Contest Results Apple Blossom BBQ. St Joseph, MO - 05/01/2009 - 05/02/2009

[Just Pulin' Pork]

The credit for this one goes to Don. I just put down the bed of greens and added the apple blossoms - that Don send our dad on a field trip to get.

The green apple is full of BBQ sauce, the red apple has carmel. The sliced apples in front were warmed with brown sugar (and butter I think???). The upper right is an apple relish.

looks good regardless!

 

[daedalus]

Thought I'd show our loin presentation - it earned 9's for appearance across the board from all 6 judges and finished 5th.

As you can see it was a free for all as far as presentation rules (and the name of the competition was Apple Blossom):

I actually got to judge that entry! It really looked great, and the blue cheese in the little salad on the side was a nice, unexpected touch. Great job!

 

[DMDon]

I actually got to judge that entry! It really looked great, and the blue cheese in the little salad on the side was a nice, unexpected touch. Great job!

Thanks for the kind comments. Without giving us your scores, what feedback to make it better, could you give us? Taste and tenderness wise. The scores were in order 976 989 998 999 988 987 if helps you to remember. Thanks

 

[daedalus]

Thanks for the kind comments. Without giving us your scores, what feedback to make it better, could you give us? Taste and tenderness wise. The scores were in order 976 989 998 999 988 987 if helps you to remember. Thanks

I would be happy to share my thoughts. First, I thought most of the taste really came from the apples, and the multitude of sauces. While those tasted very good, I felt that the taste of the meat was masked more than accentuated. Maybe the flavor profile was just a little bit muddled.

The tough score for this category was tenderness. I think part of the difficulty lies in the cut of meat...there just isn't enough fat in a pork loin to keep it moist. I think those things should be treated more like a steak...grilled high to a medium doness. I say this because virtually no one managed to really pull it off, and you guys still did better than most. Still though, it was a bit dry. About the only way I can come up with to retain moisture for a low & slow cook would be to brine it or wrap it in bacon, and I am not even sure that would do it.

All in all, it was a really good entry, and I am glad that I got to sample it. The apple blossom angle was really smart...I'll bet next year will see several teams copying that idea. Good luck in the future.

BTW DMDon...the architectural firm I work for here in Kansas City designed the new Police Station that is being built there in Ankeny. It seems like a pretty nice town!

 

[DMDon]

I would be happy to share my thoughts. First, I thought most of the taste really came from the apples, and the multitude of sauces. While those tasted very good, I felt that the taste of the meat was masked more than accentuated. Maybe the flavor profile was just a little bit muddled.

The tough score for this category was tenderness. I think part of the difficulty lies in the cut of meat...there just isn't enough fat in a pork loin to keep it moist. I think those things should be treated more like a steak...grilled high to a medium doness. I say this because virtually no one managed to really pull it off, and you guys still did better than most. Still though, it was a bit dry. About the only way I can come up with to retain moisture for a low & slow cook would be to brine it or wrap it in bacon, and I am not even sure that would do it.

All in all, it was a really good entry, and I am glad that I got to sample it. The apple blossom angle was really smart...I'll bet next year will see several teams copying that idea. Good luck in the future.

BTW DMDon...the architectural firm I work for here in Kansas City designed the new Police Station that is being built there in Ankeny. It seems like a pretty nice town!

Thanks again for the feedback. You are right loin is hard to keep moist, I wrapped in bacon and may try to brine next time. I wasn't 100% sold on the rub I used and will try something different next time. The pesentation actually came out better than I had invisioned, I had never put it all together before the comp.

We like Ankeny, we have been here a little over 6 years. We need to get a contest here in teh next couple of years.

 

[BBQ_Mayor]

The tough score for this category was tenderness. I think part of the difficulty lies in the cut of meat...there just isn't enough fat in a pork loin to keep it moist. I think those things should be treated more like a steak...grilled high to a medium doness. I say this because virtually no one managed to really pull it off, and you guys still did better than most.

I think it was where the loin came from. Mine was super moist but was tough has hell. I didn't think it was a very good piece of meat.