Parsley... is EVERYONE using it or what?

[daedalus]

I must admit that I have never given a very high score to a box without garnish. That is because I have never seen a box without garnish that does not look like the meat was just tossed in any old way.

From a functional point of view, I think that garnish is useful because it is able to help hold the meat in place. That allows a team to arrange it in a pleasing fashion, and have half a chance that it will stay that way. To me, the putting green garnish is even better for this purpose because the meat can "nestle" into the parsley. Another thing that the garnish can do is to prevent grease/sauce from visibly pooling in the box. There is nothing appetizing about a box full of ribs flopping about aimlessly in little pools of grease.

That brings me to the other aspect of judging appearance. The score I give to appearance simply boils down to how badly I want to dive into the box and devour whatever is inside. Typically, the more care it looks like someone took to create a great looking box, the more enticing the food is. As we all know, we eat with our eyes before we ever eat with our mouths.

As far as the parsley vs. lettuce vs. mix discussion goes, I would say that the all parsley box tends to look neater and cleaner, and can thereby make the meat look more appealing. Having said that, the putting green is probably just the current trend and will likely fall out of vogue at some point in favor of some other type of garnish.

 

[BBQ_Mayor]

" besides, it is a meat competition, not a make my box look like a putting green... let's do like FBA does, NO GREEN stuff at all.

I'm with ya brother.

 

[Sledneck]

My original score was 657.7140, revised is 666.2854, which is well over the current RGC score. Know that I am not complaining about the outcome, but just realizing that I do need to make a change. Time to learn putting greens!

.

Just ask Cracker to show you, I taught him how to do them when he was up here in New Yawk last October:biggrin:

 

[Rub]

Just ask Cracker to show you, I taught him how to do them when he was up here in New Yawk last October:biggrin:

That's a good idea, I'll be seeing him this weekend at the FBA contest 8)

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

ok... I understand the pro... it looks great.

But what the hell else is so awesome that it gets you 9's instead of 8's?

Some input from judges would be great, since it seems that sometimes that can be the only reason our box didn't get a 9 in appearance.

So much for the "it's a meat contest".

I think I am one of the last holdouts who simply refuses to go through an entire case of parsley for 4 boxes.

So the question is... IS everyone doing parsley boxes now?

I don't know how to make this a poll...

I tried real hard to shift to parsley my last contest after decent success for 2 years using lettuce. Half way through the boxes and we went back to lettuce. I'm content holding my own with lettuce as a base and letting the meat decide 'cause parsley sucks.

 

[Smoke'n Ice]

for the first 4 contest this year we use lettuce with parsley add in and our scores in appearance from all judges was an average of 7.92. We switched to all parsley and our scores in appearance in the next four contests from all juges was an average of 8.12. We will continue to use parsley for the rest of the year.

At our last contest, we went to Wally World and bought 6 heads of parsley for .50 each and had 1 and 1/2 left over to give away.Not too bad considering the cost of green leaf.

Mack

 

[ihbobry]

We do both dependant upon the turn in as for some we need a little more box depth. No harm noted when we do not use it and some help noted for the catagories we do use it in due to it pops the entry out a bit and the entry is not hidden down in the box.

 

[smknwhlswife]

We like the way our parsley boxes look vs. our lettuce boxes. At some contests we will buy a case or 2 and split them with other cooks. We will usually split a case 5 ways.

 

[lunchlady]

just to clarify, I don't care about the cost of parsley...
but I have seen more than a few teams use an entire case.

RUB... tell me it aint so! here i was using you as an example to further my own cause... not really :>

I know these things go round and round... so I'm gonna try to wait it out... same as Blue's Hog... same as candy ribs... we can only wait and see what happens...

 

[ique]

I think I am one of the last holdouts who simply refuses to go through an entire case of parsley for 4 boxes.

Look what I found!

 

[Scottie]

Look what I found!

If'n you can't beat 'em... Join 'em....

 

[Jorge]

If'n you can't beat 'em... Join 'em....

But I fear Sully will be dispatched on a late night reprisal raid now!:shocked:

 

[The Giggler]

look what i found!

busted!

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

I have never used parsley and most likely never will. I am able to make a box look good enough with lettuce and don't have the time or patience to play around with parsley.

 

[Willie's BBQ]

... let's do like FBA does, NO GREEN stuff at all.


to me, this seems like the best option... but then again what would we do will all the free time??? drink more beer ???:tape:

 

[Scottie]

... let's do like FBA does, NO GREEN stuff at all.


to me, this seems like the best option... but then again what would we do will all the free time??? drink more beer ???:tape:

Having cooked a couple IBCA contests and having cooked a no garnish KCBS rules contest last weekend. I am even a bigger fan of greens. There is no way that a box with no garnish looks better than one with garnish. You don't get sauce on the sides, you don't get pieces moving around. The slope of the sides of the clam shell also play a part in the box, with it looking messy and not uniform.

I'll stick with greens.

 

[The Giggler]

I have to agree. Greens do create a box that makes the meat stand out. Parsley is nice, and so is lettuce if done right. Bottom line is that the meat should be able to stand on its own, the garnish is there to compliment the overall appearance of the box.

In your defense, Michelle, parsley is a pain in the ass. Having done a few boxes at recent contests, its time consuming, but there's no arguing that is looks very nice. The only thing I don't like about it, is the "bed" takes up a great deal of space in the bottom of the box. Especially for Chicken and Ribs.

 

[Buster Dog BBQ]

Having cooked a couple IBCA contests and having cooked a no garnish KCBS rules contest last weekend. I am even a bigger fan of greens. There is no way that a box with no garnish looks better than one with garnish. You don't get sauce on the sides, you don't get pieces moving around. The slope of the sides of the clam shell also play a part in the box, with it looking messy and not uniform.

I'll stick with greens.

I think until someone actually does a box without garnish it is easy for them to say how much they hate it, etc, but once they do without they miss it. Of course, I am talking about KCBS cooks who are used to using garnish.

 

[Pickin' Porkers]

After reading all posts....I just have to say:

1. Anyone judging the garnish and not the meat should quit judging....throw your badge in the trash and never judge again. And please...really quit judging.

2. The same holds true for those idiot judges that send comment cards (like we had in Lincolnton, NC this past weekend) that says....."Great barbecue but you had sauce on the outside of the box." Gave us a 6 9 9 . When did that start being an issue and we are confident no sauce was on the outside when taken to turn-in....we're not newbies.

3. Believe this or not....we switched to lettuce boxes this year and our box scores have GONE UP.....YES...gone up....judges get tired of the same 'ol same 'ol.....

Want higher scores?...work on taste.

That's my two cents......

 

[Willie's BBQ]

then why do we spend so many hours perfecting our meat if garnish is OPTIONAL????? its obvious that garnish isn't optional and it does have alot to do with apperance