First competition

[Hoorenga]

I owe it all to you guys. This past Saturday I was entered into a Class/Competition that was the preliminary event to the Washington State BBQ Championship. It was a terrific opportunity to get my feet wet and see if I was really cut out for the real thing. I entered with a friend who has a couple of more years experience than I do. He's a Webber SM guy and a bit of an mad scientist so we took his two dolly mounted WSMs. I'm including a picture of his rig. He wants to produce them commercially but so far hasn't worked out the production and distribution details. It sure makes life easy. The center portion is bolted to a frame that has a lever that allows you to lift the upper portion of the WSM without touching it. You then can give the lower portion a kick and it swings to the side for loading more charcoal. There is even a place to hang the lid and your cooking tools. Way slick. Makes it almost too easy. When it comes time to leave you simply clean up and roll the dolly with the mounted WSM up a simple ramp and into the back of your truck. A heck of a lot easier than loading my 1/4 steel, Brinkman Stillwater horizontal.

Thanks to you all I had my BBQ techniques down fairly well. The class was my first opportunity to actually see how it was done in "real" time. It was more of a confidence builder for me than anything. I had never been around other people BBQing before and it was reassuring to see that I was doing it right.

There were about fifteen groups entered and although it was more of a class than a competition, most everyone was very serious about the competition portion and more than a few had previous experience in that area. Because of time considerations we were only being judged on chicken and ribs. As my friend and I prepared our meat for the judges we sampled some. We thought the Chicken had a chance because it was cooked properly and seemed to us to have an outstanding flavor. Something that would set it apart. The ribs we thought were done properly, looked attractive but didn't stand out. To our surprise we took second in the ribs. The chicken didn't make the stage.

I apologize for not having the names of the two instructors in the photo. I know the fellow on the right was named Doug. It was a great opportunity to learn and I want to thank the Western BBQ Association for a a fantastic experience. The event was held in Chehallis, Washington in the Wall Mart parking lot.

[Hoorenga]

Sorry, for some reason some of the pictures didn't upload. Here they are.

[Hoorenga]

Hmmm. For some reason I'm having trouble uploading pictures today. Here we go again.

[The_Kapn]

Originally Posted by Hoorenga

Hmmm. For some reason I'm having trouble uploading pictures today. Here we go again.

Hoo- when you upload, look at the top of the display.
It will tell you why an unload failed. Normally too big.

Sounds like a great time.

Congrats and thanks for the report.

TIM

[Hoorenga]

...Okay...Let's try that again.... That's my partner John with the torch and I'm on the right in the trophy photo.

[Hoorenga]

Once more..... thanks Tim. Hmm. guess I'll try later. The files are actually smaller than the previous ones and they show as having been uploaded but they don't appear in the post.

[Hoorenga]

Originally Posted by Hoorenga

...Okay...Let's try that again.... That's my partner John with the torch and I'm on the right in the trophy photo.

I meant left.

[Arlin_MacRae]

Well congrats!!! So what did you learn?

[brdbbq]

All that Photo uploading wore me out.

[Ron_L]

Hoo are you? Go over to Cattle Call and introduce yourself!

Sounds like a great ime, Hoo! Congrats on the ribs! It's nice to see you back on the forum!

[Hoorenga]

Originally Posted by Arlin_MacRae

Well congrats!!! So what did you learn?

That was the same question one of the sponsors asked me. I didn't want to say "nothing" because you always learn something, and lord knows I have a lot to learn and it was an excelent class but you all had pretty well taught me most of the basics. What the class/competition did for me more than anything was to give me confidence in what I had already learned. It's one thing to read how to do someting and then to try and mimic it at home by yourself but to actually see it in real time with all the visuals and smells is what really drives the lessons home. It mostly confirmed what I already knew. It was also a tremendous confidence builder in that I was able to see people actually doing it and know that I was on the right track. Taking second in the rib competition didn't hurt my confidence any either. I feel like I sort of, actually, for real, do know what I'm doing now. I don't know if the competition thing is for me but I'm sure I'll give it another go.

[Solidkick]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

Hoo are you? Go over to Cattle Call and introduce yourself!

Sounds like a great ime, Hoo! Congrats on the ribs! It's nice to see you back on the forum!

LOL that was my thought exactly! Glad to see you back Hoo, and congrats on the rib placing!

[rookiedad]

i think them things are already being produced comercially. i seem to remember a thread about them a year ago.

phil

[parrothead]

Way to go hoo. How long did it take you to decide to do that? LOL

[Hoorenga]

Originally Posted by parrothead

Way to go hoo. How long did it take you to decide to do that? LOL

Hey! I resemble that statement!! You guys know me too well. Actually I have been waiting a whole year for the class to come around again. I found out about it the week before last year and it was too late to register. I know a good thing when I see it. I saw a BBQ class advertised on another site for $250. This one was only $50 and they supplied the meat, meals, charcoal, wood and ice. Not bad.