Sam's Club - Hendersonville, TN - Pics and judge report

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

(Sorry this is so late. I intended to post on Sunday but life and work got in the way)

So last week I get the form letter from KCBS wanting to know if I would still judge the Sam's Club regional in Hendersonville, TN. To be frank...I don't even remember signing up for this one way back in January!

Really didn't want to because I had committed to a Friday night high school football game and then there is the 4+ hour drive to get there.

So...I arrive in Hendersonville at 2am! Yep...how could I pass up the chance to sample BBQ from the top winners at the local contests.

So here are the pics. Many of them are without the teams members because they were sleeping or inside the trailer getting chicken ready.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Good ol' Dr. BBQ






Good ol' Riley dog!

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Judges tent.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Judge report
Chicken - 6 entries all skin on, bone in, thighs.
WOW! I have never written so many 9's in my life. My low score was an 8!!! After scoring all of us commented that collectively the absolute best 6 chicken boxes we have seen. We are hoping that ribs come in the same.

Ribs - 6 entries all spares. 2 were stacked 4 over 4 bones. 2 others stacked 3 or 4 over 5 bones. 2 were showing the ribs on the side. Again, for me there were LOTS of 9's. All had great taste and were tender. I normally only take a bite from each side of the bone...but after scoring I went back and cleaned off 4 of the entries!!!

Note - After scoring we judges talk about the entries and usually say we thought one was great over another. The 2 I liked the best were scored lower by 2 other judges....they had a huge amount of fat on their bone where I did not. Same rack...different racks..who knows.

Pork - 6 entries all had money muscle. 3 also had pulled and the other 3 had meat from under the bone. One used pulled as a bed and it was greasy. If they had used a bed of lettuce or at least left out the pulled it would have helped their score. Cooks, if you put it in the box we will sample it!

All entries were outstanding but 2 were a little mushy. One had the distinct favor of Old Bay and the judge next to me did not like it.

Brisket - 6 entries, all sliced and 4 had burnt ends. Most had perfect tenderness and only one really wowed me in taste. None of them were "bad" but not as great as the other meats.

So, go look at the scores on KCBS. In Georgia a 680 will usually get you in the money...not here...it was 16th place. Plus there were 2 180's in chicken and another in brisket. The competition was tough!

Congrats to the 10 teams who move on to the finals!

[Rub]

Thanks for the pics and review, always a good read.

[Pack-A-Smokes]

Great pics! Thanks for the review.

[chuckgga]

Thanks Dave!

[Market Hunter]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buds BBQ

Judge report

Brisket - 6 entries, all sliced and 4 had burnt ends. Most had perfect tenderness and only one really wowed me in taste. None of them were "bad" but not as great as the other meats.

Awesome pics and writeup as usual!!!

If you can help me a bit with this, i would be most appreciative. I've heard the "beefy flavor" bit all too often from judges and then I hear that plain beefy flavor is..well...average.

To be "WOWED", in your humble opinion, what is it that you are looking for? Is it a taste? Or a bark? Or a finishing sauce? Or a combination of the previous?

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration addressing this for me!

[timzcardz]

Thanks!

I know this took some time and appreciate it. The Judges report provides some insight.

[Uncle Buds BBQ]

Originally Posted by Market Hunter

Awesome pics and writeup as usual!!!

If you can help me a bit with this, i would be most appreciative. I've heard the "beefy flavor" bit all too often from judges and then I hear that plain beefy flavor is..well...average.

To be "WOWED", in your humble opinion, what is it that you are looking for? Is it a taste? Or a bark? Or a finishing sauce? Or a combination of the previous?

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration addressing this for me!

Sometimes....the brisket has no taste. Other times it tastes like "pot roast". I few times it tastes like a great steak.....beefy...with a little salt and pepper. This is what I like.

To be wowed I want a bold beef taste with a great bark. If no bark I don't score it down...but if it has a great taste, plus bark, it can get a 9 from me.

A couple of times I have a brisket entry that had a finishing sauce that really complemented the meat. Most times it doesn't and may have been added to make it appear more moist than it really was.

Hope this helps you!

[Booking It]

Those are some insane setups! I bet that some of those trailers and equipment cost more than a house!

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like it was a beautiful day and everybody was having fun.

[Market Hunter]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buds BBQ

Sometimes....the brisket has no taste. Other times it tastes like "pot roast". I few times it tastes like a great steak.....beefy...with a little salt and pepper. This is what I like.

To be wowed I want a bold beef taste with a great bark. If no bark I don't score it down...but if it has a great taste, plus bark, it can get a 9 from me.

A couple of times I have a brisket entry that had a finishing sauce that really complemented the meat. Most times it doesn't and may have been added to make it appear more moist than it really was.

Hope this helps you!

Perfect! Thank you very much. This does help out.

[abangs]

Yea, that event was definitely tough. We were 17th overall and I think we turned in the best of our career so far. I'm not disappointed.....kinda happy given the field. I have a feeling one of these top 10 teams will take the national in October. Maybe next year Sam's Events can get some running water.........