October 1 & 2 Fine Swine at the Pit in Mulberry, Florida

[The_Kapn]

Ditto to everything David said.
Very professionally run event, in my opinion.
Gotta figure out some things, and we will.

For those of you who have not cooked with DF--buy a plane ticket and get it done! Sucker is good!
Now, if I can teach him fire control in a squirley cooker like the StudeDera, we got it made

When I get a little (or lot) depressed about our scores, I stand back and remember that the "new guys on the block" beat 10 teams that do this for a living! That fact does not pay the bills, but it sure keeps the spirits up.

Tired--drove home to Marianna today.

Thanks for all the support and knowlege guys. Without y'all, I would not be having this much fun.

TIM

[Jorge]

congrats, and job well done! :D

[Solidkick]

Did ya have fun? For a first competition you did well, you didn't finish last, but that wouldn't have mattered either if you was learning and having fun. We got very, very lucky and had championship teams giving us pointers on stuff we didn't know, like presentation.

You are trying to please 6 different individuals, who all have different taste preferences and ideas as to what they are looking for in presentation and tenderness. It's a crap shoot. It really is.

Question: The team that won the competition, were they local to the area where the contest was held? You said "we were the newest team and just about the only team that wasn't a caterer, full or part-time equipment manufacturer, vendor, or restaurant operator." Might have been a factor if some of the judges were use to someone's cooking.

Don't give up! It is all a crap shoot! I'll eat your cooking any old time!
I think you did great and am proud to know ya!

[BrooklynQ]

Originally Posted by kapndsl

For those of you who have not cooked with DF--buy a plane ticket and get it done! Sucker is good!

I'll second that!

[kcquer]

Tim and David, well done Brothers. It looks like most of your lowest scores were in appearance. The good news is thats probably the easiest thing to fix. I know its frustrating to be pleased with your product and not have the judges be as pleased as you were, don't sweat it. Next time you could end up thinking you cooked worse and place higher, go figure.
The winning truely is in the experience, without competing or cooking at all I had the best time Friday just being around others that share our passion for Q, asking questions, telling stories etc. The info you guys shared here and in the other thread will help lots of us in the future. Thanks.

[The_Kapn]

You are trying to please 6 different individuals, who all have different taste preferences and ideas as to what they are looking for in presentation and tenderness. It's a crap shoot. It really is.

Question: The team that won the competition, were they local to the area where the contest was held? You said "we were the newest team and just about the only team that wasn't a caterer, full or part-time equipment manufacturer, vendor, or restaurant operator." Might have been a factor if some of the judges were use to someone's cooking.

Roger on the "crap shoot".
I am doing "data analysis" for the next week or two to identify the exact pluses and "take aways" we received. First look says we don't know what they are looking for when the box is opened, but love the taste and texture. We can fix "looks"--easy!

I have pics of the turn-ins. Once DF gets a chance to see them, I will post for the Brothers comments. We have already figured out some fixes and will proceed!

Winning team was kinda local, but all of them were.
No excuses there.
There was one neighbor for which we got to see his presentations. He was "really proud" of his work.
To be a bit "catty", it sure looked like a sculpted one to me with a mix of sliced and pulled aranged in a "unique manner". Now, in fairness, he would have to had drawn the "correct" judges or judge to influence the scoring. I would not have paid for that Q in a restaurant. But, he pulled down $ for some reason.
I am sure that all "lessor scored" teams feel the same way!
I have 4 years time as a judge in gymnastics.
I do not know how the judges in Q'uing make it!!!!!
The bottom line is that DF and I will break the code and kill'em!

TIM

[Neil]

Better to have Q'd and lost than not to have Q'd at all.

[MikeG]

So proud of you!!!!!
Those other folks are talking about them new
guys...Think how they feel getting their fannys
kicked by first timers at the event. You certainly
made you presence know.
Great job
MikeG

[The_Kapn]

Well, here they are.
DF and I have allready decided to change some things.
These are not final decisions, just initial thoughts while we were exhausted.
Chickie looses its skin.
Ribs go to St Louis cut.
Pork will probably be chunks with good bark around the outside with shredded in the middle.
Brisket may be cut smaller with some shredded on a side or corner (this is what the gabby neighbor did and won $).
Pondering some other things.
We are going to Judges class at the end of the month. That will help a lot!
Just gotta figure out what "pretty" is and I think we will be fine.
FBA requires a minimum of 8 servings, not 6. Boxes get really full and we need smaller servings.

Suggestions?

TIM

[BrooklynQ]

Those boxes look incredible. **** I'm hungry!

[willkat98]

Originally Posted by BrooklynQ

Those boxes look incredible. **** I'm hungry!

Meat doesnt look half bad either :P

Good job David/Timbo

[Bellybro]

What shade is your nail polish? Really goes well with the sauce!

Seriously though it looks awesome to me! I'll seconed what Solidkick said. I'd eat you cooking anytime!

Great job guys!

[Bigdog]

That's some mighty fine lookin Q there fellas.

[parrothead]

First thoughts. Brisket - uniform in size may have gotten you aa little higher on the appearance scale. Maybe that is why you got the one 7.5 score.

Ribs - definately go St. Louis style with those spares. I would give a little higher appearance score for St. Louis also.

Can't comment on taste or tenderness. As far as the chicken goes, did you crisp up the skin in a hotspot before glazing?

[The_Kapn]

Originally Posted by parrothead

First thoughts. Brisket - uniform in size may have gotten you aa little higher on the appearance scale. Maybe that is why you got the one 7.5 score.

Ribs - definately go St. Louis style with those spares. I would give a little higher appearance score for St. Louis also.

Can't comment on taste or tenderness. As far as the chicken goes, did you crisp up the skin in a hotspot before glazing?

Greg--thanks for the good comments.
Brisket size has got to go down and St Louis style is there next time.
I saw a brisket turn-in that had pieces about 1" X 5", or less.
All nice and even rectangles, and he scored $.

Can't remember about the skin. I was "trashed" and busy elsewhere.
DF will jump in on that one.
Our feeling is that there is a small chance of raising your score for "primo" skin. But, there is a high probablility of trashing the score if it is not perfect.
So, pending further changes, skin is gone next time. Will stay open on the subject, for sure.
Thanks a million,
TIM