Comp Question

You'll have to turn in double the ribs, as each judge will have to sample both.

Personally, I would turn in whichever of the two tastes best. One entry.

I would sauce everything. Amateur judges will be looking for sauce, without it they think something is missing. Make the rub and the sauce as sweet as you can stand it too!

Harbormaster said:

You'll have to turn in double the ribs, as each judge will have to sample both.

Personally, I would turn in whichever of the two tastes best. One entry.

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Agreed. It would be tough to fit 12 ribs into a standard turn in box.

I am guessing he is talking about glazing half of each rib. A good idea to give the judges a choice. But I dont think judges are scoring up or down for sauce or no sauce. Maybe too much sauce but dry or wet .. I dont know.
Plus how would you have any idea what to change if you recieve low scores.

ddweatherholtz said:

I am doing my first amateur bbq contest and had a idea.

On my ribs, after cutting them glazing just half. Half dry, half wet. Has this been done and is it a good idea for those of you who have judged?

Thanks!

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What they all said above is true, however to a degree they're putting a sanctioned BBQ judging spin on an unsanctioned "amateur" bbq contest where the judges are likely to be John Q and Mary Sue Public out there with absolutely no training or guidance whatsoever.

Know this, and that you should never come away from these types of contests either thinking "I didnt do well, I need to change something" OR "I did great, I'm ready to tackle the world in BBQ" because frankly, with unsanctioned judges and judging, all bets are off.

Enjoy it. Have fun. If you submit 2 ribs per judge; one sauce the other not, the judges will sample both but you're likely to get a score from each judge that is basically an average of the two. Choose the one you prefer and submit that one.

Unsanctioned, IMHO, DO NOT FOLLOW KCBS's guidance of a "bite through" rib. Have them falling or darn near falling off the bone tender (darn near makes for a better presentation, by the way). You're likely to get one judge at the table who hates over-sauced ribs, so I do suggest that you sauce, but do it sparingly. Make them sweet, but not too sweet.

Non-sanctioned comp? Dip them in cheesecake batter. Better yet, if there are no DQ rules, eat the ribs and turn in cheesecake instead.

Sounds ridiculous, but then so does winning a bean contest with bread pudding garninshed with a teaspon of beans, or winning a grits contest with a cheesecake with a half cup of grits in the crust. I've seen both happen, so why not?

K-Train said:

Agreed. It would be tough to fit 12 ribs into a standard turn in box.

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It's really not that hard.
REALLY.

Although I still wouldn't do ribs two ways.
But trust me......6 on 6 works just fine..... :wink: