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[lsffbabw]

Looking for some open critique here, what do you all think of our latest efforts from an appearance standpoint? Overall, one of them did very well, one was top half and the other two finished near the back of the pack, Can you guess (without looking it up) which of them fall into each catagory?

[Lake Dogs]

Guess: Chicken scored at top, brisket middle of the pack, pork and ribs toward bottom?

First, the greens look very good, particularly brisket, chicken, and ribs. Pork greenery
*problem* may have more to do with not enough pork in the box.

A thought on ribs. Obviously they're from different ribs. Try to have from same.
However, many times it not possible/feasible. One thing we do is then go with less
greenery, and put 8 in the box rather than 6, and stack them four on four, with each
four being from the same rib. Not directly on top of one another, but offset. Put
your best looking ribs on top; it'll cover a sin or two and perhaps eek out a point or
so on presentation.

[Bbq Bubba]

Your boxes are all 8's or better. I agree with the ribs and the pork box could have more but i like your layout with the big chunks.

[Rich Parker]

I like the pork box layout. I am going to say ribs and brisket towards the end of the pack just because the ribs aren't uniform and the brisket slices aren't stacked very nicely.

[Peteg]

I like the pork, ribs and the chicken. Your photography is awesome, they look professionally done.

[Willie's BBQ]

what they have all said ^^^^^^^ and also a little bit less sauce

[The Virginian]

Yep, less sauce all the way around. The soaked in fresh sauce look does not generally go over very well with the judges.

Brett

[paydabill]

On appearance I would give you 9s and 8s. I think they look awesome - great pictures.

[Stoke&Smoke]

They look beautiful, but the angles you've taken make it difficult to tell how the whole box looked. An overhead shot, while not as artful, might be easier to judge for any alignment issues, blotched sauce on greens, uneven sized pieces. (IMO)

On the ribs, the one on the far right seems quite out of line with the rest. It is no longer nescessary to make the ribs look obviously separated, and, again, in my opinion, the box looks nicer when they appear to be all one rack as opposed to clearly individual pieces.

Brisket slices looked like they could be spaced more evenly, and as others have said, less sauce would help. The front slice looks kind of gloppy

All that said, it all looks pretty tasty!

[Spydermike72]

On the Ribs, the one on the far right takes away from your whole box.
Chicken is spot on
Pork, I like it, the greens look good to me, on your sliced, you cuts look a little ragged on the first couple from the left. Need more meat but I would not mark you down for that...
Brisket, this may be the angle but it looks funny to me, again it is probably the angle, and I could not see the burnt ends.

Overall not bad.

[Jorge]

Chicken and brisket did the best for you, is my guess.

If I'm going to be a tough judge....Keep in mind lighting, and the camera could be misleading.

Ribs- I don't like the layout. The rib up front looks out of place. The rib on the extreme right looks like it has been overcooked, and one end appears to be burnt. If it 'looks' overcooked you are liable to have a judge that will score it that way, whether it is or isn't. The sauce/glaze has a unusual color that is a little distracting (could easily be my monitor or the camera). Anywhere from 6-8 depending on how it looked in person.

Chicken- I really like the box. In the picture the front right thigh looks a little small in comparison to the others. The sauce/glaze is a little distracting in the picture. That being said...I think it's a 9.

Pork- Needs more garnish to support the meat, and not distract from it. The light, yellowish pieces of parsley need to go. More meat in the box, if you've got something you are happy with. If you don't have it, you don't have it. A 'full' box just tends to look better. The color and apparent consistency of the sauce is distracting again for me. A couple of the slices look overcooked, or like they were sliced with a dull knife. I'd like to see some cleaner slices, and additional chunks in the box. Online score 6-8.

Brisket- I really like the box, it's a 9! The garnish is full, even, uniform in color... The slices are laid out evenly and fit the box well. The color on the meat is nice, and I like the contrast between the slices and burnt ends. The only negative I see is what appears to be needle marks on the right side of the front slice. I woulnd't want a judge remembering that and thinking about what might have been injected into it, when they went to taste it.

[Todd Ras]

Thanks everyone for the feedback!! We really appreciate all the comments as we're just trying to learn and get better.

[pop's smokin hot que]

I would have given you ribs 7, chicken 8, brisket 8, a little more pork in the box 9. I like the pork layout really neat need a little more meat in the corners.

[moocow]

Your chicken must of had other problems because you appearance looks really good in my opinion. I agree with everyone else on the ribs. My guess would be your brisket did very well. Well its not really a guess as you beat us by one spot Here are our boxes from the same contest for reference. Not our best boxes but it turned out well.
3rd- chicken
3rd- ribs
7th- pork
5th- Brisket

[nwelch]

I will post some overhead (judges angle) pictures tonight when I get home. Thanks for the comments on the photography, I like to consider myself a good photographer.