Ready to Give GBA a try?

olewarthog · 12-30-2012, 12:18 PM

The GBA has the state of Georgia covered. Take a look at this map & find a GBA contest near you.

Map

In GBA, "It's All About The Taste"

SteevieG · 12-31-2012, 09:34 AM

Looks good. They've expanded quite a bit.

Lake Dogs · 12-31-2012, 10:08 AM

We're still thinking of making the jump (back) from judge to comp cook. Probably would've last year, but more surgery for the wife threw a wrench into that. Then had planned on getting our Masters before it, but that changed when we got 8... <sigh>
Wont get that gold badge for a few years now, might was well get going.

We may do it, in Jackson... I'll have to see. Highly likely for us will be Tennille and Gordon.

With Gary and Dionne doing so well recently (no surprise for some of us), have we seen much revitalized interest in GBA?

Big Mike · 12-31-2012, 12:33 PM

How does it work if you make finals. Do you have to have all new meat cooked or do you just try and hold some of what you already cooked. I'm assuming you just cook the extra meat to be ready at finals time.

Also, I went to the GBA website. It looks like the only thing in the box is meat; no garnish allowed. Is that right? And you actually compare each entry to each other, not on its own??

olewarthog · 12-31-2012, 01:39 PM

Big Mike,

GBA does not allow garnish in the boxes. GBA using a comparative scoring system. Each table will have 4-6 boxes and a panel of 5 judges. Each box on a table is scored compared to the other boxes on that table between 7 & 10. Each judge scores for appearance, tenderness & taste. Each judge must award at least one 10 in each of the three criteria. Multiple 10's can be awarded in these criteria. After judging all boxes for all three criteria, the judge then scores for overall impression The judge gives a unique score to each box between 10.0 & 9.1. Each criteria has a weighted factor with taste given the highest factor. A perfect score for a GBA box is 600.

If you finish in the top 3 in any of the 3 categories, you advance to the finals. At this point you are guaranteed no worse than 3rd place in that category. Your preliminary score is dropped & you prepare a new turn in box. The 9 final entries (3 loin, 3 pork, 3 ribs) are judged by a separate panel of 5 judges. None of these 5 judged in the preliminary round. The highest scoring box among the 9 entries wins the Grand Champion. The Reserve Grand Champion is the team with the highest cumulative score of the three categories in the preliminary round. If the Grand Champion also has the highest cumulative score, the Reserve is passed down to the second highest cumulative score.

Be glad to answer any other questions you may have about GBA.

Big Mike · 12-31-2012, 09:28 PM

Thanks for the information. I like the fact that there is no garnish. I also like the pork loin aspect. The Hog Jam looks to be about 8 hours away. It would be interesting to do something different from KCBS style competitions and to also see how much, if any, the flavor profiles vary between Georgia and Ohio.

que_dawg · 01-01-2013, 07:48 AM

Superior Smokers and Right on Que will be cooking a few GBAs this year. We are looking forward to getting to know some of the GBA teams.

abangs · 01-01-2013, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by que_dawg

Superior Smokers and Right on Que will be cooking a few GBAs this year. We are looking forward to getting to know some of the GBA teams.

Kevin
Which ones are you looking at??? We are thinking about trying some gba's

altomari8868 · 01-01-2013, 02:08 PM

Our team Hoggin the sauce BBQ will be taking the Judging class being offered on January 19th. For $50 you get to take the class and it gives you a years membership in the GBA. We figured we would do this first then enter a competition and give it a try..

que_dawg · 01-01-2013, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abangs

Kevin
Which ones are you looking at??? We are thinking about trying some gba's

We are definitely doing Brenau. I am also looking specifically at Perry, too. Hopefully a couple of more will follow.

olewarthog · 01-03-2013, 01:41 PM

Looking forward to meeting you guys. I be contest rep in Perry & doing the scoring in Gainesville. I also am the organizer for the Hazlehurst BBQ Fest in May. I think y'all will like the GBA. Lots of friendly folks and pretty darn good cooks as well.

DawgPhan · 01-03-2013, 01:51 PM

Be prepared to cook a lot of meat and have almost all of it on at the same time at one point.

4-6 butts
3-8 racks of ribs
2 pork loins

You cook a lot of food and use a lot more of everything else to cook these contests. I also would not want to cook one solo. I do think that GBA is a good bit more work than KCBS.

They are generally very well run contests and everyone is very friendly.

Lake Dogs · 01-03-2013, 04:32 PM

^^^ Yep. Like in MBN, keep in mind that with any luck you'll make finals. It's up to you as to what you present for finals, and luckily unlike MBN finals in GBA are blind. Meaning, in MBN you'll present new/fresh racks of ribs, or whole pork shoulders, etc. Blind, if you want to "rob" your existing BBQ, that's up to you. I personally wouldn't, but that's me.

To me, that's part of the fun of it. Also it takes the tie-breaker B.S. out of the mix, for at least the top 3 teams in each category. There's more to winning than just winning your table; it's about the best BBQ out there on this day.

Lake Dogs · 01-04-2013, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Mike

Thanks for the information. I like the fact that there is no garnish. I also like the pork loin aspect. The Hog Jam looks to be about 8 hours away. It would be interesting to do something different from KCBS style competitions and to also see how much, if any, the flavor profiles vary between Georgia and Ohio.

Flavor profile? As a judge who was right at becoming a Master Judge, then they moved the mark, so I'm now at the old mark but not a MJ... there is no one "flavor profile" that wins. Certainly over the last 10 or so years BBQ in this region has gotten sweeter, but savory wins as often as sweet. I'd say ribs tend to be slightly sweeter than say pulled pork, but we've seen the sweetening of loins do ok too. More than anything, the balance seems to perform best, and those that hit the tenderness mark perfectly (can be very tough to do in loin) tend to make finals most.

cpw · 01-04-2013, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake Dogs

^^^ Yep. Like in MBN, keep in mind that with any luck you'll make finals. It's up to you as to what you present for finals, and luckily unlike MBN finals in GBA are blind. Meaning, in MBN you'll present new/fresh racks of ribs, or whole pork shoulders, etc. Blind, if you want to "rob" your existing BBQ, that's up to you. I personally wouldn't, but that's me.

To me, that's part of the fun of it. Also it takes the tie-breaker B.S. out of the mix, for at least the top 3 teams in each category. There's more to winning than just winning your table; it's about the best BBQ out there on this day.

So do you stagger your cook times to accommodate the 2 turn in times (hedging your bet that you'll make finals)?

12-30-2012, 12:18 PM	#1
olewarthog Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 01-07-10 Location: Hazlehurst, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Ready to Give GBA a try? The GBA has the state of Georgia covered. Take a look at this map & find a GBA contest near you. Map In GBA, "It's All About The Taste" __________________ Jim Sewell -- GBA Master Judge, Contest Rep & GBA Webmaster

12-31-2012, 09:34 AM	#2
SteevieG On the road to being a farker Join Date: 02-24-08 Location: Loganville, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Looks good. They've expanded quite a bit. __________________ ----- 18.5" WSM 22.5 WSM And a nice propane grill that gets very little use anymore...

12-31-2012, 10:08 AM	#3
Lake Dogs Babbling Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	We're still thinking of making the jump (back) from judge to comp cook. Probably would've last year, but more surgery for the wife threw a wrench into that. Then had planned on getting our Masters before it, but that changed when we got 8... <sigh> Wont get that gold badge for a few years now, might was well get going. We may do it, in Jackson... I'll have to see. Highly likely for us will be Tennille and Gordon. With Gary and Dionne doing so well recently (no surprise for some of us), have we seen much revitalized interest in GBA? __________________ Hance - Lake Dogs Cooking Team - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from everywhere)

12-31-2012, 12:33 PM	#4
Big Mike Take a breath! Join Date: 10-12-07 Location: Dayton Ohio Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	How does it work if you make finals. Do you have to have all new meat cooked or do you just try and hold some of what you already cooked. I'm assuming you just cook the extra meat to be ready at finals time. Also, I went to the GBA website. It looks like the only thing in the box is meat; no garnish allowed. Is that right? And you actually compare each entry to each other, not on its own?? __________________ ROLL TIDE!!!! Big Mike Eagle River Barbecue Stumps Platinum 5 Trailer Chargriller Duo Grill Members Mark 8 Burner Gasser

12-31-2012, 01:39 PM	#5
olewarthog Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 01-07-10 Location: Hazlehurst, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Big Mike, GBA does not allow garnish in the boxes. GBA using a comparative scoring system. Each table will have 4-6 boxes and a panel of 5 judges. Each box on a table is scored compared to the other boxes on that table between 7 & 10. Each judge scores for appearance, tenderness & taste. Each judge must award at least one 10 in each of the three criteria. Multiple 10's can be awarded in these criteria. After judging all boxes for all three criteria, the judge then scores for overall impression The judge gives a unique score to each box between 10.0 & 9.1. Each criteria has a weighted factor with taste given the highest factor. A perfect score for a GBA box is 600. If you finish in the top 3 in any of the 3 categories, you advance to the finals. At this point you are guaranteed no worse than 3rd place in that category. Your preliminary score is dropped & you prepare a new turn in box. The 9 final entries (3 loin, 3 pork, 3 ribs) are judged by a separate panel of 5 judges. None of these 5 judged in the preliminary round. The highest scoring box among the 9 entries wins the Grand Champion. The Reserve Grand Champion is the team with the highest cumulative score of the three categories in the preliminary round. If the Grand Champion also has the highest cumulative score, the Reserve is passed down to the second highest cumulative score. Be glad to answer any other questions you may have about GBA. __________________ Jim Sewell -- GBA Master Judge, Contest Rep & GBA Webmaster

12-31-2012, 09:28 PM	#6
Big Mike Take a breath! Join Date: 10-12-07 Location: Dayton Ohio Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the information. I like the fact that there is no garnish. I also like the pork loin aspect. The Hog Jam looks to be about 8 hours away. It would be interesting to do something different from KCBS style competitions and to also see how much, if any, the flavor profiles vary between Georgia and Ohio. __________________ ROLL TIDE!!!! Big Mike Eagle River Barbecue Stumps Platinum 5 Trailer Chargriller Duo Grill Members Mark 8 Burner Gasser

01-01-2013, 07:48 AM	#7
que_dawg On the road to being a farker Join Date: 07-29-10 Location: Gainesville, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Superior Smokers and Right on Que will be cooking a few GBAs this year. We are looking forward to getting to know some of the GBA teams. __________________ Superior SS-1 Superior SS-2 KCBS CBJ #54922 Right On Que BBQ Team Head Pitmaster In Charge, Superior Smokers

01-01-2013, 02:08 PM	#9
altomari8868 On the road to being a farker Join Date: 09-12-10 Location: ST George, Ga Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Our team Hoggin the sauce BBQ will be taking the Judging class being offered on January 19th. For $50 you get to take the class and it gives you a years membership in the GBA. We figured we would do this first then enter a competition and give it a try..

01-03-2013, 01:41 PM	#11
olewarthog Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 01-07-10 Location: Hazlehurst, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Looking forward to meeting you guys. I be contest rep in Perry & doing the scoring in Gainesville. I also am the organizer for the Hazlehurst BBQ Fest in May. I think y'all will like the GBA. Lots of friendly folks and pretty darn good cooks as well. __________________ Jim Sewell -- GBA Master Judge, Contest Rep & GBA Webmaster

01-03-2013, 01:51 PM	#12
DawgPhan is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 08-09-07 Location: Atlanta, Ga Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Be prepared to cook a lot of meat and have almost all of it on at the same time at one point. 4-6 butts 3-8 racks of ribs 2 pork loins You cook a lot of food and use a lot more of everything else to cook these contests. I also would not want to cook one solo. I do think that GBA is a good bit more work than KCBS. They are generally very well run contests and everyone is very friendly.

01-03-2013, 04:32 PM	#13
Lake Dogs Babbling Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	^^^ Yep. Like in MBN, keep in mind that with any luck you'll make finals. It's up to you as to what you present for finals, and luckily unlike MBN finals in GBA are blind. Meaning, in MBN you'll present new/fresh racks of ribs, or whole pork shoulders, etc. Blind, if you want to "rob" your existing BBQ, that's up to you. I personally wouldn't, but that's me. To me, that's part of the fun of it. Also it takes the tie-breaker B.S. out of the mix, for at least the top 3 teams in each category. There's more to winning than just winning your table; it's about the best BBQ out there on this day. __________________ Hance - Lake Dogs Cooking Team - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from everywhere)