ROLLING the DICE at BBQ comps

[Smokenstein & monster crew]

Am i the only one who tries new recipes that have never been tried at comps ? I am an all around good cook. Sunday gravy with pasta, Chicken whatever, fish.. i know flavors & how to cook.
Every comp i have entered, which is under two handfuls, i have tried new stuff, winged it, but I am also doing this for the fun of BBQ, and the memories it makes for my family etc etc not treating this like a business (as some do)...

SO who rolls the dice ??

& I will be rolling the dice at BOTB6...so if i beat ya, know i winged it :wacko::-P

[The_Kapn]

Always "fun" to do that, if not profitable. :grin:

What is " BOTB6" ???

TIM

[Sledneck]

Would be easier and more fun to sit in my backyard ,get drunk and throw $800 in the outdoor firepit .

[Sledneck]

Always "fun" to do that, if not profitable. :grin:

What is " BOTB6" ???

TIM

Battle of the brethren 6

[Podge]

I've done it more than I would admit to.

[Shady]

I have tried new additions to evil bird as nothing seems to work. Pork, beef , and ribs are locked in.

[Red Valley BBQ]

You'll never know if a recipe will work in competition unless you actually USE it in competition. BUT, only if cooked once or twice at home so you know the flavor profile, etc going into the comp. Cooking a recipe for the first time at a comp is just crazy talk!!!!! :der:

[ique]

I do it all the time with flavors but usually stick to tried and true cooking methods.

[Q-Dat]

I think I remember hearing or reading once where Myron tries new things at small comps, but uses his tried and true recipes for the big ones.

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

doing it this weekend (again) in Gettysburg PA, big comp with big names...I hope they have a beer tent!

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

oh, just an fyi...Buffalo style (hot wings) brisket does not work..and yes it was pretty tasty!

[cpw]

I don't compete a whole lot, but the rib recipe I use consistently got a first place call when it was concocted on the fly, and has done pretty well since. The only call (2nd place) we ever got with pork was the same way. Haven't had a chance to try it again yet, though.

[Crash]

I've tried new ideas at comps occassionally, usually at around 3am. Lisa always goes ballistic on me and rightfully so. Still, I did it.

It's never worked for us.

Listen to the Pit B#$@^ at 3am.....just sayin'.

[Smokenstein & monster crew]

Would be easier and more fun to sit in my backyard ,get drunk and throw $800 in the outdoor firepit .

why 800$ cheapskate...
Its a grand for me

[mobow]

Almost every time I cook at home I am trying new ideas for future comps. But, at the comps themselves I know what I am going to do before I get there. keith

[Lakeside Smoker]

I once did my 1:00AM trigger at 12:45AM. But I live on the edge like that. :grin:

[INmitch]

In a comp very soon I'm going to use Lawrys and SBR on ck, rb, pk. Straight from the bottle not mixed with anything. Just for fun. I've been wanting to try it for a while.

[early mornin' smokin']

almost every time. It's a new rub, a different sauce. What hit the judges table last time and the judge who got it may have liked it or hated it. PRetty sure(and i've talked about doing this with more than one team) if two teams got together and cooked their own recipes, and whoevers turned out better that day you just turn in one product, i.e. my pork and chicken their brisket and ribs. and we each build identical yet slightly different looking turn in boxes(please don't get into the KCBS legality of it, we all know it's totally illegal, but it'd be a fun test of the judging system), i'd be willing to bet the scores would be HUGELY different. What one person likes, another hates. So why not try something new every time, just because it kicked ass last week doesn't mean it's going to this week.

[Podge]

In a comp very soon I'm going to use Lawrys and SBR on ck, rb, pk. Straight from the bottle not mixed with anything. Just for fun. I've been wanting to try it for a while.

It wouldn't surprise me if it worked !!...

I've wanted to put Arby's sauce on brisket sometimes.

[huminie]

It is hard enough just trying to replicate my "tried and true" recipes at each comp!

[Alexa RnQ]

We've always preached consistency, and not-fixing what works. Nevertheless, one year when we'd gotten a GC that included 1st chicken and ribs, we had new recipes for both two weeks later, simply because we could get a better product with them.

I don't recall having ever made a practice of going to contests with untested recipes. Contest expenses are a pretty hefty cover charge for a test cook.

[Rich Parker]

I am always switching up one thing or another. That's the joy of it to me. Everybody has different reasons for competing and for me if i did the same thing week in and week out, i would be bored out of mind. But when i change things i don't get too drastic but just little things here and there.

[BruceB]

I am always switching up one thing or another. That's the joy of it to me. Everybody has different reasons for competing and for me if i did the same thing week in and week out, i would be bored out of mind. But when i change things i don't get too drastic but just little things here and there.

like what??

[bam]

I want to but can't talk myself into it. :crazy:

[Rich Parker]

like what??

That Arby's sauce is my secret ingredient for my ribs.

[bogyo1981]

I've always wanted to see how McDonald's BBQ sauce would do

[Sledneck]

I've always wanted to see how McDonald's BBQ sauce would do

9th place:redface:

[HarleyGirl14226]

We might test something prior to a comp. and then pray the first time we did it (like this past weekend in Brockport, NY) but we'll never change a recipe on the fly.

The only thing we might change is when we put the meat on if something is bigger or smaller than our "norm".

Now forgetting something in our program is more likely to happen (again, like this past weekend in Brockport) - much to our chagrin when something that had been doing well comes in 23rd out of 29... Sigh...

[txschutte]

I used to do it.

It's called "Second Guessing".

And since I quit doing it, I went from a 37th rib to a 1st. 9th briskie to 3rd.

I want to win. I have plenty of time to do new things at home.

[Lake Dogs]

Mind you, I think every competitor is competing for the joy of it, but there definitely are two types of folks out here; 1) those that really just enjoy the outing (damn glad to be here), and 2) those that came to try to win. I think those in #1 above are more likely to wing it and try something new at comps, and those in #2 are much less likely to change things and do what works for them consistently.

[Smokedelic]

So for those of you who try new stuff at home before you try it in a contest, have you ever tried anything at a contest that you didn't like at home? If not, have you ever tried anything at a contest that you liked at home, but it didn't do well at contests?

We never change what's working, but if we hit a dry spell, we'll change flavors on the fly. You'll never know if a tweak is gonna work until you run it a few weeks in contests. We could love it in the driveway all day long, but it doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't score well in comps.

It makes me wonder how many killer recipes people are sitting on, that would hit it hard at contests, which they don't run because they didn't like it at home first?