DECENT BBQ
Knows what a fatty is.
Hey guys
I pulled the trigger and decided to enter the world of competition BBQ. My first competition is on the 26th in Puyallup, WA. Over the past 2 months I have been procuring equipment and practicing every weekend trying to perfect my timing and consistency. It's been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least!
While this is my first competition, I do have 10 years experience working in restaurants and doing catering events for 50-5000 people (a good majority of this was at a small chain BBQ joint in central IL in my 20s). I am fully aware these are two different animals, but this experience has proven to be very beneficial in choosing my equipment and trying to be as prepared as I can going in to this "blind".
This will be a standard KCBS rules competition, brisket, pork butt, pork ribs, and chicken. Being that this is my first time, I was considering not doing chicken, just so I don't overwhelm myself. I was wondering if this would be frowned upon, or is this something that would be considered acceptable as a greenhorn? I did a practice run on "pillow" chicken thighs this past weekend, and my results were just "okay".
For brisket I went with SRF Black Wagyu. I'll be trimming it down "Butcher BBQ" style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUClEdzB3k
I am assuming this will cook a bit faster than a whole flat not trimmed down, is this typically correct? I already separate my points and flats, so that part I am familiar with. I was also NOT going to inject it, as I have read these do not require injecting. Looking for opinions on this regarding competitions. My fear is it will turn out way too salty using Butcher/Kosmo/Meat Church type injection due to the high fat content and the salt not being soluble. This happened to me before when I injected a Prime point....WAY too salty, but the flat turned out fine. This is the best brisket I have done so far (it was SLIGHTLY overcooked): https://imgur.com/gallery/7os7ng0
Pork butt I did a practice run trimming out and slicing the money muscle, and feel pretty good with my results. I have a better knife now for making cleaner slices. No injection, will try an injection this weekend to see how it compares. https://imgur.com/gallery/X0rxnCK
Ribs are still hit or miss for me. I can nail the tenderness (not falling off the bone but comes completely off with a little tug) but the appearance is all over the place.
Practice results from my first go at doing a turn in box (I didn't do pork butt on this cook): https://imgur.com/gallery/Mw75Pqk/comment/1565038445
I'm really just hoping to learn a lot and not completely screw up on this first comp. The main goal is to learn and have fun! I used to race RC cars competitively, and slowly grew out of that hobby as I got older. I needed a new competitive hobby, and this just made sense giving my love for BBQ and always trying to better myself.
Here is a list of my equipment, please feel free to critique or make suggestions! (I'm sure I'll forget to list some things)
(2) 6' folding tables
(1) 10x10 pop up tent with walls
(1) Fire Extinguisher
(4) Bus tubs for wash/rinse/sanitize/dry dishes
(1) Cambro that fits 3 4" full pans
(1) Yetti Tundra haul cooler
(1) Carlisle 5 Gallon insulated beverage container with free flow spigot for hand washing
(1) 5 gallon bucket for catching handwash water
(1) 50' rope light to hang from tent
(1) 100' 12AWG extension cord with power strip
(1) Tall "Slim Bar Style" trash can
(2) brisket sized cutting boards
(2) slicing knives
(2) trimming knives
(3) generic kitchen knives
(1) dough scraper
(2) boxes Cast poly and nitrile gloves
(1) cut resistant glove
(1) Thermoworks 4channel thermometer
(3) 4" SS full pans
(15) 4" aluminum throw away pans
(1) knife sharpener
(1) knife steel
(4) SS stongs
(2) sanitizer buckets
(1) sanitizer tester kit
(20) bar towels
A bunch of flashlights
(1) digital and analog meat thermometer
More aluminum foil, butcher paper, and plastic wrap than I'll ever need
I think thats about everything, again I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the small items.
Any advice or tips anyone can give me is greatly appreciated! If you want to see my "portfolio" my instagram is @decentbbq
Again, thank you all for any helps/tips/tricks/advice you can give me! I'm glad I found this place, I spend hours digging through old threads and reading every weekend while I'm smoking.
With Gratitude
Derrick
I pulled the trigger and decided to enter the world of competition BBQ. My first competition is on the 26th in Puyallup, WA. Over the past 2 months I have been procuring equipment and practicing every weekend trying to perfect my timing and consistency. It's been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least!
While this is my first competition, I do have 10 years experience working in restaurants and doing catering events for 50-5000 people (a good majority of this was at a small chain BBQ joint in central IL in my 20s). I am fully aware these are two different animals, but this experience has proven to be very beneficial in choosing my equipment and trying to be as prepared as I can going in to this "blind".
This will be a standard KCBS rules competition, brisket, pork butt, pork ribs, and chicken. Being that this is my first time, I was considering not doing chicken, just so I don't overwhelm myself. I was wondering if this would be frowned upon, or is this something that would be considered acceptable as a greenhorn? I did a practice run on "pillow" chicken thighs this past weekend, and my results were just "okay".
For brisket I went with SRF Black Wagyu. I'll be trimming it down "Butcher BBQ" style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUClEdzB3k
I am assuming this will cook a bit faster than a whole flat not trimmed down, is this typically correct? I already separate my points and flats, so that part I am familiar with. I was also NOT going to inject it, as I have read these do not require injecting. Looking for opinions on this regarding competitions. My fear is it will turn out way too salty using Butcher/Kosmo/Meat Church type injection due to the high fat content and the salt not being soluble. This happened to me before when I injected a Prime point....WAY too salty, but the flat turned out fine. This is the best brisket I have done so far (it was SLIGHTLY overcooked): https://imgur.com/gallery/7os7ng0
Pork butt I did a practice run trimming out and slicing the money muscle, and feel pretty good with my results. I have a better knife now for making cleaner slices. No injection, will try an injection this weekend to see how it compares. https://imgur.com/gallery/X0rxnCK
Ribs are still hit or miss for me. I can nail the tenderness (not falling off the bone but comes completely off with a little tug) but the appearance is all over the place.
Practice results from my first go at doing a turn in box (I didn't do pork butt on this cook): https://imgur.com/gallery/Mw75Pqk/comment/1565038445
I'm really just hoping to learn a lot and not completely screw up on this first comp. The main goal is to learn and have fun! I used to race RC cars competitively, and slowly grew out of that hobby as I got older. I needed a new competitive hobby, and this just made sense giving my love for BBQ and always trying to better myself.
Here is a list of my equipment, please feel free to critique or make suggestions! (I'm sure I'll forget to list some things)
(2) 6' folding tables
(1) 10x10 pop up tent with walls
(1) Fire Extinguisher
(4) Bus tubs for wash/rinse/sanitize/dry dishes
(1) Cambro that fits 3 4" full pans
(1) Yetti Tundra haul cooler
(1) Carlisle 5 Gallon insulated beverage container with free flow spigot for hand washing
(1) 5 gallon bucket for catching handwash water
(1) 50' rope light to hang from tent
(1) 100' 12AWG extension cord with power strip
(1) Tall "Slim Bar Style" trash can
(2) brisket sized cutting boards
(2) slicing knives
(2) trimming knives
(3) generic kitchen knives
(1) dough scraper
(2) boxes Cast poly and nitrile gloves
(1) cut resistant glove
(1) Thermoworks 4channel thermometer
(3) 4" SS full pans
(15) 4" aluminum throw away pans
(1) knife sharpener
(1) knife steel
(4) SS stongs
(2) sanitizer buckets
(1) sanitizer tester kit
(20) bar towels
A bunch of flashlights
(1) digital and analog meat thermometer
More aluminum foil, butcher paper, and plastic wrap than I'll ever need
I think thats about everything, again I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the small items.
Any advice or tips anyone can give me is greatly appreciated! If you want to see my "portfolio" my instagram is @decentbbq
Again, thank you all for any helps/tips/tricks/advice you can give me! I'm glad I found this place, I spend hours digging through old threads and reading every weekend while I'm smoking.
With Gratitude
Derrick
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