and CBJ here in the pacific northwest (PNWBA) we use Tongs:

[Ron_L]

I knew there was something off in that corner of the country! That's just wrong. BBQ is finger food.