Competition BBQ Book/School

ique said:
We feel very fortunate at the opportunity our publishers gave us for Wicked Good BBQ... they instructed us not to dumb anything down, there would be no "made easy" recipes. We anticipate getting some negative feedback because many of the recipes are complicated and time consuming. Comes out in March '12 and the first chapter is straight comp style chicken, ribs, pork, brisket - our exact recipes
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Here's your negative feedback - Now everyone's gonna know how :mad: :becky::boxing:
 
mclancey said:
It's a little more than just the fuel and smoker.

I think there's definately some missing steps or details there.

If you watch Myron cook on TV, you never see his ribs in a pan, yet the recipe is his book has them in a pan the whole time.

I'm not going to post the recipe up here, but there are some other things that don't make any sense either.
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We'll I have taken "The Boss" class and I can tell you the recipes in the beginning of the book are dead on as to what he teaches in class. With the exception of ribs, every cooking step in each catagory is 100% correct. I have cooked with him, next him and he does pan, but not to start!!! I was suprised by that.

Let me add this, I am suprised that he did give as much as he did in the book that retails for $22, I paid $12 for a new one on Amazon. The Boss is all about the money, and I love him for that!! But, when I saw what he published when I paid $750, I was a little taken back.

His class is worth every penny, you can read his words, but to hear him say them, think of the other $725 as entertainment!!!
 
ique said:
We feel very fortunate at the opportunity our publishers gave us for Wicked Good BBQ... they instructed us not to dumb anything down, there would be no "made easy" recipes. We anticipate getting some negative feedback because many of the recipes are complicated and time consuming. Comes out in March '12 and the first chapter is straight comp style chicken, ribs, pork, brisket - our exact recipes
Click to expand...

Definitely looking forward to it. 2012 is still a long way off!
 
SMOKIN ACES CRAPSHOOT BBQ said:
We'll I have taken "The Boss" class and I can tell you the recipes in the beginning of the book are dead on as to what he teaches in class. With the exception of ribs, every cooking step in each catagory is 100% correct. I have cooked with him, next him and he does pan, but not to start!!! I was suprised by that.

Let me add this, I am suprised that he did give as much as he did in the book that retails for $22, I paid $12 for a new one on Amazon. The Boss is all about the money, and I love him for that!! But, when I saw what he published when I paid $750, I was a little taken back.

His class is worth every penny, you can read his words, but to hear him say them, think of the other $725 as entertainment!!!
Click to expand...

mclancey said:
It's a little more than just the fuel and smoker.

I think there's definately some missing steps or details there.

If you watch Myron cook on TV, you never see his ribs in a pan, yet the recipe is his book has them in a pan the whole time.

I'm not going to post the recipe up here, but there are some other things that don't make any sense either.
Click to expand...

I just received my copy of Smokin' with Myron Mixon and the instructions of panning the ribs for the 3 hours is a typo. On pg#72 he says to cook them for 3 hours before the pan.

I am definitely going to try some of his recipes.
 
KevinK said:
Who has the best book and/or school for learning how to compete at BBQ contests? Just seeing comps on tv it looks like there are a lot of additional steps (ie garnishing, what parts of cut to turn in, sauce or unsauced, etc...) that need to be considered.
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I don't think your question was really answered. First off, do you know how to cook BBQ? Ribs? Chicken? Pork? Brisket?.. Hopefully you can at least cook chicken and maybe ribs.. Brisket is an art. Pork ain't tough to learn to cook. After you got a pretty good idea on at least how to cook those things, then you can get into the details. This website is a great place to start, and lots of practice. If you are as green as you seem, if you went to a BBQ class this weekend, you might be lost and overwhelmed ! Take time and practice, read, and research. You're at about the end of this BBQ season, and will kick up around March next year.. That's plenty of time for practice, hanging out at this site, asking questions no matter how dumb you may think they are.

Heck, I first found a forum back in Nov. 2003, because I was lost on why my ribs were tough and black. Fortunately, I had some great help from a couple of guys in the beginning. Myron, Ray Lampe, and others may have some great books out there, but nothing beats practice and asking questions. You can learn the game of football by reading a book but it doesn't make you a football player.

There are a lot of steps to competing in a BBQ contest, but it's not as difficult as it seems. All of us do things differently, and some things the same.. All in all you'll personalize what you do.
 
Podge I can cook everything pretty well except Brisket. The biggest hurdle I see with comps for me is presentation, what the judges want, and timing of getting everything turned in and how to hold brisket to so it doesn't turn to mush. I'm competitive in nature so if show up to my first comp next year and get last in every category it would be a little bit disheartening. I wish I would have dug into this forum when I first signed up over a year ago because you guys are right all the information is here! Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
 
I have to agree with the ones who say hands on is the best way to go. When I first starting competing, I was surprised how some other seasoned teams were will to offer some advice on presentation because I had no idea. My wife and I went to several comps and was up front with some teams by telling them we were starting a team and asked if they would mind if we stood at a distance and watched. We were only turned down by one team out of probably twenty.
Normally I would boot anyone out of my site that was looking over my shoulder during turn in, but there was a first time team at Amelia Island and they were eager to learn and I allowed one member from their team into my site during turn in to see how we do presentations. Was a first and just a little unnerving for me, but I had help and was willing to offer some.
 
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I agree with what Podge said. I had been doing some things already, mainly ribs, and pork shoulders. hadn't thought about competing, but then I took a class in March, and started thinking about competing. i got some good advise, to do a single entry event for my first event, which I am going to do in May '12. I have spent part of this summer, working on process, etc because I have been told that the hardest part is the time management.

As far as learning about the boxes, etc... Lots of people post pictures here, and you can ask lots of questions. there are a number of questions I have asked, that ended up giving me more info than I ever could have imagined.
 
This is my first year competing and the only thing I'd ever smoked was ribs on a kettle. I boought 2 wsm's a month before my first comp, cooked my first brisket and pork butt a week before my first comp and got 11th out of 40 with the pork in my first contest. I just competed in my 6th contest and got 7th chicken, 8th ribs and 4th in brisket at contest with 25 teams last weekend. I owe everything to the information I've gotten from the members here and them pointing me in the direction of other helpful sites. I think that I will end up taking a class this winter just to help refine some things, but I think I'm definatly headed in the right direction. I LOVE THIS FORUM! There are some awesome people on here.
 
Ron_L said:
I hven't read any books on competition BBQ, but there are some out there. Maybe others have a recommendation.

As far as classes, Rod Gray and Johnny Trigg did a great class. I'm not sure if they are teaching together any more, but I know that Rod is still running classes.
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I took the Rod Gray/Johnny Trigg class this past March. If you can get in to that one, do it! But, based on my experience, don't expect Rod Gray to answer any followup email questions.
 
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CivilWarBBQ said:
One reason folks have a hard time duplicating Brother Myron's competition results is variations in the fuel and smoker. If you aren't cooking on a water smoker with a wheelbarrow full of peach wood it just won't be the same product.
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I picked up some of MM's rubs and sauces at a comp recently and they have hickory smoke flavor in them (which was a dissapointment to me). So, I'm not so sure that the peach wood makes that much of a difference since a strong "smoke" flavor is coming from the rub and the sauces.
 
One of the reasons folks have a hard time pinning Brother Myron down is the same reason he has had such a long, successful career in comp BBQ - he is always innovating and changing things up.

Myron is my friend. I've paid to take his class (back when it was called "The Ultimate Cooking School"), helped out behind the scenes on several other classes and cooked with the JOS team. I can say with confidence that what he teaches at his cooking school is exactly what he is doing in competitions at that time. He will hold nothing back and answer all questions. The class is worth every penny of what you pay, both for the information you will learn AND the privilege of spending the weekend with one of the true legends of BBQ.

If you are fortunate enough to attend a class in Unadilla you will taste the same food JOS is presenting to the judges that month. It might not be exactly what Myron will be turning in six months later, what you see him cook on the Today Show or published in his latest book, but it will be the real deal.
 
There is a really good book just released by a team from Omaha, NE for people looking to get into competition BBQ and there are some tips that someone with experience will learn. They were on BBQ Pitmasters and are going to the jack this year. 'The Book on Competition BBQ' - www.bbqrevolution.com Pretty cool - check it out!
 
Boshizzle said:
I picked up some of MM's rubs and sauces at a comp recently and they have hickory smoke flavor in them (which was a dissapointment to me). So, I'm not so sure that the peach wood makes that much of a difference since a strong "smoke" flavor is coming from the rub and the sauces.
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He doesn't use a lot of his own bottled sauce in his recipes. It's mixed with other stuff.

As far as the peach goes, it is cheap and easy to find in Georgia. Myron says apple is just as good for those in the northeast/northwest.

What is different is that he is using BIG water cookers with a roaring fire for a hot and fast cook. (Remember the lighter fluid scene from the first season of Pitmasters?) If you are going to take his class or read his book, expect to spend a lot of time and experimentation trying to adapt those processes to work on your cooker. A lot of water cookers out there aren't going to be happy (stable) running at 350.

I think that goes for any BBQ class. You will learn the recipes and process, but getting those to work well on YOUR cooker is going to take effort on your part. It's why these winning cooks aren't too worried. Myron must have taught thousands of people by now, but JOS is still a top 100 team.
 
Great BBQ is a journey to be enjoyed. Learning as you go is so much more awarding than taking a class before even competing and doing someone else's BBQ. Left my first team because they were focused on the destination, instead of enjoying the journey. We have a lot more fun now!!
 
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