Franklin, NC pictures

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Here are some pics from the Friday before the comp.


Cooks meeting.




















Started raining...big time!








The contest rep asked how many were new teams. Lots of hands!






Some of the teams stayed to hear "tips" from the contest rep.






The internet connection in the hotel is slow...so I'll upload pics in batches.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

This is Scott Lane from England. He and his wife flew over to compete at Dillard and Franklin.






Trophies for the car show.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

A fellow Brethren!

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Sauce turn in























Well...that's it for tonight. I'll get a few more pics in the morning before judging. Hope you enjoyed the pics.

[Tarheel]

Good pictures, keep them coming, wish I was there.

[BBQ Church]

Thanks for all the great photos... and good luck to all

[PatAttack]

Thanks for the pics.

Good Luck to all! Give 'em heck, Pack-A-Smokes!!

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Sweet smoke rising Sat. morning from the contest site.











The vendors had lines all day!



Some very nice hardware will be given out later!




Judges getting ready.





And that's a Brethren (Capt Table)










Did you know that at every contest the judges recite the oath? We take judging very seriously.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Time for awards!








This is Linda and Ernie. Some of the nicest contest reps. around.





Scott and Lyndz of Miss Piggy's from the UK take 3rd in chicken.




Congrats to Jiggy Piggy on grand and Bub-Ba-Q on reserve.

Next up...my judging review.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

At my table we had one master judge and I was the rookie with 12 contests. I think we had only 3 first time judges at the other tables.

Chicken - We got to judge 5 entries...all thighs. 4 bone in and one without. 4 had skin on but one bone in thigh did not. All were nice rectangles of muffin pan chicken. Each box had either 6 or 8 pieces but one had an ODD number. Don't remember how many pieces were turned in but at the time I was thinking I have never seen that before.

All of them were above average in taste and tenderness. The 4 that had skin were bite through...good color and great glazed. The one without skin had a heavy layer of sauce on it. I detected Blues Hog on at least 2 entries.

As a table we were all impressed with all 5 entries.

Ribs - Got only 5 entries again. All spares...stacked bones..mainly 4 over 4 but one box had 3 over 5. One box had bones in the bottom and then 4 bones arranged around the outside edge, on top of the other, like a frame. Made it hard to see the bottom bones....plus there was parsley on top of the meat. Don't do that.

4 were tender and I was not. That one I could barely get a bite off the bone. I forced the bite to get a taste score on it. I saw another judge reach for the comment cards so I didn't fill one out. I figured the cook knew his turn in was way under cooked and didn't want to "pile on" with another card.

2 entries had a good smoke ring and the others had none. We don't score down if there is no ring...just FYI.

None of them "wowed' me in taste.

Pork - 5 entries. Most had MM plus some pulled or chucks. One had pulled in the middle and then what looked like burnt ends around the outside. When I picked one up it turned out to be a square of bark that was barely a millimeter thin. This bark piece was not as good as the pulled so it hurt his score. Don't add something just because you think you need to if the meat isn't better than what is already in the box.

One box had pulled as a base under the MM (even though he used parsley around the edges). As judges we taste everything in the box including any base added. It didn't taste as good as the rest of the meat presented.

Brisket - 6 entrees. All slices with burnt ends except one was pulled brisket. 4 of the burnt ends were nothing more than cubed up point that didn't taste or look any different than the slices. They didn't even look like they had been returned to the cooker to get crunchy on the outside. Very strange.

Overall it was a great contest and I hope to be back in Franklin either cooking or judging.

[Pig Headed]

Brisket - 6 entrees. All slices with burnt ends except one was pulled brisket. 4 of the burnt ends were nothing more than cubed up point that didn't taste or look any different than the slices. They didn't even look like they had been returned to the cooker to get crunchy on the outside. Very strange.

I noticed some of that too while judging in Bel Air, MD yesterday. It seems that some teams think this is burnt ends, or think that if you don't turn in some squared up pieces that they will get scored down. I don't think that is the case.

[sdbbq1234]

Thanks for the great pics!

Looks like it was a great time.

Congrats to all who walked.

wallace

[Shiz-Nit]

down right awsome indeed!!!

Thanaks

[CivilWarBBQ]

Originally Posted by Pig Headed

Brisket - 6 entrees. All slices with burnt ends except one was pulled brisket. 4 of the burnt ends were nothing more than cubed up point that didn't taste or look any different than the slices. They didn't even look like they had been returned to the cooker to get crunchy on the outside. Very strange.

I noticed some of that too while judging in Bel Air, MD yesterday. It seems that some teams think this is burnt ends, or think that if you don't turn in some squared up pieces that they will get scored down. I don't think that is the case.

It's because at least here in the Southeast KCBS judges consistently score down burnt ends that are not soft. The earlier comment about penalizing a pork entry for including bark is a perfect example of the perception that crunch = dry = bad. Experienced cooks have learned this, and that's why you see soft cubed brisket masquerading as burnt ends at the judging table.