Newbie Question

[Dyce51]

Let me start with I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!! So much info and everyone seems to be nice! I am hopeing you guys/gals can help me out here......

Ok My 10 year old daughter and I have been entering small cook offs and competitions for some time now and doing fairly well.....we have 2 award winning sauces and a couple of trophies (we also compete in Chili Cookoffs where we Dominate the Hot Chili Catagory thats one of my specialties HOT) With our success in the small competitions, We would like to take our chances competeing against and with some Pros by entering some larger Competitions......My daughter, wife and I talked about and we all agree we want to try then came the big questions:
How do we start?
How much is it gonna cost?
Will a couple of UDS's (ugly drum smokers) be ok ?
How much meat do we bring to the competitions?

Basically what we need is a general How-To...or maybae BBQ Competition for Dummies....lol

[MilitantSquatter]

Welcome !!!!

Best place to start is the Comp Roadmap thread here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=13677

To answer some of your questions

1) Go to KCBS website to find local comps.. Ohio has a few
http://www.kcbs.us/

2) Typical contest costs $500-$1000 depending on entry fee, travel, meats & supplies etc.

3) UDS's are fine as long as you have a way to travel with them

4) Minimum meat needed is about 12 pcs of chicken, 1-2 racks of ribs, 1 butt & 1 brisket... Many teams bring double or triple that based on cooker space and desire to select the best they have that day..

If any other questions... ask away as there's a ton of experienced competitors here willing to help you

Good luck !!!

[Dyce51]

Thanks alot...Believe me there will probably be a bunch more questions to come!!!! LOL....

[Divemaster]

Originally Posted by MilitantSquatter

Welcome !!!!

Best place to start is the Comp Roadmap thread here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=13677

To answer some of your questions

1) Go to KCBS website to find local comps.. Ohio has a few
http://www.kcbs.us/

2) Typical contest costs $500-$1000 depending on entry fee, travel, meats & supplies etc.

3) UDS's are fine as long as you have a way to travel with them

4) Minimum meat needed is about 12 pcs of chicken, 1-2 racks of ribs, 1 butt & 1 brisket... Many teams bring double or triple that based on cooker space and desire to select the best they have that day..

If any other questions... ask away as there's a ton of experienced competitors here willing to help you

Good luck !!!

I agree with Vinny. As for my team:

How much is it gonna cost?

We drop between $500 to $750 depending on the distance and entrance fees.

Will a couple of UDS's (ugly drum smokers) be ok ?

That should be fine as long as you can fit all of your meat on them... I'm thinking you are going to need at least 2 but 3 would be more like it. You are going to need to do a couple of practice runs to determine your timing and that should help determine the number of UDS's that you are going to need.

How much meat do we bring to the competitions?

The true minimum you are going to need for turn-ins is going to be 6 pieces of chicken, 1 slab of ribs, 1 pork butt, and 1 brisket. Now that was the minimum, what our team brings is:

16-20 Chicken Thighs. We pick out the best 8.
4-6 slabs of St. Louis cut spare ribs. We pick out the best 8 ribs.
2 Pork Butts. This way we can pick out the best chunks and pulled bits.
2 Beef Briskets. Again so we can pick out the best looking and tasting slices.

[Ron_L]

In addition to what Vinny and Jeff have already told you, don't forget about other equipment. You'll want a canopy or two, a couple of tables, bus pans (or similar) for wash, rinse and sanitize, coolers, etc. Here are a couple of competition checklists that a lot of us started with and customized to our needs.

http://www.smokingunsbbq.com/checklist.cfm

[Ford]

you might want to post on the mentoring thread and try to find a team that can use you as a team member for a contest or 2 if you haven't done any KCBS contests.

Also there's sometimes a practice cook in Late April in Eagle MI so look for that. It's a non sanctioned fun event but it's basically run by KCBS rules and timing. Some northern OH teams and MI teams show up and occasionally an IL, IN or WI team makes it.

Otherwise plan to spend about 60 hours reading competiton posts on this site and other BBQ sites. Google is your friend if you put in enough paramaters on the advanced search.

And look for a KCBS judging class that you can attend.

[TN_BBQ]

You might also want to do some BBQ judging just to get the feel of things.

It's sorta frowned on, but there is no rule that says you must compete in all the meat categories.

[Rich Parker]

Here is a link to the discussion on that Eagle MI fun cook Ford was telling you about.

http://www.glbbqa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302

[Double D's BBQ]

Hey Dyce, we live about 25 miles apart. I'd be glad to have you and your family cook a contest with us so you can get the feel for it and see what it's all about before you jump in.

Let me know if you're interested. I've mentored a few cooks over the last couple of years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[big blue bbq]

Dyce,
I started with a brinkman smokenpit from walmart ($159) and a smaller version of that from academy sport ($90). Do the checklist above, but then do a practice cook in the backyard with everything you think you need. If you have to go to the house for anything, add it to your box. If you don't use it you may not need to carry it. Average comp entry is $250 in our area. Meat about $100 to $150 for what I do.

Get ready for a lot of work and even more fun! Enjoy!

[Dyce51]

Originally Posted by Double D's BBQ

Hey Dyce, we live about 25 miles apart. I'd be glad to have you and your family cook a contest with us so you can get the feel for it and see what it's all about before you jump in.

Let me know if you're interested. I've mentored a few cooks over the last couple of years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hell ya!! Thanks for the invite we will definately take you up on your offer!!!!! Thank you

[Sawdustguy]

Never loose touch with the fact that this is supposed to be fun. It is easy to get caught up in the prize money but never forget you are doing it with your family.

[Divemaster]

Originally Posted by Sawdustguy

Never loose touch with the fact that this is supposed to be fun. It is easy to get caught up in the prize money but never forget you are doing it with your family.

I couldn't agree more!!!!!!!

We have what we call our 'GC Checklist'...

1. Did every one come back without any injuries?
2. Did we all come back as friends?
3. Did we do the best we could?
4. Did we all have fun?

If you can say yes to each of the questions above, you've already won. Any trophies and/or cash is just a bonus!

Don't get me wrong, I like winning just like everyone else, these questions just seem to put it all in perspective.

[roksmith]

Dyce,
We've got a nice little event to break in with less than 3 hours from you..in Marietta, second weekend in June.

[Dyce51]

Originally Posted by Sawdustguy

Never loose touch with the fact that this is supposed to be fun. It is easy to get caught up in the prize money but never forget you are doing it with your family.

Oh Believe me it's all about the fun for usand being able to say "Yeah we did it!!", although nothing wrong with winning an event or 2 along the way!! I enjoy cooking, grilling and BBQing (you'll see this summer as I have a couple large cookouts every summer that I'll throw an invite up here for you local guys!!!)....I have my own BBQ sauce recipes (2 of which are national award winners)