First Comp Under My Belt!

[ZBQ]

Well guys, I have my first comp completed and I am tired and happy.

The venue was very nice. It was pretty much like being in a city park with all the nice shade trees. My brother in law was my pit beeoch
and he handled the job very well. I am quite positive that without his help I would have had some major problems getting everything done on time.
I met some really nice people including Brothers Curt McAdams from Bucky McOinkums and Rick's Tropical Delight was there
taking pics as you can see from the other thread. The hospitality of the hosting American Legion was top notch.
It seemed like every hour or two someone from the post was stopping by checking to see if we needed ice or trash removal or anything else.
I learned a TON of stuff. Thanks Brother Curt for the pointers and advice. It was much appreciated.

I am calling my first comp a success because I worked up a plan of action and time line prior to the cook and with
a minor tweak (thanks to Brother Curt) it worked. Everything came off the cooker when I wanted it to, I got everything turned in on time
and I had no disqualifications and I didn't come in DAL (Dead A$$ Last) in the overall standings.
I was really concerned about cooking on just one WSM but I am here to tell you that it CAN be done!

My results were
Pork- 10th place
Brisket- 7th

I tanked in chicken and ribs.

All in all I had a great time and I learned a lot about doing a comp and I can't wait for my next one!

Here are pics of my turn in boxes with the scores and my thoughts too.
It's funny how you notice things in the pics that you didn't notice when you were making the box. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Chicken (DAL)
App 577788
Taste 564435
Tend 464565

My thoughts- Too much lettuce and the parsley running between the pieces should either be all the way across
or just at the intersections of the pieces or not at all. (the boxes were tiny so that is why I had to stair step the pieces)
I thought the skin looked ok but when I got home I tasted the chicken and it was rubbery.
Not just rubbery, I'm talking about Goodyear steel belted and reinforced with Kevlar TOUGH!!
I couldn't even tear it with my fingers! I have NEVER seen chicken skin this tough and rubbery!
No idea what I did wrong. The meat and sauce tasted good to me.

Ribs (14th out of 16)
App 778887
Taste 578476
Tend 758477

Too much lettuce in the back. Make ribs in the middle look like a solid slab with no meat showing.

Pork
App 678786
Taste 787777
Tend 878867

Too much lettuce. Sounding familiar yet?

Brisket
App 668877
Taste 878876
Tend 878767

Too much lettuce in front and back.
I must have been secretly craving a salad is all I can think of!!
Slices not evenly spaced.
Next time insert probe AGAINST the grain ya big dummy!!
I didn't see the holes till it was too late to slice more.

Here is a link to the rest of the pics. Sorry about the out of focus ones. I had the BIL take them because
I didn't have time to and he is kinda shaky with the camera.

I knew you guys would give me the blues if I didn't have more pics!!

[The_Kapn]

Z-
That is one of the best "post mortums" I have ever seen for a first comp.

"All in all I had a great time and I learned a lot about doing a comp and I can't wait for my next one!"

That is the key part of your whole post--welcome to the "Dark Side"

Yeah, ya love lettuce!

Other than that--keep on practicing and keep on competing!

Proud of you!

TIM

[KC_Bobby]

Originally Posted by ZBQ

Pork
App 678786
Taste 787777
Tend 878867

Too much lettuce. Sounding familiar yet?

The pork looks great ... too bad ya hid it. That said, I did the same thing too except my meat didn't look as good.

[tonto1117]

Congrat's Z!!!!!!! Great Job, you must be beat tired but on cloud 9.

Again Congrat's!!!!!

[Ron_L]

Congrats on getting through the first one! Now take what you learned and improve at the next one!

For the boxes, the judges get a very short time to see you box before they have to record an appearance score. Don't make it hard to see the meat through the garnish, and keep the garnish inside of the box. The lettuce spilling out of the box looks sloppy. Even though it is a meat competition, things like that catch a judges eye. the meat looks great in general. You hit it on the head with the ribs. Make then look like pone slab. The pieces on the end are OK, but the ones in the middle are a little sloppy. For the chicken, cook extra thighs and hand select ones that match in size and shape and the box will look better.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Congratulations on an excellent showing, first time or not.

[MilitantSquatter]

Congrats on a solid first outing...

The ribs and chicken may not have scored well, but they look good enough to eat for my liking !!

[Bentley]

Welcome to the club! Presentation looked good, I think the judge that gave you a 5 in the chicken presentation is a Richard, but there seems to be a few at every event, no matter what state you are in. You will get better scores down the road! Keep coming back!

[slat]

Congrats on your first one.

[tumpedover]

Congrat's bro !! Looks like all went well.....All food looks great!


Wish me the same, on the 20-21st for my first!!
I did my first practice run the other day....not so great.....brisket sucked and ribs were over done......I think I know the problem and I'll so another run this week just to make sure......

[Napper]

Man,

Looked a hell of a lot better than our first competition!

Looked great to me!

Congrats!

[Oldbob]

Congrats on the First Comp. Brother!! Now relax and Keep on Keepin On !!

[ZBQ]

Thanks guys!!

I used alot of the advice I recieved from the Brethren and Sisters (Keri)too. It really helped in the logistics and planning out the timeline.

Good Luck on your first comp tumpedover! I know this is REALLY hard to do, but try to relax and have fun.

One thing I learned that would have cut my work in half is to prep all your meat before the comp and vac pack it. Everything I had was still in cryovac and store packaging. Trim the spares and remove the membrane (if you are so inclined), trim the packers and if you are doing flats remove the point, trim up your chicken and I remove the fat cap from my butt.

That is one of the biggest things I learned about saving time and work.
(Thanks Brother Curt!!)

In KCBS you are allowed to do this. You can do everything except season the meat.

[Pig Headed]

You seemed to have learned the most important lesson. HAVE FUN. Keep up the good work and learn from your experience. Congrats, WTG!

[cmcadams]

Z, you had a great showing... congrats on your first comp. The judging was erratic, but that was expected. Overall, they did a great job with their first comp. It's nice having 2 teams put on the show, as they're going to concentrate on the cooks being happy.

Next year, I expect this to be much bigger and with CBJs, not that having CBJs guarantees consistency. :) They have plenty of room there, and the site is as nice as I've seen. It's great being among shade trees the whole time... We had a great spot.

In September, there will be a comp in Cincy... sign up if there's still room!