Competition Chicken

[BrewerDJ]

I've been looking at many of the Box threads and most, if not all of them have been thighs. Why doesn't anyone put in Drums or wings or breast or a combination? Is it not allowed or is just for visual presentation to have uniform pieces? I guess wings might not be meaty enough or maybe dry out too much.

[boogiesnap]

good reading on the subject.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=104716

[BrewerDJ]

Thanks Boogie. Good thread. From the picture in that thread the thigh looks boneless. Is that the norm? Bone the thigh before cooking? And do you bring just thighs to the comp or do you have to bring whole birds and butcher them down. Going by the Brethren Bill of Rights the meat can be trimmed prior to inspection so I guess just thighs would be fine.

[boogiesnap]

i debone for a number of reasons. others don't for their reasons.

i trim everything before packing in the cooler for the trip.

[SmokinOkie]

If you can cook a PERFECT chicken breast; moist and tender, you can score well. I won more chicken $$$ with white meat than with dark (but I won with dark also).

But I DO know how to brine 'em ;)

["Bone to Bark" BBQ]

How many people de-bone thighs as opposed to not.... I'm just wondering since our first comp is coming up soon!

[Contracted Cookers]

both depends on size of thighs we have.

[southernstyle]

back in december i turned in wings with thighs. we ended up like 13th or 14 th second on our table. i thought the wings were out of sight, but without doing it a second time im not sure if it was a good idea

[Sledneck]

Anybody ever turn gizzards

[southernstyle]

Originally Posted by Sledneck

Anybody ever turn gizzards

in the fba our scores are 5-10 with 7.5 being average. if you cooked a average gizzard would you get a 7.5. i think someone should try it. just not me.

[tdwalker]

From this judge's perspective:

I have judged thighs, breast, wings and pulled. As a eater, I *love* variety and would encourage cooks to not only experiement with the pieces, but with the flavors as well. As a judge, it doesn't matter one bit what type of chicken is entered. If its good, it scores well.

I personally dislike the "cook to the judges" philosophy, but I understand that it is based on the reality of the scores coming out of the tent.

I have seen wings only rarely in the mid-atlantic region, where I do my judging. The last time was at a Sam's Club regional in Laurel, MD last year. My recollection from the table's discussion was that everyone appreciated the change in pace, but, unfortunately, the wings flavor profile was not as good as the other entries at the table. I could easily see the cook thinking the problem was that he entered wings, but the problem really was that he entered "meh" wings.

[kihrer]

Originally Posted by Sledneck

Anybody ever turn gizzards

Ah, what if you force-fed a chicken like they do ducks to produce Foie Gras?

[bbq.tom]

From another judge's perspective - I also like to see diversity in the box. But I like to be able to tell that it actually is chicken. The little skin covered balls of boneless parts is not all that visually appealing to me. It might score high in taste and tenderness, but not so much in appearance. Slices and chunks of white meat seem to go well at the tables where I've judged. Also I've judged several entries where there was chopped chicken underneath the thighs or legs. Something different that seems to meet the pleasure of judges around me as well.

Just my $.02.

Gizzards - NO WAY!!!

[Stoke&Smoke]

I think most cooks think that thighs are the tastiest part of the chicken, and I've heard this echoed by many chefs as well, but we've had calls with breast meat a time or two. Mostly, I think it's commonly accepted that judges will judge thighs better, although I'm not sure that's true. When I judged, I welcomed something that was not a perfectly symmetrical mahogany thigh, but also some breast/wing turn in's I ate looked good, the flavor didn't live up often times

[CBQ]

Originally Posted by BrewerDJ

I've been looking at many of the Box threads and most, if not all of them have been thighs. Why doesn't anyone put in Drums or wings or breast or a combination? Is it not allowed or is just for visual presentation to have uniform pieces? I guess wings might not be meaty enough or maybe dry out too much.

You answered your own questions correctly. Saved us a lot of time.

Uniform is better.

Wings aren't meaty enough, nor drummies really.

Breasts can win, but are easily dried out.

You can win with anything, but why handicap yourself by not using thighs?