Competition Equipment Advice

[chad]

I would say welcome to the dark side, but then I'd be party to your upcoming divorce!! Good luck.

 

[jcpetro97]

I would say welcome to the dark side, but then I'd be party to your upcoming divorce!! Good luck.

No worries about an upcoming divorce here. My wife is the one who gave me the nudge to try it out, since I was always so interested in the competition aspect of it, when walking around the local ribfest. :-D Besides, she said she is the luckiest person in the world, because she gets to eat the mistakes.

 

[goodsmokebbq]

No worries about an upcoming divorce here. My wife is the one who gave me the nudge to try it out, since I was always so interested in the competition aspect of it, when walking around the local ribfest. :-D Besides, she said she is the luckiest person in the world, because she gets to eat the mistakes.

Just wanted to drop a quick thanks for coming out to Roc City!!! Stop by Good Smoke BBQ if you make it out to any other localish comps...

 

[CallMeThree]

Our team has done four competitions or so by now, and our pitmaster did a couple before that. Much of the advice given already on this thread rings true with us too.

We try and keep a meticulously clean prep area (I think most competitors would agree they do the same), so we are continually wiping down (paper towels, sanitizer spray), changing gloves frequently, washing boards and knives. So anything you can do to make that go quickly and easily is a good thing, in my opinion. This last weekend, I changed out wash and rinse water several times, maybe every two hours? Dumped trash when we didn't have anything else to do.

Foil pans -- we go through more than a few of those too. During prep, during holding times, afterward for leftovers. Wide, heavy-duty foil too.

Good knives for prep, and slicing. Last thing you want is raggedy edges on slices of brisket, for example.

 

[HarleyGirl14226]

I can't stress enough the importance of figuring out your timeline, and making lists. And following those lists.

 

[Captain P.J.]

As was stated earlier about getting your WSM now and learning your cook times... I agree that you should get it now so you can get it "dirty", which is a good thing! Since getting mine in Feburary my cook times have decreased by two hours and the use of my wind block, my temp variations is next to zero. I also love my cambro and thermapen (blue is the fastest)... Best of luck and have fun!!

 

[jcpetro97]

As was stated earlier about getting your WSM now and learning your cook times... I agree that you should get it now so you can get it "dirty", which is a good thing! Since getting mine in Feburary my cook times have decreased by two hours and the use of my wind block, my temp variations is next to zero. I also love my cambro and thermapen (blue is the fastest)... Best of luck and have fun!!

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on getting it sometime this month, so I at least have the rest of the summer, and fall to get some cook time in on it. Never really thought about doing any smoking in winter... I would have to construct some sort of wind blocker like you mentioned, since I literally live within walking distance to Lake Ontario, so I get some decent wind during the late winter months... You have me pondering though.. ;-)

Thanks again for the advice...

 

[AUradar]

i've only done one so I can't add much other than to restate the comment about getting a tall table.

At 6'2", that one comp killed my back leaning over preparing the chicken and ribs for the cook. Think how high a normal kitchen counter top is compared to a normal folding table and go from there.