Chicken salad legal at KCBS comps

[SaucyWench]

Our Bullsheet just got here and, reading the minutes, I'm thinking something has been left out of the report (surprise?)

All I know is what I learned and understand about how I'm supposed to judge *bbq meat*, and I really need to know just what the Board's definition of chicken salad is.

 

[Jacked UP BBQ]

A lot of people grill their chicken, correct? Grilled chicken salad is great! Sometimes it takes someone to look outside the box and grow some ballzzzzzzzz to win. I know typically standard wins but if it is cooked with the "bbq method" than well people I think it would have to be considered BBQ. If you have a grilled steak at a restaurant and they put a sauce on it other than steak sauce, does that not make it grilled? I say rub that mayo all over it and keep your veggies and additives smaller than an 1/8 inch and go for it!

 

[SaucyWench]

Yeah, go for it, and if you get DQ'd don't complain!

 

[Rub]

This is all part of the big picture, which is bbq evolution. Just because a team decides to push the envelope and try something stupid doesn't mean it will score well. There is no way a judge acting under the guise of a CBJ would score a chicken salad entry higher than an average genuine bbq chicken entry (and don't ask the question about what is average genuine bbq chicken, this ain't a courtroom). The salad entry will tank, and the idea will fall by the wayside and be nothing more than a memory before you know it. The LAST thing any bbq contest needs IMO is more and more rules. Let the bad ideas fail on their own, and the good ones succeed.

 

[backporchbbq]

Personally I love Chicken Salad, but I am not going to turn it in a comp. I personally think it is not BBQ. I doubt it would turn out good results at the end of the day. But I would love to see a team that is daring enough to do it.

 

[SaucyWench]

So, we change to a bbq meat recipe competition, everybody turns in whatever they want as long as it includes one of the big 4 meats? Isn't that what the Other category is for?

And if the new "recipes" don't get good scores, you can blame the judges....

 

[Dale P]

This is a fun thread. We get to see what people really think and I am lovin it. Chicken salad for a turn in is more then thinking outside the box, its more like thinking that your chicken is awful and you are desperate.
I was thinking of entering chicken soup but that puddling rule screws that up.
More please!

 

[SaucyWench]

Thanks, Dale, I was getting a tad too serious about this possible issue.

We're thinking, maybe brisket chili could be next, as long as it was thick, no pooling...

 

[Dale P]

This is a serious thing, that to me is where common sense isnt being used. Chicken burritos, salad, soup, and dumplings is not BBQ. Plus fighting about it isnt any fun but we can try and laugh at it.

Taylorsville is about 30 minutes from me.

 

[BurntFinger_Jason]

So, we change to a bbq meat recipe competition, everybody turns in whatever they want as long as it includes one of the big 4 meats? Isn't that what the Other category is for?

Pulled chicken with a thick layer of "traditional" BBQ sauce is legal, so why would pulled chicken with a mayo based bbq sauce be any different?

 

[SaucyWench]

Pulled chicken with a thick layer of "traditional" BBQ sauce is legal, so why would pulled chicken with a mayo based bbq sauce be any different?

If that's what the board means by chicken salad, fine, no issues.

Where the heck is Merl when we need him?

 

[Dale P]

You are right Jason but as a cook I wouldnt turn in pulled chicken either. That is a sign that the skin wasnt edible. I know I know judge the meat, but going against great melt in your mouth bite through skin, the pulled will lose everytime. Crispy loses too. We are talking BBQ Chicken folks not anythingchicken.

I like pecans and pineapple in our chicken salad which by the way is awesome.

Porkbutt is in Oldham County over by Spare Lane.

 

[tonto1117]

If you read further into that ruling, I thought I saw that acceptable garnish will be Chicken in a Biscuit crackers.

Or how about 6 or more hard boiled smoked eggs(de-shelled of course) with some BBQ sauce on them.......bonless, skinless chicken.

 

[Bbq Bubba]

Or how about 6 or more hard boiled smoked eggs(de-shelled of course) with some BBQ sauce on them.......bonless, skinless chicken.

Just needs some parsley!

 

[BBQchef33]

I dont get it..

where is there an issue here???

Pulled chicken, diced chicken, chopped chicken is legal, boned or deboned, white, dark, wings, thighs.. its ALL legal. It always was.

what a cook chooses to sauce it with is the cooks prerogative. As long as its within the rules of sauces. The dice/chopped/fruit/veggie argument is always present, with ALL sauces.. Nothing new there either.

Dreamland BBQ is a mustard based sauce that goes GREAT on chicken.. Pulled or chopped chicken with that on it is outstanding, but I would not turn it in at a contest. Not becase its bad, but i just dont think its what would do well. Same would hold true with mayo. But if a cook is confident enough in his creations.. Why not? Its his entry and his risk(if thats a risk).

Chris lilly(Big Bob Gibson) has the white sauce.. TELL ME, OR HIM, THATS NOT BBQ. Go to this link and look at the chicken recipe.

http://www.bigbobgibsons.com/images/recipes.swf

chit, pulled chicken with homestyle gravy from a jar IS LEGAL... its within the rules.

so if a chef want to chop up some smoked thighs add mayo and turn it in in little piles in the box.. so be it.. its his entry.

Heres another question though.. if I did decide to turn in chopped chicken and mayo, does it have to be 6 individual and 6 identifiable portions, or can it be a pile like pulled pork?

 

[BBQchef33]

You are right Jason but as a cook I wouldnt turn in pulled chicken either. That is a sign that the skin wasnt edible. I know I know judge the meat, but going against great melt in your mouth bite through skin, the pulled will lose everytime. Crispy loses too. We are talking BBQ Chicken folks not anythingchicken.

I like pecans and pineapple in our chicken salad which by the way is awesome.

Porkbutt is in Oldham County over by Spare Lane.

I humbly disagree..

Assuming that pulled chicken (or brisket fo r that matter) is turned in to cover up a mistake is a disservice to the cook. If you get a box of burnt ends will u score it down because theres no slices or score down if someone turned in slices of the point? Are we assuming the flat was inedible? Maybe the cook just decided the point was the better tasting..

technically, (human nature aside), we're not 'going against' other entries when we turn in our entries.. If i turn in pulled chicken, I expect it not to be judged AGAINST ANYTHING, but to be judged standing alone, on its own merit.

 

[SaucyWench]

First of all, I still want to know, what is KCBS' definition of chicken salad in this case.

Second, as a judge, I will tell you, if you turn in chopped bbq chicken with gravy on it as your sauce, your scores will be lower, because we are supposed to be judging the meat. Can we see the meat if it's under gravy?

As far as 6 piles of chopped/shredded chicken vs one big pile? Whatever looks right to you, that's your presentation. But most contests, we would have to pick it up with our fingers to get it onto our plates, we don't have serving utensils. Guess also gives a clue as to why you don't want to go "outside the box."

 

[Dale P]

At the BBQ judging class I took this year the chopped brisket was the best thing I had. So I am wrong. I can admit that my post about bite thru winning everytime is off base. I guess since chicken is our #1 meat I cant see us changing over to the salad/pulled side. But before we learned how to achieve bite thru skin I could have been swayed.

Chicken with gravy is good but you cannot convince me that is BBQ. Legal i guess but BBQ? Chicken ala king?:icon_bugeyed

 

[SaucyWench]

BFF or Unforgiven?

That's all I'm saying. From here on out I'm just going to watch.

No, just if you are going to compete or judge, you play by the rules you were given. If you don't like those rules, you take your box & go play somewhere else.

Sometimes for us judges, it feels like cooks should just create competitions where you judge each other, because we evidently are too [whatever] to know what good bbq is.

 

[BBQchef33]

Second, as a judge, I will tell you, if you turn in chopped bbq chicken with gravy on it as your sauce, your scores will be lower, because we are supposed to be judging the meat. Can we see the meat if it's under gravy?

Well, as a judge and a cook, if I screw up and turn in chopped chicken with too much BBQ SAUCE, I face the same risk. I'm not talking about burying the meat under gravy. Pooling, or swimming in anything is going to lower scores whether it be homestyle or headcountry. But that was not my point.

The point is, if someone wants to turn in ANY sauce(mayo based for the purpose of this thread) that is within the rules, they can, and I dont see this this as anything different. I think the board addressed and ruled on a question or situation presented.

if i were judging, and i get pulled or chopped chicken with white sauce, I would judge it on its own merit, without prejudice or assumptions. That is what judges are taught. To judge on its own merit. To not compare entries. To not enter with preconceived notions. Did the chef achieve what he set out to do?. Are the flavors balanced? Are the entries well prepared? In some cases like this one, should I maybe even reward the chef for innovation if he did a good job in balance and or complexity of the flavor profiles?

if i were cooking in the event, i would hope EVERYONE turns in mayo based sauce:eusa_clap:eusa_clap.. my entry would be the sweet and tangy one thats on the darker side. :wink: